From Straight A’s to Skilled Trades: Jacob Brooks Finds Success on His Own Terms

From the beginning, Jacob Brooks was destined for success.

In high school, he earned straight As and piled up academic scholarships. Everyone around him assumed he was destined to attend a traditional college and pursue a white-collar career.

But Brooks had another plan.

“I decided I wanted to get into construction,” he says. “[Others] thought I was not [reaching] my full potential…but they were wrong.”

And over time, those who once doubted him began to see what he saw all along: A career in construction is not a detour from success, but an alternate definition of it.

People often equate success with specific titles, degrees and office jobs. But Brooks knows there are other paths—ones that are just as meaningful and lucrative—and wants others to realize it too. Construction isn’t a fallback; it’s a career where skill, pride and purpose align. It offers the same long-term growth and opportunity as any desk job, only with results you can see and touch.

Now a mason, Brooks sees evidence of his and his colleagues’ work everywhere. They are the places people live, work and play—structures built with his own hands, standing long after the workday ends.

“I’ve done multiple hotels, apartment complexes,” he says. “We’ve done ballparks. That’s the type of stuff that when you’re walking with your kid at a baseball game [you can point to] and say ‘see that there? I did that.’”

Brooks believes construction is for everyone—no matter their past, their education or where they’ve been.

“There are a lot of benefits for all sorts of people,” he says. “We are trying to change the way people perceive construction so we can start reaching people and showing them the pride that comes with building something with your own hands.”

For those still chasing someone else’s version of success, he has one piece of advice: stop and pause—because what you’re really looking for might just be in the trades.

Discover what success looks like when it’s built by hand at nccer.org/learners-craft-pros.