TV personality Jessi Combs appears on stage at the FABTECH Canada 2014, at the Toronto Congress Centre.

On March 18, FABTECH Canada 2014 officially kicked off with an inspirational keynote from television personality Jessi Combs.

With a shock of blue dye in her hair, the effervescent Combs took the stage to address an audience of more than 150 manufacturing professionals, and emphasize the importance of considering women for roles in the trades.

As some employers are acutely aware, it can be difficult to find skilled tradespeople for certain jobs, and Combs is a testament to the capabilities of women manufacturers.

The South Dakota native has hosted or been featured on a variety of automotive and tech-related shows – including Overhaul, Xtreme 44 and Mythbusters – and her repeated desire of wanting “to go fast” drove her to follow her passion into a field that has traditionally been dominated by men.

She got started in the industry after attending WyoTech College in Laramie, Wyoming, and made a name for herself by working on a 1964 Mercury Cyclone that was later showcased at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas.

From there, the sky has seemingly been the limit as Combs is now doing everything from to designing her own line of welding gear, to breaking the women’s land speed record – all in addition to all her various TV duties.

But one of the things Combs loves the most?

“Most of all, I love breaking stereotypes,” she said. “Anybody who knows me knows I love a good challenge… Whether it’s a racing competition or who can do the dishes faster, I’ll take on the challenge.”

Combs also scoffs at the idea women aren’t well suited for manufacturing.

“So many people tell me, ‘you’re too pretty to weld, you’re too pretty to drive that fast’… I mean, my goodness, am I too pretty to be alive?”

Her success hasn’t come without some adversity though. Combs suffered a serious back injury after a bandsaw fell on her and fractured vertebrae in her back.

“Because of that I had to learn how to walk again. The doctors called me a miracle case… there’s no reason I should be standing here – I should be sitting in a wheelchair.”

But even at the lowest of lows Combs didn’t dwell on the negatives.

“I was able to sit back, take a look at the bigger picture, and realize what was really going on…. I was able to reach out to my audience and hear all these stories about how many lives I was changing,” said Combs.

She credits this time interacting with fans of hers as a reason she is so passionate about her industry, and promoting it to younger generations.

“What I fully believe is that when bring women into (manufacturing), we inspire it. I’ve inspired many girls, boys, people of all ages, because of the fact that I do what I want to do.”

After the keynote Combs sat in on a panel that discussed the need to get women more involved in manufacturing, and some of the potential ways to go about engaging young women in trades as a career.

FABTECH Canada 2014 will run March 18 to 20 at the Toronto Congress Centre.