El Chettle was already making a name for herself in Tasmania’s automotive sector when she signed up for the I-LEAD Women in Industry program.

In 2024, El co-purchased the Devonport tyre dealership, Speedy Tyres, bringing her background as a practising accountant and bookkeeper into a hands-on role in the automotive sector. Success came quickly. Under El’s leadership, Speedy Tyres received five awards in its first seven months, including the coveted Kumho Tyre National Platinum Dealer of the Year. And El’s passion for the sector didn’t end there – she’s also the Treasurer for Karting Tasmania and an official at Motorsport Australia and Karting Australia events.

But things have not always been easy for El in such a male-dominated industry.

Even though she co-owns Speedy Tyres, and handles everything from fitting tyres to HR, social media, and the books, some male customers have been quick to dismiss her. “Some customers won’t acknowledge me,” El said. “They just stand there and ignore me, or they want to speak to someone else.” This is a familiar gendered credibility gap, where some customers default to assuming authority sits with a man, even when El is the owner and expert.

And things were often no better out on the track. “I get a lot of abuse because I’m the one who passes out the penalties. “If I were a man, I wouldn’t be treated the way I am. It’s upsetting to think that’s still a thing we’re dealing with as women in all industries on a day-to-day basis.”

Keen to make a change, in 2025 El joined the I-LEAD Women in Industry program for women leaders working in traditionally male-dominated occupations. “It’s done so much for me,” she said. “The women were very similar to me, motivated, hungry for change, and driven.”

El has seen big changes in herself since completing I-LEAD Women in Industry and receiving the support of a mentor through the program.“I’m happier now. The personal growth, the confidence, it’s just so uplifting, like a high I don’t want to come down from. It’s like a whole heap of dead weights have been lifted – expectations I carried for years have been replaced with my own standards. I’ve got this incredible network now that I can reach out to without limitations.”

Having been through the program, El is eager to make changes, starting with a complete audit of her business and cementing clear values into how the organisation operates and the teamwork. She also has plans to sponsor up-and-coming women in motorsport and serve as a mentor herself.

El believes many women in male-dominated professions could benefit from the I-LEAD Women in Industry program. “You can apply what has been delivered in this program to all aspects of life,” she said. “The more women who are leaders, the more it’s going to inspire others. And that’s what we really need.”

Chey Sullivan always wanted to be an electrician, but joining such a male-dominated trade was never going to be easy.

Chey (pronounced ‘shy’, although she’s anything but) grew up in Queensland in a family that had been running a refrigeration and electrical business for more than a century. “I already felt like I was an electrician,” she said. “The business was everything.” But when Chey asked for an apprenticeship, her father, who owned the business, said no.  The trade, he said, “was not for women”.

What followed was a fifteen-year journey to realise her dream. A journey that included architectural studies at university, hospitality jobs, mining, and even swimming pool installation, constantly applying for apprenticeships but always getting knocked back. “It didn’t matter how capable I was,” she said. “The doors were shut purely because of my gender.”

During those years, Chey experienced firsthand how women in trades are frequently sidelined. She also experienced sexual harassment, often dismissed as “just a joke”. That normalisation is what keeps workplaces unsafe and drives women out. “Women in this industry are isolated,” she said. “You might go weeks without seeing another woman. Some days, just walking onto site takes courage.”

When she moved to Tasmania with her wife, Chey returned to hospitality until Covid-19 hit. With a mortgage and a child on the way, Chey made a bold move: offering to help run an electrical company in exchange for that elusive apprenticeship. The business agreed. Chey completed her four-year apprenticeship in 2024, winning State Apprentice of the Year along the way, followed by National Apprentice of the Year from the industry peak body, the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA). “I wanted to prove – not just to others, but to my dad – that women can do this and do it bloody well.”

Today, Chey works as an electrician with Contact Group in Tasmania, proving the importance of determination for leaders like her.

Not content to stop there, however, in 2025, she joined the I-LEAD Women in Industry program with a vision to set up an all-female, multi-trade business in Tasmania, a plan that is now well underway.

What Chey also learned from the program is that you “can’t lead from burnout”. The program gave her permission to pause and build sustainable performance, because burnout is a systems signal, not a personal failing. “I was always filling everyone else’s cup. Now I know that caring for myself isn’t selfish – it’s essential.”

On the back of the program, Chey is upskilling in renewable energy through studies in solar training and battery systems to build her long-term future in the industry she loves. The I-LEAD Women in Industry program also reinforced Chey’s belief in the importance of women supporting other women. “The network is powerful. We’ve seen women find new roles, recover their confidence, and feel safe again – because they weren’t alone anymore.”

Through I-LEAD, Chey also found the tools and community to continue supporting other women – a commitment she delivers on by sitting on the NECA Power Advisory Board, mentoring women apprentices, and advocating for women in trades. “I’ll be the one to plant the seed for a tree I’ll never stand under,” she said. “That’s my legacy. I want the women who come after me to have it easier than I did.”

Josie Chester has a long career connected to agriculture –  in the mid 1980’s she became part of a family farming business in the Midlands Tasmania, playing a meaningful role with farm operations and business administration.

Like many women in regional communities, Josie is involved as a volunteer, supporting the local district high school in the organisation and delivery of farm safety, road safety and job readiness programs for young people. It’s leadership that is often invisible in job titles, yet essential to community resilience.

Having done another Tasmanian Leaders course previously, Josie was keen to sign up for the I-LEAD Women in Industry program. In agriculture, where credibility and influence can still be shaped by gendered assumptions, the program offered a rare space to practise leadership and understand the value of informal influence.  

For Josie, the program gave her a chance to explore her own approach to leadership – an approach grounded in the values of inclusion and caring. “I felt certain the program would improve my capacity to do a good job,” she said. The program also offered a safe and respectful space where participants could reflect “and learn how to improve next time”.

The biggest shift, though, was in her self-belief as a leader. “I got a whole lot of confidence from the program, a feeling of being on the right track,” she said. That growing confidence enabled her to step more fully into the informal influence she holds – something many women hesitate to claim because long‑standing social conditioning teaches them to minimise their authority.

Having completed the program, Josie is convinced that leadership is about choice – knowing when to speak with authority and when to slow the room down and listen. “I like to come up with solutions. But I recognise now that if I’m going to help somebody, it’s also about pausing and listening, and if there’s a silent moment, letting that be.” And Josie is already applying this learning, having taken on a leadership role chairing a school committee in a way that is inclusive and caring. “I’ve never chaired a meeting, but having done the program, I was able to do that, by listening and guiding everyone to have their turn.”

Looking ahead, Josie wants to expand her work supporting young people in regional Tasmania. “It all starts from home, the local community and providing opportunities, particularly to young people,” she said. “I really want things to be good for Tassie.”

Reflecting on the future for women in the male-dominated agriculture sector, Josie recalls a recent bike ride with a close female friend. “We were riding up a hill, and this tractor was coming across the road. A young woman got out, opened the gate and jumped back in and we said to each other, ‘Oh, I love that’.” It was a small moment of visibility that captures the shift happening in the agriculture sector as it becomes more inclusive and welcoming of women.

Teresa Lemaire has come a long way on her leadership journey.

Raised in mining communities in Ghana, she went on to work and study in the USA and Australia and now holds the senior role of Superintendent of Planning, Engineering and Stores at Bell Bay Aluminium in northern Tasmania, leading around thirty people in a highly male-dominated environment. As a migrant woman leading in a male-dominated industrial environment, Teresa navigates both gendered expectations and the added scrutiny that can come with being new to a place and culture.

Back in Ghana, Teresa’s parents instilled in her a strong belief in the value of education, opportunity and resilience. It’s a mindset that has shaped her career ever since.

During her honours degree in Ghana, Teresa secured a competitive internship with General Electric in the United States. It was her first experience of life outside Africa, and one that dramatically expanded her sense of what was possible. “I was like, ‘Okay, wow. There’s this whole big world with all these different opportunities’.

Teresa later moved to Australia and began with Rio Tinto in far north Queensland, where she progressed from graduate engineer to control systems engineer and then into her first leadership role, leading a team of maintainers. Over the next seven years, she built her deep technical expertise alongside frontline leadership experience.

Determined to strengthen her leadership capability further, Teresa made a bold decision – to leave Rio Tinto and complete an MBA at Melbourne Business School. “I felt like I was lacking key skills, about leading people, about running a business,” she explains. “I wanted to make the networks, put myself out there, build that.”

It was this commitment to growth and connection that eventually led Teresa to the I-LEAD Women in Industry program, after she had moved to Tasmania and started with Bell Bay Aluminium. “I was looking to build a local network. As a migrant, I needed to connect with people around me.”

The program delivered on that promise. “When you sit in a room with like-minded people, with everyone sharing their experience and insights, that’s powerful.” And the network has endured. “I’m hoping I can stay connected with the network for a long time and that it will continue to challenge me.”

The I-LEAD Women in Industry program also clarified Teresa’s leadership philosophy as one grounded in empathy and strength. “I love to see my people thrive,” she said. “I like to help them with the roadblocks so they can get to that end goal and feel proud.”

Teresa is already applying what she learned from the program. “My approach has been more intentional,” she said, including how to turn difficult workplace relationships into productive ones. “I’m getting a lot more of a positive response.”

For Teresa, that childhood belief in the power of education, opportunity and resilience remains as strong as ever and continues to shape her as a leader. “It doesn’t really matter what happens, I know I can get to it and come out with something positive.”

Through I-LEAD, Teresa has deepened her leadership toolkit and sharpened her resolve to lift others up, especially women. Her story shows what changes when women have access to networks, sponsorship and authority – alongside technical expertise.

In her mid-20s, Michaela Carins is already making waves as a leader in the male-dominated joinery industry, even though that was not her original plan. Michaela had intended to study law at university until a technical graphics class changed everything, leading to a Diploma of Applied Design at UTAS, followed by a Diploma of Interior Design from Swinburne University of Technology.

After a year of job searching, she joined Merritt Joinery in Launceston, initially as a receptionist, despite her design training. In less than a year, though, she’d already moved into project management and is now a full-fledged Project Manager – the only woman out of six people serving that role with the company.

Michaela says she’s been lucky to work in a business where her male colleagues are “happy to help me learn”. But going on-site to measure up has been more of a challenge. “I often go with a male counterpart, another project manager, and even though I’ve had prior contact with the client or builder, they’ll direct questions at him.” This is a common pattern: women do the relational labour; men get presumed technical authority.

Michaela did not see herself as a leader until the CEO, Amanda, encouraged her to join the I-LEAD Women in Industry program. Like the technical graphics class, it was one of those sliding door moments. “I realised there’s no right way to be a leader,” she said. “Instead of comparing myself to how others lead, I now feel confident in the way I do it.” And how she does it is with a deep commitment to respect and connection. “I lead best when I connect with people and show respect, because if we feel respected, we’re going to work better together.”

“My biggest highlight was connecting with other women with shared experiences and challenges and realising I’m not the only one who has experienced these things. I felt so validated and supported. And I now have this new network, which is awesome.”

She also realised the importance of representation, of showing other women that you can thrive in a male-dominated industry. “I now have all these years ahead of me to make a path and lift other women up, give them the confidence.”

Having completed I-LEAD, Michaela now intends to change how she works. “I want to approach going on-site and interactions with others differently and have more confidence in my knowledge and abilities.”

Reflecting on her experience, Michaela is clear that the program made a big difference to her career. “I’m very grateful I had that opportunity. I would do it again.”

“I went into a program thinking I’m not a leader. I finished knowing I can lead – and with the confidence to back myself.”

Jillian Aylett Brown shows what becomes possible when women can combine capability with courage and persistence despite gendered barriers.

Formal education was not accessible to Jillian, who left school at 15 and went straight into hairdressing – a trade she quickly grew to love. Within ten years, she had her own salon, followed by a second a few years later.

That early entrepreneurial success proved invaluable when Jillian transitioned into the timber harvesting industry with Tasmanian firm MechLog, initially as Manager of Business Systems and WHS. It wasn’t long though before she had again risen to the top job, this time as CEO – a role she has now held for more than a decade. “Although I was well supported internally, the broader timber industry at the time was highly patriarchal and isolating. Securing a seat at the table and having influence took far longer than it should have.

“It was, at times, disheartening,” she said, reflecting on those early years. “I had to adapt to fit an environment that wasn’t designed to include me, which meant I couldn’t always show up as my authentic self.”

The burden shouldn’t sit with women to contort themselves; cultures must widen to include different leadership expressions.

Recognition and influence took time, earned through “working hard” and “persisting”, while navigating an industry that didn’t readily grant women influence. And even after achieving success, Jillian knew there was still more to learn, so she signed up for the I-LEAD Women in Industry program.

What stood out most from the program, for Jillian, was how it was delivered. “There was a great mix of individual assessments, sessions delivered by subject matter experts, and hands-on activities that allowed us to apply what we were learning.” The result was “a really engaging and supportive environment”. Jillian also got her first formal mentor through the program. “Even at my age, later in my career, I see the value of that.”

One session on conflict resolution proved especially transformative. Jillian has since made the most of her newfound understanding by “asking more questions” and encouraging team-led solutions rather than providing all the answers herself. “I’m helping others be the best version of themselves,” she said.

“I-LEAD helped me gain clarity on my impact as a leader, build confidence in my decision-making, and lead with greater purpose in a male-dominated industry.”

Now, Jillian is actively using her influence to shift the culture around her – mentoring emerging leaders, backing women into visible opportunities, and insisting on workplaces where diverse voices are heard and respected.

Her vision is clear: women entering male-dominated industries should belong from day one – valued for their skills, supported through strong networks, and given equal access to leadership and decision-making.

“Today, I’m inspired by the Tasmanian timber industry,” she said, “and I take seriously my responsibility to open doors for women and contribute to more inclusive leadership across the sector.”

Taken together, these stories reflect the growing presence and influence of women across Tasmania’s traditionally male-dominated industries. They highlight what becomes possible when leadership development, peer connection and supportive networks create space for women to step forward and shape the future of their sectors.