b'WOMEN IN TILE 2020tions, women earn 99.1% of whatWhen Suiter and Lex moved to a men make. Only .9% to go to closenew Smoky Mountain fixer-upper, the gender pay gap entirely! Lex continued to learn, and helped AsKatieMichael-Battaglia,to build a tiny backyard farm.DesignDirectorforNemoTile+I taught her like my dad did, one Stonesaidinherprofilebelow,project at a time, how to use all the Any career that a woman can do istools,Suitersaid.Somepeople a great career for a woman to do.wouldbehorrifiedtohavetheir In this, the 10th anniversary of the9-year old using a chop saw to cut Women in Tile feature in TileLetter,board lengths for our new chicken we meet three women from variouscoop, from measurements shouted walks of our industry, and hone ouracross the yard, but it was just natu-appreciation of what women bringral working alongside each other.to the tile industry. This years lineupThen,inBoulder,Colo.,Suiter includesKatieMichael-Battaglia,wasdoingtileworkforashoddy DawnMarieSuiter,co-owneroflocalremodelingcontractor.She Strong Work Renovations, LLC, andresearchedeachjob,readbags NTCAsownMichelleChapman,ofmortarandgrout,watchedSal whoiscelebratingher20thyear with NTCA in 2020. Dawn Marie SuiterStrong Work Renovations, LLCTheresultingremodelingboom afterthe1994Northridgeearth-quakesetaseriesofeventsin motionforDawnMarieSuiterto embark on a new career. Her pathLex (left) and mom Dawn Marie Suiter began with woodworking and fin- working together.ishcarpentryandbroughtherto her current position as a remodeler who focuses on tilework, in busi-ness with her daughter.Suiter fell in love with the physi-cal and mental challenge of remod-eling,thecreativityitdemanded and the freedom for her to be her own boss. Her daughter Lexington (Lex) was a toddler and practicallyLex (right) started helping on the job as a toddler; now she and her mom Dawn cutherteethonthiswork,andSuiter form the backbone of Strong grew in skill level as she got older.Work Renovations, LLC.56TileLetter | October 2020'