Under 30 All-Stars 2026

Clayton Deeds, 28, is a dedicated Journeyman plumber based in St. Louis, Missouri, with nearly 10 years of experience in the trade. When I called to speak with him, he was about to get on a job—a tankless water heater install that included a Watts carbon filter and water softener. 

“We’re taking the two water heaters out, tying the first and second floor together, and making it one complete system,” Deeds explained. “That’s what I’m finishing up today.”

Deeds’ father was a mechanic who owned his own shop. Working with him summers was Deeds’ introduction to the trades. All his life, Deeds has enjoyed working with his hands. In fact, getting hands-on is his preferred way of learning.

“I’ve always told people this: I went to school for four years, but I didn’t learn nearly as much in the classroom as I did being hands-on in the field,” Deeds says.

After graduating high school Deeds found work doing small engine repair, but the money just wasn’t that good. A friend working plumbing suggested he give it a try.

“I went in for an interview knowing absolutely nothing about plumbing,” Deeds says, “and they were going to start me at $6 more per hour than I was making working on motorcycles. It was a no-brainer. I made the jump.”

Learn-or-Burn

Almost immediately, Deeds was thrown into large commercial projects, helping build large retirement homes. After about a year the company gave him his own truck and sent him out on service calls. “It became a learn-or-burn situation every day,” Deeds says.

But learn he did, sometimes through formal instruction, but often via social media and online videos. That in turn sparked his own engagement with social media. Today, Deeds has 100,000 Instagram followers, 76,800 TikTok followers and 6,240 YouTube followers.

He admits that sometimes, after a hard day’s work, the last thing he wants to do is edit and post videos, but he finds the engagement worthwhile. “Social media has been really powerful,” Deeds says. “I still learn something every week—a new tip, trick, or tool.”

Looking to the Future

Currently, Deeds works as a lead installer for his company, typically with an apprentice by his side. He likes being able to delegate, and he prefers installation work over service. “They pretty much leave me alone since I’m the lead. And if I get my work done, I get to go home.”

While in a good place, Deeds is already thinking about what his next step should be. One possibility is gaining his Master Plumber license and going to work for another company; another is starting his own shop.

“I don’t think I want to stay a Journeyman installer for the rest of my career,” Deeds says. “I’m already there at 28, and that’s a long time doing the same work every day. Some people enjoy that, but eventually I’d like to make a jump and try something different.”

The Bergen Plumbers – Kaiser, Caiden and Cole

Bergen Plumbing, Heating and Cooling is an employee-owned business based in Waterloo, IA offering residential and commercial service, new construction, preventative maintenance and more.

The company has made recruitment a priority. That has included outreach to local schools, close involvement with the state Department of Corrections prisoner rehabilitation program, and close ties with the Blackhawk School of Apprenticeship, a state-accredited school offering interactive, skills-based training to prepare students for the Iowa Journeyman exam in both plumbing and mechanical licensure.

Three recent graduates have the distinction of being some of the youngest licensed Journeymen to earn their cards in the history of the state: Kaiser Neuhaus (19), Caiden Bailey (20), and Cole Kotouc (19).

Skipping the Tour

Neuhaus came to the program by ditching a University of Northern Iowa tour, walking into the main office, and filling out a job application. “The low overhead cost versus college is what appealed to me,” Neuhaus says about his choice of the trades. “I figured it was worth looking at, and then I figured it was worth trying.”

One thing led to another, and now the company has Neuhaus doing light residential service work—mostly HVAC, but with some plumbing. In the future he’s looking to earn dual licensure and plumbing and HVAC, and eventually get his Masters license.

Caiden Bailey grew up on a farm and learned to work with his hands at a young age. In high school he took industrial tech classes, but never really thought much about plumbing until his good friend Kaiser Neuhaus suggested he come by Bergen Plumbing and see what the program was like. It turned out to be a great fit.

Right now, the company has him doing a lot of excavation work. “We dig up a lot of sewers to make repairs or replace them. That's my favorite part of it,” Bailey says. He’s hoping to keep learning and growing in the trades and see where the journey takes him.

Cole Kotouc, like Bailey, grew up on a farm working for his parents. He also took industrial tech classes in high school and began looking around the Waterloo area for a job that fit his skills.

“You know, at the time I was a 16-year-old. I didn't really know what I was doing,” Kotouc says. “They took me on the next week, and it shaped my life from there. You know, the job grew me up a little bit.”

Right now, Bergen has Kotouc doing mainly residential service work. “I like it. Some of it's easy, some of it's hard, you run into a new thing every single day,” Kotouc says. “I'd say it's a lot better than sitting down in an office chair all day long.”

The American Dream

All three of the new Journeymen have one goal they share: to buy a home and start a family. And, thanks to their plumbing careers, it’s a goal that now seems attainable.

Loren Gardner, Senior Operations Manager at Bergen Plumbing, says that Neuhaus, Bailey and Kotouc are outliers—that the Bergen talent pipeline was built for older people typically a few years out of high school, but that all three of them had good heads for the work and determination to succeed.

Bergen insisted that all three graduate high school, and even partnered with Bailey’s school district to hold him accountable. “He worked full-time with us for four days of the week and on Friday, he would go do all of his book work,” Gardner says. “His school’s director reached out to us when he graduated and was very thankful.” 

Yes, it sometimes seems odd having such young people on the team. “There's definitely moments where the other 60-some technicians are looking at each other like, ‘What are we doing with these guys here?’” Gardner says, “but as they've grown and matured, all three of them now get requested… all the guys take a lot of pride and responsibility in helping grow these three.”

The Welder - Mikala Sposito

As we reported in our May issue, Mikala Sposito is a 21-year-old student from Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who has been selected to be the official United States competitor in Welding for the 48th WorldSkills Competition, scheduled for September 22–27, 2026, in Shanghai, China. Sposito is the first woman to represent the United States in welding at WorldSkills. 

Sposito's journey began at age 10 with a virtual welding demonstration at a Maker Faire (an event celebrating creativity, crafting, engineering and the skilled trades). She later won the 2024 SkillsUSA Michigan state championship, and secured her WorldSkills spot by winning the USA Weld Trials at the Robotics Technology Park in Huntsville, Alabama. 

CONTRACTOR was unable to interview Sposito for this feature, as she is currently 100% focused on her competition preparation. We hope to talk to her at some point in the future and wish her success at the WorldSkills event.

All-Star Update - Valerie Butler

Last year one of our All-Stars was Valerie Butler, an apprentice working both in the field and in the office for P.I.P.E., Indianapolis.

In addition to her work and ongoing training, Butler volunteered at her school, and, despite being an under-30, was also sitting on two state plumbing executive boards for the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC). In 2024, she received the PHCC Educational Foundation’s top scholarship.