Our Industry Person of the Week is Kyla Scheidt, millwright apprentice and new mom.
Q: How did you get started working in your field?
Kyla: I’ve always been a hands-on person and love to tinker to figure out how to fix things myself. I took shop classes in high school thinking I wanted to do something trades related for a career. Unfortunately, a teacher I had was not the most supportive and being the only girl in the class it deterred me from continuing on this path until later in my life. I started working as a sanitation operator in a food factory and worked very closely with the maintenance team then. I got more and more interested in the mechanical side of the job until I finally took the next steps to get started working in the maintenance department. I’ve always been a hands-on person and love to tinker and figure out how to fix things myself. I took a few night trade-related courses to keep proving how much I wanted into the field. I’m still the only girl in my classes so far entering my third year of my apprenticeship but it’s a much more positive experience now with my teachers and classmates.
Q: What do you love the most about your job? What are you most proud of?
Kyla: The most satisfying part of my job I would say is that I have the skills now to look at machinery and know how it works and how to fix it in the event of a breakdown. As well as learning how to use a variety of methods and tools and even use them in everyday life at home. It’s so gratifying to be able to repair something with your own two hands.
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering this line of work or new to the field?
Kyla: Don’t give up. There’s always more than one way to go about doing things. Listen to everyone’s advice and make it your own. Taking pieces from everyone and moulding them into your own way of doing things.
Q: Can you talk about a project you recently worked on?
Kyla: I recently did an 8-pump swap out on a power unit located outside of a facility in a very dirty outbuilding. It was a cramped area and not ideal working conditions. A lot of rusty old fittings. It required a few days of disassembly and installation. I had a partner who of course was very helpful. We replaced all the piston pumps and ran the unit setting the correct pressure for each unit. With each project, I work on I learn new things as the hydraulic field is fairly new to me. There are what seems like endless things to learn most days but I love the challenge and will never stop trying to learn them. It truly is amazing all the things hydraulics can do. You don’t realize how important they are to our everyday life.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
Kyla: I’m currently on maternity leave with my first child. Which is a new learning but very rewarding experience every day. This being said being a woman in the trades some days are challenging in different ways. But I always say it doesn’t mean I can’t accomplish things. It just means I figure out how to accomplish tasks sometimes in a different way. There’s always another way to be successful. I’ve worked with some really great and supportive people. I’ve worked at three different places now in the trades. Each place gets new experiences and gets to work on different equipment. My current place of employment specializes in hydraulics and hydraulic equipment. I’m new to the company and field but strive to put my best foot forward every day. I’m lucky and happy to say they are so supportive and I can’t stress to others, especially the women, to find a place that makes you feel like you’re worth it. No matter where you are in your life. You should get what you give in a place of work I think. Take it from me I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum. It’s never too late to change your path and work on what you want to do in life. I can’t wait for my daughter to hopefully have the same opportunities I’ve had and to be a role model for her and other women who also want to experience a career that maybe was never thought of as possible for them.
Connect with Kyla on Instagram @millwright.mama.
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