In the last couple of months I have had some lovely feedback about my blog from women who are doing apprenticeships. I’m inspired and astounded by the variety of apprenticeships these women are undertaking. There are some fearless female tradies out there and your stories inspire me just as you are inspired by what I do.
I had a comment a while back from an apprentice roofer! Roofing is not my favourite area of plumbing and there is now a separate apprenticeship for roof plumbers. Well done Aimee on choosing a specialized field in plumbing. I take my hat off to you. I bet you are tanned and have fabulously toned legs. Standing on roofs can be hell on the legs and the sun can be a real killer in summer. I envy your toned legs, but I don’t envy your work. 😉
There are two Facebook pages that are dedicated to female tradies and apprentices and I wanted to share them with you. I wish they were around 6 years ago when I did my apprenticeship. Support from other women in trades is so important when undertaking an apprenticeship. I encourage anyone who reads this blog to check out their Facebook pages and share them with other female tradies.
The first page is Lady Tradies Australia. This is a great organization that promotes, supports and encourages women in non-tradition roles and trades. They have over 1000 fans on Facebook so if you are looking for support as a female tradie, head to their Facebook page.
The second page is Fanelle which is a fairly new page started by Fiona who is an apprentice mechanic. Fanelle encourages women to undertake apprenticeships in Trades that are currently considered to be non-traditional. We work together with tafes, employers and high schools to give apprentices amazing career opportunities and a future worth living up to.
The novelty of being a female plumber hit home this week when dad and I started early at a residence to do a bathroom renovation. The lady of the household opened up downstairs for us so we could start work and when she went upstairs, her husband asked if the plumber had arrived, she delightedly said “yes, she has arrived” to which the husband asked “she?”
The lovely client later told me how surprised her husband was that a female plumber was working at their home. He had to come down to see for himself. I thought he was coming down to say hi and introduce himself and find out what we were doing!!
It’s funny because since writing my blog and having been a plumber for over 6 years, the uniqueness of being a female plumber has worn off for me, but for others it is still seen as a novelty. Sometimes you need to see someone else’s perspective to remind yourself that what you do may be ordinary in your own eyes, but extraordinary in someone else’s.
Hope you all have a super weekend!
