Atlanta entrepreneur Melonie Brown Martin of SparksFly Welding & General Repair LLC: ‘I want the community to see welding women beyond the mask’
Andre Johnson 
I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
LEAGUE OF HER OWN
For the record, welding isn’t something you think of when it comes to women.
That certainly isn’t the case for Melonie Brown Martin whom, to her distinctly unique credit, has found herself on the right side of history.
“I was always involved in team sports and always operated in a leadership capacity,” Martin told Making Headline News this week. “It was natural for me to strive to become a business owner. Also, watching my father be successful in his own welding company that in was found by my grandfather in the 1940’s, I always had a desire to be different.”
Much to Martin’s delight, she has appropriately taken the essential steps to walk fervently in the massive footsteps of her father, given she is the proud owner and CEO of SparksFly Welding & General Repair LLC, her Atlanta-area company that offers a wide variety of commercial and residential projects for clients and is located at 4700 Street James Way in Decatur, Georgia.
MORE ON MARTIN’S VENTURE: https://www.sparksflywelding.com/
“And, we couldn’t have done it without our dedication and professional relationships,” a spokesperson for Martin’s SparksFly Welding & General Repair LLC said in an introduction of the company at https://www.sparksflywelding.com/services/. “We have spent most of their lives working in the welding and construction business and know the ins and outs of building requirements, especially in the Atlanta area.”
Moreover, Sparksfly Welding customarily guides its customers through every step of the pre-construction phase and has become a fixture for providing a variety of services essential to help get projects off the ground, most notably:
- Handrails
- Window Guards
- AC Cages
- Steel Erections
- Welding that’s accompanied by carbon, stainless, and aluminum,
- In-house and on-site welding
- Plasma that’s accompanied by oxygen/acetylene cutting and spot welding
- Structural steel metal fabrication and,
- Certified weld processes GMAW (MIG), GTAW (TIG) and SMAW (Stick).
A company that has been minority certified with the city of Atlanta since 2017, Martin said her “first date” with the welding fabricating industry dates back to when she was six years old.
“My dad allowed me to heat, cut and bend metal and make my own designs,” Martin, 47 recalls. “I later took desire for welding to college, where I received my welding diploma in 2015.”
For Martin, a native of Greenville, South Carolina, she’s been as good advertised through her selected professional, all the while essentially carving out a piece of history in the process.
A devoted wife and mother, Martin’s rise to entrepreneurial success began at Greenville Technical College and ultimately the historic Clark Atlanta University. Interestingly, she has earned various certificates from Clayton State University and subsequently received her welding credentials in MIG TiG and STICK, which eventually gave way to her acquiring a welding diploma.
Also the founder of She Sparks Too Incorporated — a nonprofit organization she founded in 2019 — Martin emphasized, among other things, her endeavors are widely known for empowering and educating women in the welding, manufacturing, and other non-traditional industries.
“My personal mission is to provide women with a non-traditional trade, to help them find gainful employment in order to provide financial freedom for their families,” Martin said. “I was inspired first and foremost by my father, who ran his business by himself all my life. My mother, who always encourage me to finish strong. My parents have business owners. (I was also inspired by) my sisters and nieces and welding instructors, Mr. Ja Bell and Mr. Harvey, at Georgia Piedmont Technical College…and Mr. Dowdy.”
To her credit, Martin’s success in her chosen line of work has given way to her having earned mentions in the Fabricator, a popular welding magazine that’s known for shining the spotlight on the best in the business.
According to Martin, the professional welding industry only accounts for four percent of women, although immeasurable strides have been put in place to raise that number, she said.
“I want the community to see welding women beyond the mask,” Martin said. “I want women to know that you overcome anything and that it is okay to be different. I want women to know that you can still be beautiful and work in non-traditional careers.
“I have been laughed at for even pursuing the trade of welding, and a lot of road blocks have been put in my way, but it is my desire to empower,” Martin continued. “I have tried many different career paths in Corporate America, and my heart has led me back to my roots, the welding industry.
Like father, like daughter whom, all things considered, had found herself on the right side of history.
In another development:
As for She Sparks Too Inc., Martin’s nonprofit organization, she said: “It has been put on hold a bit since the COVID-19 pandemic, but that has not stopped our desire to serve the community. I bought a used sewing machine and instead of sewing with metal. I’ve taught myself to sew and make masks for my family the community and first responders who needed them. We are still here.”
For more information about Atlanta Businesswoman Melonie Brown Martin of SparksFly Welding & General Repair LLC and She Sparks Too Incorporated or to inquire about her services, call 404.919.4416 or connect with her via social media at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sparkflywelds/. Also, send email to: [email protected].
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Andre Johnson is the award-winning Founder and Publisher for Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former staff reporter of sports for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send email to [email protected] or to [email protected]. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist or Instagram at @makingheadlinenews.
