Founder and CEO Ginger Schmidt was born in Lucerne Valley, California—a tiny town on the edge of the Mojave Desert. Located over one hundred miles from the heart of Los Angeles, auto-manufacturing, mining, and agriculture served as the town’s primary industries. It was in this gritty, hardscrabble environment where Ginger first realized her passion. Schmidt’s mother—a carpenter—introduced her to tradesmanship at the age of ten by making her an apprentice and she’s been working in the industry ever since. Later becoming a certified welder and then an auto body technician, Ginger moved to the San Francisco Bay Area at the age of nineteen to pursue her dream of owning and operating an auto body and paint shop. Through sheer determination and thousands of hours of hard work, the dream finally came true.

Naturally, running her own auto body shop required her to hire employees. Through this process, she discovered many crucial flaws existing in current hiring methods. Traditional job boards, such as Indeed and LinkedIn, are frustrating to navigate, expensive and cater most to tech and office jobs. But what about the blue-collar job seeker? Furthermore, these sites center around either permanent positions or long-term contract roles. But what about the trades gigs that only require a day’s worth of work? After encountering these discrepancies, the wheels in her mind began to turn and she envisioned a way to fill this gap in the market. Our company is the result of that vision. And our mission is to invigorate an entire industry. Brigade Jobs exists to connect tradesmen and tradeswomen to the employers that need their expertise. Whether you seek a permanent addition to your team or require temporary labor to complete a project, we’ve got you covered. Whatever your time frame, we’re here to help. We’re the first and only woman-owned job board in the trades industry and the only one based on the West Coast. We know what beating the odds is all about.

So please, come share our vision. Download the app today and become a part of the Brigade Army.