With work hard to find and financial constraints mounting during the coronavirus pandemic, one Jamaican woman discovered a hidden talent that opened an unexpected livelihood for her in a labour-intensive trade not often pursued by local females – carpentry.

Twenty-nine-year-old Sydonie Miller had been finding it difficult to secure a job in 2020, during the heights of COVID-19, despite having a bachelor’s degree in business management and secretarial skills.

Miller, who was a new mother at the time, said her husband, a taxi operator, was the only one working and she was determined to find a way to contribute to her family.

Her journey to carpentry began with a desire to own a padded bedhead and being quoted what she considered an exorbitant price to have one made.

Sydonie Miller (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

“At the time, it was padded bed did run the place. When I go to ask the price, them a give me an arm and a leg for it. Me say me nah pay that,” Miller told Observer Online.

So, she decided to build it herself.

Seeking the guidance of a carpenter friend on Charles Street and gathering the necessary materials, Miller went on to make her first bedhead.

After completing the project, Miller’s curiosity and determination pushed her to learn more. She eventually made her way to Oxford Street, where veteran carpenters such as Chucky, Paul, Max, Abi Doll and Warren took her under their wings and taught her how to build a wider range of furniture, including dressers, chests of drawers and beds.

But for Miller, learning the trade was not difficult because she has always been a practical learner. She quickly grasped the skills being taught to her.

“If you’re going to do something, I see what you’re doing. If you show me one time, you don’t have to show me again. Just the one time, I know what to do,” she explained.

Sydonie Miller (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

But the mother of three said her entry into carpentry was about more than simply learning how to build furniture. She believes the skill was placed in her path for a reason.

“At the time, I was at work and I can’t forget the day. The almighty say I give you a skill, go and use it. I have business management, secretarial skills. I thought it was that skill but I never knew it was this skill. So when him say I give you a skill, go and use it, me just say alright me ago just go deal with the bed head. Me see say me can build dresser and me just a build. Me go under the wings of the veterans,” she said.

Miller, who now owns her very own furniture business, Luxurious Furnitures by Syd, said her client base now ranges from individual customers to stores in the downtown Kingston area.

When Observer Online visited her shop on Banana Street in the McIntyre Villa community of East Kingston, Miller was seen working on a bedhead and bed bottom for one of her customers.

While her skills have helped her build a business, Miller said being a woman in a male-dominated trade has presented its own challenges.

“Some of them, when them see a woman come and say you know say me build this, them don’t believe it” she explained.

Miller said some customers only become convinced that she builds the furniture herself after seeing a male carpenter deliver one of her pieces.

Sydonie Miller (Garfield Robinson)

Despite the doubters, Miller said she has also encountered customers who appreciate the fact that she is a woman in the trade and are willing to give her the time needed to complete their furniture.

“To be honest, it’s a bittersweet moment, but at the end of the day there are some people that really love me, who are really happy that I’m a woman and I do this. You have some patient ones, big up on unu self. Them say alright then, I’ll give you time,” she added.

The carpenter said each piece of furniture requires patience and attention to detail, with the process involving several stages before a finished product is ready.

“For me its patience, to really put in the work, because remember, furniture building takes time. It has different layers, different processes to build. So to build a bed head like this, it takes time. I have a lot of different grades of sanding to do,” she said.

She further explained: “I have to start the sanding from, like, 80, and I go down to 180. Then I go down to 200. Then I go down to 220. It’s patience. And you have to get all the nooks and crannies. You can’t just sand off just the bigger parts. You have to sand from the corners, from underneath, behind, everything. So it’s just patience.”

Of all the furniture she has made since entering the trade, Miller said one particular piece remains her favourite, a king-size mahogany bed set. She said the piece holds special significance because it challenged her skills when she was still new to furniture building.

Miller is now encouraging other women not to allow traditional perceptions about certain professions to prevent them from pursuing their interests.

“Don’t follow the stigma say a man work. Woman can do it, too. Once you see something that you want to do just do it. Learn the skill, do it, because at the end of the day, it’s not who do it. It’s really how you set your mind to do it or if you have the determination to do it,” Miller said. “So don’t follow them a man work. Baddies build furniture too. Baddies build furniture too.”

WATCH: