We recently connected with Nico Field-Dyte and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nico, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

After many years of having a “regular job” and continuing to find the right fit within the 9-5, I found it very challenging to excel in a workforce that did little to nurture talent and ambition coming from a queer, female source (me). The same story can be told by countless women; work harder, smarter, faster and know more than your male colleagues because you have to. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t is what it turns out to be.
After years of doing this. I found myself in between contracts post-pandemic, contemplating my next steps. I didn’t want to do the same thing, expecting different results because there were no different results in the public sector. I asked myself what would I regret not doing if it all was to end tomorrow. The answer was giving Acting my best shot. So, I signed up for my first
Acting Fundamentals class. I haven’t regretted a single second of the journey.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Back in 2005 I reached a crossroads of where I wanted my life to go. One way there would be strife and perhaps nefarious activities OR a life I could feel good about.
I chose to enroll myself in a fancy woodworking school that just opened close to me and the sister school was in Nor-Cal. I had a friend go through the California school and I always had that in my mind of “someday that would be nice”.
It was challenging. I moved to be closer to the school and the abrupt shift of my life before to the new cadence of a full time Journeyman Woodworking program really jilted me. It took me a while to activate mentally and physically to adjust to a completely different mentality. Eventually I got the hang of it.
After the year of school was done, I had developed some incredible skills and knowledge. I tried having a job in a cabinet factory that made decent solid wood furniture. Again, this problem with men and their power issues made it’s predictable cameo and I had to leave that job. I worked for a local kayak manufacturer and even though
It wasn’t woodworking per se, I was still using my hand-skills. I had decided that my woodworking would be just that; Mine. I would do commission pieces and speculative projects, but not for a company. I did not have the financial support to start my own business so I took a part time job at a University. 9 years later, I was working full time at the University with all the benefits and vacation time etc, but I was so, so miserable. I had to leave that environment in order to escape the oppressive environment and make a living in another way. I worked for a friend who was managing horse stables and eventually had to find employment elsewhere.
** Word of advice: DONT WORK FOR YOUR FRIENDS. YOU MIGHT NOT BE FRIENDS ANYMORE.
I got another pt job at an education institution- a technical college. They have been amazing. I have flexibility. I went to work in the public sector in 2020, because there was no work. 18 months of that and it again left me disappointed. That’s when I decided to take acting classes. I still make small wood products and do refinishing work on the side. I still work at the technical school, take acting classes, audition, and do side projects when I have time.
There was a moment when I was a kid and they asked that boring question of, what do you want to do when you grown up? I couldn’t believe that they expected one answer. I wanted to learn how to do everything and I take that seriously as a lifetime endeavour. I’m curious about everything and want to know and learn whatever peeks my curiosity.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

It’s okay to do something and then discover that you don’t want to do it anymore. Always have a Plan B, C, D, E.
Not everything works out so be prepared to pivot and have options for yourself. Not only that, have a plan and work that plan until you can’t anymore. Then activate the next plan.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My entire life. Sorry, there are so many stories and experiences I can share. But mostly, become comfortable with trying and failing. That’s what life is mostly comprised of. The wins are not the norm, they are the exception and that’s why they are so sweet.
Learning how to lose was a lesson I learned early when I played a lot of sports in my youth. This taught me how to get up and try again each time. Even winning taught me that, that too is brief.
There is that quote from Kypling that adorns the player’s entrance to Court 1 at Wimbledon:

“If you can meet with TRIUMPH and DISASTER and treat those two imposters just the same.”

I feel that is basically a theme for success because success isn’t a destination; it is something you work on Every. Single. Day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nfdwoodwork.com
• Instagram: fiddlemakefix