Brandon Wilson of Wilson Pipe and Fabrication

Brandon was a fantastic guest. We hope you'll enjoy this. Brandon discusses the story about how Wilson Pipe and Fabrication came to be. Listen to how Brandon's company is successful because he 100% loves what he does in the trades, being able to take his hands and build something. 

The Regional Maritime Training System, RMTS, was established using a $11 million (41%) Good Jobs Challenge Grant awarded by the Economic Development Administration and is supported by $12.1 million (46%) provided through BlueForge Alliance in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Navy, and $3.5 million (13%) in funding by other sources. The Regional Maritime Training System, led by the Hampton Roads Workforce Council is an equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. VA Relay 711.

Visit www.maritimejobsva.com to discover what career and training opportunities are right for you in the Hampton Roads maritime industry.

Transcript

Brandon Wilson has a notebook. He literally has a book full of ideas and intentions that he started writing years before he went into business for himself. It's an amazing record and it charts how somebody can conceive an idea and put it into execution.
Brandon was a fantastic guest. We hope you'll enjoy this. Tell me the story about how Wilson Pipe and Fabrication came to be. I'm going to jump ahead a little bit because I know I know the origin story a little bit and I know that you've capped it deliberately and both of those pieces are really important.
Tell us, how did you get here? So back in high school, I went to Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk and we had I had opportunities to play football and do things like that upon graduation.
So, you know, college was definitely one of my choices and in my path. but surprise surprise I was expecting a son so with my parents push there was a little redirection and where we were going for the future so you know they they helped me decide that a more lucrative path for a career would be better suited than going to college so there was an opportunity presented to go to the apprentice school with Port News
Shipyard. And so that's how I ended up at the shipyard. I never, I didn't know anything about the shipyard. No one of my family's ever worked in the shipyard. We did have like one neighbor that her husband worked at the shipyard,
but I was oblivious, honestly, to what ship repair was and actually working in the trades. When you talk about not knowing what goes on in the shipyard, I don't think that's at all,
right? It's, they're in the industrial parts of town that are always behind the fence, it's government work and not everybody can wander in. But they're, Huntington Ingalls, Newport News is the second largest employer in the region.
But so many people drive by, if they drive by at all, and don't know what goes on inside there. And that's sort of, that's really part of why we're trying to tell these stories now of the men and women who are working inside those gates and we need more people to come do that,
but so many people don't know that it's even there, and they certainly don't know what's happening inside that. What was your experience like when you finally got inside the gate? Well, back then, as you know, everyone didn't have cell phones.
There was no TikTok. There was no Instagram. So you didn't see beads being laid down where guys were showing their welds and showing things like that. So what we had to do,
you had a bus full of about 18 to 30 kids, 18 to 19, packed in there, and they took you on a tour of the shipyard. Every potential apprentice went on a tour. They basically took you through all the shops.
As you know, Newport News has a turnkey operation from start to finish. You got insulators, you got painters, you got welders, shipfitters. So they basically take you on a tour of the entire yard. They show you the ship fitting shop.
They show you pipe fitting shop, show you welding. I mean, for somebody that's never seen that before, and to see sparks and fire and flame, and I mean, of course, I've seen my dad or my uncle's using a little propane torch to do some plumbing at the house,
but this is a way larger magnitude of project going on. And there's things going on everywhere. I think back then there was 18 ,000 hourly employees there.
So, I mean, everywhere you turn, there was hot work going on or some kind of industrial work that, I mean, just a kid from Norfolk, Virginia. I've never seen anything like that. So pretty impressive to see the scale of work going on inside there and the kind of things that just really just didn't have any exposure to them.
Definitely. A little terrifying, but Who knew I'd grow to love it as much as I do, so. So how did you come to be a pipe fitter? So on that tour I talked about,
we were riding through, I think, somewhere close to 50th Street. And at Newport News, you know, they build out all the carriers by subassemblies. There's this huge subassembly in the middle of the yard,
and there's these two guys with coveralls on, and they've got these grinders that I think they were air grinders and these gigantic stones on them and they're underneath these units just grinding and grinding and grinding and you saw that you said I want to do that no I saw that I saw the sparks flying 15 foot from their head and and I looked at the host and I said excuse me what are those guys and he said Those
are shipfitters. I said, I don't want to be that. Now I own a business where we're shipfitting and cutting and doing things like that on a daily basis. But back then, that scared me.
So he happened to be the pipe fitter superintendent for the apprentices. And he said, look, son, I'm just going to let you know being a pipe fitter is the best trade in the shipyard anyway. So he had a strong bias.
Yes. Because all those trades are necessary. Somebody else on that bus saw that flame and spark and said, I want to do that surely. Well, believe me, from owning Wilson Piper Fabrication, where I am a pipe fitter,
but everyone that works here are welders, they make sure I know that they're welders and I'm a pipe fitter. So if we put importance on trades, they'll probably tell you theirs is better. So that's fun.
That's a good attitude to have. Great. So you picked pipe fitting? Yep. Went through all the different, you know, in Newport News, six months you spend in this area,
three months in that area. So I got to work on submarines. We got to work on overhauls. I got to work on new construction. And then I just, I just, you work your way up to,
I think before I graduated from the apprentice school, I was actually a make -up foreman that didn't happen all the time. But my supervisor, James Foster, he gave me a lot of credit for what I could do and what he potentially saw on me.
So he let me run the crew when he wasn't there. So that was fun. Let me hold right there for a second because that's come up several times in these conversations. How old were you at this point when you first get that first taste of responsibility and that first big opportunity?
I think I was around 21 years old, 20, 21 years old when he allowed me to be a makeup supervisor and that's and that's guys most of the guy so I wasn't in an apprentice crew at the time this was a normal pipe fitter crew so I would say the average guy in that crew was 35 to 65 and I was about 21 years old and you're running tradesmen at 21 years old yes how'd you get there how did that happen I just loved,
I just loved what I did every day. I mean, there was nothing, still to this day. I mean, we'll get to the part about Wilson Pipe and how we got there, but, but this company is successful because I 100 % love what I do in the trades,
being able to take your hands and, and build something. There's nothing wrong with building decks. There's nothing wrong with building homes. There's nothing wrong with any of those things. But, but to, but to work every day and produce basically basically a floating ship that sailors are going to go on and go protect us and serve our country.
I mean, just saying it right now, I'm getting chill months. I mean, there can't be anything more exhilarating than that. And I think that because of that love, I was able to succeed. You know,
you got all types of people out there that you got guys that just want to work a job and go home, and they just want the paycheck to take care care of bills. And then you got the ones that truly love what they do every single day. And this job,
definitely if you're one of those types of guys that love what you do, I mean, those opportunities just started opening up. Yeah. So I became good at what I was doing and my boss trusted me.
And so he started letting me be the makeup form. And I must have been okay because the guys respected me at the same time. So I kind of anchored on that point because we've heard that over and over again that the opportunities are almost unlimited for people that are willing to show up,
put some pride and passion into their craft and want to do a good job, and the opportunities just keep opening up in front of them to do more of the same thing that they already love and then new opportunities to do different things and to work in Newport News as a pipe fitter could have been an entire career you were there as an apprentice school graduate but you're not there anymore no how did that happen because
it I'm assuming must have been good too right the opportunity must have been better well so I was there for almost 10 years and at the same time while I was there my my father ran a window inside in business.
This was prior to 2008 and that business was booming and and sometimes it gets difficult to to go into shipyard every day. I mean it's hard work and sometimes you might see another opportunity and think hey maybe I have a better chance over here with this and so I did that I left Newport New Shipyard and I went out to to help my dad and his business and and it was okay for a little while and housing market
crashed and he said he was taking the business and moving to Pennsylvania and and so he's like are you going with me and I said no I'm going to stay right here in Norfolk and I guess I'm going back to the shipyard so I didn't choose to go back to the shipyard because you know when you leave somewhere you leave a business that's why you don't ever burn any bridges not that I burned any I've been to Newport News
since then but but you know when you think you're going to do the next best thing you might you might talk a little bit and not want to eat crow later on when it's time to when it's time to go back so I actually went to uh L3 Communications L3 Communications was on the El CAC program at ACU4 and so I started working for them that's a Navy organization Assaultcraft Unit 4 yes headquartered here at Little Creek yes
right and so uh I started working for them as a pipe fitter at night um that lasted for about a year and then I got moved to day shift and then on day shift the pipe fitter supervisor left and went moved on to another company and so they asked me did I want to be the supervisor of pipe fitters I said yes.
At the time, they had a structural superintendent who he ran the structural division, so welders, fitters, and the pipe fitters. But he didn't know anything about pipe.
So he said, hey, how about you be my, since you're the pipe supervisor, I'll let you run everything the way you want to run it. And then you just tell me where we're at with the jobs. And when I go to the meeting, I'll explain your part.
So I said, all right, that's fine. We did that for about a year and a half and then he left and so he left and I just kind of assumed his role the best way I could and then I heard that the program manager was looking to hire his replacement so I was making $19 an hour I walked into his office and I said you're trying to hire someone to take his spot for superintendent of the welders and pipe fitters and he
said yeah And I said, why don't you give me a shot? And he looked at me and he was like, you really think you can do it? And I said, yeah, I can do it. How old were you at this point? I was 20, let's see, this was 2006.
So I was 26 or 27 at the time. 27? 27. Yeah, so I, he said, do you think you can do it? And I said, yeah, I can do it.
And for two and a half years, I was the superintendent of the structural department and the piping department on the L -CAC program, making $19 an hour.
So all the welders, all the pipe fitters, everyone were in the 20s. I made $19 an hour for two and a half years running the whole program. But to me, it wasn't about my wife at the time.
She's like, hold on, you need to get paid, but I really, again, I loved what I did, and I knew that if I proved myself and worked hard enough that it would eventually come. And so at the end of that project,
it did come. They actually gave me the title. They gave me a bump in salary. And I did that for a couple years. And then there was another company who worked out there with us. And they came to me and they said,
hey, we got an opportunity. Our weld shop program manager needs to move to another department. He's got some medical issues. would you entertain the idea of coming and being our well program manager and I mean I was probably this was in 12 so I was 31 32 um a little nervous I mean this was a it's considered a small business but I mean they had 300 employees the well shop had like 20 well 200 employees 200 employees
the well shop had like 20 people at the time and they wanted someone to run the entire program up until now someone else has been doing the planning someone else has been doing the the financing part of it someone else has been been doing all of the the the overhead part while all I had to do is execute the plan basically that was there now it was a position where you have to do it all and so I was nervous but
I mean I took it on And that's how I ended up. That's the career path up to Wilson Pipe is being the well -chop program manager at a local ship repair company.
So you learn the trade. You learn how to put the metal down, how to bend pipe, you learn how to do all of those things. You move on to a different company and you start getting exposure to the back office processes and all the other things,
many of the other things you need to do to run a business. I'm going to guess probably not everything you need to know to learn. No, you're still learning. You're still learning. So you're in your mid -30s at this point.
Now you decide to make the leap that you saw the opportunity there and said, I could do this for myself. Is that kind of how that went? Well, as the Well shop program manager,
again, loving what I do and doing all these things and loving what I see every day being on the ships with everybody, the other trades working side by side with them. I started getting our guys from the Welchop to give a hand in different trades.
So we would help the outside machinists. We would help these guys. We would help those guys just for the better of the company to get the job done. So that was recognized by the owner of that company. And then he said,
hey, why don't we offer you another position? We'll find somebody else to run the weld shop. You come be the production manager. So that was a huge leap. I mean, the production manager was in charge of the electric shop, the machine shop,
the paint shop, the, the well shop. Every division this company had, this guy was in charge. That position entailed being in charge of everything. So really that's kind of where I was awakened to the real back office stuff.
And they, I mean, I was really blessed honestly by the owners of that company. They allowed me to do a lot of things that, I mean, I would get a phone call from someone. And I'm like, that's a decision that he should make.
And they would say, we called him. And he said, call you. So they really gave me a lot of responsibility and let me do things. And I was working,
ship repair industries, a lot of hours for people to love overtime. It's out there. I mean, work needs to be done. Ships need to get underway. I mean... Why would somebody love overtime? The money. So,
time and a half? Time and a half for every hour over your 40 hours. So... You took this leap several years ago to take your accumulated tradesman and project management experience and then go into business for yourself.
And you were mid -30s at that point? 40. About, Okay, so you're... Well, yeah, 38. So I was... That's mid -30s to a guy in his mid -50s, right? You got five kids at home.
You're already in a good job. Why would you take that leap? I was spending a lot of time as a production manager of this company. I mean, a lot of family time, a lot of time trying to get the work done.
And so I just, as I pushed through that and I really, again, I know it's redundant, but as much as I care about ship repairing what I do, I probably spent more time than I really needed to on the job,
but it was just not only satisfying, but I just wanted to be there to make sure everything went right. So I started seeing myself spend hours upon hours upon hours. And sometimes you have to make things happen with certain individuals as managers,
you've got to try to figure out who fits best, where, and who does what best. But sometimes people don't look at guys in the trade and look at them and say, you know, this group right here is the best at this or this group right here.
You know, sometimes you get looped in with other people. And so I finally sat back one day and said, you know, I really would like to create something that every single job that you go to,
there's some kind of accolade. There's somebody saying how great a job you did. And then that gets passed on from this guy to that guy. And so after all the experience,
maybe I can build something like that. I really think that I can from the success I had working for others. So I finally said, hey, I'm going to jump out on my own and do it.
So it's just, Again, you saw the opportunity. You brought your passion to the job anyway, and you're putting it into it, but you were building a culture for somebody else,
and you just decided I'm going to do this myself? That was it. That's a huge leap. It was a huge leap. Like you said, I was getting paid well at the other business, so it was a huge leap.
Any regrets? I don't have any regrets. I've been able to take what I love and put it together with a group of guys that perform at the highest level.
And so what I set out to do has become a reality, honestly, because we're doing quality work at a high level at a job that I love every day.
Okay, so here's where I want to talk about the plan, because you have a notebook. I've heard about about to tell me what is this notebook all about when did you start this what's in it and how does that factor into what you're doing here so in 2016 so three years before I actually left my job I started thinking about doing this on my own and me and my wife one night I think the kids we got a babysitter for the
kids and we decided we were gonna go to the Mexican restaurant I said hey I'm gonna bring this notebook and she said okay because we had already had some discussions. And we sat down at the table, and I started jotting down notes of what this business was gonna look like,
what we were gonna do. And over the next month or two, as I was getting a business license and figuring out how to get all the requirements that the Navy and other governing bodies need you to have,
I was just writing in this notebook and filling everything out, one of the pages is like a list of 30 names, what we're going to call the business. And some of them are lined through right now. Obviously, Wilson Pipe at Fabrication 1.
But there's also a small business plan in there. A number of employees I thought I was going to have. Revenue, I thought we were going to make the first year, things we were going to do. The notebook sits in my top drawer,
in my sock drawer. I've brought it out on a few occasions, a Christmas party. I showed all the employees, but this plan that I put together, we far exceeded my expectations on what I thought that this business could be.
So you've exceeded that plan from eight years ago now. Yes. Really? What were your goals then? Where are you now? I honestly thought we'd have like a,
I think the notebook says something about four to ten employees. We're at 20 employees now. We could be at more than that, but a whole quality at a high standard.
The magnitude of jobs, as you're aware, we took on some pretty big projects that I never envisioned. I saw Wilson Pipe doing these ancillary projects,
you know, the other big players in the ship repair industry around here are doing this, this project, well, we just want this little piece, but we've been involved in some pretty dynamic jobs that had a lot of exposure to all the way up to D .C.,
looking at projects that we were doing. So I think the crew that we have, really, that's the reason we've exceeded. They allow me to keep my dreams going bigger and bigger because whatever I put in front of them,
they get it done. There's that opportunity story that I think needs to get told over and over again. And we've heard it in the previous discussions we've had.
You've said it several times here today. You're not really, you're not scrounging for work at this point. No, honestly. So since I left my full -time job and started this in 2019,
there was only one time we didn't have work and that was for four days and that was because we finished the job early and couldn't go start the next job until four days later so we had been working all that time in a shop on our hands and knees and stuff because we didn't have time to build tables we didn't have time to do build pipe racks or anywhere to put our plate so for those four days everyone was in the
shop scrambling building tables as you could see putting pipe racks together doing all this stuff that we needed a long time ago, we just didn't have the time to do it. And so that's the only four days since the business started March 29,
2019, that we haven't had work. And it's not that you didn't have work. You just finally had a break between jobs. Right. So you've obviously never laid anybody off. No. You've never been without paying jobs.
No. Nobody has to come in here wondering, am I going to have a job tomorrow because it is their work? Because, you know, we've heard this before. Your first job in Newport News Shipyard,
they've got the next three decades worth of work booked, right, between aircraft carriers and submarines and all that other stuff kind of trickles down to shops like yours.
Yes. And this is not your first shop. I know you were at least one other place before this and this is three times as big, four times as big as your first shot? It's over double.
Is it over double? Yeah. I plan on growing it a little bit larger than it is right now. So there's definitely, I mean, the opportunities are out there for, for,
I mean, I would like to say that we haven't been lucky to have jobs this entire time. I think that it's the passion by the team. It's the passion by myself to want to do this type of work every day and be good at it.
So you're bringing in experienced tradesmen. How about entry level folks? Is there a place for them here? So what we did first was I, like I said, we've got to get the work going.
We need the quality guys. I brought in all experienced tradesmen. Once we had a certain amount of experienced tradesmen, I said, you know what, let's bring in a junior level, entry level type employee.
We did that, got him up to speed where he needed to be. Okay, and so now we have these guys, let's bring in another one. So currently right now we have out there, I think we have nine or 10 experienced tradesmen,
first class, and then we have four trainees that were working. We just started a basically night school. We're bringing these guys in.
A couple of them have some weld experience, but not enough. And because you're trying to get the job done every day, it's hard to put in the effort for training. We're trying to, but I mean, you also got to work to pay the bills.
So we're starting a program where at night we're bringing in one of our first class guys, and we're bringing in two or three of the trainees, and we're paying everybody overtime to learn how to weld.
So you're paying your senior tradesman overtime to come in. That's expected. You're paying the trainee overtime to learn to weld. I don't only feel,
when we bring these guys here, I feel like I'm doing them a disservice to an extent. I want to just bring them in here from day one and let them sit in this booth over here and just weld and welding,
weld, and welding, well, and well, and well. The nature of the beast says that I need that guy out there cutting and fitting and grinding or fire watching, doing something other than welding to get the job done. So I don't necessarily think,
you know, it's not his fault that he can't get the time behind the shield. It's really my fault, it's really the way the business is structured and how we're moving. So to me, it only made sense to allow everyone to benefit from the program in return,
it benefits the company. We get these guys up to speed, then now they're qualified guys on the deck plate but the only thing that's really hindering your growth to go from 40 to 50 or more right now is a deliberate decision on your part right I made a decision this is probably in the notebook somewhere I'd have to look but I'm pretty sure it's in one of those pages I told myself a long time ago when we were doing
this it was it's not necessarily to and anyone that knows business is probably like, man, this guy's an idiot. But I didn't start this business to be some huge multimillionaire with this huge company.
You know, there's just worried about the money coming in and dollar signs. It really was to make a difference. It really was to be a part of something in the ship repair and the shipbuilding industry to give the guys every day,
the people that are employed here, the people that work here, an opportunity to showcase their talent and then walk home every day proud of what they put. I think that's going to be a relic that's going to exist in this company 40,
50 years from now. Because I think what you've started out doing here in the kind of culture that you're growing, I can't see how it can't be a success. I hope that keeps going.
One of our guys said, they said, if you make it five years, then you've made it. So we've made it years but and as long as our principles and values don't change I don't I don't see why it doesn't keep going look forward to your continued success that's great thank you thank you