Welcome to the forum Kennan
Welcome to the community Kennan 
Just like @judi I’m also really curious about your job. … but I understand if you can’t give too much away 
Have you seen the Strumming Machine? That’s a really useful tool
Welcome to the group Kennan.
R
Welcome Kennan! Have a lot of fun and enjoy your journey. Struugling with strumming in the beginning is pretty common. It will get better with time. Maybe try out Justin‘s Strumming SOS courses, great lessons on strumming they will help you a lot with different strumming techniques and rhythm.
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Welcome Kennan, how you bought a guitar and took a year to pick it up and have a go at playing it , is amazing … better late than never … 
Plenty to learn in here from JG.
Don’t let your struggle with strumming put you off. I am just past my 4th year learning to play and strumming is by far my weakest skill. There’s so much more to learn, like flat-picking, fingerpicking, and slide.
I cannot back this up with fact, but imho, I think so many people give up because they think strumming with a pick is the only way to play.
Keep at it, try out different playing styles, and most all have fun … 
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Welcome to the group Kennan. great back story 
Welcome to the community, Kennan! 
Working in a guitar factory and getting discount offers on guitar - I probably would feel like a kid in a candy store with unlimited budget. 
Sounds nice and glad you came across JG.
Wish you loads of fun on your guitar learning journey!
Hi Kennan,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun here and with the best online Teaching program
Greetings,Rogier
Hi Kennan, welcome to the community forum. Strumming is a skill that takes time to perfect and Justin has a lot of lessons in Grade 1. Be sure to get a thin flexible pick, like the Jim Dunlop Nylon 0.38 mm pick that Justin recommends for beginners. It really does make strumming easier.
Hello Kennan & Welcome!!!
Interesting back story you have… I have a very real desire to create my own instrument - & plans to do so in the future… very cool that you have a job building something that are the dreams of others!
You’ve found a good teacher in Justin… he’s helped so many to find their way on this path towards guitar mastery! Some good advice above… Strumming courses offered, different styles of playing, thin picks… I usually strum with my thumb & index finger. One thing that Justing taught me is to mute all my strings & just try to get the feel/beat while listening to something I really want to learn… just strum in time without any worry about the fingering of the chords until I can still reproduce the beat without the song playing!!! It really helps me to keep in time when I start to form chord shapes!
You may find a lot of interest in this post of yours because most of us here are very into anything related to guitars & working for a company producing them is going to intrigue a lot of us! By the way, we like pics too - I personally don’t believe in anything I haven’t seen - to me your guitar doesn’t even exist unless you post a pic!!! 
Have lots of fun on your journey to musical excellence!!!
Tod from New Mexico, USA
Welcome to the forum. Yeah, in the early days strumming can be a challenge. I started playing fingerstyle and took up strumming after quite a while. My wife saw how much pleasure I got from guitar so she took up the Ukulele and struggled with strumming from the start, esp what Justin calls “Old Faithful” D D U U D U. I remember vividly the day she learned that and how she ran down the stairs excitedly yelling “I can strum!!! I can strum!!!”
Hang in there, the reward is definitely worth the effort.
Thanks! I’ll look into that.
Yeah the response here was amazing I honestly didn’t expect that. I think I’ve spent too much time on Reddit’s guitar subs where it doesn’t actually feel like a community. I might be slow to respond but I do appreciate the the thoughtful responses I’ve gotten here.
Working for a guitar manufacturer is really interesting and most of the time playing isn’t a necessary skill but I’m aiming toward a more outward facing position and playing, understanding what a player might want, and understanding the differences between body shapes, woods, electronics etc will be useful. Obviously playing guitar isn’t just for my professional growth but I think that nudged me to a great hobby.
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I think the part of strumming that gets me the most is the connection between my two hands. I practice the push quite a bit but getting my left hand to move at the right time or without messing up my right hand is the challenge. Does the strumming course work on that in particular?
I’m not entirely sure if I understand you correctly. Do you specifically mean the rhythm push Justin introduces in Grade 2, module 10?
I’m not sure how suitable the Strumming Machinne is for that. It’s a nice tool especially in combination with the Strumming SOS courses. You can choose from premade Strumming patterns, make your own Strumming patterns and strum along whether it’s with muted strings or while playing chords or chord progressions of your choice.
I mean that regardless of the strumming pattern at chord changes that I’m usually fine with are more challenging. One or both of my hands messes up. That’s what I want to work on.
Then, with my limited beginner knowledge, I would say it’s a combination of two or maybe three things.
A) Automatize the strumming pattern you are using for a certain song you are practicing. Here using the strumming machine and / or a metronome is usually helpful. Practice the strumming pattern with muted strings at the BPM you need for the song. If the target BPM is too fast, start at a slower BPM and increase the speed after some practice sessions or days. Rinse and repeat until the strumming pattern becomes “second nature”.
B) Analyze which chord changes are particularly difficult in the song you are practicing. Practice these chord changes with one minute changes and Fast Perfect chord changes. Rinse and repeat until you notice the difficult chord change(s) are now easy or at least easy enough.
C) Combine A & B and you will see that coordinating fretting hand and strumming hand should have become easier - a bit at least.
If coordinating the strumming hand and the fretting hand is a problem, then Justin suggests a solution. In many lessons where Justin demonstrates a strum, he starts with muting the strings with the fretting hand and just strumming the pattern without the chords. Then you can focus just on the strumming. That becomes more important as the strumming patterns become more complicated. I still spend a few minutes strumming with muted strings when I learn a new pattern. Then when you can strum the pattern without thinking about it you are ready to strum the pattern while changing chords.
Hello Kstel.
Welcome to JustinGuitar and this fantastic community. Please take your time to look around and get to know the wider space.
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Richard
Hi Kstel,
Welcome to the community forum.