Nush Ahmed didn't set out to build a movement. She set out to be more visible. Two years and 1,160 members later, Sisterhood of the Trades is reshaping what community and mentorship look like for women in the skilled trades.
In this episode of Commercial Grade, host RC Victorino sits down with Nush (Nushrat) Ahmed, founder of Sisterhood of the Trades and host of the Next Gen MFG podcast, to talk about visibility, mentorship, and what it actually takes to build community in the skilled trades.
Nush's path started in a high school automotive class she signed up for on a whim, and led through an associate's degree in automotive technology, a career in CNC and Swiss-setup machine operation, and now a role in marketing and customer enablement at ProShop ERP. Along the way she noticed how many women were working in the trades without ever being seen, and how little that visibility showed up on LinkedIn. That observation became Sisterhood of the Trades, a Discord community she co-founded with three tradeswomen she met on Snapchat, which has since grown to over 1,160 members across North America, Europe, and Australia.
The conversation covers what it took to convince her immigrant parents that trade school was a smart bet, how AI and robotics are actually changing (and not eliminating) trade jobs, why the "dark, dirty, dangerous" stereotype about the trades is outdated, and how a messy Snapchat group chat turned into a structured, verified Discord community with roles for over 50 trades.
Nush also opens up about the ongoing, sometimes awkward conversations with extended family about not having a bachelor's degree, why she thinks of her professional network as something you have to nurture like a plant, and what she's hearing from the next generation of tradespeople coming up behind her.
In this episode you'll hear:
Episode Timestamps:
[00:34] Welcome and Guest Introduction: Nushrat Ahmed of Sisterhood of the Trades
[02:01] How Nush Got Her Start: From a High School Automotive Class to CNC Machining
[03:16] Why Automotive? The Hot Wheels Origin Story
[04:38] Learning the Trade During COVID and Finding a Mentor at a Boston Bike Shop
[07:18] Convincing Immigrant Parents That Trade School Was the Right Call
[09:31] The Pitch: College Debt, Scholarships, and Getting Paid to Learn
[12:12] Why the Trades Are One of the Safest Careers From AI (and a Nod to Anthropic's Economic Index)
[13:55] Robot Wranglers: How Automation Redefines Jobs Instead of Killing Them
[15:36] Fast-Forward: The Origin of Sisterhood of the Trades
[15:46] From a Snapchat Group Chat to a Mission: Getting Tradeswomen Onto LinkedIn
[18:17] How the Community Outgrew Snapchat (300 Comments and No Way to Search)
[21:10] Building the Discord: Verification, Roles, and Server Structure
[29:06] Opening the Server to Allies, Not Just Tradeswomen
[31:13] Why Sisterhood of the Trades Pushes Members to Build Their Own Networks
[31:06] Inside Nush's Podcast, Next Gen MFG
[32:30] The Awkward Conversation About Not Having a Bachelor's Degree
[35:01] What's Next for the Mission, and a Shoutout to the Mentor Who Started It All
[42:29] A Role for Everyone: Why the Trades Need More Than Just Tradespeople
[44:12] Wrap-Up and Where to Find Nush
About the Guest:
Nushrat "Nush" Ahmed is the founder of Sisterhood of the Trades, a community built to give women in the skilled trades visibility, mentorship, and connection. She holds an associate's degree in automotive technology and built her early career in CNC manufacturing and Swiss-setup machine operation before moving into marketing and customer enablement at ProShop ERP. Nush also hosts Next Gen MFG, a podcast featuring guests in the trades and STEM fields, with a focus on showing young people, especially women and people of color, that a college degree isn't the only path to a successful career. She was named to SME's 30 Under 30 in 2025.
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