The roofing industry does not require a college degree in order to be successful, but should you go to college?. In our industry, owners, and employees are judged by the value they bring to their respective marketplaces, and not by the level of education their customers either perceive or request for them to have.
That being said, there are many advantages to going to college. As a former aspiring teacher, Roofing Insights CEO Dmitry Lipinskiy knows full well the benefits that a college degree can have.
During a recent conversation with Elizabeth Calzadilla, the owner of Business 411, Lipinskiy brought up the topic of college degrees, and their place in the ever-evolving market that is roofing.
“Would you recommend someone going to college?”
Lipinskiy asked as the two comfortably sat inside Calzadilla’s Florida home.
“It depends on what you want to be,”
Calzadilla replied, adding that there is a value to attending business and marketing courses that don’t take place in traditional settings like college classrooms.
“It’s more important to be self-educated,”
she noted.
Regardless of where higher education takes place, the most important thing is that someone is making the effort to get better.
“Higher degree education will not hurt the janitor,”
Lipinskiy said, citing a Russian proverb that suggests that no matter what position one occupies, education will only benefit them.
This has a direct correlation to the roofing industry, where many roofers become complacent because they are not actively trying to educate themselves. Dmitry mentioned that this is where college can help those who aren’t self-motivated.
“If you go to college, you will learn how to learn,”
he said.
“I see it a lot in our industry. How many roofers do you know who just refuse to learn anything?”
he then asked Calzadilla.
“I don’t care if it’s how to install shingles or how to pass a test, they think they know it all.”
And as is the case with anyone in any industry, a refusal to be open to learning will only hinder growth, and that will ultimately affect one’s bottom line.
“The problem is because they didn’t go to college for anything,”
Lipinskiy continued.
“They never studied and now they don’t know how to study.”
Calzadilla knows firsthand the journey one has to take if they don’t follow the route of traditional education.
“I dropped out of high school. I dropped out because of the circumstances in my life, but it wasn’t because I didn’t want to study,”
Calzadilla said before sharing that immediately after dropping out she came back and got her diploma the next week, then transitioned into college the following year.
Calzadilla never finished college, but she knew she would still be successful because of values instilled in her at a young age.
“Where I learned how to learn was in bible class when I was five years old,”
she mentioned, describing how her mom routinely made her study various verses.
Lipinskiy also dropped out of college, but he too knew he would be successful because he shared a similar mindset as Calzadilla.
“I had three years to go [in college] and I made a decision to drop out and explore the world. That’s why I never graduated from university,”
Lipinskiy shared.
Fast forward almost two decades later, Lipinskiy has now mastered English as his second language, on top of running two extremely successful roofing companies.</p
His story offers a future Calzadilla can buy into, since she herself is still one year shy of her 25th birthday.
“I’m just getting started,”
she told Lipinskiy, and now she wants to help others experience the same success she’s having.
“Just be persistent and work hard,”
she advises others who are struggling to find their niche.
“You never know how far you’re going to go.”
What are your thoughts on college degrees in the roofing industry? Are they necessary?
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