I had the opportunity to meet with Arro Athletics as part of their Women’s History Month interview series.
“My name is Nicole Wiet and I’m an elevator mechanic. Only recently [we] managed to reach 1% representation of women in our trade. One of my most important roles is my position of president of the BC Tradeswomen Society.
The best advice I would give my younger self would be to understand that when others at work are not treating you as they should it’s usually because of their own insecurities. Find a mentor to help you navigate your apprenticeship and beyond. Your mentor doesn’t even have to be the same trade, just someone that understands and can empathize with the trials and tribulations of trades.
When I was in my mid twenties I pivoted from university to the trades. After finishing my apprenticeship I got involved in my union and was the first woman elected to serve a position.
Together with a group of other tradeswomen we founded the BC Tradeswomen Society, which works to improve equity, diversity and inclusion in the trades for women and the gender diverse. We created a society that represented tradeswomen from all over BC that were both union and non union.
A career in the trades can be incredibly rewarding and I couldn’t imagine a different career for myself. There are so many amazing women and gender diverse people in the trades blazing their own trails.
My goals and inspirations… are to improve my personal technical knowledge at work. With the constant improvements in technology there are always new things to learn. I [also] want to focus on my cultural awareness especially from an Indigenous perspective. There is so much to learn and I want to be a better advocate for the Indigenous people.
