Meet The Maker: Ness Cassey

I had the pleasure of meeting Ness on a lock-down-zoom-sale in the early days of SÜK. In very small business, pandemic style, we were running a seconds sale via zoom appointments only.

I was meeting customers 1 on 1 and showing them what we had in their size, measuring the items one by one and talking them through how they ‘probably would’ fit to their body based on their measurements. It was all very COVID-19-core and slightly chaotic.

The zoom call I remember most clearly was Ness’s. She appeared on screen with the warmest, most relaxed energy and when we got to the part of what size she was she giggled. What followed was a lot of ummmm-well-the-thing-is and told me she was pregnant in a way that hinted she hadn’t told many people yet and possibly was still slightly in shock.

Ness and Mimosa in their Hunter Green 2 Way and Station Pants with their minis

What followed was a very gentle friendship where the possibilities between actually meeting in person - between lockdowns, babies (hers then mine) and work (both of us going hard) were very little, but a friendship nonetheless.
Beautiful and supportive, full of many sleep deprived and admiring text messages with all the best intentions of catching up and only pulling off 3% of them (like all the best mum friendships).

I finally shot her a few Qs for our Meet the Maker series.
Cause she’s a legend and you would have seen her across our socials time and time again - here’s a few thoughts from the chillest, softest, toughest mum on the tools we know.

Describe being a working-chippy-mum in one word?

Tired!
But seriously, I start my day at 4:30am. I have to be very good at time management to make
sure I can fit every thing in for the day, work, exercise, sleep, dinner time, story time…

What was it like, coming back to work in a labouring role, after having a baby, when your body is a whole new thing?

It was kinda ridiculous, I had no idea and had to wing it. I had an unplanned C-section, they literally cut through the middle of your core strength. I had to put a-lot of work into getting my strength back. My first job back was fabricating a massive steel
bookshelf (300kg) so it was pretty hard going. Also expressing milk on a job site is quite something. I am starting a lil support group on facebook called “tradiemums” to help other mums and trades women navigate having a bubs while working in construction.

What’s the coolest thing about being so handy?

I love being able to impart these practical skills to my boy, it is still the case that men are expected to pass down these roles - even though my husband is by no means useless, I get to model my skills to him at the same time. I think it is just as important for little boys to see women excel in trades

What made you want to become a qualified carpenter? How did you learn those skills?

I worked alongside my dad since I was a kid, he is a very talented and creative builder. He didn’t hold back whilst teaching me, I got thrown in the deep end often. One of my first structural welding jobs was on the set of Mad Max Fury Road… abseiling a fake canyon, 10m in the air, in a sand storm!
When I started working in trades the culture around building was so different, I tried a bunch of things, but i kept coming back to it. Im so glad I persevered with it though.

What’s the ideal dream future look like for you work-wise?

I’m very happy with where I am at the moment. I work with such an awesome building crew. 
With designers and architects that understand the collaborative nature of building, that value our expertise. I run the job site day to day and am challenged by this part of the job. 
I love working with these very high quality materials and finishes that these jobs have utilised.
When I finally decide to wean off the tools I’d love to focus on sharing this knowledge.