Hands-on training empowers roofing professionals

By The Coffee Shops®. 

Roofing professionals practice installation techniques and receive immediate feedback from experienced trainers. 

During a Polyschool training event, The Coffee Shops® team hosted a live CoatingsCast webinar with featured guests Ali Spingler, Marie Ferrera and Kelsey Archer to discuss how hands-on learning and expert-led training can empower those new to the industry. Roofing professionals gathered at Polyglass’ corporate headquarters for the second annual women’s training event focused on education, practical experience and professional connection. 

Ally Spingler, district sales manager for Southwest Florida at Polyglass, introduced the program as “Empowering Through Education” and explained its hands-on focus. “This is our second annual women's event,” she said. “We're super excited to demo a lot of our products here for both our audience live as well as those of you out in the worldwide web.” 

The event reflects the broader growth of Poly School. What began primarily as product training for sales teams and small groups of contractors has expanded to serve roofing professionals, larger contractor groups and internal employees. 

Central to that education is a “tell, show, do, apply” philosophy. As Marie explained, “I'm telling you about the product. I'm going to show you, hands-on, what I expect you guys to do. That way I can give you feedback and it can be applied later on your jobsite, so you retain better, and then we give you proper feedback at that time.” 

That approach became tangible as trainers moved from discussion into demonstrations, giving attendees an opportunity to see how installation details affect the finished roofing system. 

The women-driven event also created space for attendees to learn from one another while discussing challenges women face in the industry. That combination of conversation and hands-on education connected professional development directly to what happens on the roof. 

As the program demonstrated, training is not simply about knowing a product. It is about understanding how to install it correctly and building the confidence to apply that knowledge in the field. 

Listen to the recording or Watch the full webinar to learn more about hands-on roofing education.