“I kind of stumbled into sheet metal,” he remembers. “I thought the pay and benefits were too good to be true but decided to take a chance.” Noticing the benefits, Linsey soon followed suit. Now, she is a first-year apprentice hanging ductwork for high profile companies like Google.

“With both of us in the same field, we are able to relate to each other’s days, and we are starting to meet the same people,” the couple says. “If we ever run out of things to talk about, the trade is easy for us both to talk about.”

Time will tell if their career interests will also align. Josh has his sights on welding (what he did in the Army) and BIM while Linsey is still seeing what fits. Enrolling in an apprenticeship is the opportunity to figure it all out while earning a comfortable living.

“It’s the first time in both our lives we haven’t been broke. That’s both sad and exciting.”

For more information on how to enroll or support the SMART Heroes program, visit sheetmetal-iti.org/smart-heroes.