Taco Trainer Director John Barba

John Barba, director of training for Taco Inc., started out working for his family’s plumbing company from a young age, fetching tools for his dad from the time he could walk.

But as young people are apt do, Barba wanted to try something different after high school. He went to college and studied broadcast journalism, sending him into a career writing and reading news on radio.

His family stayed on his mind, though. He talked with his brother and returned to the family business.

Still, plumbing wasn’t his passion.

“I knew a lot, but I was not skilled. I’d solder, but that was about it. Drainage waste just flummoxed me. I could never get the concepts, other than it’s got to go downhill. I wasn’t very good at it,” he said with a laugh.

But he also developed an interest in radiant floor heating at the time.

A Job Change Becomes a Turning Point. His big turn in life, came from working with Radiant Systems Technology. The company was owned by Richard Trethewey, who was also the plumbing expert on the PBS show “This Old House.”

“I went to go work for him for a year and just that opened up a whole new world for me, of technology, of possibilities,” Barba said.

He stayed for about a year, then joined a company looking to grow sales. He was working at Urell Inc., in Watertown, Massachusetts, when he was first given a chance to lead a training program, even though he didn’t have any experience.

“My boss at the time asked if I had ever done a training class before. I lied through my teeth and said, ‘Of course.’”

Still, he gave it a shot.

“I put together our very first radiant floor heating full-day seminar. I spent weeks putting that together. I typed out everything, a script. I had it in this big three-ring binder with those plastic inserts and the pages so you could go through it all and had overhead slides and stuff. And it was nuts. It was terrible,” he said. “Five people showed up. Three of them came as a personal favor to me and it was just awful. I can’t express to you how bad it was.”

But he stuck with it, and he improved. The company started offering training once a month but people wanted more. Soon, they were offering classes twice a month.

Landing at Taco Brings Fulfillment. He moved into another training role for Wirsbo Co. in Minnesotta.

He was there for 12 years, training up to 2,000 plumbing and heating professionals a year on radiant heating and using PEX for plumbing systems.

In 2007, an opening came up at Taco, a job he couldn’t pass up.

“Being able to work for Taco made my life make sense,” Barba said. “It’s not a job. This is beyond that. To me, it’s more personal than that.”

He works with Dave Holdorf, the eastern residential trainer, and worked with western-trainer Rick Mayo until his retirement this past January. Mayo has been replaced by Jason Kockx, who is based in California.

Barba’s team also developed online training programs. They worked on the webinar series, “Taco Tuesdays,” for years before COVID hit. In the early days of the pandemic, they launched another series called “Taco After Dark.”

Barba’s showmanship stands out when he’s in the classroom, with lots of energy and humor. Listening is also crucial so the trainer understands what the students are looking for.

“Our job is to share what we’ve learned and pass it along. It’s almost like a conduit of understanding and help. People help bring people along so they can be as successful as they want to be.”