Liz Looper did not enter the trades straight out of high school. Instead, after years of low-wage work, financial strain and uncertainty as a single mother, she found her way to Painters District Council 30 (PDC30) and into the North Central Illinois Finishing Trades Institute (NCIFTI) Apprenticeship Program in Rockford, Ill.
On the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Looper described how hands-on training, union support and persistence helped her move toward a more stable future for herself and her son.
For years, Liz Looper was looking for a way to move beyond survival work and into something that could support a real future. Now a first-year apprentice through NCIFTI working with Midwest Painting and Decorating in Illinois, Looper told America’s Work Force Union Podcast that her path into the trades was shaped by persistence, timing and a willingness to act on an unexpected opportunity.
The idea of becoming a member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) had been with her since she was a teenager, Looper said. She remembered watching union painters in her neighborhood leave early for work and return home with a level of stability that stood out to her. At the time, she said, construction still felt like a world built mostly for men, and she did not see a clear path for herself into that kind of career.
That changed years later, after a long stretch of low-wage work, including customer service and other jobs that helped her get by, but did not create lasting security. Looper said she reached a point where the pressure of rent, utilities and raising her son on a limited income made it clear that she needed a different future. She described that period as one marked less by debt than by constant uncertainty over whether she could keep everything afloat.
Looper said the turning point came after she saw a social media post about a trades expo in Rockford. She responded, joined a group trip and arrived without fully knowing what organization had brought her there. That experience, she said, introduced her to a range of construction careers and to people who treated the trades as attainable options rather than closed doors.
She later learned the group was connected to Goodwill, a community-based organization she said became a major part of her transition. According to Looper, Goodwill helped her enter a pre-apprenticeship program, gain hands-on exposure and eventually earn her GED. That support not only changed her employment outlook but also boosted her confidence, she said.
Looper described the pre-apprenticeship experience as a chance to test her interest in the trades while learning how different job sites and crafts operate. Working with Habitat for Humanity was especially meaningful because it allowed her to help build something tangible and then show her son the result, she said. That kind of visible progress, she explained, reinforced that she was finally moving toward a career with purpose and direction.
Although Looper said she was exposed to several trades, painting remained the craft that felt right. She would apply and join the apprenticeship program with PDC30 and the NCIFTI, where she saw more women entering the field than she expected.
That mattered because one of her early concerns was whether she would be accepted in a male-dominated environment. Instead, Looper said she found women already participating in pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship settings, which helped make the trade feel more accessible.
She also said the union structure changed how she thought about work itself. For Looper, the appeal was not only the paycheck. It was the full package: wages that could support a household, benefits that addressed real-life needs and a long-term path that included retirement security. She described that combination as the kind of opportunity she had been searching for without knowing where to find it.
Before entering the IUPAT apprenticeship, even modest expenses could feel out of reach, Looper explained. Activities for her son, small extras and family outings often had to be weighed against basic bills. Now, even as a first-year apprentice, she said she is already in a position to provide more experiences and opportunities than she could before.
Looper connected that change directly to the structure of union building trades work. The wages are meaningful, but so are the hours and the benefits, she said. The IUPAT offers pregnancy leave, an issue she said matters for women in construction because time away from the job otherwise means lost pay.
That kind of support, Looper said, shows that the trades are adapting in ways that make long-term careers more realistic for women. She did not present the work as easy. She noted that job site realities, including outdoor restrooms and physically demanding conditions, are simply part of the trade. But those challenges are manageable when the job provides real economic stability in return, she said.
Looper is now using her own experience to encourage others, especially women and others who believe they may have started too late.
She recently represented the Painters District Council 30 at a trades expo in Rockford, where she spoke with students, pre-apprentices and other visitors about what the apprenticeship path can offer. Her message, she said, varies by audience but centers on the same point: the trades can create options that many people do not realize are available.
For younger people, Looper said the advantage is time. Starting early means building earnings, benefits and retirement contributions while peers may still be accumulating student debt. For older workers, the lesson is different but equally important. It is not too late to choose a more stable path, she said.
Looper’s story matches a message the building trades have long promoted: the skilled trades remain one of the clearest pathways into the middle class.
Looper said she spent years searching for what she called the answer to financial stability. In the IUPAT apprenticeship, she found a structure that combines training, wages and upward mobility. She also found a way to model a different future for her son, one built not on constant financial anxiety but on work that can sustain a household.
For the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Looper’s story demonstrates how the building trades apprenticeship programs, coupled with community-based pre-apprenticeship programs and union wages and benefits, can work together to expand access to family-supporting careers.
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