Following His Heart (and His Hands)

When Ethan Morriss began college classes, he soon realized a traditional four-year degree wasn’t the best path for him.

“I think I had a mindset of, ‘I need to make a lot of money, and finance is where all the money is,’” recalls the 2016 Woodstock High School graduate. “So I went to college for finance and every single second of the classes was just the most boring thing I could imagine.”

As Ethan reconsidered his plan, his high school education came to mind. At Woodstock High, he had been part of the school’s Engineering Technology program, where he worked on projects such as model rockets and race cars, and competed in Technology Student Association (TSA) events. He may not have recognized it at the time, but he was laying the groundwork for a career in the skilled trades.

“That’s kind of where I got an introduction to the world of construction and a lot of the creative thought process,” he explains. “It wasn’t a guided thing, like, ‘Here’s a textbook to follow;’ it was more like, ‘Here’s the situation, go try to figure it out yourself.’

“After getting some bad grades [in college] and realizing I was just not interested in finance, I knew I needed to find something that interested me,” he continues. “And that kind of brought me back to those technology classes. I was like, ‘I had a fun time doing that. It really interested me and made me happy.’”

Technical College: The Perfect Fit
Around the time Ethan was considering a change in direction, he learned about the Construction Management program at Chattahoochee Technical College. He enrolled, completed the program over a three-year period, and through a strong connection his instructor, Bill Mullis, had with Anning-Johnson Company, he was recruited for an entry-level Laborer position.

From his studies at Chattahoochee Tech to his growing career with Anning-Johnson, where he’s now a Foreman, Ethan has made valuable connections and worked with mentors who have helped him along the way. At Chattahoochee Tech, Mullis was his biggest influence.

“He had the most Southern accent you could possibly think of,” Ethan remembers, “and he had very tanned skin because he had been working outside for a long time, and I was like, ‘This guy is not a teacher.’ He didn’t have the teacher vibes at all. But he was a very inspiring person. Listening to him tell stories about his life and to kind of relate them to things [in my own life], he was definitely a mentor.”

Ethan began his Anning-Johnson career by helping build interior walls and ceilings at Norfolk Southern’s headquarters building in Midtown Atlanta.

“I was a little nervous at first,” he recalls. “There’s a lot going on around you. Sometimes I would be a little overwhelmed if the day was super crazy. But over time you get used to things, and once you’ve experienced them a few times, it’s not going to overwhelm you.”

At Anning-Johnson, young workers like Ethan are carefully supervised and nurtured in the field, so each workday is a valuable on-the-job training experience. He spent approximately five months on the Norfolk Southern building, then was assigned to a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta project.

“My first day there, they were like, ‘Alright, get your drill, you’re going to work,’” he remembers. “I would say that project was the one where I really started learning a lot about framing and drywall.”

Mentorship Produces Confidence
Ethan gained another valuable mentor on that project, a “really nice guy named Alan” who he worked alongside framing doors throughout the hospital. When the doors were finished, Ethan began filling in wherever he was needed until one day, as he recalls, a co-worker named Salvador pulled him aside and said, “I’m going on vacation in a week and I want you to run things.’”

Ethan says his response was a bewildered, “What?” But Salvador assured him, saying, “You’re going to stick with me for the next week, and I’m going to teach you, so when I go on vacation, you’ll be ready.”

And so he was, diving into the nuances of layouts, materials and crew management. Of course that last element, the human factor, sometimes can be the most difficult.

“I had been working with these guys, so they all knew who I was,” Ethan says. “But there were a couple who were like, ‘Hey, I know how to do this. Don’t tell me what to do.’ And I was like, ‘I understand. I’m just trying to show you something.’

“Trying to lead people I had just been working next to, I didn’t want to overstep or be rude or anything, and I think that still kind of plays into how I do things now. If I know somebody knows how to do something, I’m not going to stand over them and be like, ‘You’re doing that wrong.’”

Ethan says he began to hit his stride on the healthcare project, which he calls “a job I will definitely always remember.” He also has vivid memories of some experiences many Atlantans never have the opportunity to enjoy.

“One of my favorite things about working in Atlanta,” he says, “is being up on, say, the 30th story of a building at 5 a.m., and seeing the sun rise in the distance. There’s probably a thousand photos on my phone of sunrises.”

Had he continued toward a career in finance, Ethan may well have been relegated to an office cubicle and missed out on those views. As for the salary potential that originally attracted him to finance, he’s now in a career field where experienced employees with his skill set can easily earn six figures a year.

In short, he’s grateful for the path he ended up on, and for the company that believed in him.

“I’m not planning to go anywhere from Anning-Johnson,” Ethan says. “Everything I have right now is due to the paycheck I’ve earned from them. They’ve provided a lot for me, and they show that they care about who is with them.”

And to anyone in uncertain circumstances similar to what he faced nearly a decade ago, he offers this advice: “Follow what interests you. Even if it’s not the most lucrative pay, you’re going to enjoy your time and your life so much more. If it interests you, don’t let it go to waste; jump on it and seize the opportunity.”