TV carpenter nearly abandoned her dream before becoming role model

Freja Elmer is a self-employed building carpenter who appears on DR’s television programme Søren Vester bygger sommerhus, but she nearly abandoned her ambition because she feared she would not be strong enough for a male-dominated trade, DR reports.

Elmer, who has her own workshop in Horbelev on Falster, is currently helping build a roof structure for Søren Vester’s summer house. She says her own prejudices held her back.

“I was afraid I would burden my male colleagues if they had to lift more than I could,” she says.

Elmer searched social media for women who had taken a similar path, but found few role models. She initially trained as a technical designer before entering the carpentry trade. A period of stress-related sick leave prompted her to reconsider what she really wanted to do.

“I wish I had dared to start right after primary school, but I took another education first,” she says.

Four years after qualifying as a building carpenter, Elmer runs her own company and works to be the role model she lacked. She also shares her experiences as a female carpenter on Instagram and is an ambassador for Boss Ladies, which works to challenge stereotypes and create cultural change in workplaces.

Role models can encourage more women

According to Dansk Industri, role models are important in attracting more women to vocational craft education. Anne Fløe, the organisation’s head of vocational and labour-market education, says the industry needs skilled workers and that women represent a large pool of talent.

“Someone like Freja is very important because she makes her trade visible and gives other girls and young women someone to identify with,” Fløe says.

Elmer says she receives positive reactions from people of all ages. Older people tell her they wish they had had her as a role model, while younger people say she is showing them the way.

On the television programme’s construction site, Elmer was the only woman among the tradespeople, but she says that was not a focus.

“The best sites are those where you do not notice that you are a minority,” she says.