Rachel Overby, owner of R&R Tile and Renovations in Anchorage, Alaska, has been in the industry since 2015, when she was hired by a Denver-based construction company called Sister Fix It. She brought a background in carpentry to the company.
When it came to tile, she “learned the trade from an amazing woman named Karen Rush,” Overby said.
“Karen had been setting tiles for nearly 40 years. She is a total badass—a tiny woman who is tough as nails. She taught me with a level of patience I’m grateful for every day. Because of her, I learned everything from traditional substrates to modern systems like Schluter.” Overby learned “the ‘old school’ foundations and an intro to the innovative products flooding the market today,” she said. “Our trade is always evolving, and Karen taught me that you can’t stay rigid, you have to stay open-minded because there are a million ways to ‘skin a cat’ in this industry.”…