AY, AY, AY, I'M ON VACATION

…every single day, ‘cause I love my occupation! We sing this song from Dirty Heads a lot these days.

Many have been asking about what we are doing for work these days - well the answer is A LOT! I was raised with the question of “what company will I own?” instead of “what company will I work for?” (Thanks Dad!). Thankfully, I married a man that had the same dream. At the end of last year, we created an LLC and this year finally left our 9-5 jobs.

BEN WOODRING

Controls Engineer/Owner for
Woodring Controls

What he does:
Automates and programs robots, PLC’s, HMI’s, and anything else that moves on a manufacturing line.

KARA WOODRING

Designer/Owner for
Kara Mickell Designs

What I do:
Build websites, design logos and graphics, create social media plans, manage rental properties, and paint.

FOR BEN:

Ben is hired by manufacturing companies to either fix a broken manufacturing line, make a line go faster, automate a process, or do all of the above. Most manufacturing companies don’t want to keep an engineer on staff full-time because there isn’t enough for them to do year-round. The companies only need someone to fix the problem and trust it won’t happen again. This means Ben is often needed last minute and only until he fixes the issue, but the pay is much better because of the uncertainly and because there are few people with his skills in robotics engineering, electrical construction, PLCs, HMIs, and pneumatics. (I think he’s pretty amazing too!)

FOR KARA:

I’ve taken a step back on my business dreams to support Ben and be a mom. Mom is one of my favorite titles I’ve learned. We still have 3 rental properties, so I manage them and always look for more investments. I also am monetizing this blog (so thanks for being here!). I’m frequently painting projects for people, and I am consistently gaining new clients for Kara Mickell Designs: creating websites, logos, social media plans, and marketing strategies. Email me at karamickell@outlook.com if you need any help with your marketing. As for the day to day, I’m enjoying this season of reading books to Orion, cooking dinner for Ben, and traveling around the US so Ben can have his family waiting in the camper after a 12 hour day.

OUR BACKGROUND

Ben has his Associates's degree in electrical construction and then got his journeyman electrician card. While working as an electrician, he worked third shift at a manufacturing facility in maintenance. During the night, the robots in the plant would fail or have an issue, and Ben was supposed to fix them if he could. Over time, he learned how to fix most things on his own. So now, he has worked for multiple companies as a robotics and controls engineer (the person who makes everything on an automated line move and move at the right time). His old colleagues from different companies started calling to see if Ben could help fix a problem at their facility - when you do a good job, people remember you. So last year, he juggled a full-time job and did contract work on the side. Last year, he worked A LOT! Yes, on most of our trips last year, he was working. At the end of last year, he had enough contracts lined up for 2020, that we started discussing the move from full time, steady work to the unknown of contract work. I was 7-8 months pregnant and his job offered great insurance for the delivery, so we decided to wait just until the baby was born to quit. Orion was born February 2, 2020, and Ben put in his notice 2 weeks later. We had a four-week-old baby, and Ben was needed in Ohio for a 3-week project. This was the start of many weeks on the road as a family. Then COVID happened. We left Ohio a week early to go back home to South Carolina, and ALL of his outstanding contracts got canceled. So we had a 6 week old, no steady income, and a worldwide pandemic. It was EXCITING - truly it was/is. For me, it was the first time in my life, where I really had to lean 100% on God for everything. I couldn’t work a little bit harder or do more. I had to sit back, heal from birth, and learn to trust His will. That’s what we did. We took time as a family to learn how to parent, create a sleep schedule, and work through our fears and desires as a new family.

Contracts have started flowing back to Woodring Controls, and we have started traveling again for work. Ben is working in Cincinnati, OH for 2 weeks and then Knoxville, TN for 2 weeks. Then, we don’t know again. It’s beautiful to watch God bring opportunities to us at exactly the right time.