Roofing Day 2019 Draws Women and Men from Across The Country - PODCAST

RCS Influencer and NWIR Chair Jennifer Stone says it's really important that we all come to D.C. with one true voice.

In a recent Roofing Road Trip Podcast, Jennifer Stone and Heidi Ellsworth talk about the importance of women and men having a voice in politics and taking the time to educate themselves about important issues in the roofing industry.  Please listen to the Podcast at www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/podcasts and also enjoy some quotes pulled from the podcast where Jennifer shares her thoughts on women, politics and roofing.

Jennifer on NRCA and Roofing Day: “NRCA is bringing all of these issues to Washington with Reed Ribble at the helm.  Over the couple of years since he became NRCA CEO, he's really energized the NRCA and ROOFPAC to focus on solutions that represent everyday contractor issues.  It's been really exciting to watch the focus on advocating grow and the overall partnership of that has grown with Roofing Day and National Women Roofing. We're a strong supporter and partner of NRCA. We supported the ROOFPAC events at the International Roofing Expo in Nashville, which raises money for events like roofing day and for our collective voice to be heard in Washington. So, our partnership runs deep and I'm excited to see where it's going to go from here.”

Jennifer on Roofing Day Issues: “It's really important that we all come to DC with one true voice. We don't want several different topics and the NRCA team has made sure that the agenda is consistent for all of us.  The important part is working together to actually initiate change on issues that will help the roofing industry as a whole.  It is critical to stick to the talking points of the three issues that we are advocating for.  You can find a massive amount of information on the NRCA (www.nrca.org ) website about these initiatives. The three topes are A robust buildings component for infrastructure legislation, and Expanded workforce training incentives.  It is important that we all understand and share the importance of these issues with our congressmen and women.

Jennifer on why women should get more involved: “Women have been involved in politics for a long time, especially in their local communities. The PTA board is probably the most common as far as holding elected board positions. But if you look at the high female turnout at the polls, you know women are voting and getting involved every day.  So, there's lots of ways that we can get politically involved and we are seeing this force of nature that's happening on the national arena. Look at the 2018 elections, women were elected to Congress, to state, to municipal offices in record numbers. There are, so many ways to get involved. You don't, have to run for political office, but there's ways for you, for women, for men to have a voice and to be politically engaged without taking the leap for office.”

Jennifer on how to get more involved: “How do you get involved?  Obviously one of those ways is to attend things like the NRCA roofing day. It opens your eyes to new thoughts and ideas. That's what we can do to become more involved.  I believe we also need to stop steering away from meaningful political conversations, especially with others in our roofing industry.  We don't need to be so divided. If we start, if we have these conversations and mentor and initiate, sharing ideas, we're going to find we're a lot closer on these issues, especially within our industry.  So, I guess for women, just participate, you know, each one of us has such a strong voice. Use your voice to strengthen the roofing industry.  This is our chosen career and what we do right now and what we advocate for is going to help the lives of everyone around us including all of the families that we have to support within our trade. So together, we can make sure that the members of Congress are hearing directly from the roofing industry and women about our thoughts and concerns.  It's so important just to show up and participate. I think that's probably the biggest takeaway on what we can do.”

Hear the entire podcast here. 

Read the transcript here.

Jennifer Stone is the National Women in Roofing 2019 Chair.  See her full bio here.