Karen Smalls

I've been in this field for 30 years, and I truly believe this is what I was created to do. I started without any knowledge of soldering - I was actually taking a break from nursing school and just wanted a job to relax my mind. A company hired me and taught me how to solder, and I fell in love with it. I started with hand placements on assemblies and over 17 years with that first company, I earned every title from soldering to rework repair, inspection, and finally corporate trainer. Since becoming a trainer, every role I've had has been focused on training. Since 2010, I've been the plant facilitator and corporate trainer for my current company, which has 5 facilities across Washington State, Oregon, and other areas. I travel to each facility to provide training, handle all new hire onboarding, on the job training, and IPC certification. I also make the production calls on defects and repairs, and I'm the hands-on person teaching soldering, rework, and repair. Last year brought an incredible new chapter when I was picked to join the IPC committee as co-chairperson for one of the standards. They reviewed my record and saw I had a no-fail record as a trainer, so they asked me to create a Train the Trainer course. I was so excited when it hit the website a few weeks ago, and last week I was able to platform the course among my peers at our annual California meeting. Just when I thought my 30-year career might be winding down, I got this new spark, and I'm looking forward to continuing with the committee even after retirement.