Meet Katie Bollond - Taranaki 19 March 2024 Panellist
• What trade are you in, and how long you have been working in the industry?
I got into the trade fresh out of school and began in the office of a local electrical company doing the administration work. From there I worked and ran various other electrical businesses, which enhanced my knowledge and taught me so much. In 2018, I bought into Taranaki Electrical Services (TES) and became director of the business. In 2022, I began my electrical apprenticeship and took on the role of the first ever female president for Master Electricians NZ.
• What was your previous career, and how did you get into the trades?
I have always been in the electrical industry! I didn’t so much “choose” the trade but grew into it and love it!
• How did you get into the Trades?
I got tired of the male narrative and being asked “can I talk to one of the boys” after years and years of this, so took the leap and decided to get the trade.
“I got tired of the male narrative and being asked “can I talk to one of the boys” [...], so took the leap and decided to get the trade.”
• Who are you completing your training with?
I'm in my 2nd year of the apprenticeship and am with Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT) or Te Kura Matatini o Taranaki.
• How have you progressed in your career?
I have grown from beginning as a data entry administrator to running electrical businesses and their teams and planning. In 2012, I moved to TES and assisted with getting them updated and digital and worked the team from there. In 2018, I bought in on the business and then took the leap into my apprenticeship. My knowledge with the background parts, pricing, scheduling has been a huge help with being on the tools and doing the work hands on!
• What does a typical day look like for you?
I’m at work daily from 7.30am and on call 24/7, so life is hectic! I’m on the tools 2-3 days a week working alongside my staff with my apprentice hat on 😊 Then evenings I’m on bookwork and running the business again. The kind of work we undertake is commercial and residential – lots of physical climbing, lifting, and testing.
• What challenges did you have to overcome to get to where you are?
Being a Mum, juggling kids, business and people’s perceptions and opinions. I’m loving the fact there are girls and women out there wanting to make change and have more wahine in the trades, but feel we are such a long way off this being a “norm” and not a novelty. Comments and double-takes happen nearly every site visit, but facing this and normalising women in the workforce/trades is a challenge I love to tackle head on.
• What do you love most about your trade?
The banter, the laughs, and the people. I’m a huge believer as a business owner and tradie that we should ALL wake up and be happy going to our workplace – normalising a sense of belonging and camaraderie. So, for me, enabling and encouraging this via my own business, with my customers while on the tools and with other local electricians and business owners is a passion of mine.