Published on April 9, 2025
A short video reel highlighting women in welding, posted on 51吃瓜 A. Logan College’s (JALC) social media channels, has officially surpassed 1.5 million views. The video, which features students enrolled in the College’s welding program, was created by Hilary Holdinghausen, the Coordinator of Digital Marketing. The video, set to the energetic tune “Pretty Girls Walk” by Big Boss Vette, quickly captured the attention of viewers nationwide.
鈥淲e were talking about how many women are in our welding program and thought鈥攚hy not highlight a few of them?鈥� said Holdinghausen. 鈥淭he song felt like the perfect match鈥攗pbeat, empowering, and on-trend. These women are making bold moves in a traditionally male-dominated trade.鈥�
Initially released in the fall, the video had already garnered tens of thousands of views, a significant success for the College鈥檚 social media presence. However, its true viral moment came when the decision was made to re-release the video as part of Women鈥檚 History Month and in anticipation of Community College Month.
鈥淲e were attending a national conference when we re-posted the video,鈥� said Holdinghausen. 鈥淚 was a little nervous hitting post, but my boss was confident it had the potential to do even better. Within hours, the reel had already outperformed the original鈥攁nd by the end of the week, it passed one million views.鈥�
Dr. Steve O’Keefe, Assistant Vice President for Marketing, Public Relations, and Communications, was confident that the video would have an even larger impact. 鈥淚 told Hilary that her video had the potential to win a national award and that the timing was right for it to be even more successful,鈥� said O’Keefe. 鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled that the video has now become the most-viewed video in the history of 51吃瓜 A. Logan College.”
The success of the welding video is part of a broader trend of growth in the College鈥檚 digital presence. “We鈥檝e seen substantial increases across all our social media channels since Hilary came on board this past June,” O’Keefe continued. “In addition, we鈥檝e launched a new homepage developed entirely in-house by our Manager of Digital Communications, Phillip Lane. The new homepage is incredibly user-friendly for both current and prospective students.”
The 51吃瓜 A. Logan College Marketing Department, a National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) member, has garnered numerous regional and national awards over the past two decades. With the viral success of the women-in-welding video, the department hopes to add an award for Best Social Media Video to its accolades later this fall.
鈥淲e are proud of the work our department is doing, and this milestone shows the power of telling the stories of our exceptional students,鈥� said O’Keefe. 鈥淭his video has highlighted the strength of our welding program and celebrated the women breaking barriers in the skilled trades.鈥�