My name is Kieli McKoy.
I'm a mom of four.
I went from making $10 an hour to six-figures a year,
and my career in construction has changed my family's life forever.
I grew up in Brooklyn, New York.
I didn't really learn much about finance growing up.
Everything I know about finances is learned as I become an adult.
I started working at 14 years old when I got my working papers.
That's when I learned to start saving money, balancing your checkbook, making
sure you have the finances available.
I became a mother when I was 21.
I was just basically single mom.
Everything was coming from me and it was a struggle because I wanted it to be
able to financially provide for my kids.
When I had my third son, I was 26 years old,
and around that time, I don't think I made more than 25,000 a year.
I just had to just prioritize my finances.
Like always made sure the rent was paid.
I always made sure the lights stayed on. Maybe a night or two,
I wouldn't eat, but
the kids always ate.
So it went that way for quite some time.
I met my husband in 2007. He helped me to see how different
financially working for his field of work is than working odd end jobs.
I wound up getting pregnant with my daughter and that's when I
was making $10 an hour and I would barely get 40 hours a week.
When I had my daughter, we decided that I would stay home from work.
He would bring the money home, and it was my responsibility to make sure that
everything was paid on time and full.
Everything was going great,
and then, unfortunately, my husband passed away in 2011 and it was unexpected.
I just felt like everything that I planned for the future was gone.
So that was very hard for me, but I also knew that I had to keep it moving.
I wasn't able to afford where we were living at the time. I
actually had to go into a shelter.
I was lucky enough to get approved for Section 8.
Once I knew I had a roof over my head, and me and the children were stable
again, my cousin told me about NEW.
I was excited because I love physical work,
and so when she suggested it to me, I just jumped at the opportunity.
I actually joined NEW in May of 2012.
You do training and you're able to land an interview in the trades.
So once I became a first year apprentice, I started off making about $19 an hour.
Every time I got paid, I will put $500 for rent, $200 for
groceries, a hundred for electric and everything else is just extra.
Within the first two years of my apprenticeship, I was able to
stabilize my finances and I no longer had to depend on Section 8.
After four years of working as a carpenter, I hit the six-figure mark,
and it's been increasing every year.
I never thought that I would be able to make this amount of money,
especially without a college degree,
and I'm very proud of each project that I've done in New York City.
My first job that I worked at was the Barclays in Brooklyn
and I'm from Brooklyn,
so that was so exciting to me. Right now
we're doing a renovation of Lincoln Center.
We're doing a total tear down and rebuild. My kids,
they're so, like, proud of me. All the way to the point where my
oldest son actually decided that he wanted to be a carpenter as well.
My sixteen-year-old son, he's actually in Texas playing football and he's
got a lot of offers for colleges.
I'm in a process of becoming a homeowner.
I could start leaving a legacy for my family, which I never thought I would
be able to have at this age in my life,
especially with four children being a single mom.
My work hours on a regular day is from 7:00 AM to about 3:30 PM.
I absolutely love the schedule because I'm out of work early enough to
still be involved in the children's
after-school.
It's been nine years since I've been in the construction industry.
Usually when I'm on a job, I'm the only female on the whole site,
so I would love to see more women in the industry.
That's actually a goal of mine, to get more women to be confident
that they can do this work.
My advice to other parents is to do something that you love, because if you're
doing something that you love it's going to reflect on your children. When
they see you're happy, they're happy.