You may be familiar with R&R’s annual Ladder Award, honoring outstanding young restoration professionals 35 years and younger who are climbing the ladder of success and shaping the future of this industry. These individuals exhibit leadership, drive, innovation, care for clients and colleagues, community service and a clear passion for the industry. 

This special-edition Ask the Expert episode features a prestigious panel of Ladder Award finalists from 2020 and 2021 — the best of the best. They share innovative ways they are helping advance the restoration industry, as well as their vision for its future. 

R&R Editor-in-Chief Valerie King moderated this roundtable in-person during The 2021 Experience Convention & Trade Show in Las Vegas. R&R received such great interest and feedback that we wanted to give everyone an opportunity to watch or listen. This virtual roundtable brings the panel back together in a format the wider industry can tune into on-demand. 

Millennials are now the largest generation in the labor force at over 56 million. As the property restoration industry struggles to attract new talent, works to ensure a workforce lives on once baby boomers retire, and invests in the adoption new technology, celebrating and learning from these rising young professionals is especially valuable. They provide fresh answers to the important issues noted above and so many more. 

This episode features:

  • Nicole Humber, CEO, Bravo Restoration & Construction (2020 Ladder Award Winner)
  • Andrea Stenberg, Emergency Services Production Cleaning Manager, Paul Davis Restoration of Portland / Vancouver (2021 Ladder Award Winner)
  • Tiffany Meece, Director of Commercial Marketing, First Onsite Property Restoration (2021 Ladder Award First Runner-Up)
  • Cameron Denommee, Director of Operations, ServiceMaster by Gilmore (2021 Ladder Award Second Runner-Up) 

This episode covers:

  • Personal and professional growth through grit
  • Skillsets needed to join the property restoration industry
  • Hiring for culture and training for skill
  • Employee engagement through formal mentoring programs
  • Training tailored to unique learning styles
  • Biggest career challenges faced
  • Top tools and technology
  • How the panel would like to see technology utilized by the industry into the future
  • Imposture syndrome
  • Key ways the panel would like to see the property restoration industry evolve
  • Leading from any chair – tips for others sitting in similar seats
  • Building beneficial industry relationships 
  • Resources for fueling growth – from books to podcasts to industry events
  • Advice they would give to their younger selves
  • Key things that motivate them as young professionals, that they seek from their place of work 

Check out this episode of Ask the Expert to learn more. You can watch the video here or listen to the audio version of our conversation here. You can also find our show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Just search for Restoration & Remediation Ask the Expert, then hit Follow.

Email [email protected] to be considered for a guest spot on Ask the Expert.