Ulas Maris, Maris Tile PRO: certification helps the trade and raises the bar QUALIFIED LABOR –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Ulas Maris thought he had everything under control when he walked into the Certified Tile Installer (CTI) exam. “From a distance, it looked so easy a monkey could do it,” Maris said. “When I actually started doing it I found out that it was something serious and I needed to show my skills and get it done perfectly.” Maris has been a tile installer for 17 years and has owned his own shop, Maris Tile PRO, for 13 years. Even with all of this expe- rience, Maris still wasn’t sure he was going to pass the exam. “I thought I wasn’t going to make it and I almost stopped and quit,” Maris said. The CTI exam is a test of a tile installer’s skill and knowledge. Now that Maris is certified, he has a way to prove to his clients that he is skilled and trustworthy. “I have always done installation by the book, but being a CTI puts me in a dif- ferent place in the eye of the people I work for,” he said. “They have even more trust in me and my company than before,” Maris explained. The CTI exam pro- vides tile installers the oppor- tunity to show their expertise. “Everyone should take the hands- on test seriously, even if you are a professional already,” Maris said. Certification helps to lift the profile of the tile industry as a whole. The more tile install- ers that are certified, the more trusted the tile industry will be. “Certification is important because your clients deserve the best,” Maris said. Maris believes in certification and professional involvement By Terryn Rutford, Social Structure Marketing Ulas Maris, owner of Maris Tile PRO. 80 TileLetter | July 2017