Being a Woman in a Male-Dominated Industry

At one of the first “real” corporate jobs, an older (and married) senior manager touched me inappropriately at a work Christmas party after one too many drinks. I tried to pass off the incident as a drunken moment and hoped I would never have to speak to him again. He then started emailing my work email and when I did not respond, he found me on Facebook and started sending me inappropriate messages. I told him to stop contacting me and even blocked him from Facebook. I felt so uncomfortable with the whole thing that in the end, the only way I could deal with it was by quitting my job.

I was shy back then and far from my current confident self. My boss was older than my father and I respected him so much that I felt uncomfortable with ever telling him or anyone else, in the fear that he would think differently of me (not that I did anything wrong!). At the time I was dating someone who if I told him what had happened would have blamed me somehow, so I shut my mouth, pretended it never happened and I got as far away as I could from the situation. Ultimately, I thought I didn’t want to create a fuss and to be labelled as a trouble-maker, so quitting seemed like my only option.

Fast forward 10 plus years to the present moment, I am older, wiser, (ditched my ex) and found myself a much more supportive partner. I would like to think that being more mature and having a lot more life experience, I would handle that situation differently now. I just did not have the right support, the confidence and I felt completely alone. Okay, so you might be wondering why I am talking about something that happened over 10 years ago. I am not someone who dwells on the past and I mean I have moved on from it, I am okay, so why bring it up now? Truth be told, up until last week, I never spoke to anyone about it, but something happened online a couple weeks ago and it bought up old memories, making me think about this incident again.

Before going into what happened online, first, I want to explain the lead up. I recently changed industries and somehow went from being in one the most female-dominated industries - the beauty industry, to one of the most male-dominated – the construction industry. It has been a fun transition and I never imagined that working in construction would be as enjoyable as I have found it so far. After selling my beauty clinic, I decided to invest into a new business with the money I had got from the sale. People are always surprised to find out I own my own business and although I would like to take full credit for my current business, my fiancé is my business partner and we started this company together. He, being a qualified builder, and me, a previous business owner and business coach, we teamed up to create our company – NWD Design & Build.

Last week, I posted on LinkedIn that I had started a construction company (click here to view the post). I went on to say how I have been asked to become an ambassador for Australia’s largest meeting of women in construction at the Sydney Build Expo in March. That post has since gone viral with over 200,000 views, likes, comments and shares. Although the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, there have been a couple of concerning responses too, which if I am honest, almost boarder sexual discrimination and just downright rude. It got me thinking about my journey as a woman in the workplace and in particular, a woman in a male-dominated industry.

I feel these comments have been said particularly because I have a construction company. I owned two beauty clinics for several years and I started them with absolutely no experience in the beauty industry. Not once did anyone question whether I deserved to have them, yet from the comments that have been thrown around, I feel that some people do not believe I deserve to have my current business and have questioned my experience, my age and my intentions. Perhaps it is because people do not expect that I would be in construction. They may judge my appearance or the fact that I might be a woman and think that I would be better suited to beauty rather than something like construction.

I do not know why people say what they say, but when someone writes a negative comment, someone on the other end is reading it. I am not a robot, I am human and sometimes things do affect me. Since writing and sharing my life on social media, I have had to learn to develop thick skin and not let petty comments get to me. Sometimes they do, but then I pick myself up and remember some people will want to put you down no matter what. That is their issue and I feel sorry for them. They took the time to read my post and decided to write something negative, I think that says more about them than about me. 

The purpose of the post was not for self-promotion, but it was to share the message especially for young women about this amazing event held by Sydney Build. Supporting young women in the workplace and in business is an important topic, as I know first-hand what can happen when you feel alone. It makes me think that perhaps if I had been involved in more networks such as the one I am currently promoting, I would have had the confidence to speak out and take action with what happened to me all those years ago. I would not want anyone to ever feel like they are trapped or fearful of speaking up and yet I know the reality is that many women come face to face with dealing with inappropriate behaviour every day.

For the most part, I think being a woman has not stopped me from achieving my goals. There are obstacles that everyone must face, and I refuse to believe that being a woman is going to stop me, but it is important that we support women, especially in male-dominated industries. I may feel strong enough now, but I know for a fact there are so many who do not. So, to the people who left negative comments on my recent post, I want you to know that I did not write that post for you. I wrote it for my 24-year-old self who had no one to turn to, because if I went through it alone, I am sure that there are others out there who are going through it now. Let's create an environment where men and women are free to coexist in a safe, equal workplace without fear of being labelled or harassed. Let's educate everyone with what is appropriate and what is not in the workplace and beyond. Let's stand up and become the change we wish to see. Let's arm women with the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to become the best they can be, because when everyone is operating at this level, everybody wins.

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