Many organizations in the transport sector are already reaping the benefits of investing time, effort, and creative thinking into accelerating their diversity efforts.
Female engineers, drivers, and management leaders will also play a positive ambassadorial role as gender champions in recruitment drives and partnerships targeted at schools, colleges, and universities. We wanted to spotlight successful women, undertaking a diversity of roles in the business who break the bias, to showcase to aspiring women significant opportunities to start or continue a career with an organization. It will also help dispel perceptions that transport is a 'men only' club that doesn't value female employees as much as male workers.
Question: What's the best piece of advice you can give to the next generation of women?
Heather Yazdan, CTS Chief Financial Office - An avid baker
"Firstly, ALWAYS accept challenges just for the experience. Experience to me was always more valuable than immediate compensation – I knew the compensation would eventually follow. Secondly, seek out a good mentor. I've always had multiple mentors. Whether it was a colleague, senior leadership, or even family, it is important to have a good dialog with people you trust, don't be afraid to make mistakes, and grow from them. Thirdly, when you have a seat at the table, always focus on what you bring versus what you don't. Finally, you can't always do it alone, nor should you. Try to build a strong team around you that has aligned shared objectives. Without a strong team behind me, I wouldn't have achieved half of my success. My teams are my most tremendous success."
Question: What's been the most significant learning curve for your successes at work?
Anna Pullinger, Sr. Service Solutions Manager - A fitness fanatic
"My most significant achievement was creating the Financial Services Centre of Excellence in Brisbane that is continuing today. It was all about creating a collaborative team, and most of those members are still with Cubic. A recent noteworthy achievement was taking automation into my own hands. I have taken a few mundane, repetitive tasks and developed an automated solution that has provided the required efficiencies for project success. For me, climbing the career ladder is just about grabbing the opportunity when it arises. The most challenging part of my journey is letting go of any self-doubt and knowing that you have been appointed because you are the person to deliver. My latest position with Robotic Process Automation was all about taking an interest. If you have the ambition, then doors do open up. Another learning opportunity was networking and talking to people who are where you want to be, diving into how they got there, and deciding the best path for you. Remember, unfortunately, success is not overnight it does take time."
Question: Being in sales entails working in a highly male-dominated environment which can be daunting; how do you navigate this role?
Inger Gartner, Sr. Sales Account Executive - Negotiator by day, a musician by night
"I didn't pick Sales… Sales picked me. It was a natural progression as I matured into realizing my professional strengths and goals. I'm lucky to have worked with an incredible group of men throughout my career and cherish the friendships I have made with both my male colleagues and customers. I am taken seriously because I demonstrate in my actions that I am passionate about what I am focused on achieving. That being said, my natural characteristic is not to take myself too seriously. That lends itself to building authentic rapport with colleagues (male or female) and creating a space for ideas and collaboration to flow freely while just being myself. If you feel small, that's your queue to stand tall. When I feel small, I smile big every time I drive through the intersection of my hometown (which was my first contract win for the installation of the GRIDSMART video detection system after years of trying)."
Question: Is there any advice you can give women with children or planning to have children on how they can still climb the ladder?
Lauren Jochum, CTS Global Marketing Director - An amazing mother of 4
"I went to urgent care for bronchitis when I was pregnant with my fourth child and will never forget the male physician's comment when he heard I planned to return to work, and he said I needed to be at home with my kids. I've learned to tune out opinions and comments about how people think my life should look with kids. I enjoy my career and my family; why shouldn't I have both! I've also learned it's okay to be unapologetic when it comes to time with my kids. The reality is, in addition to my job as Marketing Director, I'm a mom of four. Speak up about your boundaries at work; I block my calendar to end at a certain time on days when my kids have sports or start earlier so that I can attend school field trips. It's also okay not to be constantly connected to email-disengage when the workday ends! I recently turned off email notifications on my phone to be fully present with my kids. Surprisingly, it makes me more productive during work hours because I've given myself a break to reset. There will be times when work and kids collide; it won't be an issue if you work with the right people and culture. My kids have appeared on many Zoom meetings the past two years, and I have amazing co-workers who talk to them while we still complete our intended tasks."
