MEMBER SPOTLIGHT –––––––––––––––––– sponsored by At the ripe old age of 13, I was set- ting tile. In the neighborhood where I grew up, the man next door was a tile man and so was his dad. They were looking for a helper to scrape and sweep floors, carry tile and fetch water. I figured I could do that. That was almost 47 years ago. I worked summers for them until graduating from high school and then was offered a job at a union tile shop. By then I had – techni- cally – four years of tile experience and was awarded a journeyman’s card. My boss must have figured I was worth it because he paid me the $12.74/hr. scale back then. I worked for that shop until the economy took a downturn in the late ‘70s. With interest rates for home mortgages over 20%, new home starts stopped. So, at the age of 23, on January 1, 1981, I was unemployed and self-employed on the same day. As a young husband and father of our first son, I did anything I needed to do to pay the bills. I had a little experience with other trades as well so I did insur- ance repair work to keep the doors of my young business open. Fast forward many years to now. I am husband to my wife Gail of almost 40 years, and proud dad of three grown sons: Chad, Brett and Ryan. My middle son Brett works with me in our Gilberts, Ill., remodel- ing company (www.facebook.com/ Phil5555). I have resisted the counsel from many over the years that insist- ed, “You NEED to hire more guys and run more crews and make more money.” I enjoy just Brett and I work- ing together. We control the quantity and quality of our work, and for over 30 years I have been blessed to fill my schedule with no-compete reference jobs almost exclusively. Although we do full remodel and build outs, TILE is still the trade most near and dear to me. I love Almost 50 years of tile-setting excellence, with a family twist By Phil Green P.G.C. Construction, Remodeling and Design Phil Green (l.) with son Brett. 58 TileLetter | November 2017