# 288: Inside the Sisterhood of Trades: Why Women Are Choosing Skilled Trades Careers

- Show: [Manufacturing Happy Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour)
- Published: 2026-05-19
- Length: 21m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-05-19-288-inside-the-sisterhood-of-trades-why-women-are-choosing-skilled-trades-career
- Listen: http://manufacturinghappyhour.com

## Summary

Nush Ahmed, CEO, and Brooke Laing, Chief Strategy Officer of Sisterhood of Trades, explain how their community supports women in skilled trades through digital platforms. They detail the evolution from a Snapchat group to a structured Discord server, highlighting the organization's role in connecting tradeswomen across over 50 different roles, from pipe welding to shipfitting. The guests discuss using social media like TikTok and LinkedIn to show the 'real side' of industrial work, aiming to attract and retain younger generations by sharing authentic day-to-day content rather than sugarcoating the industry.

## Chapters

- [0:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-05-19-288-inside-the-sisterhood-of-trades-why-women-are-choosing-skilled-trades-career#t=43) Introduction: Nush Ahmed and Brooke Laing of Sisterhood of Trades
- [3:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-05-19-288-inside-the-sisterhood-of-trades-why-women-are-choosing-skilled-trades-career#t=232) Mission and Origin: From Snapchat to Discord Community
- [7:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-05-19-288-inside-the-sisterhood-of-trades-why-women-are-choosing-skilled-trades-career#t=454) Member Demographics: Students, Career Changers, and Mentorship
- [9:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-05-19-288-inside-the-sisterhood-of-trades-why-women-are-choosing-skilled-trades-career#t=582) Social Media Strategy: TikTok, LinkedIn, and Authentic Content
- [12:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-05-19-288-inside-the-sisterhood-of-trades-why-women-are-choosing-skilled-trades-career#t=741) Community Structure: Discord Threads, Roles, and Moderation
- [16:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-05-19-288-inside-the-sisterhood-of-trades-why-women-are-choosing-skilled-trades-career#t=1003) Best Practices: Team Trust and Listening to Members
- [18:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-05-19-288-inside-the-sisterhood-of-trades-why-women-are-choosing-skilled-trades-career#t=1089) Upstate New York Impressions and Community Stories

## Topics

- [Hiring & workforce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/hiring-and-workforce)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Sisterhood of Trades (company)
- Discord (tool)
- Snapchat (tool)
- TikTok (tool)
- LinkedIn (tool)
- Fathom Digital Manufacturing (company)
- Rust Belt robotics (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [148: A Minimum of Two Poops](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-04-21-148-a-minimum-of-two-poops) (Embedded.fm)
- [Starting Young: The Next Generation of Manufacturing & Engineering Talent w/ Meaghan Ziemba](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2021-10-26-starting-young-the-next-generation-of-manufacturing-engineering-talent-w-meaghan) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [100 - Celebrating our 100th episode from the Specright Summit with Cory, Matthew, and Megan](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/people-of-packaging/2022-01-20-100-celebrating-our-100th-episode-from-the-specright-summit-with-cory-matthew-an) (People of Packaging)
- [Advocating for Women in Manufacturing w/ Alicia Gilpin](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2023-05-09-advocating-for-women-in-manufacturing-w-alicia-gilpin) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [A Conversation with the Manufacturing Millennial w/ Jacob Hall](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2020-11-03-a-conversation-with-the-manufacturing-millennial-w-jacob-hall) (The Manufacturing Executive)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-05-19-288-inside-the-sisterhood-of-trades-why-women-are-choosing-skilled-trades-career. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Manufacturing Happy Hour.