Amid the high-stakes competitions and leadership development, pin trading is a long-standing tradition at the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference (NLSC). During quieter moments, it is a fun way for students to network and engage with each other. The pins represent the organization’s states and members and provide industry partners with a unique way to connect with their future workforce.
With an eye on strategic recruitment, Amy Blankenbiller, executive director of the National Elevator Industry Inc. (NEII), wanted a fresh approach for the 2026 conference, drawing 19,000 attendees to Atlanta.
“Our industry is a tough nut to crack,” she says. The elevator trade requires a multi-disciplinary skill set encompassing electrical work, welding, masonry and construction. In this niche field, the recruitment model is highly specialized. The elevator industry hires approximately 3,000 new apprentices annually, but the locations of these openings shift based on national trends and where projects are located — one year the focus might be California and Texas, while the next it moves to Michigan or Florida.
To meet these needs, the industry must maintain a constant “buzz” and a pipeline of talent. NEII works to advance safety and innovation, working with several businesses and partners including the National Elevator Industry Educational Program (NEIEP).
Blakenbiller says the alphabet-heavy acronyms can get in the way when it comes to communicating opportunities with students. They wanted a pin that would provide information about the industry in an appealing package.
Dot Mynahan, NEII’s director of safety and workforce, came up with a novel idea: Hire a SkillsUSA competitor.
An Artistic Perspective
Madeleine Guillory, a 26-year-old graphic designer from Louisiana, is no stranger to the pressure of the SkillsUSA stage. A self-described “overachiever,” Guillory attended SOWELA Technical Community College, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree at McNeese State University.
Her journey with SkillsUSA began when Darrell Buck, her college advisor, encouraged her to compete, sparking a three-year run of excellence. She won gold at the state level in consecutive years and then secured top honors nationally at the 2024 SkillsUSA Championships for both her pin and T-shirt design. Using a vibrant illustrative style, her winning entries were inspired by the Atlanta skyline and included mechanical elements, such as gears and tools that were useful in other competitions.
While scrolling through the SkillsUSA content, Mynahan found Guillory’s name and then searched her online portfolio at MDLN Creative. It was clear: Guillory was the perfect person to translate the elevator industry into a collectible piece of art.
Once she was commissioned to create the pin, Guillory took a deep dive into the technical world of elevators. The design goal was to get away from the acronyms while retaining the organizational ties.
“It was definitely niche information,” she admits. “I had their expertise to tell me what is correct.”
In her research, Guillory noticed that one of the older industry logos featured a retro-style elevator. She leaned into that nostalgic aesthetic, blending it with a modern feel to create a pin that was both stylish and descriptive of the work.
The final design incorporated the theme “Going Up?” and the slogan “The elevator industry takes you places.” To further support the young designer, the association included Guillory’s professional information on the backing card of the pin, a move that drove significant traffic to her social media and highlighted her status as a SkillsUSA alumna.
“We are at a disadvantage when it comes to raising awareness about our industry. We needed to be creative with how we got traction,” says Blankenbiller. “This pin was a really great, unexpected opportunity to do this. It created a buzz that has helped us connect with a broader group of talent in the SkillsUSA community.”
More Than Just a Pin
The collaboration with Guillory was part of a larger, aggressive push by the elevator industry to partner with SkillsUSA. This year, industry representatives “divided and conquered,” attending 10 different state competitions to meet students across various disciplines, from construction to robotics.
The value of these interactions is two-fold. First, it allows the industry to reframe a traditional trade into a high-tech career path. Blankenbiller recalls talking to robotics students in Washington state, framing an elevator as “a big robot going up and down a hoist.”
Secondly, it allows the industry to recruit students who have already mastered soft skills. Industry leaders have noted that SkillsUSA students stand out because they know how to address professionals, show up on time, and dress appropriately for the job, says Mynahan. “These students aren’t picking up tools for the first time; they understand the reality of a day’s work.”
Guillory agrees. “I find that a lot of the workflow I do is straight from competition. Sometimes the timelines are really short. Through SkillsUSA, I have years of practice coming up with something and making it as great as possible in a strict time frame. That has definitely helped me professionally.”
More than a tagline on a trading pin, “Going Up” aptly describes the upward trajectory of SkillsUSA competitors like Guillory, and organizations like NEII and NEIEP that are ensuring its workforce development efforts are not just functional, but also inspirational — drawing in the next generation one pin at a time.
