Meet a Busy Mum Building a New Career in the Trades

Jo Stirling, from Queenstown, is an excellent example of a woman not afraid to start a new career after having kids.

When Jo was looking to go back to work, she knew she needed to find a job that would work around her being a mum of two young kids. She tried a few different career paths, one being an in-home child carer. Jo says in-home childcare was a great job while her kids were little. However, the inconsistency of work was a challenge. She really wanted to find something that she was passionate about and that could offer more stability in the future.

At 30 years old, Jo is now almost three years into her building apprenticeship, and although it’s busy balancing her new career and looking after her two kids, aged seven and eight, she has no regrets.

Becoming a builder was a big leap from early childhood care. But Jo had always been keen on building things in her spare time, so she wanted to turn her passion into a career.

“I studied woodwork at school, had worked at PlaceMakers and I’d always enjoyed building things in my spare time. So the idea didn’t come completely out of the blue. I decided it could be more than just a hobby and I wanted to make a career out of it.”

“Once I’d made my mind up, I started asking around and talking to a few people about apprenticeships. I got a few laughs from some people, but luckily, I had a friend who was a builder and I told him I was interested. He said he’d give me a job – and I still work for him now.”

Like most working parents, being an apprentice and balancing life as a busy mum comes with its challenges, says Jo.

“I wouldn’t say it’s easy. I’m just really lucky that I’ve got a good boss who lets me leave early a couple days a week so I can pick the kids up from school.”

Jo never let the fact that the industry is male dominated stop her for pursuing her passion. She urges women to get past the stigmatism and give it a go.

“When I was at school, I didn’t really think that women could go into the trades. When I did woodwork at school, I was the only female in the class. I’II talk to other women now, and they say they’d love to do it and think it would be a really cool job. I think if you have a passion for it, then there’s nothing stopping you from being able to do it.”

When asked what her favourite thing about building was, Jo said it was being able to visually see the progress every day.

“I think the best thing is that I can actually stand back and be proud of what I’ve built. It’s very rewarding to see the results on a day to day basis, maybe more so than an office job.”

After being encouraged to enter by her BCITO training advisor, Jo entered herself into the Registered Master Builders CARTERS Apprentice of the Year competition this year. She recently competed in her first regional practical challenge, where the apprentices were challenged to build a bird box.

Jo will find out at the end of August if she has placed in the Southern regional competition, and if she wins first place, she will go on to compete in the National competition later in the year.

Meet Flora Rivers, our 2019 Mitre 10 Trade Keynote Award Winner

We are very excited to announce the winner of 2019’s Mitre 10 Trade Keynote Award is Flora Rivers of Johnstone Construction.

It was a difficult decision as the three finalists were all of a high calibre. A huge thank you to the other finalists, Kellie Hinton and Jahna Stephens, for sharing their inspiring journeys with us and we wish them the very best of luck in their careers. The judges were inspired by these amazing wahine and were honoured to read their stories.

Flora’s application wowed the judges with her great attitude to life as a woman working in a non-traditional industry and her inspiring goals for the future.

It was noted that Flora’s sense of humour must help her out when things get challenging, one of her responses to what she enjoys about her job is;

“Having the ability to motivate even the laziest lad on site because they don’t like being shown up by a girl. I love hard work that may literally involve getting my hands and clothes dirty and that should be okay.”

Flora undertook her Level 3 Carpentry qualification at Unitec and was part of the Maori and Pacifica Trades Training (MPTT) Scholarship programme. She loved her time learning the basics as a pre-trader and even attended last year’s Women in Trades event in Auckland where she met her future employer! The pictures above are of Flora giving a range of trades activities a go and even meeting last year's Keynote Award winner Pip Buunk.

Flora is currently working on her Level 4 Carpentry qualification through BCITO as she learns the hands-on aspects of the construction world in her role as an Apprentice Carpenter at Johnstone Construction. Managing Director, Hugh Johnstone, is proud of how quickly Flora has settled into life on the tools and become an invaluable member of the JCL team;

“We searched for 3 years to find a woman to take on an apprenticeship with us and the wait was worth it. Flora has proven that jobs really do have no gender as she has taken her role and run with it, she is always looking for ways to challenge and extend herself. We are so proud that she now has the opportunity to inspire other women to consider a career in trades.”

Flora is not just working toward her carpentry qualification but is also undertaking papers in Construction Management and Engineering, all to help her toward her long-term goal of working on construction projects in the Pacific for the UNDP.

She was described by the judges as;

“…being one to watch, a role model in many aspects of her life and someone who is very grounded but has worked hard and deserves recognition!”

Flora will now work with Speechmarks to craft and develop her speech and public speaking skills so that she can deliver the keynote address at our upcoming event in Auckland.

A big thank you to our wonderful judges:

• Daimler Teves, Trade Marketing Manager at Mitre 10 Trade
• Diana Thomson, Public Speaking Coach at Speechmarks
• Pip Buunk, 2018 Winner of the Mitre 10 Trade Keynote Award and Senior Registered Driller
• Riripeti Reedy, Senior Advisor at Ministry for Women

Meet the Mitre 10 Trade Keynote Award Finalists

Entries have closed for this year's Mitre 10 Trade Keynote Award and the team at Women in Trades have had a wonderful time reading all the entries.

There were some strong entries this year and we wish all of them could be finalists - it is inspiring to know so many women are really making a go of life on the tools and loving (almost!) every day of it. So a huge thank you to all our entrants for their hard work and commitment to making a go of it in non-traditional industries.

We are very pleased to announce the following fantastic women as the 2019 finalists:

• Kellie Hinton of Advanced Plumbing & Drainage Ltd
• Flora Rivers of Johnstone Construction Ltd
• Jahna Stephens of New Zealand Steel Ltd

The judges are currently assessing the finalists and an announcement on the winner will be made next week.

The winner will receive one on one professional coaching with Diana Thomson of Speechmarks to craft a powerful presentation about their journey and learn public speaking and presentation skills. They will then give the Keynote speech at our annual Women in Trades conference held at Proclima Hub, Auckland in August. To find out more about this wonderful event visit our event page.

Good luck to all the finalists!

WIT's Tamara Croft is a finalist in the Governance NZ Awards

Secretary of our National Committee, Tamara Croft, is a finalist in this years Governance NZ, Women in Governance Awards in the Not-for-Profit category.

Tamara has been on the journey with Women in Trades since near the beginning in 2016 when the first event was a twinkle in the eye of the organisers.

She has been an integral part of the governance team alongside our Chairperson, Kylie Taffard, and Treasurer Krissy Danford.

Tamara is thrilled with the nomination and to be a finalist;

"Like so much in life, Women in Trades is a real team effort and couldn't be done without the mahi and support from the rest of the executive committee. I am proud of what we have achieved so far and to be on this journey with such inspiring and dedicated people."

Tamara started on the journey toward her governance career early on when she was a Programme Manager with the Beachheads team at NZTE, working alongside a private sector Advisory Board to support high-growth NZ companies accelerate their access to offshore markets.

The early exposure to the issues facing companies at a strategic and governance level and the empowerment of seeing women at the Board of Advisors table made her think one day she could take a seat there too;

"Early on I could see that the best decisions and guidance came from Boards that were diverse - diverse in age, gender, ethnicity, professional background and geographic location. I am pleased that the work being done with Women in Trades is helping contribute to this diversity."

We are excited to see our own organisation up for an award and the team will be at the Awards evening to celebrate together.

Johnstone Construction are Finalists in Governance NZ Awards

One of our founding sponsors, Johnstone Construction Ltd, is a finalist in the national Women in Governance Awards. They are up for Gender Diverse Organisation of the Year.

The judges said that the standard of entries was particularly high this year, making judging a difficult task, so we are very proud of our friends at Johnstone Construction for making it to the finals.

A special mention must be made of our own Women in Trades Treasurer Krissy Danford who is part of the Leadership team at Johnstone Construction. Krissy is a wonderful advocate and supporter of women in construction and the trades.

Managing Director Hugh Johnstone credits the efforts across the company from the site teams to the boardroom with providing an inclusive and supportive workplace for people from a diversity of backgrounds. He is particularly proud of having women at every level of the company after a concerted recruitment effort by the leadership team.

Their latest recruit, Carpentry Apprentice Flora Rivers, came to Johnstone Construction after first meeting some of the team during a "Give it a Go" activity at the Auckland 2018 Women in Trades event!

Congratulations to the team at Johnstone Construction and we wish them well for the Awards.

Find out more about the awards.

2019 Mitre 10 Trade Keynote Award NOW OPEN!

Applications are now open for our 2019 Mitre 10 Trade Keynote Award. The Award provides public presentation and personal story crafting skills to an inspiring tradeswoman.

The Award Recipient will work with a professional public speaking coach prior to the WIT 2019 event to craft a presentation about their experience as a woman in trades and will give the Keynote Address on the evening.

The application process is really easy & should only take 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Simply fill out the short form (download below) and send it in to us, along with a 1 page CV.

Applications open Tuesday May 21st and close Wednesday 26th June.

Download the Application.

Here is what 2018 recipient Pip Buunk thought about working with Diana:

"I’m a word person, I feel I can write professionally or creatively fairly well, and I assumed this would follow through to writing speeches.

But... when I started working wth Diana on my keynote speech, kindly sponsored by Mitre 10 Trade, I discovered presenting my words verbally is a whole different animal!

Diana is bubbly, friendly and professional. She let me decide the topics and information to cover while teaching me to mould the format of my story so that it worked well for a spoken presentation.

The skills I learned under Diana’s guidance have served me well for several speeches, as well as for meetings and interviews I have since taken part in. It was invaluable to my personal and professional development and I plan to work with her again when I need guidance on future speaking engagements."

Read about the highlights of Pip's career in her own words here.

Find out which trade is right for you!

Not sure what trade is right for you? Got a Trade, Got it Made has a handy tool for tool for working out which trades path could work for you.

Check it out at Get-a-Trade-Tool

Pip Buunk, NZ's only female driller, in her own words...

My teachers and careers counsellors didn’t think drilling was a good choice for me, mainly because they had no idea what it was. They said it wasn’t a job for a young lady! I responded; “My mum helps dad’s drillers on the rigs when they need an extra hand, so looks to me like it’s for everyone!”

I had my parent’s support from day one - their only rule for picking a career was that it had to be sustainable. So, I ended year 12 with three modules towards a drilling course completed by correspondence.

I called up the owner of my local drilling company and he told me I could come in and give it a go. I started doing work experience in the weekends and school holidays; learning to weld, help on piling sites and drill water wells - I loved it! Being outdoors, the physical job and the hands-on learning.

This was a shock to my dean and career counsellor as for a while I had wanted to be a hairdresser.

The morning after my last exam, my mum took me to sign out of school. My teachers couldn’t believe it, and thought I was making a huge mistake, BUT.. I knew there were piles in Blenheim I needed to test the next day so I had no doubt where I wanted to be.

Early the next morning, I was in a truck with the drilling crew, driving up to Blenheim. The first of hundreds of trips all over the country chasing work adventures. The guys from this trip I now greet with “hey uncle!”. They became the crew that taught me the ropes, worked alongside me in knee deep mud when things got messy. They helped me learn what went wrong if I messed up, and how important it was to eat the meat from my dinner first, because if I didn’t they’d “help” me eat it!

Since then, I’ve had workmates from all walks of life and backgrounds. I’ve had some that would join me for a beer after a rough day. I’ve had some who would pray for me to find the way through whatever challenges I was facing at the time. Some have ended up as drilling family- one of the guys I worked with on piling rigs now works for my dad, and calls him Dad because, he’s my brother in everything but blood.
Others introduce me to their new girlfriends, as their sister.

On the other hand, there were others that didn’t make life quite so easy…

I’ve had some interesting experiences being one of few females on site, but as more and more women choose jobs in traditionally male careers, the crap we get becomes less and less. It’s becoming normal to bump into another woman tradie or engineer on site although in most of the companies I’ve worked for I’m the first woman to have been employed in a field position.

There were some moments where things got pretty intense and I just needed a break from drilling. Luckily, getting my truck licence was a must from the beginning so I could drive my own gear to site. It also turned out to be a handy backup for when I need that time out.

I left the company I was with early last year and called up a recruitment company so see if I could get some more experience truck driving- I ended up spending 3 months driving trucks to help clear the road after the earthquakes in Kaikoura. I was reunited with the first woman I’d worked on site with (she was a concrete truck driver back then). I was lucky enough to spend a few months learning the ways of an 8 wheeler from her and the guys at the trucking company.

One night, as I was pulling up to the truck stop, my phone rang. It was this noisy English bloke who was adamant I needed to run his new drilling division at Fulton Hogan. I honestly thought it was a joke! But over a year later and I’m in a higher position and with more opportunities than I ever imagined possible. All because I worked my ass off to just get the work done and do it well.

I love the second family I’ve built over the last 15 years, but my absolute favourite part of the job has to be the travel. From geotechnical drilling on the Puhoi to Warkworth road to environmental monitoring wells in Milford Sound. From gold exploration drilling in the old Martha Mine Waihi to geotech drilling in Christchurch.

I’ve been paid to go to more places than I can name, and I can tell you, I can’t think of many better jobs than getting paid to explore your own back yard. Everyone in an office wants the corner window- what if I told you that you could literally work in the ever-changing office that is in the bush, on beaches, next to beautiful lakes and up mountains, and in every city in the country?

Drilling isn’t the only trade that travels. On all the locations I worked at, there were other tradies who came in as part of the project; Carpenters, painters, steelfixers, electricians, mechanics, welder/fabricators, surveyors, digger and dozer operators, logging crews and more. All these people work together to get the project done. It’s cool to be able to look at a bridge, a building, or a factory and think, “I helped make that!”

Two years ago, just after the NZ drilling qualifications officially came out, I applied for and won a scholarship from the NZ Drillers Federation to complete my Level 4 certificate in drilling through MITO which I now have.

I am proud to be New Zealand’s first female driller but hopefully I won’t be the only one for long….

Meet Pip Buunk, our inaugural Keynote Award winner

The inaugural Keynote Award recipient, sponsored in 2018 by Mitre 10 Trade, was the inspiring Pip Buunk of Fulton Hogan.
Pip received the award for her groundbreaking role as New Zealand’s only registered female driller. She worked with Speechmarks public speaking coach Diana Thomson to refine her story and pump up her presenting skills.

Pip did an amazing job on the night sharing her inspiring story with the attendees and encouraging them to follow their hearts and pursue the career that's right for them, not what might traditionally have been expected of them.

Pip then joined the panel discussion that followed sharing the challenges and opportunities for women considering a trades career.

Pip loved being part of the event and has taken the coaching and experience she gained and run with it. She is now the Tradeswomen representative on the national Women in Trades Committee and has spoken on other panels about her experience as a tradeswomen.

If you would love to share your own story and beef up your public speaking skills then apply for our 2019 Keynote Award.

Read about Pip's inspiring journey in her own words here.

Tradeswomen "pro tips" about life on the tools

We asked our panel what their biggest misconceptions were before they started working in a trade and the advice they wish they had been given. Because you know the saying, "if one person says it at least another dozen are thinking it"...

What is the biggest misconception you had about working as a tradesperson before you started?

The biggest misconception I found personally in the start was thinking that I would never be as good as the boys. Alana Davies - JT Plumbing

The hours. That you can work long hours to finish a job. It's NOT a 9 to 5 job. Jackie Mason - Mason Plumbing

Working in a male dominant trade/workplace, I thought I’d be treated differently because of my gender but as soon as I started everyone didn’t treat me any less or more than the opposing gender. Toni Rhind - Pacific Steel

That tradies were not well off people and there wasn't a big demand for them. Jessica Moverley, Apprentice Carpenter

That everyone thinks that only men can do this job. Yeah, I get it. It is a male dominated industry but I have met and heard of so many females in the automotive industry that are doing really well. I am the only female in my workshop but I don't think that will be the case in the near future. At least I hope not. I may not be the BEST just yet, but watch me try get there. Elaine Pereira - Trucks & Trailers

Best piece of advice that you can share with aspiring tradies?

Be brave! Be Humble! Try new things out of your comfort zone! Learn to laugh things off and not to take things so personally and at the end of the day we have the power to accomplish anything we put our minds to! Alana Davies - JT Plumbing

Enjoy your work. If it is unsafe, or you feel unsafe SAY SOMETHING. Jackie Mason - Mason Plumbing

Be brave, Be ambitious and enjoy what you’re wanting to do. It’s a lot more clearer to build a successful path. Toni Rhind - Pacific Steel

No matter what your size, big or small, there is always a way of doing a job. Jessica Moverley, Apprentice Carpenter

ATTITUDE IS KEY! If you have the right attitude anything is possible. Employers want employees that are committed to the job they are doing no matter what it may be. Elaine Pereira - Trucks & Trailers

Find out more about our panel and their fantastic employers...