Juliann Carozza and Jake Tiernay - The Next Generation into Roofing and Summer Internships - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an live interview with Juliann Carozza and Jake Tiernay, the summer 2021 Tremco interns. You can read the interview below, or listen to the podcast. 

Speaker 1:
Welcome to Roofing Road Trips With Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a long term professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Hello, and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips. This is Heidi Ellsworth with Roofer's Coffee Shop, and I'm here today, road tripping all the way to Ohio. And we are going to be interviewing some up and coming, hopefully, roofing professionals. So it's pretty exciting. We're going to be talking to the interns of Tremco.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So Tremco has this amazing program, both Tremco and WTI, where they do serious internships every summer. And those interns get to be a part of the culture, they are working throughout, whatever department they may be in. And then a lot of times they even get to present at the end to leadership. So a lot of great things, and we wanted to take the time to really get to know some of these young people. So today I am here with Jake Tiernay and Juliann Carozza. They are marketing interns for Tremco this year. Welcome to the show both of you.

Juliann Carozza:
Hello.

Jake Tiernay:
Thank you for having us.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Oh, this is fun. I love gen Z and you too are the up and coming... You're the future for us so it's really fun to kind of learn what you've learned and see what you think. So before we get started with all that, let's start out with some introductions just to get to know you a little bit better. Where you're from, what school you're going to, what your degree's in. So Jake, why don't we start with you?

Jake Tiernay:
Hello, my name is Jake Tiernay. I'm originally from Brunswick, Ohio. That's just outside of Cleveland in northeast Ohio. I'm going to school at the Ohio State University that's down in Columbus. I currently live there. I'll be a senior this fall. My major is marketing, and that's my position at Tremco. I'm a marketing intern in the Tremco roofing department.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Excellent. Thank you, Jake. And Juliann?

Juliann Carozza:
Hello, I'm Julian Carozza. I am originally from North Royalton, Ohio, which is right outside of Cleveland. I go to the University of Cincinnati. I'm going to be a junior. I'm actually a public relations major with a minor in marketing, but I'm currently a marketing intern for Tremco Roofing.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Excellent. I work with the folks at Tremco marketing all the time. You guys have spent some really great people, really fun, great people to work with. Why don't you, actually, before we start about the whole experience and all the wonderful folks at Tremco, I'm really interested first, and we'll start with you, Jake, how did you find this internship? What was the process for you to get to Tremco?

Jake Tiernay:
Yeah, so I was actually a referral. My dad works for a company called Carboline. They're an industrial coatings company also owned by RPM. So he referred me in to Tremco.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Okay, great. So lesson learned, always check with your family and see who they know because you never know.

Jake Tiernay:
Definitely. Connections.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Connections. I shouldn't say this to you, but a lot of times we hear it's not what you know, it's who you know. But you obviously worked that out. So Juliann, how did you hear about Tremco and how'd you get into this internship?

Juliann Carozza:
I heard about the internship through my mom. My mom is a business developer for Tremco. So when she heard that the intern program was happening this year, I reached out to Jonathan and he got me started with the process.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is great. And that's Jonathan DeRosa, who is the head of marketing for Tremco, marketing communications. Awesome. Okay, let's start with you again, Juliann. What have you worked on this summer? Tell us all about it.

Juliann Carozza:
So I've been working on a wide range of different marketing and public relations projects. I've done making social media content, writing newsletters, editing emails or documents that other people, part of the marketing team sent us. I have designed a marketing banner, I've done how to guides, so I've done a wide range of different public relations and marketing things.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. That's great experience. Have you done this kind of stuff in school?

Juliann Carozza:
I've done some of this stuff in school, but I definitely did learn a lot this summer and been introduced to new things.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is great. Okay, Jake, what did you work on this summer?

Jake Tiernay:
Yeah, I pretty much did what Juliann did. I felt like we were filling in where the marketing team needed help. We've also had some overarching projects we've been working on as well. We were tasked with doing some market research in the UK. They wanted some direction and advice of maybe where they should look for business if we expand into the UK more. So that was the first time I've done any sort of market research report, final paper, sort of thing, but we're still working on that right now. Me and Juliann are actually working on that together.

Jake Tiernay:
Then we also have an overarching project with all the other interns. All the other interns are divided into two groups and we each give a 30 minute presentation at the end of our internship. That's actually this Thursday we're giving that presentation.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. What's it on?

Jake Tiernay:
Well, me and Juliann are actually in different groups. Mine is on coaching online and teaching online, like training online.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. Juliann, what's yours?

Juliann Carozza:
Mine's about the onboarding process and then engagement through a remote world.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. That is pretty relevant right now, right? Since I'm looking at both of you working remote. Kind of share that. This summer you've been working remote, both of you from your houses. And Juliann, how's that worked for you?

Juliann Carozza:
It was a little adjustment, but from working remote throughout the school year it wasn't that different. I do wish that we could be in the corporate office, but I did still learn a lot and it was fun.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Awesome. Jake, how's that been for you?

Jake Tiernay:
Yeah, the adjustment itself wasn't too difficult because, as well, I had school online last year, but I definitely feel like we're missing out on some of the social aspects. I still get some of the emails of the group events they do up at the office and I just wish I could maybe be a part of some of them.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know. Well, hopefully next summer, you never know. Hopefully we'll be passed [crosstalk 00:07:03] this. Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So Jake, let's start with you. You came into this. What do you think of the roofing industry?

Jake Tiernay:
Coming into this, I honestly didn't know much about the roofing industry and I was blown away by just how many products even Tremco has, but just how many different types of systems there are in general. [crosstalk 00:07:27].

Heidi Ellsworth:
Who knew that [crosstalk 00:07:28] went to a roof?

Jake Tiernay:
Yes. It gave me a lot of respect for the sales guys, especially that will just know every single product. It's insane, really?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. It is nuts. And Juliann, what do you think of the roofing industry?

Juliann Carozza:
Coming into this, I knew absolutely nothing about the roofing industry. So I did learn so much. Honestly, it's complicated. There's a lot to it that goes into building roofs, selling roofs. But I did learn a lot this summer

Heidi Ellsworth:
Now you said your mom was in business development at Tremco, right?

Juliann Carozza:
Yes.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Did you grow up hearing her talk about roofing and the roofing market?

Juliann Carozza:
Not really roofing exactly because she just manages a region full of reps. So she'd talking about her reps and stuff and her boss and stuff like that, but not roofing exactly.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So I have two kids who are both now working for Roofer's Coffee Shop who grew up listening to us about roofing, so that's why I just had to ask. Sometimes we'd be driving down the road and we'd play games like what kind of roof is that? But you never know.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So from where you started really not knowing anything and now where you're at at the end of the summer, Juliann, do you have interest in staying in the roofing industry? Is it appealing or kind of interesting?

Juliann Carozza:
It is interesting. I would like to have an internship in multiple different industries to see what exactly I like and what I would like to do, but it is an option. I am not against staying in the roofing industry. But I'm glad that I got this opportunity to learn about something new.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I tell you what too, there's so much to it, but you've got to be careful because once you're in roofing, a lot of times it's hard to get out. At least that's what happened to me when I started.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Jake, how about you? I love what you were saying about the sales team and knowing all those products. After having the experience this summer, is there interest in roofing?

Jake Tiernay:
For me I wouldn't say it's an interest in roofing, more an interest in marketing. That's what it's pretty reinforced in me. I definitely like marketing. I'm definitely glad I chose that as my specialization for business. Whether it's in roofing or not, I can't say, but I didn't dislike roofing. It was good.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. It's good. Good people. So let's talk about that, Jake, a little bit about your marketing. Marketing, there's a lot to it. Just like with Juliann, there's a focus on PR, you're getting to do research and development and you're doing a lot of different things. Has it changed during this internship from the beginning from where you started with what you thought you wanted to do to marketing where you're kind of at today?

Jake Tiernay:
I think it gave me good perspective on what a day in the life of a marketer is because from my classroom it's hard to imagine what you're going to be doing in a day to day job. So just seeing that, getting some exposure, that was good. I really like when we would brainstorm as a team, try to think of our direction, the overarching picture. How are our customers going to react to this? How are employees going to react to this? That's what really interests me about it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Yeah, I love that too. I love the people. That's a great part.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, Juliann, you are really interested in PR. We talked about this at the beginning of the summer. Has that changed? Do you have any other interests that have developed or are you now even more so like, "I love PR."

Juliann Carozza:
Yes, I do love PR. I would love to have a job that's more specific to public relations in the future, but we'll see what happens.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well and you count social media in that, too.

Juliann Carozza:
Yes, I do. yes.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, and social media is PR nowadays. It's changed a lot over the years for those who are listening. I'm going to start you with you Juliann, again. What advice would you give to future Tremco interns and other kids who are looking for internships? What kind of advice would you get them on how to find the internship and then what are best practices during that internship?

Juliann Carozza:
So for searching for an internship, I would say to use LinkedIn. I really liked LinkedIn when I was applying at several different internships. Also, like you said earlier, it is the people you know, so talk to family, talk to family friends.

Juliann Carozza:
And then for the roofing industry, or honestly any industry, I would say do your research before you start your job so you know more about the company specifically, who they affiliate with, the products they use. So that would be my advice to other future interns.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it. I love it. How about you, Jake?

Jake Tiernay:
I would say if you're still in school and you're looking for an internship, your school job fair is probably your best bet. I would go there. You can make a face to face connection with them right there. Definitely a good piece of advice, follow up with an email that night or the next day. That always helps.

Jake Tiernay:
As far as once you get the internship, I thought staying organized has helped a lot. I take notes, I make lists just keeping track of what's going on. And then always asking questions, reaching out when I need help. The team that we've worked with has been great. Everyone's super nice, super friendly, very helpful, so that hasn't been an issue.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's awesome. I really like too, you're getting this opportunity to really day to day work on the notes, the questions, and understanding the market. Do you see this as really something that you haven't had in school so much? An opportunity to kind of get that real world?

Jake Tiernay:
Definitely. We learned so much in school. It's hard to know exactly what you're going to need for later on, like what pieces you should really make sure to hold onto. I feel like now starting my senior year, I have a good idea of what things I should be really paying attention to and focusing on upcoming.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is cool. So I'm going to ask a kind of a continuation of that question. If I were a roofing contractor or a roofing manufacturer or anybody who's interested in starting an internship program and they want to be appealing to interns, attracting your generation, attracting people from school, Juliann, let's start with you. What are some of the things they should be doing to attract you to want to do the internships?

Juliann Carozza:
I would say, like Jake said earlier, go to colleges, job fairs, LinkedIn, social media works, too. We live off of social media, our generations, so stuff like that. Really with the benefits, really show the benefits of the job and the stuff that you would be learning. When I was applying at jobs, I would look through the things that we would be learning and doing and that would help me choose which internship I would like better versus.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. See, that's what I think it has to be. You have to think about making it a real worthy experience because this is your valuable summertime, it's a valuable experience. So really allowing you the opportunity to get your hands into everything that's going on.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Jake, what appeals to you? What would help other folks who want to start internships to entice your generation?

Jake Tiernay:
I think it's definitely online presence has to be up to date. I think if anyone our age goes to find out more about a company and we go to the website and it looks like it hasn't been touched in years, that right away isn't going to be good. And also just LinkedIn, getting it in front of our eyes. I know a lot of universities have their own versions of LinkedIn. Like Ohio State has what's called Handshake, and that's what all of our students use to look for internships. So if you're not on there, you're missing out on big opportunity, big pool of students.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, that's great. We're on Handshake. Roofer's Coffee Shops on handshake, too. Yeah, it's a great program. We have actually three interns right now who are working with us, so we love this stuff.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So Jake, what has been the best experience you've had so far this summer?

Jake Tiernay:
My favorite aspect has definitely been working with the other interns. We have group sessions where we'll meet and discuss short stories we're reading or we'll meet and get to meet different executives from the company or even take plant tours of the manufacturing plants. Those definitely have been my favorite sessions.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love a good plant tour. There's nothing better. It's awesome.

Jake Tiernay:
Yes. I had no idea just how many steps were into making these products.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know. Isn't it amazing? And the technology that goes behind it? I mean, when you think about the robotics that are being utilized and everything that's happening in those plants, it is amazing. I'm so happy that with something that you guys got to do. Now, were you able to do that in person or was it virtual?

Jake Tiernay:
No, it was virtual, but they had a really nice presentation for us where it was almost like Google street view how we could walk through the whole plant and they had videos embedded in the video, I guess, or in the tour where we could watch the machines working.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's great. That is awesome. Juliann, what was your favorite part of the summer?

Juliann Carozza:
I'm going to have to agree with Jake on that. My favorite part was being able to talk to the presidents and meeting people from other groups and seeing the plant tours. I really got to network there and learned a lot, so that was definitely my favorite part of the summer.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I'm going to ask one more question and then we're going to wrap it up with some talking about Tremco. But what would you do different? So Juliann, if you had a choice this summer of what you could do different, what would you do?

Juliann Carozza:
Something that I would do different, I think would try to go out to lunch with Jonathan or my supervisor, [Kristen 00:18:31]. I really wish that I got to at least talk to them in person once this summer. That would be something I would've done different.

Heidi Ellsworth:
You know what? Maybe when all this is done you can make that trip up to the Tremco corporate and meet everybody. That would be pretty cool.

Juliann Carozza:
I know. That would [inaudible 00:18:49].

Heidi Ellsworth:
Jake, what would you do different?

Jake Tiernay:
I just missed out on the connections that we can make with the other interns. If I could do it different, I would wish we could all meet up for something maybe in person. If we could all be closer friends outside of maybe just work hours, I would like that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's great. That's awesome. As we kind of wrap up this podcast, let's talk a little bit about just Tremco and WTI both, and the CPG, all of the Construction Product Group. Like you said, Carboline is part of that and a lot of different things. But what is your overall impression of the Tremco corporation and all the great things that they're doing? And I'm going to start with Jake. From what you've learned this year, how's it affected you and how do you feel about it as a corporation?

Jake Tiernay:
Oh, as a corporation I love Tremco. Everyone there has just been so amazing. I haven't met one person I didn't just absolutely love. So welcoming, so helpful, so inviting. It really seems like a great place to work, good culture. Even my managers and boss is so nice to me, so understanding. Just so lax. It doesn't really feel stressful or like I'm slogging hours away. It really is nice.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That is awesome. Now, as you know, we talk a about the importance of culture, but also the importance of sustainable products and products with a purpose. And so Tremco just recently, we just got the press release, they're bio preferred by the USDA. Hopefully I said that right. And they're doing some amazing things with sustainability, green roofs, technology on the roof. What did you think about some of that as in hopes for where we're going with our building products?

Jake Tiernay:
Oh, go ahead, Julie.

Juliann Carozza:
I thought all of that roofing technology was so cool. I did not realize that there were roofs like that until I started working at Tremco. It's insane to me how technology is used for roofing.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, yeah. What was your favorite part?

Juliann Carozza:
I think my favorite part is the green roofs. I just, I don't know. That just entices me.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Well, you know what? It entices the whole next generation. And anybody who's looking at things with the climate change going on, we need a lot of green roofs. We need to get that out.

Juliann Carozza:
We do.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it. So, Juliann, give me your overall impression of Tremco.

Juliann Carozza:
I absolutely loved Tremco as a company. Like Jake said, I really liked everyone I worked with, everyone I met. My boss, my supervisor, everyone was very welcoming. It's a great company. It really is. It was a really good internship.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's awesome. Jake, I'm going to end this with you because we skipped over your favorite product, your favorite offering from Tremco to the world. What's your favorite?

Jake Tiernay:
I have to go with the green roofs, too. When I saw the actual Tremco building roof pictures, I loved them so much.

Heidi Ellsworth:
It's amazing. Oh no, when you go, and I know you will because I know they'll bring you out there. When you go to corporate, you need to go to the top of their roof because they have a full green roof. You probably have seen it in videos. But it's just amazing. It's amazing what they do.

Juliann Carozza:
[crosstalk 00:22:37].

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Well, cool. Well, thank you both. Thank you. I'm going to shameless plug for the roofing industry. We would like to keep you in it so please come back after you graduate. We need good marketers. I've been marketing in roofing for almost 30 years, and there's a lot of great marketing to do, so we need you. So hopefully we'll see you again on another Roofing Road Trips. Thank you so much for both being here.

Jake Tiernay:
Thank you for having me.

Juliann Carozza:
Thank you for having for us.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thank you. And thank you everyone listening. We appreciate you being here. These roofing road trips bring information from across the country, all different types, all different people. It's so much fun to share that with you. And really you can get it anytime you want on rooferscoffeeshop.com under read, listen, watch, or on your favorite podcast channel. Please subscribe. Don't miss a single one. Have a great day.

Speaker 1:
Make sure to subscribe to our channel and leave a review. Thanks for listening. This has been Roofing Road Trips With Heidi from the rooferscoffeeshop.com.