Kiwi operator has the gentle touch

Wed 10 Jan 2018

Kiwi operator has the gentle touch

It’s a regular occurrence to see female plant operators in countries in the Nordic territories like Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, as well other parts of the world like Canada, Australia and the USA. Its often said that females take greater care of the equipment they are running and let’s face it, they are generally more sensible without all that testosterone running around! One such operator is 26-year-old Jay Julian who ply’s her trade in Wellington, New Zealand.

Jay who incredibly also juggles her job with being a mum too her young son, got into the heavy equipment scene by accident when she was just 16, Jay said, “I got the opportunity to learn and work as a part time operator, thanks to my bosses daughter, who had persuaded me to do a bit of weekend work for fun at the construction and demolition landfill site, that I now help to run as a Site Manager. I was really young back then but I instantly fell in love with the job as it was just so much fun, the old saying is very true, when you find a job you love, you will never have to work a day in your life, and that’s how it feels to me now some 10 years down the line”.

Photo: Jay Julian competing in an operator challenge competition at a trade show. Asked to explain why she loves operating heavy equipment Jay said, “Its hard to explain really, I just do! Its that feeling I get out of doing this that brings happiness and joy to my life, its not just my job, my career or my passion, its my whole way of life, I was simply born to do this!”

Jay's exploits during the operator challenge were documented in national magazine Deals on Wheels. The first machine Jay ran was a 25 tonne Hitachi wheeled loading shovel, and she later moved onto a 35 tonne Hitachi excavator, but her favourite piece of kit to operate is the 36 tonne Caterpillar 336D, “That’s definitely my baby” says Jay, “when I’m operating that digger it doesn’t feel like I’m working, I love that machine so much I have plans to have it immortalised on me in a tattoo, the design is going to be the 336D but in pink, it really means a lot to me getting that done”.

As a way of gaining even more experience Jay often does private work, often for free on machines in her spare time. Jay said, “Other people and friends ask me to operate machines for them and more often than not I won’t take any money off them, I’m just happy to receive a crate of beer for my time. I find landscape work to be the coolest stuff to do, its just so chilled and relaxed and I also like loading trucks. My regular day time job from 7.30am till 5.30pm consists of dealing with all the material that comes in from our demolition, construction and landscaping jobs”.

Asked if she has ever faced any predjudice in what so often is a male dominated industry Jay said, “Looking back to when I was 16 yes I would say a lot of males had it in their eyes that this was their industry but having said that, 10 years ago there were not that many woman, especially young females in this industry taking on the roles of their alleged superior male counterparts”.

Jay continued, “Back in those days it just wasn’t normal for females to be working in this industry, its taken years of hard work, effort and challenges for me, but I am proud to say I have earned peoples respect within the industry, when others said I couldn’t do it, I went for it”. “I now have the knowledge and have gained heaps of skills. I also have my own techniques just like many other great operators in this type of work and all it requires is skills. Anybody can drive a machine but it takes skill to operate one and this can cause jealousy amongst co-workers and peers”

Jay jokingly describes herself as possibly being New Zealand’s grumpiest operator, “In a male dominated industry I have to be tough and those that know me will tell you, I don’t take any nonsense from anyone, this attitude has helped me to climb up the ladder to take on the role of Site Operations Manager”.

Like many of us on the social media scene Jay has suffered from bullies in the past, talking about that Jay said, “Those that bullied me into depression and the nasty girls who were horrible to me or those who doubted me, bizarrely gave me the strength, determination, passion and drive to succeed in the industry and I have achieved so much success”. “In summary I would say, never underestimate a female even if they do look like a dumb blonde, we are capable of anything if we put our mind to it and other peoples feedback or negative opinions should never stop someone from chasing their dreams, just do it anyway, if you don’t try you will never know”.

Its very clear to see that Jay is passionate about the industry and the promotion of female in the heavy equipment game, its great to see that “Girl Power” is still very much alive.

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