Finding your path through mentorship

By Emma Peterson. 

A conversation on mentorship, opportunity and finding a career in roofing  

In a new episode of Roofing Road Trips®, we had the opportunity to host Chase Huang and Damien Holloway, the student champions of the 2025 SkillsUSA roofing competition, along with their mentor Tim Stephens, vice president of Architectural Sheet Metal, Inc. They shared their experiences in the roofing industry and the role that mentorship has played in the journey.  

Tim started the conversation by talking about how he got into the trade in the 1990s as a way to save up for soccer camp. He shared, “My career started because of a high school teacher in Pleasant Grove, Utah. He did roofing in the summers while he was off and he allowed a couple of us that were on the soccer team to come in the summer and install shingles to earn money for camp.”  

But a couple years after he graduated in 1995, he realized that he wanted to work outside and had enjoyed his time on the roof. After that realization, he found an opening as a roofer, got hired and has been part of the industry ever since. Fast-forward to 2021, he and a partner took over Architectural Sheet Metal in Florida. All because that one teacher in high school took Tim under his wing as his mentor and brought him onto the roof.  

And now, in a full circle moment, Tim gets to be that mentor figure for young roofers like Chase and Damien. Chase, who now works at Architectural Sheet Metal, shared a bit about how he met Tim:  

Back in 2025, I was studying in the building construction technology program at Orange Technical College. And my instructor introduced the class to the SkillsUSA and the commercial roofing competition...Initially I didn't intend to compete in the roofing program because I never envisioned myself as a roofer. However, I want to test my capabilities and see what I could do, and that motivated me to sign up for the SkillsUSA commercial roofing competition. 

As for Damien, he met Tim when he was a high schooler. He shared, “Around 2023, Tim came to my school with a presentation about commercial roofing. And then I was told we had an after-school program starting focused on it, and I decided to try it. From there, I learned about SkillsUSA, started practicing with Tim and made it all the way.”  

For both of these young professionals, Tim’s mentorship was a huge part of their journey to the national stage. Damien explained, “Tim really started teaching me from the moment he walked into the high school... And then he was the one who taught me everything from the after-school program.” For Tim, taking on this role was very intentional. As he put it, “We don’t necessarily know what we want, I didn’t know in high school. But all it takes is a little bit of mentorship, and you can definitely find a path. That’s what my goal was with these guys... And winning the competition.” 

Listen to the whole podcast to learn more about Tim, Chase and Damien’s experiences with SkillsUSA.