Things have really started moving with our Big Pink Dozer project—moving in a serious way, and much sooner than I ever could have imagined.
In the space of just four weeks, Sage Civil has gone from having no female dozer operators, to having two brilliant women behind the controls. They’re moving mountains with our new electric D7 dozer and our quickly-becoming-famous Pink D10, while we set about changing the employment landscape of civil industry.
Both of these capable women come to Sage Civil with some civil experience. Having operated excavators, dump trucks and water carts, neither is new to the industry. So they bring some skills and, importantly, the right attitude and tonnes of enthusiasm and aspiration. As they take their places aboard our dozers, they’re both fulfilling long-held ambitions under the guidance of expert trainers.
It’s amazing to watch.
This hasn’t happened because I clicked my fingers and made it happen, but because an incredible client gets what our big pink Cat D10 dozer is all about. That and the buy-in from Sage Civil’s team of experienced operators and supervisors also helping me push this along. It’s made me realise that this quest to get more women operating machinery absolutely relies on people buy into it at all levels.
This is going to take much more than just me and a pink dozer.
I had such a positive response to our video about the big pink machine, with countless messages of support. It was pretty overwhelming, actually. Sure, there were a few people who didn’t get it, and that’s OK. Whatever.
But Steve Cirillo from E.M.O. Civil wasn’t one of those people. He was looking for a dozer operator, spotted our video on Sage Civil’s LinkedIn, and tracked me down through my father who’s an old industry contact of his.
Talk about connecting the dots.
To be honest, I imagined that Big Pink would get its first run with one of our long-term clients, not a brand new one like E.M.O.
E.M.O. and Sage Civil are similar in a couple of ways. Firstly, we both have a passion for big machines—it even says so on their website. But more importantly, they want to see our industry evolve into a place where more women work alongside men in all kinds of roles.
“We’re really excited and proud to be working with Sage Civil and championing women in the civil industry. We want to help move the industry to one that’s inclusive, and create environments where women feel supported to succeed”, says Steve.
Heaps needs to be done in all kinds of areas to make that happen, and we’ll get there. But right now, I’m ecstatic just watching these brilliant women hit their goals.
It’s a great start, and words can’t express the level of gratitude I feel for the belief and support shown by Steve and the team at E.M.O. I could never have imagined a better training ground for these ladies and, with luck, those that follow in their tracks.
