Stacia Brightmon spoke on the final night of the Republican National Convention on Aug. 27, 2020.
Transcript
My name is Stacia Brightmon. I am a single mother of two boys and I work in Houston, Texas for S&B Engineers and constructors as a warehouse receiving clerk. After serving my country in the Marine Corps, I worked various jobs, but I thought I needed a degree in order to have a career. I put myself into significant debt to earn my bachelor’s degree in finance. Despite my degree in all of my efforts, at one point, my boys and I even found ourselves homeless. After being laid off yet again, I received an email from the Texas Workforce Commission about S&B’s Women in Construction Earn While You Learn apprenticeship program. I thought I’d give it a try. I was a bit skeptical at first, but I said to myself, “Hey, if they’re willing to take a chance on me, I should be willing to take a chance on myself.”
At the start of the program, I was making $16.00 an hour while I trained to become a pipe fitter helper. Looking back, it wasn’t easy, but boy was it worth it. I felt empowered that I was learning new skills and able to support my family again, I worked hard, got promoted, and even got a few raises. Later, I learned where President Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump were doing behind the scenes to make sure that people like me and you had a chance to rise up and succeed. President Trump started the National Council for the American Worker and the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board.
Together with Ivanka, he wrote policies that made it easier for states and companies to give opportunities to hardworking Americans like me. The president and Ivanka also partnered with the Ag Council to launch FindSomethingNew.org, helping to connect workers with training and apprentice programs where they live. If you find yourself in a situation like mine where you feel you have nowhere to turn, nothing to really fall back on, and you feel like no one believes in you, go online to FindSomethingNew.org and see that President Trump believes in you and more importantly please believe in yourself. Keep trying, keep pushing. Times will get hard, remember, just a few years ago, I was homeless and you know what now? I’m set to close on a brand new home at the end of the month, so my message to you is keep pushing. You can do it. Find the training program like the one I participated in and like me, you have an opportunity to build a career in life that you’re proud of.
So with that being said, I’d like to talk to you about a different kind of training. This is the Trump campaign’s national week of volunteer training. If you’re like me, you know how important it is to put Americans back to work, so get trained and get involved with the campaign. Go online to www.trumpvictory.com and sign up and keep the president fighting for you for another four years. Thank you and God bless.
