Building Up In Smoke Welding Apparel has been a long road for its founder, Mac Schurr—one that started when he began working as a welder at 18 years old in Canada. He eventually built his own welding business, at which point he started to notice that the welding gear on the market was cheap and inefficient at protecting him from the harsh work that came with the job. “I was always burning up my clothes,” Mac says, “and I thought, ‘There’s gotta be something [better] out there,’ but there wasn’t.”

So, he decided to design and make his own. “I'd never cut anything in my life, but I figured if I could build an oil plant and drilling rigs, and weld, and read blueprints, I could figure out how to cut material.” 

Being a 2023 FedEx^® Small Business Grant program winner has offered a huge leg up, bringing important business purchases within reach. “We’re super, super thankful that it came at the perfect time,” says Mac. “It gives us some breathing room.” Since relocating to the U.S., they’ve also been able to get set up with “a super competitive pricing plan” from FedEx that has helped them save on domestic shipping and helped provide international shipping, which Mac adds, “You guys have done great there as well.”

Despite the challenges that have come his way over the past few years, Mac maintains that dedication and hard work have helped him get to where he is. “Every entrepreneur who’s worth their weight in gold has to go through struggles to get where they are,” he says. “You have to live and breathe this life.”