MEMBER SPOTLIGHT –––––––––––––––––– sponsored by GUD Vibrations Manitoba tilesetter discovers his professional passion on the cusp of fatherhood NTCA is an international asso- ciation, and as such, in this issue, we present to you a member from Manitoba, Canada – Gudbrandsson Tile & Stone (www.facebook.com/ gdtileflooring), which installs tile and stone in mostly residential renovations and new homes, with occasional commercial hand-craft- ed specialty projects. Brandur Gudbrandsson was working as a trucker until the dis- covery that he would soon be dad to a daughter helped bring his passion into laser-like focus. At the time, he learned his best friend for 17 years was also having a child. That became the impetus to start in the tile and flooring industry, with Gudbrandsson’s only knowledge stemming from “being in and out of the trade for 10 years.” Gudbrandsson quit driving and began buying tiling tools until he hit a bump in the road. “Ironically, my buddy of 17 years did not want to continue after one month of work and we found out our sixth-great-grandfathers were half brothers,” he said. “He became a professional trucker; I became a professional tilesetter.” Gudbrandsson’s grandfather said, “Stand still, nothing accom- plished.” Standing still wasn’t good enough for Gudbrandsson. “ When I had to take the leap of being a dad, I told myself follow my pas- sion and I will succeed,” he said. “I thank my daughter for where I am today – and my grandfather’s Gudbrandsson Tile & Stone Brandur Gudbrandsson joined NTCA in 2016 due to the influence of fel- low Tile Geeks tilesetters he admired. Gudbrandsson drove from Manitoba to Chicago in 2016 to attend Coverings; Dave Karp gave him a warm welcome. 60 TileLetter | March 2017