Page 36 - Australasian Paint & Panel March-April 2022

WOMEN IN COLLISION
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PAINT&PANEL MARCH / APRIL 2022
OVER 100 PEOPLE ENJOYED AN AFTERNOON OF NETWORKING IN SYDNEY, IN PERSON AND ABSOLUTELY NOT VIRTUALLY, TO CELEBRATE THE AMAZING WOMEN WHO CONTRIBUTE IN SO MANY WAYS TO THE COLLISION REPAIR INDUSTRY.
WOMEN IN COLLISION
SEMINAR AND AWARDS
N OW, I DID WELCOME EVERY- one to the 2022 Women in Collision Awards when ac- tually it was the postponed 2021 awards which was sched- uled to take place last December. The pandemic had other ideas – if you nomi- nated someone in your business who weren’t finalists last year, then you will have the chance to nominate them again
to a fresh set of judges later in the year. The stunning venue for the event on 25 February was The Gallery, Beta in the centre of the city. As the attendees were tucking into some delicious lamb for lunch, the keynote speaker Natalee Johnston gave an incredibly humble ac- count of her journey as the Navy’s first female pilot. With great photos and a good deal of humour she shared the challenges she faced along the way as she advanced her career. As well a fly- ing helicopters she can take them apart and put them back together again. Fol- lowing the death of some of her col- leagues after their helicopter crashed because of a maintenance issue, John- ston talked about how she worked to im- prove the culture around safety. In addi- tion to hundreds of rescue flights to erupted volcanos and tsunami victims among others, she also flew a helicopter into her daughter’s school – eclipsing just about any cool mum ever – to give a
talk about careers in the Navy.
Many of the attendees commented that they could listen to Johnston talk all day and that she was such an inspir- ing role model for women to believe they
can achieve whatever they set out to. Next Andrea McCarthy of McCarthy Panel Works in Mackay talked on a va-
riety of subjects. She talked about the importance of bringing a fresh per- spective and not doing things the way that they have always been done. As an example, she successfully applied for a government grant for equipment in the McCarthy workshop expansion. This was despite being told by her hus- band and others that there was no way she could win the grant. McCarthy also talked about the way that we think or describe ourselves and that we should never use the word ‘just’ about ourselves or our actions – ‘it’s just me’. McCarthy also shared an up- date about a new initiative by MTAQ for women in the automotive industry called Auto Women.
Kathy Zsravevski, VACC’s industry policy advisor gave a talk on effective
communication. She suggested always trying to put yourself in the other per- son’s shoes and to make sure you make every digital connection count when face to face communication is not pos- sible. Match people’s expectations - you can and should be trusted mutually in that relationship – then you are less likely to get into a conflict when expec- tations are mutually understood. Other suggestions included: Don’t write any- thing in an email you wouldn’t be pre- pared to say to the person to their face and that agreeing to disagree is ok, that it’s how we come together to resolve the disagreement and reach a mutual un- derstanding that is important.
Finally, it was time to unveil the 2021 winners of the the Women in Collision Awards. Judging over 150 nominations