In this issue of TileLetter – which we envision as training and education in print – we explore a few practices, ideas and opportunities that can help you be better equipped to manage your business and excel.

First, we talk to several tile installation entrepreneurs about staying motivated in their day-to-day work, from embracing the freedom to be their own bosses, to tackling discouragements, achieving balance and how they cultivate support when needed.

Our Workplace Wellness story focuses on a practice called Self-Nurturing Therapy that can enhance your ability to connect with others and boost your leadership skills by helping you face – instead of fear – your vulnerabilities.

Installers rely on prep work to ready every project to receive tile. Equally important is the prep work of learning new aspects of the trade. Our Training and Education section takes a look at two recent NTCA training opportunities that expand the knowledge and skills of attendees. A workshop at Louisville Tile’s Nashville, Tenn., location with celebrity designer Jennifer Farrell and NTCA Training Director Mark Heinlein offered a one-two punch of information about tile trends and technical details that – taken together – help build a successful installation. In Jackson, Miss., attendees at the NTCA’s gauged porcelain tile panels and slab training at BPI got hands-on experience in working with these popular products – and were treated to a visit from Jackson-based NTCA Executive Director Bart Bettiga and Executive Director Emeritus Joe Tarver.

NTCA is expanding its vision for the association, and NTCA President Sam Bruce uses his letter to talk about this new direction, the people who will help lead us into the future, and those who helped get us to where we are today. Speaking of new directions, Donato Pompo of UofCTS has written a paper about a new commitment to training and growth in the industry, featuring an intro by Bart Bettiga. Read a summary of the in-depth paper here, and read the entire article in the October digital TileLetter.

If you are a tile contractor, it’s a pretty good bet that you’ve had to work with sinks and drains, and possibly have even installed a few! CTEF’s Scott Carothers examines what the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) allows tile contractors to do and not to do when it comes to plumbing – and how that varies by location.

Contributing writer Amanda Mourelatos talked with NTCA Member Troy Servais of Servais Tile & Stone, Inc., as the company celebrates its 50th year as a second-generation tile contractor.

And our cover story details a mural project in Watsonville, Calif., that uses LATICRETE setting materials and Fireclay Tile products to bring local artist Kathleen Crocetti’s vision of celebrating the diverse community to life.

Thank you for spending some time with TileLetter. This is YOUR magazine. If there is a topic or story you’d like to see in it, contact me at my email!

God bless,