AJ brings a grounded, no-nonsense perspective to the apprenticeship. A Brooklyn native, he spent years as a building maintenance supervisor — responsible, hands-on work that gave him a sharp understanding of how buildings and systems function. Welding has been in the back of his mind the whole time, a skill he kept telling himself he needed to learn.

Now he's here to do it. For AJ, this isn't about reinvention — it's about building on what he already knows and adding something that can carry him further. He doesn't know exactly what the future holds, but his answer to that uncertainty is straightforward: he's in for the challenge.