At just 18, James Pope is breaking ground in flooring installation after completing a 10-week course at Great Falls College, Montana, through the Floor Covering Education Foundation (FCEF) and its training partners. 

He credits homeschooling and his parents with helping him decide on a career path. “Being homeschooled definitely helped [me] pave my own way and decide which direction I wanted to go. I had very supportive parents; my dad was in a white-collar job and I don't have a ton of blue-collar family members, but they were still very encouraging. They presented [the trades] as an option to me and that was really good.”

Pope’s grandfather worked in the trades, and according to Pope, also played a role in introducing him to the trades. “He was in the trades all his life and that was something that made sense to him.”

Chad Swift, owner, Floors & More Abbey Carpets in Great Falls, mentored Pope throughout his education journey, speaking with him about the benefits of the trades, how flooring installation can be a lucrative career option and assisting him with job placement following graduation from the program. 

Here, Pope shares his experience in the program, the support he received along the way and his thoughts on his generation’s perception of the trades. The following are excerpts of our conversation, which you can listen to in its entirety below.  

Floor Trends & Installation: How did you hear about the basic floorcovering installation program and where did you take the course?

James Pope: This is at Great Falls College in Great Falls MSU. It's one of the main universities around. I heard about it through my brother-in-law. He does windows for Chad Swift's dad. I called Chad because Micah (brother-in-law) gave me his number, and I talked to him a little bit about it and he told me what the whole program was about. I thought it sounded like a really solid direction to go in, and I went from there. I signed up for the program and got set up.

Floor Trends & Installation: What was most appealing to you about the program?

Pope: I knew I wanted to be in the trades, but I didn't know which one I wanted to do. My original plan was to go to the trade school that's up in Havre, which is about 30 miles from the Canadian border in Montana. They have the most comprehensive trades program in the state. They have welding and pipe fitting and plumbing and electrician. I was going to be an electrician or a plumber, something like that. I liked this better because the tuition was a lot cheaper. And, you know, speaking with Chad, he made me realize that this is actually a very lucrative business, and it's a very rewarding trade. I suppose it just gave me that direction that I wanted to go in, that I can try this, and even if I don't like it, it's a good skill to have, and I'll have my foot in the door for maybe another trade.

Floor Trends & Installation: Is it fair to say that Chad has really been kind of a mentor through this process for you?

Pope: He absolutely has, and he's been teaching the class the whole time. So, all my classmates, he's been mentoring us all on the business side of things as well because he owns a business. He's been a great mentor and help and support throughout the whole program.

One of the first experiences in the classroom with Chad was we were actually talking about flooring history. That's something that I feel like if you told somebody, "Oh, yeah, I'm interested in flooring history," they might think, "Oh, yawn, I don't want to hear about that." But Chad is interested in that kind of thing, and it was really cool to see him enthusiastic about that.

Floor Trends & Installation: Tell me what it was like going through the program and completing each of the different flooring categories. Which ones did you really enjoy? Which ones do you feel like you connected with?

Pope: So, the structure of the classes themselves is we would have two weeks dedicated to each material: resilient, hardwood, carpet, and tile. Then, we had a week in the beginning [where] they taught us how to prep; they taught us how to use leveling patch; and they taught us some history and got us warmed up to the whole trade itself. The last week was focused on the business side of things. Being a good employee versus a great employee was something we went over. 

 The way we would structure for each [course] was we would have a little bit of classroom time at the beginning where we would talk about the material, how it's made, how it's installed, the economics of that material. The rest of the time was working with it, just laying. We had these little eight-by-eight modules that we would lay the floor in that the college made for us. We would have fake walls that would protrude from either side. It would be like a closet or something. They taught us how to use the different tools, different techniques, things to make it go faster. It was very comprehensive. For having only two weeks on each material, it was fairly comprehensive.

Floor Trends & Installation: Did your classmates have a similar experience as you? Do you feel that they were really connecting with the material and felt like they were learning a lot?

Pope: I do feel like that. We were lucky because we got really great instructors who made it engaging. It's an already engaging thing, and everybody was there to learn, and that's a good environment to learn in. Yes, I definitely feel like they connected with the teaching process, and it worked out really well for them.

Floor Trends & Installation: How many of you were there?

Pope: We had six.

Floor Trends & Installation: Now that you're done, what are your thoughts for the future as far as flooring installation?

Pope: Chad was really great at explaining to us our options. We had a lot of time dedicated to the business side of things because the original plan for this was we have to work for two years under a licensed installer. After two years, you can go out on your own to become an independent contractor. But the way it works is for the first two years, basically our names are blacklisted so that we cannot be hired as independent contractors. At least in the state of Montana. It's a pretty tight-knit community of those business owners. They know each other and they talk. So, the idea is to start your own business after two years. 

Personally, I think I'd like to at least work a little bit longer than that. I'm not sure if the business route is the way that I want to go because you can still make a killing just being an employee. It's an industry where you can absolutely do that and make a career out of it. I'm not close to the idea of starting my own business and I'll stay open to it, but for now, I think I'd just like to be an employee and go work for somebody.

We talked about what making $100,000 with your business means and how much of that is actual take-home pay, and the calls on the weekend. I'm the kind of person [who] likes to leave work at work and home at home. I don't want to take that with me everywhere. Having a business just doesn't quite interest me and managing people, things like that.

Floor Trends & Installation: What did you enjoy most about the program overall?

Pope: I definitely really loved the installation process. Like I said, we had great teachers. The teachers were very engaging and they knew what they were doing and what they were contributing to, and most of them were business owners. So, they're taking time out of their day to go do this, and they knew that they were doing a good thing. I'd say the hands-on learning was the great part. The camaraderie was great. At the beginning of the class, I could barely remember anybody's name, but by the end, we all know each other, and we've all got nicknames and we can joke around and be a community of workers. It was really great to interact and make those friendships and those connections with my other classmates.

Floor Trends & Installation: What was the support like throughout the program from FCEF?

Pope: The support was really great. I know they took care of the tools for us, and they've been incredibly supportive. I believe her name is Kaye. She came in for a day and spoke with us for a little bit and talked about the state of the trades and that this is a good career route and kind of what it looks like on an economic side. It was really good to have her there and talk to us about those kinds of things. The support's been really great from them. I understand that these programs are tough to pull off, but the support's been outstanding.

Floor Trends & Installation: Now that you're through it, I know you don't have a full understanding yet of the industry and what you mean to us, but how does it feel to know that you're the next generation of flooring installer?

Pope: It feels really great, especially since five months ago, I wouldn't have even thought of flooring installation as a career. It's really cool to go from not even really knowing it exists to being the next generation of installers. It's definitely been the case that a lot of the trades’ guys are older guys who are starting to retire, and that knowledge goes with them. The main guy who's been teaching us installation, he mainly taught us carpet and resilient, Dwayne Osterman. He's retired. He's taking time out of his retirement to come and teach us, and that's been really great. He was a great teacher, and it's good to keep that knowledge alive because it's very valuable and it's good to pass on.

Floor Trends & Installation: How do your peers feel about the trades we discussed? You had a great phrase. You call them the tool belt generation. Can you speak to that a little bit?

Pope: The circle that I've grown up in, especially in Montana, which is a very working-class state. There's a lot of industry here for miners, and the smelting of iron, things like that and natural resources. I know all of my friends have great views of the trades—that it's an incredibly lucrative thing. I've got a friend who's a girl who's going to become a mechanic someday. I've got friends who are going into law enforcement. I'd classify that as a blue-collar job. It's been really great to grow up in that environment because that helps me realize that that's a career path that I can take and having support from my peers is great and having that relatability too of this is something that we both like.

I'd say the main thing is parents, how they encourage their kids. Like that girl I was talking about. Her dad's a mechanic. So, it's that passed-down knowledge and it's definitely in the area and it's other areas of the country. I'd like to think that it is spreading outwards a little bit.

Like you were saying earlier, the tool belt generation. I love that term because I definitely see the people who shirk responsibility in my generation, the people who don't like working and don't appreciate hard work and its value to society. I absolutely see that. But I think I try to be hopeful for the future, but I also try to be a realist and I absolutely see this return to harder work that produces value for other people and that responsibility that's being taken on in my peer group. I think it creates a better image, and I appreciate it and I try to encourage it amongst people who are my age.

Floor Trends & Installation: What advice do you have for people in your generation who are maybe on the fence about going to college or entering the trades? What advice would you give them to help them make that decision?

Pope: I think it's really important...I forget who said it, but there's a quote, “Know thyself.” If you want to be a lawyer, you got to get a degree for that. You have to go to college for that. But if being a lawyer or being a doctor or any of these other career choices doesn't fit you, I'd recommend just get entry-level jobs in the trades that you can get. 

Before I did this, I quit my job to do the class full time. I was what people like to call a gopher or more properly a laborer. I worked for a general contractor taking loads to the dump. He had a painter working under him that I would work for, and I did all the caulking and spackling—all the grunt work that everybody's too busy and overqualified to do. So, getting a job in that kind of thing definitely helped me realize that I did appreciate that kind of work and creating that sort of value by working with my hands and being able to build something. 

I'd say getting an entry-level job in the trades is definitely a really good way to do it. Do some research on different jobs. I did so much research and still didn't know that flooring was an option, but I remember looking up on YouTube different trade jobs that might interest me. I definitely think just get into it and try it.

Compiled using Edisource International Newsdesk with AI Smart Assist.