Tradespeople are a unique blend of engineers, artisans, mathema- ticians, marketers, and business- people. All of this takes education – but it won’t be the kind found in college prep classes. It may be at the hands of a skilled family member, an apprenticeship pro- gram, trades classes that teach the basics or skills gleaned at industry training sessions hosted by manu- facturers or associations like the NTCA. Successful tile setters are a well-educated lot, who consis- tently expose themselves to new product information, new meth- odology and continually upgrade their know-how and materials. Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs, tries to get the message across. You can find out more and spread the word about the mission of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, here: http://profoundlydisconnected. com/foundation/. One of the things he is advocating and is involved in is SkillsUSA. You’ll find a story on page 94 of this issue about the CEFGA Career Expo and SkillsUSA for Georgia, in which NTCA partic- ipated – and is looking to carry this model to more states across the country. In addition to this initia- tive, NTCA is making great strides in its online Apprentice Program through NTCA University. But we need to spread the word – let young people know there are viable opportunities in the trades – specifically in tileset- ting and contracting – and direct them to resources that can help them carve a career path that will serve them well, as well as our industry. Do what you can to be involved. Maybe your local high school sponsors a career day in which you can speak from a tile- setter’s perspective about oppor- tunities that await them. We need positive models of tradespeople that give real-world perspectives that differ from how trade work- ers are often depicted in media and entertainment, which hasn’t helped the image very much. Are you successful at what you do? Do you have a strong presence in your community? Think about sponsor- ing a group of high schoolers at your shop or a local distributor showroom for a morning or after- noon of learning about what the trade holds. Draw on Mike Rowe’s resources, the NTCA, what manu- facturers can provide. Let your light as a successful tile setter creating beautiful settings and making a good living at doing it shine. The tile industry is a good thing. Let’s not keep it a secret! God bless, Lesley lesley@tile-assn.com EDITOR'S LETTER –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 14 TileLetter | April 2017