Celebrating Women in Engineering

Today, 23 June 2022, is International Women in Engineering Day. To celebrate the fantastic contribution women make in our engineering department and our business as a whole, three Salisbury stars have written about their journeys to arrive to the roles they are in today.

Lacy's story

Hello! I’m Lacy and I am Salisbury’s Design Coordinator. I have worked in the business for just over two years and have had the privilege of working with a great number of our employees.

As a child I used to think ‘engineer’ meant you built cars and fixed bikes. It wasn’t until I was at college studying 3D Design and looking at university courses that I really understood the meaning of engineering – it is everywhere you look. It is the basis of the world we live in, aside from science. Although I would definitely say engineering is a science!

I’ve had quite a varied career even though I am only in my 20s. I’ve worked for an international oil & gas company, a small building services company and even for a specialised smoke ventilation company. My idea of ‘engineer’ has changed multiple times along the way. I’ve been on oil rigs, up lift shafts and inside huge smoke fans but since working for Salisbury I’ve delved into the complicated but accomplished world of project management.

I joined Salisbury Group in the throes of COVID and lockdown, and I met my whole team via Teams – how crazy is that. I’ve managed to shape my own role with the help of the management and my team. I work with engineers internally and externally on a daily basis but have been able to ensure I bring my own little taste of design along the way. I have been able to incorporate designs and drawings into projects for us and our clients and this more recently has led me to the opportunity to work with the senior leadership team in designing and project managing our own office move!

This International Women in Engineering Day I’d like to celebrate by congratulating all the female winners and all of those who have been in the situations I have. To the ones who are or have been the only girl in their class, the ones who have felt like they don’t fit in but are smashing it anyway, the ones who can change their heels to steel toe caps in a matter of seconds and most recently those who work from home with their toddlers at their toes – may we run the world some day!

Tara's journey

Hi, my name is Tara, and I am Salisbury’s Asset Manager. I joined the business back in 2017 and have to say right from the first day I knew I had joined a company that was different in every positive way that I can think of.

My job can be extremely varied, with the day to day being the management of assets and their related preventative maintenance within our CAFM system to site visits and also full desktop mobilisation of new contracts, no two days are the same.

Engineering, for me, was not something that I ever thought I would end up working in. I always thought it was spanners and dirty overalls, how wrong I was.

If you were to read a full biography of my past then you would be forgiven to think that I may not have amounted to anything. I spent my early years travelling the world due to my father being in the Armed Forces, and then at quite a young age, I fell in to the care system. Children’s homes, foster parents and a disrupted education didn’t really map life out to well. I suppose you can also say I then went on to become a statistic, after leaving care I became homeless, the first of a few occasions, and relied on handouts and night shelters and then went on to become a single mum at 17 years old.

I guess that gave me the drive to stand on my own two feet and better myself, not just for me, but also for my daughter. I had the normal jobs in shops, pubs, and a stint in a warehouse packing boxes. But my entrance in to FM was a just by chance ‘temp’ job on a helpdesk and that’s where it all began.

Starting on that side of a business, similar to Salisbury, meant I literally learnt from the ground up. I have gone from a helpdesk role to one similar to account support in operations, to setting up a helpdesk in a national headquarters. And on to Asset Manager, with all of the turns in the road along the way.

Everything that I have learnt and delivered has been through curiosity, and at times blood, sweat and tears! But I am proud to say that I have reached the role that I am in now, through learning and growing, and that has been supported by the peers that have surrounded me on my journey.

For this International Women in Engineering Day, I would like to praise my fellow women in engineering who were dealt that rubbish deck of cards and can now say, look who ‘I’ became. To the girl in the care system, the young woman who has just become a single mum at 17 and the ones that people always say ‘they will amount to nothing’, you got this! And us women, we have got you!

Georgina's message

Hi! My name is Georgina. I joined Salisbury earlier this year, as a Technical Project Manager. My engineering career began 17 years ago!

During my career I have had the opportunity to experience several roles within the industry. I think what initially attracted me to engineering was its varied job specification. I really like that I could be working both with my hands and my mind in the same day.

Being a woman in the engineering industry can be challenging, as it tends to be a more male-dominated environment. However, personally, I have always seen this as an exciting challenge and at times, one I relish.

I have been very lucky with my Salisbury teammates – everyone is both welcoming and supportive. Having other women in the team is a new experience for me and I am thankful that Salisbury is such a diverse employer.

INWED is a wonderful opportunity for us all to promote our industry and will definitely help attract the new generation of engineering women. So please, tell your sisters, daughters and friends that engineering is an exciting career option for tomorrow’s women!