Meet Mel!

Tell us about your role.

My role is Director of Matt Biddle Transport. This is basically all of the general office running of the company. This includes payroll, accounts receivable and payables, compliance and a lot of problem solving. I'm also a mum to 4 wonderful children.?

What motivates you in your role??

What motivates me in my role is the chance, along with my husband Matt, to build a small company to provide for our family and for our children to have something to work towards when they are older. The other thing that motivates me, are the people that expected this to fail because I originally knew absolutely nothing about the transport industry. It pushed me to learn everything I could about the industry and I am continually doing courses or training nearly 6 years later to improve my knowledge.

Who is your role model and why??

I don't necessarily have a role model, however I look up to and try to learn from the women that have overcome [adversity] to be the successful woman they are today.??

What is your proudest achievement?

My proudest achievement will always be my babies. [Second] would be our business. We have worked so hard to get to where we are today, putting in countless hours and overcoming obstacles.?

What advice would you give younger women looking to start a role in a male-dominated industry??

The advice I would give to younger women looking to start in this industry would be, to train yourself up as best as you can, whether that's driving lessons or learning about the legalities of the transport industry about rules, requirements, regulations and compliance. The other thing would be to hold your head up high and fight for the position you want because you will be an asset to someone! There are now some really wonderful women in this industry, that take their jobs seriously and do them with justice, whether that's driving, allocating, compliance or office admin.??

What is the most important piece of advice you have been given??

The most important piece of advice I was given was actually from my father-in-law, who has been in the industry forever. It was in our first year, I had a conversation with him where I felt defeated because I wasn't being taken seriously by a someone I had to contact about a job, and he asked to speak to 'the actual boss' (meaning my husband) and didn't want to talk to me. My father in law said "both of you are the bosses, if he doesn't like it, don't load his load" and we declined working with that person. That has always stuck with me and I've had to use that phrase once more a couple of years later.?