This month’s TileLetter’s theme of Exterior Applications reminds me how much our trade is built on exposure: to the elements, to challenges, and to growth.

My journey started early. At 12 years old, I began spending my summers, Thanksgiving breaks, Christmas breaks, and spring breaks working on commercial job sites as a laborer, helper, and apprentice. That continued through my school years. Stepping into my 20s, I progressed to tile setter, running projects across Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

Like many of you, I learned this craft hands-on, reading plans out in the field, prepping substrates, setting tile, and solving problems in real time.

Around 2002, at about 31 years old, I transitioned into the office at C.C. Owen. Going from the field to an office environment was quite the transition for a guy with leather hands. I began learning estimating, project management, budgeting, scheduling, and contract negotiations. I had to understand hiring, discipline, and how to motivate people through emotional intelligence.

It was during that time that I attended my first NTCA Total Solutions event, now called Tile Solutions Plus. That experience was a game changer. Growing up in a family business can unintentionally create a silo. Total Solutions exposed me to new ideas, different business models, and opportunities I hadn’t fully understood.

In 2011, I stepped into the role of president at C.C. Owen. Implementing new policies and stepping outside our comfort zone wasn’t always easy. Change rarely is. But growth requires it. As we’ve all heard, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.

Exterior tile work teaches that same lesson. When we build assemblies for the outdoors, we account for expansion, moisture management, proper substrates, drainage, and movement. You can’t cut corners, because the environment will expose those weaknesses quickly.

Business works the same way.

Over the past year, I’ve shared the Ten Essential Acumen skills with you: Financial, Market, Technological, Leadership, Strategic, Negotiation, Risk Management, Problem-Solving, People Management, and Ethical Acumen. I didn’t share them simply to fill pages. I shared them because I’ve had to learn them—sometimes the hard way. They are the difference between surviving and building something that lasts.

I’ve served on many boards, committees, and industry groups over the years, and every one of them stretched me. You don’t grow in isolation. Put yourself out there. Learn from your peers. Invest in your own development.

At the end of the day, I’m just a tile setter who learned to become a businessman. If I can do it, you can too. Keep building strong foundations, in your installations and in your leadership.

Sincerely,

Rod Owen
President, NTCA
Rod.Owen@ccowen.us