TileLetter is the industry's leading tile magazine

Saturday, February 1, 2025

The industry’s leading tile installation magazine

Sign me up!

Three magical words that can change your professional path

Becoming involved in the tile industry as a member of the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) could be a life changing experience both professionally and personally.” You have likely read statements like this many times in TileLetter and other publications. You’ve probably heard it at industry trade shows and tile training events. I consider myself and my career in tile proof this is true.

I lived and worked as a tile contractor in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. As it happens all over the United States, local contractors and installers share ideas and information to answer questions and become the best they can be. I was part of this networking in my area. I owned the tile industry’s published installation standards (ANSI documents) and methods (Tile Council of North America Handbook) and I did my best to understand and follow their guidance. I knew I did not know everything there was to know. I was confident but knew I could be much better if I had some sort of professional backup. I wanted to be the best I could be at my chosen profession. Being a tile expert was important to my customers and my business bottom line.

Taking stock of what you know

Like you, I’m good at many things. One thing I am good at is looking in the mirror and doing some introspection. I ask myself, “Do I know all I need to know? What are my strengths, abilities, weaknesses? How can I improve? What questions do I need to ask? Where can I find the answers? Who can help?” Phil Woodruff of Schluter Systems, a mentor of mine, encouraged me to attend a Schluter workshop where I met Scott Carothers of the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF), then immediately became both an NTCA member and a CTEF Certified Tile Installer (CTI). It was an easy decision and a simple process. All I had to do was say the words “Sign me up!” Those three simple words profoundly changed my professional path.

As a tile contractor, it was an easy decision for me to become an NTCA member. Shortly afterwards I was extra-fortunate when an NTCA staff position opened and I was hired as a trainer. My role on NTCA staff began in January 2016. I wasn’t here to mess around. I had a license to learn and be mentored by the Who’s Who of top tile industry experts. I have learned so much from so many. It has been my primary role to instruct others but I have had to continuously learn and participate along the way. Ultimately, I have had the chance of a lifetime to help other professionals, influence change and make the impact of NTCA training larger than ever. My nine-year tenure as NTCA’s Training Director has flown by.

As NTCA’s Training Director, many people have asked me why they should bother to attend training or to send employees to training. They wonder what their return on investment is. After all, it takes time and sometimes travel – and it costs money, even though NTCA training events are free to attend. I’ve responded to this question hundreds of times in dozens of different ways. I’ve boiled it down to this simple truth – There ain’t nothin’ easy or simple about tile – don’t ever let anyone try to convince you otherwise. NTCA training is professional development for tile industry professionals. Where else can you get unbiased training, education and possibly professional life-changing information and skills for free?

Unbiased experts

By unbiased I mean this: NTCA training is simultaneously very simple and extremely complex. NTCA trainers are not there to try to sell you any products or materials or tools. This is the easy part – they are not sales people. They are not there to rubber stamp any old way to install tile. The hard part of their job is to be an expert at tile industry standards and methods and to introduce you to those standards and methods in a way that will connect you to the tile industry at a higher level of understanding. Their job is to guide you in selecting and using a wide array of materials and tools to create successful tile installations following the guidance of industry recognized standards, methods, best practices and manufacturer instructions. Their job is to ask you to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you know all that you can possibly know about your trade, your craft, your profession and to open yourself up to some information that could help you achieve a higher level of performance.

We all have egos. Tile installers are some of the biggest prima donnas I know. And you know what, they deserve it. There ain’t nothin’ easy or simple about tile. But don’t get caught up in what you think you know. Set your ego aside. Open yourself up to learning or seeing things in a new light. An NTCA training event is a safe place to do this, but we ain’t there to mess around. We are there to help you help yourself.

Challenge yourself: and receive an incomparable ROI


Former NTCA Training Director Mark Heinlein started out seeking excellence for his own knowledge, and then gained the opportunity of sharing that with tile contractors and industry professionals around the country!

Try becoming an NTCA member. Challenge yourself to become a CTEF CTI. If I can do it, so can you. Be brave. Say “Sign me up!” and anyone on NTCA or CTEF staff or dozens of NTCA Ambassadors across the country can assist you. You will be warmly welcomed by hundreds and you will have the opportunity to discover and become involved in an industry like no other as a functioning member of the American tile industry – all through a little involvement through your professional association, the National Tile Contractors Association. 

I don’t typically ask people to do something that I haven’t done or wouldn’t do myself. Do what I did. Challenge yourself. Do it for you, your clients, your bottom line. The door is open and waiting. The return on investment is astounding.

Thank you to Bart Bettiga, Jim Olson, my incomparable colleagues on NTCA Staff, our Executive Committee, Directors and Ambassadors, our members and the hundreds of mentors I have had in my tenure in the tile industry and on NTCA Staff. You know who you are. You have made me better professionally and personally. Our future is bright!

Mark Heinlein
Training Director at  |  + posts

Mark Heinlein, CTI#1112, is the former Training Director for the National Tile Contractors Association (2015-2024) and a former Ceramic Tile Education Foundation evaluator for the Certified Tile Installer program. Heinlein owned Mark Heinlein Surfaces of Negaunee, Michigan prior to working with NTCA.

Previous article
- Advertisment -

Most Popular

- Advertisment -