Chloe Fallin

Fallin and Lenarduzzi join two employees on a jobsite in Omaha.

“Grab the shovel! Hurry up! Come on, let’s go!” Dario Lenarduzzi is very passionate about his trade and although he can no longer work in the field, he knows everything will be okay because he has taught his girls how to. Juliana Clark, Eva Graziano, and Chloe Fallin have been doing terrazzo flooring with Fallin’s father, Dario, off and on for about four years now. Although the hours are long, the work is difficult, and the days are tiring, something about this trade really stuck with the three of them. 

Fallin has been helping out since she was in 6th grade, but the girls really started making an impact when they all began working for Lenarduzzi Terrazzo their freshman year. Clark and Fallin worked full time each summer, out of town, never home, 10-14 hour days, staying in hotels, oftentimes dreading the next day. However, they loved it, they could not wait for the adrenaline rush they would have while pouring terrazzo tomorrow, or the feeling of seeing how impressed people were as they were running floor machines at the ripe age of 14. 

Clark, Graziano, and Fallin took out and reinstalled the floor in a house that Dowling owns. The girls have fixed the tile in the Dowling pool, regrinded and repolished the floors and have installed new terrazzo in many parts of the school. For the house owned by Dowling, Clark and Fallin went in one Saturday morning and began tearing out all of the old tile. The following Sunday, Graziano and Fallin went back and installed all new tile. Graziano cut each piece to fit perfectly as Fallin helped her dad set the floor. 

“My dad was pulling me out of Sacred Heart in 7th and 8th grade to help them finish jobs, I was able to buy my own truck sophomore year of high school,” Lenarduzzi said. His career has always meant a lot to him. From growing up and helping his dad in this trade, to teaching it to his own daughter and her friends. Not only are we performing construction, we are performing a form of art. Terrazzo is an art in itself but not anybody can work in this trade, you must have a heavy passion to understand and become great at it.

Trades are always an awesome option for both men and women. Although there is a stigma that “women can’t work as hard as men” or that “construction is for men only”, women are needed in the trades! There aren’t many people who tend to have a passion for this career because it is seriously hard, hard work. Many people aren’t willing to work extremely long and difficult hours unless they really love what they are doing. The summer of 2024, Clark and Fallin worked everyday, oftentimes not getting the weekends off. They had 4 schools that had to be done by the August deadline before school would resume. With only 7 employees and all the schools at least an hour and a half away from each other, the crew was swamped.

This past summer, Lenarduzzi had a major surgery. Fallin ran a huge job at Ottumwa High School with 4 new employees who only spoke Spanish. She taught them the ins and outs of the trade, how to run the floor machines, grind, polish, clean perfectly, etc. By July, the guys had been trained on how to do everything besides pouring new terrazzo.

They were getting very good at it and began to understand quickly. The next three following jobs, they were able to complete on their own. September then rolled around and Lenarduzzi had terrazzo patches that needed to be installed at Hyvee in Davenport. Due to it being a grocery store, the crew could only work at night. Fallin and Graziano drove 3 hours to Davenport, and demonstrated exactly how to pour and install the new flooring. The guys observed for about 45 minutes, and ended up pouring 3 patches completely on their own. They turned out perfectly! 

No matter what the girls decide to go into as their career in the future, they know they will always have this trade as an option. They can always come back to it, and guarantee a very nice finish. Terrazzo is not as known as it once was, not many people are still in this trade. But Fallin, Clark, and Graziano will never let it go unheard of. Not only is it a job, it’s a career, a passion, and an art.