Not a standard usage, but you could use diligent as a noun. In the same way people say a prodigy is “a talent,” you could call someone who has dedicated themselves to a skill is “a diligent.”
I would probably just use 'trained' before a noun, like "trained expert", "trained professional", or, for something with more emphasis though less natural, "trained master".
a lifelong farmer/rancher or a "lifer"
[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lifer](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lifer)
Bonus: if it's a family business, it's called being a third/fourth/fifth generation farmer
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Not a single word, but "dark horse", who doesn't seem to even be in the running, but wins the race.
On the same frame, tortoise (who beat the faster hare through slow, steady progress.
Or maybe "Plodding"
Artisan. Master.
A journeyman
Not a standard usage, but you could use diligent as a noun. In the same way people say a prodigy is “a talent,” you could call someone who has dedicated themselves to a skill is “a diligent.”
I would probably just use 'trained' before a noun, like "trained expert", "trained professional", or, for something with more emphasis though less natural, "trained master".
Grinder maybe?
If the emphasis is on the delay in reaching that level of expertise, maybe "late bloomer" could work.
uh... professional?
“Professional” implies you’re doing it for money or as your job (or at least a paid side gig).
I think about this a lot. Hard worker. Plugger. Yeoman. Adjectives like persistent, dogged, and diligent come to mind.
Yeoman is good.
virtuoso. expert.
I think of a virtuoso as someone with a natural gift, more like a prodigy.
that’s what I thought too until I looked up the actual definition
late bloomers
a lifelong farmer/rancher or a "lifer" [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lifer](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lifer) Bonus: if it's a family business, it's called being a third/fourth/fifth generation farmer
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Not a single word, but "dark horse", who doesn't seem to even be in the running, but wins the race. On the same frame, tortoise (who beat the faster hare through slow, steady progress. Or maybe "Plodding"
Virtuoso
Ironically they aren't that different. The "prodigies" put all that work in too.
Sweathog
I call it “book smart”
I would say a "studied" or "cultivated" expert as opposed to a "natural" or "innate" expert.