The next generation of roofing

By Emma Peterson. 

Young professionals shared their journeys and passion for the roofing industry. 

In a recent Coffee Conversations sponsored by Johns Manville, Megan Ellsworth hosted an incredible panel of Gen Z roofing professionals to talk about their journeys and experiences in the industry! This panel included Lilli Tillman Smith, an industry analyst at Principia; Cade Pack, the sales and product manager at Brettco Roofing; Mia Zamora, a management trainee with SRS Distribution; Brandon Menzel, an operations manager at Great Way Roofing; and Lane Maimon, the sales manager for Element Roofing. 

Lilli opened the conversation by sharing a bit about how she ended up at Principia, saying, “I graduated in 2020, and I had no prior experience in construction, building products or roofing, but I got lucky enough to just kind of fall into it. Now, I look at the world in a totally different way, I can see it every day, and it's really inspiring to me.”  

As for Mia, while she hadn’t grown up planning to join the industry, it’s been a part of the fabric of her life for a while. She shared, “My dad did gutters, some of my uncles own a construction company and I think seeing their hard work and how much pride they had in this industry showed me a lot of valuable lessons growing up. So, it felt natural when I joined SRS.” 

Cade’s story started like many others in the roofing industry – a summer job. But that job has quickly bloomed into a passion and career for him. He explained, “I didn't know much about roofing at all, but the amount of knowledge I get to know and to learn hooked me and keeps me engaged. It's just constant learning.” 

For Brandon, roofing has been a foundation in his life. He explained, “My dad started this company so early on and it’s always been a family company. People who were working for my dad were at the hospital when I was born, they held me when I was a newborn, so we've always kind of had this family company culture. Because of that, I always knew that joining and working with him was what I wanted in my life.”  

As for Lane, his connection to roofing was also through his dad. He shared, “I started working in sales selling solar, and I was kind of just spinning my wheels, and my dad was like, ‘Hey, why don't you just try to sell roofs? It ended up working out really well. I think within my first week, I sold four roofs, and it was just such an electric feeling, it was like something clicked for me and I knew this is what I wanted.”  

While each of their journeys into roofing is slightly different, the throughline for all of these young professionals is their dedication to growing and evolving with it. Lilli shared her thoughts, “I know Clemson just came out with a roofing minor, I know in Oklahoma they just made it a thing where you have to pass a written exam to get a roofing license, so I think as stuff like that comes out, more young people will see roofing as an education and a career.”  

Listen to the episode or Watch the recording to learn more about these incredible young professionals and their perspective on the roofing industry.