Amy - Civil Construction Works Coordinator
My name is Amy, I’m 32 and a tradie boss in the field of Civil Construction. I have been in this field for 13 years and love it more and more every day. My story is pretty full on, so I will try and keep it as short and sweet as possible.
I grew up in Wallacia (Western Sydney) and have lived local my whole life. My brother is a diesel mechanic and we have always been close, so spending time with him growing up with our family’s lifestyle meant being around trucks, tractors and spending a lot of time on our families property. I was a tom boy, playing soccer up until I was 23, riding dirt bikes, driving paddock bashers, trucks and tractors, and living that lifestyle that I loved. My parents both worked, and my dad has always been in the Civil Earthworks industry, so often on weekends I would go to work with him in trucks or learning to drive his dozers, dump trucks and other machinery.
I applied for, and was successful, for a traineeship in Civil Construction at Penrith Council, and as I loved working so much, I accepted and started straight away. I instantly knew Civil was the industry I wanted to be in- I enjoyed the work so much and was so passionate about my job. I made so many life long friendships and everyday was a new challenge that I accepted with no second thoughts. I completed my traineeship and applied for a truck driver role within Penrith Council, which I was successful in. I kept this role for several years, driving all trucks such as pressure cleaners, water carts, tippers and Hiab trucks, as well as operating backhoes and rollers. I towed machines on trailers and carted loads for Civil Construction teams, and every day that I got out of bed I was so excited to go to work. The teams I drove for were concreting, asphalting and civil construction works. My daily tasks were carting materials such as road base, asphalt or spoil, concreting, asphalting, and loading and unloading/ towing machines that include rollers, excavators and bobcats.
I applied for a Team Leader role and was successful and ran my own Concrete Maintenance team for 5 years. The discrimination went up a notch, and lots of male coworkers wouldn’t listen to my instructions or believe I knew what I was doing, which was extremely hard on my confidence and self esteem. I started studying again, as I realised my goals were changing, so I enrolled in Cert 4- Supervision in Civil Construction, in hopes to progress my career. In 2017, while doing excavation work, a slab of concrete fell out of the backhoe bucket on my jobsite and crushed my left leg, leaving me in hospital requiring foot and ankle reconstruction and learning to walk again from scratch. This all led to even more negativity about being a girl and not knowing what I was doing. It was a tough couple of years. I completed Cert 4 and continued on concreting, loving the satisfaction of creating masterpieces to a high standard and delivering projects with great outcomes.
The supervisor of the Road Maintenance team was retiring, so I applied for his role and was successful, doing jobs like excavation and replacement of damaged roads, building asphalt drainage channels and fixing road sinkholes. My team were males over the age of 40 and were all supportive and helpful in every way they could be. I had never been so happy in a position and loved every day at work. I enrolled in a Double Diploma for Leadership and Management/ project management, and applied for my boss’s role when he retired, as Works Coordinator in Civil Construction. I was successful and became the first female in Penrith Council to hold a Team Leader role, Field Supervisor role and Works Coordinator Role in Civil Construction. The discrimination, rumours and stories I was hearing about me were next level and were hard to hear, sometimes they broke me, but I overcome them every time and pushed on with more determination. I now have between 25-40 staff, as well as contractors, every day completing works under my supervision. I love mentoring and coaching anyone who wants to learn and strive to achieve their goals as I did. I currently have a drainage team, a small asphalt team, a road maintenance team, 2 construction teams, a shoulder grading team and 2 concrete teams. It hasn’t been easy getting here, being the only female in my department, and I have copped a LOT of flack from a lot of blokes who don’t like females, especially younger ones, succeeding in this field. I found ways to overcome this and am successfully fulfilling my role and kicking goals that I never thought I would. I love being the one everyone underestimates, when I meet an engineer, or a contractor on site and they question my team members about the job requirements instead of me, then stare at me while I pump out a heap of specifications and requirements that I want done because they don’t believe I should know what I am talking about.
As a lady tradie, there will be setbacks, especially from jealous people; there will be discrimination; it will be bloody hard at times, but I have found that the more you cop, the more it means you are succeeding. Don’t let people have a negative impact on your career, if it is your passion and you love what you do, keep going and show them how awesome that chicks in trades can be. Kick ass and make an impact
