Nush Ahmed on How One Discord Server Became a Movement for Women in the Trades
“There is a role in the trades for everyone."
“That’s my whole mission,” says Nush Ahmed.
She wants women, and young people more broadly, to be more visible in the trades, especially in the places where careers, credibility, and connections actually get built. In this episode of Commercial Grade, Nush talks about how that mission turned into Sisterhood of the Trades, why visibility matters so much, and what the next generation is really looking for from trade careers.
A career path that didn’t look traditional
Nush’s path into the trades started in a small moment: she saw a Hot Wheels car and thought automotive looked cool.
That impulse led her into high school automotive classes, then to an associate’s degree in automotive technology, and eventually into machine operation, CNC manufacturing, Swiss setup, and lathe work. Today she works in marketing and customer enablement at ProShop ERP, but her trades background still shapes the way she thinks about career access and opportunity.
Visibility became the real gap to solve
What pushed Nush beyond her own career was noticing how many women were already in the trades but weren’t visible.
“You see a lot of people in the spotlight,” she says, “and a lot of the times they’re not the women behind the scenes.”
That realization became the foundation for both her podcast and the broader Sisterhood mission: create a bridge between the people already doing the work and the audiences who still do not see them.
Sisterhood of the Trades grew because the need was obvious
Sisterhood of the Trades started in late 2024 as a Snapchat group chat for blue-collar women. It grew fast; a TikTok post drove hundreds of comments from people who wanted in, and the group quickly outgrew Snapchat’s chaos.
Nush describes how the team moved to Discord so members could actually find conversations, organize by trade and shift, and build something more durable than a messy chat thread. Today, the community has around 1,160 members, primarily across North America, with additional members overseas.
The goal is connection, not gatekeeping
Nush is clear she’s not trying to build a platform that funnels all attention back to herself or the admin team. The goal is the opposite: get people to connect directly with one another. In her view, the value of the Sisterhood is that it helps members find each other, share opportunities, and build real relationships of their own.
The old stereotypes still miss the point
Nush argues one of the biggest misconceptions holding the trades back is its image.
“Dark, dirty, dangerous. Always,” she says.
Her argument is not that every part of the work is easy, but that technology, safety standards, robotics, and better equipment have changed the reality.
Just as important, she points out that there is not one narrow definition of a trades career.
“There is a role in the trades for everyone,” she says, from accountants and marketers to safety people and project managers.
What younger workers actually want
Younger people in the Sisterhood are not just asking how to get in; they’re asking what comes next. They want to know what growth looks like, whether they can become a foreman or manager, and whether they can eventually own a shop or business of their own.
The next generation is interested, but they want a future, not just a job.
Want the full conversation?
Check out Commercial Grade on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify.
