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Exploring Career Growth and Opportunities Through Experience and Curiosity: Lessons from the 2025 NFPA Expo and Guidance for Recent Graduates
In the ever-evolving world of safety, technology, and industrial innovation, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Conference and Expo is a hub for professionals, innovators, and learners to connect and grow. This year’s 2025 event in Las Vegas was no exception—and for many, including first-time attendee Matt Nieszczur of ShieldMark Inc., known as Mighty Line®, it was a pivotal experience.
In the S2 E28 edition of Mighty Line Minute, we follow Matt’s journey as he navigates his first industry trade show, absorbs firsthand knowledge, and reflects on broader career lessons. His experience is not just insightful for those in the safety and health, loss control, and industrial sectors, but also for recent graduates exploring how to launch a meaningful career.
Attending the NFPA 2025 Expo in Las Vegas for the first time, Matt entered the show as a warehouse team member for ShieldMark Mighty Line—best known for its high-quality floor marking tapes and floor signs used in industrial settings. What he left with, however, was much more than just a name badge and a few business cards.
Matt had the opportunity to meet industry leaders, such as the training team from Viking Group, Inc., a company spearheading cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) training tools for fire protection systems. As Matt noted, Viking’s VR platform—available on Steam—offers accessible, immersive training on valve systems, piping, sprinklers, and more. This hands-on, gamified learning model allows professionals to practice skills in a risk-free digital environment.
The significance of this innovation wasn’t lost on Matt, who recognized the practical value of tech-enhanced learning. For someone early in his career, seeing how technology is transforming traditional industries was eye-opening.
“Anybody could just download Steam and go check it out… and they could learn more about it, no strings attached.” — Matt
Exploring Career Growth and Opportunities: Career Advice from the Front Lines
While technology was a major highlight, Matt’s most impactful moment came from a conversation with a firefighter. The firefighter’s advice was simple but powerful: “Take no moment for granted. It's going to fly fast. Appreciate your time, focus on your career, and avoid the riff-raff.”
In a high-stakes profession like firefighting, where every second counts, this advice carries real weight. But it applies across all industries. In today’s fast-paced work environment, staying grounded, focused, and open to learning can be the difference between stagnation and progress.
Exploring Career Growth and Opportunities: The Power of Curiosity and Adaptability
Matt's desire to grow beyond his current warehouse role reflects a key mindset that every recent graduate or early-career professional should adopt: career curiosity.
“Currently I do warehouse work, but I'd like to see if I can expand, maybe into sales or somewhere else.”
His interest in moving into sales, sparked by his positive experience interacting with clients at the Expo, demonstrates that exposure leads to discovery. Often, we don’t know what we’re good at—or passionate about—until we try it.
Attending trade shows, conferences, and industry expos can reveal hidden talents and create opportunities that no classroom or job description ever will.
Exploring Career Growth and Opportunities: Guidance for Recent Graduates: Preparing for a Multi-Interest Career
For those graduating college or entering the workforce, Matt’s journey is a practical example of how to build a fulfilling career—especially if you're interested in more than one area. Here’s how to apply those lessons:
1. Start Where You Are, But Don’t Stay There
Your first job doesn’t define your career. Like Matt, you might start in a logistics or operations role—but that doesn’t mean you’re locked in. You might also end up in the field of Safety!
Action Step: Master your current role, then look for internal opportunities to cross-train or shadow someone in a different department.
2. Attend Industry Events and Conferences
There’s no substitute for the insight you gain by immersing yourself in your industry’s ecosystem. Trade shows aren’t just for salespeople—they’re learning grounds.
Action Step: If your company offers to send you to an Expo or Conference, say “Yes.” If they don’t, volunteer to go and explain how it could benefit the Company, your role, and the team involved.
3. Keep Multiple Interests Alive
Not every graduate has a straight-line passion. That’s normal. You might like sales and technology. Or operations and creative work. Modern careers often blend disciplines.
Action Step: List your top 2–3 interests. Then research career paths that integrate them. For example, someone interested in both safety compliance and gaming tech might look into e-learning design for industrial training platforms.
4. Embrace Continuous Learning (Even for Free)
Matt highlighted the power of freely available learning tools like Viking’s VR training on Steam. There are countless free resources out there, from VR apps to YouTube tutorials to Open Online Courses.
Action Step: Spend just 1–2 hours per week learning something adjacent to your current role, or an alternative area of interest. Over one year, that’s more than 50 hours of skill-building. Consider attending a local meeting of interest involving a professional organization.
5. Network with Purpose
Conversations open doors. A brief chat with a firefighter gave Matt actionable wisdom that he’s likely to carry with him for years. Many professional organizations also offer special membership opportunities for students.
Action Step: At every event, aim to meet at least 3 people from different backgrounds. Ask them what they wish they’d known when they were starting out. Consider meeting others in local chapters of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, the American Society of Safety Professionals, or in other industry or health care groups.
Key Takeaways from the NFPA Expo Experience
Exploring Career Growth and Opportunities and Final Thoughts: Your Career is a Living Project
Matt’s experience at the 2025 NFPA Expo wasn’t just about products and networking—it was a snapshot of what professional development looks like in real time. It showed that a fulfilling career isn’t built overnight. It’s built through exposure, effort, and exploration.
For recent graduates especially, the lesson is clear: your degree is your launchpad—not your landing place. Whether you’re in warehousing, IT, creative services, engineering, or EHS, there are always multiple paths to growth—often in places you least expect.
So, take a page from Matt’s journey by exploring career growth and opportunities. Say “Yes” to new experiences. Stay curious. Learn from those around you. And above all, don’t be afraid to evolve your interests into a career that’s uniquely yours.
About Mighty Line
Mighty Line®, by ShieldMark Inc., Rocky River, Ohio, provides premium industrial floor marking products used in 5S organization, Lean manufacturing, and fire and life-safety compliance. Learn more at MightyLineTape.com or follow their updates from industry events where they participate, such as at the Annual NFPA Conference and Exposition, or at the American Society of Safety Professionals Professional Development Conference.
