Women In Trades Wednesday - Bridget Cassie

Bridget answered our questions so eloquently that we decided, rather than rewrite her story, we would simply give her the floor:

Kia ora ko Bridget Cassie tōku ingoa. Ko tauira mahi kōrere wai. I am working as an apprentice plumber, drain layer and gasfitter. I started the second year of my five-year plumbing, drain laying and gasfitting apprenticeship in December 2022 and began working in the industry in September 2021.

Tell us about previous careers if you have them and why you changed your trade.

I worked for seven years in charities in Aotearoa, after completing a Masters in International Development in the Netherlands and teaching English in Japan for three years. The first charity I worked at was VSA (Volunteer Services Abroad) – I managed relationships with other charities and businesses and looked after volunteers in Fiji, Nepal and Indonesia. While working at VSA, I met a number of plumbers who were going out to the Pacific to work on sanitation projects and provide girls in schools with safe access to toilets. My job before I started my plumbing apprenticeship was focused on youth leadership in rural Aotearoa. In my role, I supported young people to build their entrepreneurship and leadership skills, and make a difference in their small-town communities.

Before my apprenticeship, I saw how important plumbing is to people’s everyday lives. I have spent the past 16 years of my life building up some amazing interpersonal skills and, in 2021, I decided to leave the office and complement these with some good quality hard skills. I love building something physical that can make a difference in people’s lives and, as one of the few women on commercial worksites, I love making the space safer for other women and finding ways that sites can be fun and enjoyable for everyone.

When I quit my job in August 2021, a Covid lockdown began. I had given myself one month to find a job but it was a hard time to be looking for work. Because I am an organisation nerd, I made a spreadsheet and sent my CV to around 30 plumbers in Wellington. I made some phone calls to the ones who had some creative names and I liked the look of their website. I also connected with fellow female tradies and had some really great chats with @wellingtontradieladie who gave me some really good advice. A lot of people weren’t looking for apprentices, so I was getting a bit worried.

Tell us about how you got your job/apprenticeship.

A friend of mine who used to work in commercial plumbing in Wellington recommended Hockly Plumbers for their good culture and great leadership. Once I emailed them and had a meeting, we were good to go and I’ve never looked back. All up, it took me around six weeks to find my apprenticeship. I am currently undertaking my learning through Earn and Learn (previously Skills) with Te Pukenga. At the moment I feel pretty confident working by myself but, having not come from a trades background, I often have a lot of questions day-to-day when I come across something new.

What do you get up to day-to-day at work?

At the moment I am working on two commercial worksites – one 21-storey building by Parliament in Wellington and another new build up at Te Herenga Waka (Victoria University of Wellington). Depending on the work that needs to be done, I will be advised by my site supervisor which site I need to go to the day before or the week before. We are currently laying the drains underground for the new build at Te Herenga Waka – so we are digging, making sure there is enough fall on the pipes, and welding the UPG pipes together.

This building is part of the Living Building Challenge, which means everything we do has to be carbon-zero. So the material we use and dispose of needs to be well thought through. I am very passionate about this type of work and feel very privileged to be working and learning on this site. At the other site, I work on a number of things – one day I might be connecting vents in the riser to make sure all the toilets are vented properly, another day piping out water or waste in the bathrooms, and also decommissioning toilets and basins to allow the demolition team to smash them to smithereens! We will start the second fix soon – installing the toilets and basins and then installing kitchens on the office floors.

Who inspired you to choose this career?

I was originally inspired by the plumbers I met when I was working at VSA – during my time working at charities, I always felt a disconnect between working in an office and physically being out there doing the mahi. When I met these plumbers, and a few engineers that we sent out to the Pacific, I loved hearing about how they made an actual tangible difference in people’s lives.

What challenges did you have to overcome to get to where you are?

I have been lucky, as my family and partner have been really supportive. I haven’t come across anyone who has said a woman can’t do what I’m doing. In saying that, there is a lot of sexism in the industry, my colleagues are pretty good, but I have come across some tradies on worksites who say inappropriate things, mostly without thinking. Most of the time, I’m quite happy to speak up or say something if it’s not ok, but it can become tiring, and when you know you are paving the way for safe workplaces for more women in the future, it does feel like you have a lot on your shoulders.

Another thing I can find challenging is being someone who is pretty progressive in a space filled with a lot of conservative people. The way I work well in this space is to try to find common ground with everyone – there is always something you both are interested in – football, running, pies, or whatever.

What do you love most about your trade?

Plumbing is so multifaceted – there is so much to learn and you can never stop learning. Running waste is like lego; you have all these rules that you have to follow, and fittings you can use, to get from one place to another, and you can just be creative from there. Water and waste will always be something that is important to society – and finding ways to work both of these things into our lives sustainably is something I’m excited about and love about the trade.

What is your most proud career achievement and what are your future career goals?

At the moment I’m quite new, but I guess every time I can work by myself and finish a bathroom from start to finish, or complete all the vents on one floor, I feel like I’ve achieved so much. It is the small things that show you how much you have upskilled. In terms of my future, I’m still planning that, as I feel like I have so much to learn. However, I would like to integrate sustainable methods of plumbing into my work, and potentially have my own business one day that is aimed at supporting women and the LQBTQI+ community with their plumbing needs. There’s also the potential to do VSA one day or volunteer my skills overseas.

Has your career choice impacted your life outside work?

My new career is much more physical than my previous work, so I have definitely had times when I won’t go for a run for one week because I’m too sore. At the moment I don’t have as much responsibility as an apprentice, so the time commitments have been ok but, as time goes by, I imagine I may not be able to attend some of the Muay Thai classes I usually attend or I may need to miss football practice here and there. But that is the usual trajectory in any job when you take on more responsibility.

What advice would you give someone looking to get into your line of work?

Call everyone, and give me a bell too. If you want to talk to someone from my trade, look on Instagram and reach out to people – I found that really useful as you have a solid network of female tradies from the very start. I also run a monthly get-together for women in trades. If you are interested, pop me a line and I’ll invite you along to the next meet-up. 🙂

Bridget’s IG handle: @bridgles