By Sahar Foladi
Several women at Amazon have risen to leadership roles in male-dominated fields in its Dandenong South location.
Billie Hood Rose works in the dock processes, leading a whole team of mostly men.
“My department in dock, it’s very male dominated and it was challenging stepping up for this role.
“I was competing against a lot of men which can be daunting. I felt like I had to prove myself and go above and beyond to show them who I am and what I can do.”
While she had her own concerns Ms Rose was put to ease through being surrounded by other women in leadership roles.
“Just to have these leaders as women creates just a safe environment. Through my journey up the chain I felt much supported,” she said.
From director of operations to country manager, Amazon has filled the leadership roles with women.
The Dandenong South Amazon site’s leader is also a woman who supports and looks after the entire facility.
Another leader is Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) specialist, Fiona Luc, who has been with Amazon for a few months.
“My background is predominantly consulting in the safety space so jumping into an inner house role was unexpected but I really like the energy here in Amazon,” Ms Luc said.
She has completed a Bachelor in applied sciences and post-graduate degree in science with a major in chemistry, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety management systems.
With multiple degrees under her belt Ms Luc said she’s always been interested in workplace safety and has never seen the field as male-dominated.
“My National Safety lead is a female. She’s incredible and she’s got some really strong females that report to her.
“But stepping back from Amazon my experience has been that I’ve always had strong female leads that have mentored me. I’ve had amazing males that have been supportive of my career development.“
However, she has consulted for many international companies in her career that had a lot of engineers and according to her the initial greeting can be challenging.
“I just stepped out of the insurance company which is male dominated. You come into a room and you may be the only female there.
“However, in the next hour as we interact you’ll realise that I am more than who I appear.
“I am good at what I do, I am a subject matter expert in my field.“
