Making Space for All Professionals in Metal Construction

By Anna Lockhart.  

There’s a place for everyone in metal construction, and these industry professionals are working hard to encourage women to join the trade through their own testimonies.  

In a special MetalTalk™ episode live from the METALCON tradeshow floor, Heidi J. Ellsworth sat down with Kelli Nolden of Done Right Home Maintenance, Michelle Kettering of LTD Exteriors and John Sheridan of Sheridan Metal Resources to discuss their experiences working in the trade and how important it is to support women who wish to pursue a career in metal construction. 

John has served the metal roofing industry for decades, and for the last twenty years he has trained many young professionals looking to master the art of metal roofing. He shared that he formed a great interest in making a welcoming space for women who wanted to learn the trade and teamed up with women leaders in the industry to make that happen. He explained that, through conversations with women in the trade like Michelle, Kelli and Heidi, who are interested in the trainings and getting involved, they’ve come a long way in sparking an interest for other women looking to take on metal construction, too.  

Michelle, who owns a company based out of North Carolina with her husband, shared that after hearing her husband had taken one of John’s roof installation training courses, she wanted to try it out as well. So, she got up there and did just that! “John and I discussed training and bringing women in, and it was really exciting to talk to John about it because he was very intrigued by bringing women in. He wanted to actually do something to make it happen,” she shared.  

Kelli shared that, similar to Michelle, she found an opportunity to take one of John’s training courses. Working with her husband and owning a company that mainly worked with stone coated steel shingles, she wanted to try out the installation processes for herself. “He showed me how to run the panels, how to do the ends, how to do this, that, and I had everything. By the time we were done, I ran the panels, did all the end work.”  

With these experiences, Michelle and Kelli continued to work with John in finding ways to bring more women into the trade, making metal roofing and metal construction accessible for those who may not realize there’s an opportunity like this.  

Read the transcript, Listen to the conversation or Watch the interview to learn more about the work John, Kerri and Michelle are doing to spark an interest in a metal construction career for women.