Heavy Vehicle Mechanic Makes Groundbreaking Strides in the Trades Community

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You're listening to the Sparky life podcast with your host, Lia lamela. Here we discuss women in the trades and how to construct your career. On today's episode of The Sparky life, please welcome with me Louise Azzopardi. She is a life coach for women in the trade and a Heavy Vehicle Mechanic. Yeah. I came across you as a Heavy Vehicle Mechanic because I'm not familiar with that trade. Can you first tell me a little bit about it? As a heavy vehicle mechanic, generally this two kind of streams of heavy vehicle mechanic there, the road transport and the commercial side. And then there's heavy vehicle plant mechanics as in machinery. So like diggers, excavators, your mining equipment as well. So I started off my apprenticeship in the heavy commercial side. And then later on, I moved into the mobile plant side, basically just doing maintenance, repairs, and diagnostics of the equipment to get it up and running. Awesome sauce. So what sparked you on that path in the first place? How were you introduced to the trades? I grew up on a farm. So my parents grow tomatoes in greenhouses. So I was always out there helping my parents. FYI, she lives in Australia, guys. So just basically one of my favorite places on earth

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sideout note

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pretty much did all of like electrical repairs and mechanical repairs, everything plumbing repairs, all ourselves. So it was really hands on. I know that everyone's seen the meme, where it's like most of your childhood is trying to hold the torch right, and then getting yelled out when you're not holding the torch correctly. It's like I'm helping dad in the shed. But mostly I'm holding the torch.

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But later on, when I got to be older, I was doing a lot of repairs and really like getting hands on and helping out. And I knew traditional study wasn't me. So over here in Australia, we have primary school, and high school and high schools kind of got the junior years, which we call your seven to 10. And then the senior years, which is your 11 and 12. And if you have a job or an apprenticeship or traineeship or another form of study, you can actually leave high school at your 10. So when you're around 15 or 16 years old. So I was getting to the year 10 point where I was I don't want to do here 11 to 12 I don't want to do my senior years. And I decided on mechanics. We do these things over here called apprenticeship and trainee ship expos where companies come and display what apprenticeships and traineeships they have available. So I went there and I ended up meeting Sarah. So Sarah, at the time was a first year Heavy Vehicle Mechanic. And she was like the same height as me at the time, we'll go blonde as well. So what's your height so that we all we all know, I am like 165 centimeters? I think it is okay. Okay. And just so you guys know, that's five feet and four inches. So yeah, I had met her there. And she was like, Come do work experience at my work. And she was working at a heavy commercial mechanics workshop. So I went and I did a week's work experience there. And I love that. And I started my apprenticeship as a heavy vehicle mechanic in 2012 when I was 15. And I qualified when I was 19. Boys laid out apprenticeships over here for years. Yeah, so that was the beginning of it, the beginning of the journey.

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Okay, so then what brought you to being a coach for women in the trades, because when I saw that my eyes like popped out of my head, I go, Oh my gosh, this is genius. Because being a female in the trades, it's lonely. I never see another woman out there. And when I do, I'm like, hi, let's be friends immediately. But one of the things that bothers me the most, I happen to have gotten very lucky in the journeyman that I work under. And I was able to have an amazing mentor. But I know that a lot of the guys struggle with mentoring female apprentice because they're nervous if they get too close if it looks too close, so I'd be jealous of all these younger guys kind of like being taken under the wing of you know, the journeyman, and they're like being shown things and it took a little bit before I was lucky enough to come across the crew that I came across, but I would see that and be so jealous and I know that if there was more women, I'm sure that they would take on that role. You had that experience with Sarah so yeah,

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and even means there was so close kind of, in our experience in the workshop in four and a half years, we only actually ever worked on one track together. So that's the size of the workshop. So I reckon it was really a game changer for me to have her there. But even just for both of us, we didn't see anyone ahead of us. I think I was three years in when I met a qualified Heavy Vehicle Mechanic, like female one, right. So like, in my mind, I had like these ideas of, you know, wanting to have kids and all that kind of thing. And I hadn't had any evidence that it was possible because I hadn't seen anyone, any women do it before, like all of these men are just going off and doing things, but it's very different as a woman in the relationship of a heterosexual relationship. You're the one who's gonna grow the baby. Yes, yes. I didn't see anyone that looked like me, who had then succeeded up to like a leadership level, or were you know, who had that 20 years experience? And I was like, Is it even possible for me to make it that far, coming back round to becoming coach, at its essence, it's really being the person that I wish I had.

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That is the best. So sweet, really, that's so special.

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There is a lot of us out there now. But we're also pretty isolated. Even how we connected on social media, social media really opens the world up. Like I started my apprenticeship in 2012. So social media was really starting to ramp up that kind of thing. And the world just opened up for me. But even in that, like so many of the girls still feel alone on site. And I think it's happening all over the world. But really, in Australia, we're really see companies are really trying to get women in. But some of the companies are not fixing the issues that are keeping the women out in the first place. So they tried to put the women in there and the women, they like get the nice photo, like, look how many girls we have. And then the girls are like left to single swim in this environment that in some cases isn't even that great for the men.

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Yes. So that's definitely something I noticed in the States, there's no barrier for women to get in. That's not the problem. And in fact, the way that our system is set up, it's in the best interest of the construction companies to meet quota, they have to have a certain amount of minority, right, so females, tick that box, so to speak. So they have no problem hiring you or putting you in the apprenticeship, but for as many enter, it's like more than half that don't finish. Of course, if you ask, you know, the construction companies, and the head honcho is in charge, it's well, they couldn't cut it. But that's really not what it is.

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No, the government over here has those incentives and stuff for businesses. And there's also some funding out for projects to get women into train over here, I think it's like 70% of females who started an apprenticeship, don't finish it, or don't continue. But still, the stat is actually really high for the boys as well, it's 43%, I think, for the boys that start, and 43% of them drop out. So realistically, that's almost half. So it's not exactly a great stat anyway, there's a lot of issues here that have been around a long time.

8:27  
That's a very good point, I think you hit the nail on the head of one of the reasons why we're in trouble in the sense of really needing skilled craftsmen and craftswomen. And we're going to have such a deficit. It's huge. That being the case, what were some of the struggles that you went through, that you identified with and realize you needed or wanted to take action for change.

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So there was some bullying that was happening where it was pretty much this guy in the workshop just kicked off his next victim happened to be the target. I just happened to be the target that time in that situation like five full grown men had left before me. And I was like about 19 at the time, and five fully grown men had left because of this guy. And then I was told that I had an attitude problem and that I wasn't like being mature enough to deal with different personality types. And I'm like, so what about all those old guys? What about that? And I don't get it.

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What were some of the other struggles other than this bully that you encountered?

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I didn't experience really outright sexism. So I had my first workplace. I was there for four and a half years, I completed all my training there. And then I went to another workplace where we kind of went out onto different sites to work and this one site they went to I was the first woman to ever work like on that site, and there was a fair few different trades working there. And this guy was just so outright sexist. Just like crazy. You're the woman you need to clean it up. Even just other things like, I was studying to get some more qualifications, and I couldn't work overtime on the weekends. And he was like, Well, you can't fix stupid, you should just stay here. He did the cleaning thing a lot. And they got to the point where if I wanted to work in the shed, because we had such an overflow of trucks and stuff happening, sometimes we would have to work outside the boys leave the workshops, such a mess that I would have to clean them as if I wanted to work inside. I kind of was going through that for about a year because my boss was really good. But he was going through cancer at the time. Oh, I don't want to ask to move sites because I was like, You know what, like, I'm just gonna try and hack it out. And then it got to the point where I was like, I can't I can't do it. And my boss, he had come and he was like, Okay, I believe you you acting really differently. I can see it's taking a toll on you. And then he had come and we're walking through like, I was like, Okay, this is what we're doing on this trap is whatever. And then the guy comes up to me. And we had another coworker, there was a team of three and he was working for the boss of the site come to me, and he was Louise, make sure you clean up Matt's mess. And my boss was like, why on earth would she do that? And he was all because she's the woman like she's supposed to clean up after everyone. And my boss was like, I really say it now. Like you don't have to come here again. You lucked out

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that he was such a buffoon that he did that in front of the boss. You lucked out, because that's just like, there's no denying it's not a he said, she said it's happening.

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That was because like my boss had seen it in me. He's like, you're you're really down. And I'm like, Well, this is going on. And it's not that he didn't believe me. 110% sure that this was now an issue now because

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it was just clarity. And it's not that he didn't believe you. I'm sure he did. But also, I don't think they understand the severity. Because it's not something like unfortunately, women deal with sexual harassment, whether you're in the trades or not, quite frankly, it doesn't matter. You're most likely going I forget the stats, but it's something ridiculously scary about how many women experienced sexual harassment. So men just don't on that scale. I'm not saying they never experienced sexual harassment. I'm saying, there's men who go through the life that never experienced it, as opposed to you could ask any female and I guarantee you she's experienced it more than once.

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Yeah. In the stats, I feel like every woman has had absolutely the severity of it. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

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And so this brings me to you have a program called power through sexism? Is this one of the reason why you develop the program. Tell me about this.

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Yeah, a webinar that I did, which is available for everyone. If you're listening to this, and you're interested in it, it's on my website, I'm sure all the links will be below anyway. But really powering through sexism, this concept that I come up with, it's more like a whole approach to sexism. Because a lot of times when we talk about dealing with sexism, a lot of it is about sorting the situation out. None of its really considering how it's taking an impact on you mentally. And one of my first steps in the process of working through sexism is making sure that you're physically and emotionally safe. So often we internalize these things, it happens often is where someone will say something sexist, and you'll get offended. And they'll be like, I'm just joking. Don't like, don't be so offended. It was just a joke. Like, I didn't mean it like that. And then you talk yourself being polite, it was just a joke, it's not a big deal. And then, you know, three weeks later, they've been saying it every day, and you're like crying on the way home in the car, right? Actually recognizing what you're going through is sexism, because there's that bit of over line of gaslighting and stuff happening there. And then, no matter how many tactics you have, if you fall to pieces, every time you see this person and have such a stress response, it's not really emotionally safe for you to keep going with that. So kind of sorting that out. Sometimes the best option is to leave and start fresh and you know, put these things in place straightaway. Once you do that step, then to be okay, I'm gonna confront him about this. I'm going to, you know, talk to HR. A lot of people say, Oh, you're fighting the sexism, you know, for the woman who comes up to you. But in the moment, you're the highest priority. If you can't handle it, and if you don't feel safe, then leave. You're not letting anyone down by looking after yourself.

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Yes, that's very important. Always put yourself first for sure. This opens the door to a whole nother realm and I want to get your opinion on this. So I'm from New Jersey, New Jersey is considered the armpit of America we have no soul okay? I say the wrong things. I have a dirty sense of humor, and I don't get offended very easily. And one of the things that the guys tell me, it's that they're uncomfortable, and the big reason Especially nowadays how it's gotten crazy with society and freedom of speech and people being offended if you look at them the wrong way. They want to at work, joke around and screw around and say things and they're terrified that if they say the wrong thing, you're going to run to HR. And who would want to be in a situation like that, right? So that I can empathize with, because I wouldn't want to work in a situation like that. Now, we're all adults. So if somebody says something you don't like, there's nothing wrong with politely saying, Hey, man, I would really like it. If you wouldn't repeat that or just, you know, yeah, please don't say that around me bothers me. I would imagine most of us would be like, Okay, no problem and leave it at that.

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I really think that that is the majority. And like, this, not just being the women's issue as well, construction does have the highest suicide rate. Yes. So I think a lot of these skills have been lost on the men as well to be able to say, hey, that's bothering me, mate. It's not just women who get offended.

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You're 100%. Right. 100%, right.

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So I think it's just like a skill, but everyone to be able to say, Hey, this is bothering me. And for like, the other people that I have trust. Some of them are like, Well, my mate got, like, stuffed over. So I'm, I'm worried now, right? It's a really individual thing. Like, because I have experienced it to where I've gone into a workshop. Before I become a coach, I was also working as a teacher. And at the place, I went into the workshop to work for a few weeks to just like, keep my hands on the tools and everything. And the boys just kind of went silent when I got in there. Yeah, and it took them a while to warm up to me. But in that instance, there's a lot of stuff as the woman like you can do in those situations where you can, you know, start conversations, and it does take a bit of extra effort that no ideally you wish you wouldn't have to put in. But it's a two way street. They've never worked with a woman before. And they've heard all these stories. So they got to get to know you on a personal level as well. And previously, as well, that particular workshop that I went into, they had a really bad experience with a woman there who had taken everyone to HR and all that kind of thing. I had that knowledge of what went in as well. So I kind of was, this isn't about me, right? They've had a bad experience. They've got some kind of trauma from this. They are actually worried. Sometimes I tell you, Oh, we were a bit worried about you coming in. And, look, I know you've had bad experiences. But if you say something I don't like I'm going to tell you, yes. Just being able to trust another human that I will tell you if you're going to offend them and just having not having the intention to offend anyone.

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I agree with

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that. The guys that I've worked with, like you said, I just was myself. It's easy for me, I am vulgar. So once I'm on the job site, they quickly are like, This girl is worse.

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Oh, she's worse than us.

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But they'll keep their guard up for a while until they feel comfortable. And once they do. It's great. You're just a part of the team. Yeah.

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And I think that it's also something that comes with time and experience and sometimes age. Yes. I feel like the first year of my time being a mechanic I like didn't even talk to anyone I was like, I don't even know how to manage this. I was 15 I just left high school going into the trade. I'm like, I don't know how to talk to adults.

18:45  
But it is definitely something that comes with practice. And being able to be like, I belong here. I know where my boundaries are. And I know how to communicate my boundaries and moments.

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But that's why I think having a coach like you is so important for women in the trades to be able to talk to you about how to interact with the guys in a positive way how how to understand look, it's not it's not their fault. It's not you don't take it personal. You're disturbing the apple card, create the positive environment.

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I do not have a perfect track record. I've made mistakes. I've gone too far with jokes. And yeah, I've been involved in like different investigations for sexual harassment and stuff as well. I don't say that I'm perfect in this. But I really want the girls to learn from what I've learned from so rather than me taking 10 years to come to this point, if they're in their first year, I would love them to have all of these tools to be able to say, hey, that's bothering me being able to take feedback, being able to you know, another thing that happens in trades is a lot of the supervisors and managers are just really good tradies. But they haven't been taught how to manage people.

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Yes. I remember I was reading an article, you were in a regional World Skills Competition. And in the article, you said that it was an event that changed your life. I so want to know how and how does that all play in?

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There's this competition called the WorldSkills Competition. So it's, it's pretty much like the tradie Olympics. It's run at a regional, national and international level. My mentor was like, Hey, guys, like, do you want to compete in this competition? And I was like, oh, yeah, cool. I'll do it. But what it is, is testing for, like excellence in the trade. So I went into the regional competition, which for heavy vehicle mechanics is kind of sixth breakdown. So it's a trap has a problem with its gearbox, engine. And other one is like the hydraulic system. And other one is the brakes. Got to go through and you got to fix them. You got to diagnose you got to write a report. You do your assessment, your safety and your knowledge, and it's stuff like that. So I went into the regional competition with the plan, it would be a success. If I didn't come last. I'm going to take that as a win. Yes, I ended up coming second, in which was amazing. And then from there, I was actually put forward to compete in the national competition. And for the heavy vehicle category, I was the first female to compete at a national level. And then I become the first female to win. Yeah. So this started in 2015. So regionals and then 2015 nationals in 2016. And then I ended up competing in internationals in 2017. I was posed female to compete at an international level in the category. And it was 16 countries that competed, and I ended up coming full. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Yeah. So it was so crazy. And it was just like, the whole experience was eye opening. And it just was a game changer for me. Because I met so many people. I worked on my skills so hard, being able to talk to all these industry leaders from not only one country but 16 countries, I had really put myself in a position where these are 16 industry leaders from countries where some of the women, they're not even allowed to work in these countries. And I'm here beating more than half of their guys. Yeah. Really saying something?

22:37  
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. That's an amazing experience. With all your success. What

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are you most proud of? One thing I'm most proud of is just those basics. They got me here like starting my apprenticeship and completing my apprenticeship. My coaching business, which I started in 2021, just being able to be like, you know, I started, which led me to all these amazing experiences. I love that if I didn't start, I wouldn't be here. I love that. That's

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so perfect. That's I think that's one of the best answers I've ever gotten. Seriously, that's, that's so great.

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I feel like so many people, they don't acknowledge those little steps and those little wins. There's impostor syndrome, and all that kind of thing that we can talk for hours about, but acknowledging how you got here. You're the one who went and applied for those jobs. You're the one who interviewed and got those jobs like you worked for every step. I often

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ask my guests since we are in construction trades, what's in your tool belt? Could you share with us a key skill set one of your accumulated capabilities that has helped you achieve your goals?

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When you're talking about a physical thing, I love just having a little water with me because drinking water and that kind of thing is something that's really grounding me when I start overthinking. If I start to panic or anything, I'll be like, Okay, have a drink of water, just stop for a second, have a drink of water, feel the water go down your throat really bring you back to the moment and stop you from catastrophizing. Or I cut this wrong, which means the boss isn't going to be happy and the customer is not going to be happy. And then I'm gonna lose my job and you know, you go down this path, okay, and then have a drink of water. I cut that wrong, we have an extra piece here, solid. So like physically, always have a bottle of water on me, mentally as well. I like to think so every time I think about worst case scenario, okay, I've thought about everything that can go wrong here. Or what is everything that can go right. Yeah, I am putting myself at risk for something to go wrong. But look at all these amazing opportunities that will happen if it goes right.

24:42  
I love that. That's great. That's great. Using the water bottle as a grounding mechanism, which I think is actually really cool. I think I'm going to try that. That's like a physical reminder of chill,

25:01  
yeah, being on a worksite you don't want it to be super obvious. You kind of have these thoughts like, Are people gonna think I'm weird? I can't go and take five minutes to myself because I'm charged by the hour, that kind of thing too. So having things that are so simple and easy to just implement on the go, is really, really handy for trainees.

25:19  
Yeah, that's very clever. I never thought of that. But I'm gonna give that a whirl. I definitely well. And then you were also talking about

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what can go right, right? We always think about what can go wrong? Well, this is the disaster that can happen if I make a mistake in doing this task. I haven't done before. I'm not too sure. But these are all the things that can go right. And another thing that I tell myself, it's a bit of a funny one. But it's like this can turn to shit. But at least I'll know what to do next time.

25:57  
I like that. Yeah, being as somebody that's a professional worrywart, how do I not get trapped down that rabbit hole?

26:08  
So I call them having little circuit breakers in there. So you kind of

26:12  
Ah your talking my language. All right, my love for you just went to a whole nother level. Okay.

26:22  
Like my whole thing is professional development. But we've tradie analogies. Yes, yes. Yeah, you get your task and then you start to think, Oh, what if this goes wrong? And then you know, you start to think catastrophizing and you know, you know, like the process that you go through that makes you feel so worried. But then when you start to build that, at the beginning, doing a circuit breaker kind of thing, having a bottle of water, drinking that, go to the bathroom, taking five to yourself, you know, catching yourself at that point and be like, Okay, I've thought about what's gone wrong. So what can go right? Okay, I know if I stay on this path, it's just gonna get worse and worse and worse. Well, this is the first step and I can now it's easy to take these other steps that are going to lead me down a different part.

27:07  
Very cool. Very cool. Tell everyone where they can find you because you need to be found.

27:14  
Yeah, so very simple is my Instagram is Louise Azzopardi coaching. My website is just Louise Azzopardi. So if you wanted to check out that powering through sexism webinar that is on there, and I've also got a Facebook community for trades women called trades women owning their power. Also, I work with trades woman, one on one to coach through anything that is going on in work and life because we all know work in life. intermix sometimes, and you know, often, what causes us anxiety just causes us anxiety and a different flavor outside of work. If you want support or help in navigating any situations like that, please reach out to me so you can contact me through my website or my Instagram. And I'd love to speak to you and see how I can help you. I love it.

28:07  
I love it. Thank you again so much for doing this with me. I really appreciate it.

28:14  
That's all good. It's been so fun.

28:17  
I love speaking with Louise, there's a real need in the female trades community for mentorship. One of the reasons I wanted to start this podcast was to create a community and network opportunities for trades women. When I first started out on my journey, I was so jealous of the other male apprentices. The older journeyman would take them under their wings to show them trade secrets and help them develop their craft. I longed for mentorship, coaching, but most men were concerned about getting too close in fear what that might look like to others or simply felt women shouldn't be in the field. When I finally had a journeyman recognize my potential, and I won him over with hard work and persistence. He let go of the stigmas took me under his wing and mentored me. If the ladies in the trades would mentor one another, coach each other can you imagine the places we'd go, many women would become the masters of their trades domain.

29:29  
One of my deepest desires is to connect season's trade women, with women just entering the trades to support one another create friendships. mentorships Louise is helping serve a great need in the community. I really enjoyed speaking with her. If you guys would like to get in touch we will have her information in the show notes below. Or you can reach out to us directly and we will connect you thank you for joining us If you felt a spark in today's episode, I invite you to write a review. I'd love to hear what lit you up. Take what resonates with you. And if you'd like to hear more of the sparky life, please subscribe like, follow and share. Until next time, create sparks in your life.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai