While on the wait list for a job with the Chicago Fire Department, Michael Goode, then 18, worked as a helper at a small plumbing company, Garrity Plumbing. He found that while the owner made great money, he also worked for every penny.
“He was, and is, a very hard-working guy, which brought me a new respect for tradespeople,” Goode says. “I ended up liking the trade enough to stay in it, which I did not expect in the beginning.”