Although severely underrepresented in the trades in the United States and elsewhere, women learn to navigate the interactions, activities, and spaces that comprise their community of practice. Even at Howe’s, where my coworkers are convivial and helpful, I’ve encountered obstacles to learning and to getting my work done. After exploring the reasons women choose to work in trades, I discuss how tradeswomen learn to develop workarounds—strategies that help them surmount social, physical, and psychological obstacles put in their path: outsider status, scrutiny, stereotypes, sexual and gender harassment, and condescension.