By CASEY NEILL
CAROLINE Kennedy doesn’t let “archaic stereotypes” hold her back.
“I’ve had a lot of males try to undermine me to make themselves look better,” she said.
“I don’t let it distract me.”
The Hotondo Homes CEO was the guest speaker at the SEBN Showcasing Women in Business breakfast at Highways in Springvale on Friday 20 November.
She doesn’t believe in the “glass ceiling” keeping women from top jobs.
“I’ve always thought ‘if it’s meant to be, it’s up to me’,” she said.
“I hear a lot about equality in the workplace.
“I think there is a responsibility to take ownership.
“I have never allowed somebody to pay me less than what I think I’m worth.”
Ms Kennedy said working in male-dominated sectors was challenging at times.
At a conference in Fiji, with her husband by her side, a business owner tapped her on the bum and said “looking good”.
“I just stared at him,” she said.
“I didn’t need to say anything.
“That is the kind of environment I operate in.
“But I don’t let it bother me because I know I’m better than that.”
She shot down the question to her husband “what does it feel like to play mum all the time?” with equal confidence, and calmly bats away judgements about her decision to have only one child and to utilise child care.
“Never let anybody else put their judgements on you,” she said.
“Life in business hasn’t been easy.
“But I think my childhood has taught me resilience.”
Ms Kennedy was born in Ireland to an alcoholic mother.
“My dad did his best but he was away a lot,” she said.
The eldest of three siblings, she looked after the family from a young age.
She recalled having to call the fire brigade at age seven after her mum put on chips to cook then “went and passed out on the bed”.
“She would wake up every morning and she’d put vodka in her tea,” she said.
“Sometimes I think of what we went through and I wonder how we got through it.”
At age 13 she moved to Australia with her eyes on a fresh start.
She was 15 when her mum divorced her dad and moved to “an unsavoury suburb in Brisbane”.
“I used drugs to numb my pain because my mum was really out of control,” she said.
Ms Kennedy even spent months living on the street until a counsellor rebuilt her confidence and she decided to become a hairdresser.
The career wasn’t enough for her so she accepted a job at a restaurant at Uluru.
“I didn’t know how to set a table,” she said.
“But I learnt quickly.”
Within three months a manager said she wanted to make her a team leader.
“You are a leader and I can see that,” she told her.
She also told her that the man in charge of the place doubted her ability.
“Don’t underestimate me because I will prove you wrong,” she thought.
Ms Kennedy has certainly done just that, moving her way up the chain in hospitality sales and marketing.
