“I am doing things that most women wouldn’t believe they could do,” says Heather, a recent graduate of the TrANS program. Heather joined Wisconsin Works to get back into the workforce, but she never expected her case manager to recommend construction as an option. When she looked at her two small children, however, Heather realized that she could achieve anything for them. That was all it took to get Heather on the road to the career she always wanted.
Heather quickly learned that making good money was just one benefit of working in construction. “I liked pushing myself to learn the things that I didn’t know and surprised myself with how well I was doing,” Heather tells us. Her instructor Lorie encouraged her to learn different skills and career paths in construction. “She had confidence in me, and as I learned the material, passed the trainings, and completed the program, I realized I could do everything that Lorie said I could.”
On Lorie’s advice, Heather signed up to earn her CDL. “Before I even started at the driving school, I had a contractor interested in hiring me,” she says. The day she graduated, they actually asked her up to their corporate office to offer her a better position with more hours. “I had my second daughter in October – soon after that had joined TrANS. Now I’m on my way to giving one of the best futures to my beauties! They deserve it!! I’m so happy to be a mom, excited, and so pumped now for learning new ways to be creative in the field I desire – never would have thought it.”
“This job means that I will be able to provide for my kids, to be a responsible parent. It has made me feel better about myself, more secure in what I do and what I can do in the future. This is the job that I have always wanted. I love it!”
Heather is currently doing roadwork with Payne & Dolan. When asked what advice she’d give others, she says to listen to others who are trying to help, because “sometimes they see your abilities better than you see them in yourself.”
Well done, Heather!
