Can Women Thrive In The Mining Industry?

In this episode of the Sparky Life podcast, host Lia Lamela  speaks with Bettina, founder of Women in FIFO, about her experiences in the mining industry. They discuss the challenges women face, such as sexual harassment and underrepresentation, and the financial benefits of FIFO roles. Bettina shares her journey in the industry and how she achieved financial stability as a single mother. The conversation highlights the importance of support networks, mentorship, and maintaining femininity in the workplace.

Connect with Bettina: https://www.instagram.com/women_in_fifo/
linktr.ee/womeninfifo
I help Women get into FIFO
Cert Life Coach Master Hypnotherapy
🛫8 yrs FIFO ⚒20 yrs Mining 

Connect with us: @sparkylifeoflia


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National Memorial to the Women Who Worked on the Home Front Foundation

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Music by https://www.purple-planet.com

Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00:00) - And when I started out, I was a single mom, you know, earning 100, 100 plus thousand dollars. And I paid off my mortgage. I'm putting her through private school. She's got the braces. I got the car of my dreams, and I did it. I did it for eight years, and that totally set me up.

Speaker 2 (00:00:18) - Welcome to the Sparky Life podcast. I'm your host, Lia Lamela. Join me on this electrical journey where I highlight skilled trade tales and construction career opportunities with those I've met along the way. Thank you for joining for trade Tales continued. Today's Sparky live guest, Bettina set herself up for success in life with a career in mining. She is the founder of women in Fifo with two decades of experience behind her. She has set herself up for success in life and now wants to pay it forward, supporting other women entering the Fifo career path. Although this career is a great option for a lifestyle with high potential for financial freedom, it is not without challenge. Bettina experienced sexual harassment, bullying, three deaths on her worksite and was overlooked for promotion.

Speaker 2 (00:01:21) - Find out why it was all worth it in today's episode. Discover how she is changing the environment so that women who come after her won't have to struggle as she did to reach their goals. Welcome with me, the founder of women in Fifo mourning. Hi. How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:01:42) - I am so good. How are you?

Speaker 2 (00:01:45) - Very well, very well. So you are basically in my favourite place on Earth.

Speaker 1 (00:01:52) - Oh yeah. Oh, fantastic.

Speaker 2 (00:01:55) - I love Australia, I love Australia.

Speaker 1 (00:01:58) - It is a beautiful country. I mean, even the, you know, the animals and the reptiles alone are just, I guess, outstanding. So yes.

Speaker 2 (00:02:06) - Most definitely.

Speaker 1 (00:02:08) - Oh, nice.

Speaker 2 (00:02:10) - But thank you so much for coming on to the Sparky life. Give me a little bit more information about who you are. I know that you're in the skilled trades community, but I don't really have a big background on what it is that you stand for and how you contribute to the community.

Speaker 1 (00:02:30) - Well, my background is in mining predominantly, so I've done 20 years in mining and five years of that idea is Fifo.

Speaker 1 (00:02:38) - So do you even know what Fifo is? No.

Speaker 2 (00:02:40) - You got to educate me.

Speaker 1 (00:02:42) - So that stands for fly in, fly out. So I worked in the mining industry, but what I would do is I would fly to site and I would live in site on a camp alongside the site for eight days, for example. And then I would fly home again. So I was totally removed from my family and my friends flying to site do the job and then you fly home again. So you do. Um, the shifts can be eight days on and then you have six days off.

Speaker 2 (00:03:10) - Wow.

Speaker 3 (00:03:10) - Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:03:11) - So in Canada, they actually had a law for a long time that women were not allowed to work in mining. Did Australia have something similar or have women always been welcome in the industry?

Speaker 1 (00:03:24) - Well, to be honest, my first job in mining was in 95 and I would be one of the few women on site. So whilst they didn't stop women, they didn't really encourage it. So I was rare.

Speaker 1 (00:03:37) - So in a room of easily 30 or 40 men, I would be the only female in a lot of cases. And I think there's been a real shift in that, definitely in Australia, in mining and in trades as well, where they're really starting to encourage women, probably only in the last, oh, maybe only five years. Even so, we've got this massive shift going from male dominated environments, in trades and in mining to suddenly they're welcoming all these women and perhaps they're not. They're encouraging it, but perhaps they're not really ready for it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:04:11) - I like that. I like that there's a lot of truth in that. Whether you're in Australia or the States, we find the same thing here and it seems to be across the board. I mean, I've spoken to tradesmen and women all over the world, and it's incredible how that is a common thread throughout. Now, what got you into mining? And can you give me a little bit of background about mining?

Speaker 1 (00:04:40) - So, um, from the age of 18, all I wanted to do was drive trucks.

Speaker 1 (00:04:45) - My dad was a truck driver. Um, just a local truck driver, but I don't know, it wasn't even very common back then. And had I started out in in driving dump trucks or haul packs, I probably would have been one of the first women definitely in Western Australia to do that back in the mid 90s. So I went and got my licence and I tried and tried and applied, and in the end the recruiter said, stop applying because you're never going to get a job. And I was like, okay, so and I was even living in a mining town, so you would think that it would be an easy to employ me because I was living in a mining town. But no, she said no. So I didn't really shift direction because I was still very stubborn about the idea of getting into mining and the next mining town that I moved to got the first job that I applied for.

Speaker 3 (00:05:34) - Oh, wow. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:05:36) - So I went from no as a truck driver to yes as a is admin and.

Speaker 1 (00:05:41) - That's where I spent my career. 20 years in mining was doing admin. But by doing the beauty of doing admin was that it exposed me to train drivers, to processing, to operating to underground. So offshore even I got the opportunity to go offshore. So it was just, um, mind blowing to be able to have that career and that experience. So that's what kind of got me into mining was, first of all, wanting to be a truck driver.

Speaker 2 (00:06:08) - Wow. Okay. So when you first said admin I go, oh secretary stuff, right. I'm thinking HR but then you told me you got all this different exposure in all these different aspects of mining, and you said that you would go to site. That doesn't sound like an administrative position to me. That sounds like in field work. That sounds exciting. That sounds great. So could you give me more detail of what a day to day looks like?

Speaker 1 (00:06:41) - So specifically with the fly and fly out, you do 12 hour shifts, so you're pretty much on the bus in the morning at 5 a.m. to travel to side.

Speaker 1 (00:06:50) - On a bus, you get to site, and then you do your 12 hour shift, and then you jump on the bus again at, say, 530 at night. So you're home around six. So it's really it's more like a 13 hour day with travel.

Speaker 3 (00:07:03) - Okay.

Speaker 1 (00:07:03) - Where it's dynamic is an admin is that you'd be doing someone's flight details, you'd be doing onboarding, you'd be doing their rostering like lots of rostering. You've got to make sure that all the, you know, the holes are filled. So it's a very dynamic role. So I don't know, I didn't really ever get time to get bored because when you're looking at a roster, um, that's got 300 people on it, you just never get time to get bored. So it's not quite what you imagine as a secretary. It's it is a very dynamic role. And then what other people do on site as well is like mind blowing to what they do as well. So it's just a great environment and.

Speaker 2 (00:07:42) - You get to be a part of that and support.

Speaker 3 (00:07:44) - That. Totally.

Speaker 1 (00:07:45) - And the people and, you know, the end result and just it's just so fast paced and every day is just different. So yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:07:55) - Okay. You said pay. Oh please tell me give me an idea. Estimated range. What does this type of position entail.

Speaker 1 (00:08:04) - So as an administrator I would be on probably on around $100,000 a year Australian. This is Australian 100,000 Australian which is, which is very well paid. You would not get that in the city. And then they give you a quarterly bonus. So if they met there because I was working on a gold mine, if they met their target in gold, you could, you could easily get another, you know, a couple of thousand dollars a quarter for that. So in total, probably looking around, um, maybe $113,000 a year.

Speaker 2 (00:08:37) - That's great. That's a great pay scale.

Speaker 1 (00:08:39) - And you're only working half of the year because you're doing eight days on site and six days at home.

Speaker 2 (00:08:47) - Wait, what?

Speaker 3 (00:08:48) - Okay.

Speaker 1 (00:08:49) - Because when you work out the ratio, you work days versus your time at home, it's roughly just over half the year.

Speaker 2 (00:08:57) - That's fantastic. Wow. Wow. That's a huge, huge appeal, uh, especially for families. And. Wow.

Speaker 3 (00:09:07) - Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:09:08) - And when I started out, I was a single mum. So you can.

Speaker 3 (00:09:11) - Imagine.

Speaker 1 (00:09:12) - You know, earning 100, 100 plus thousand dollars and leaving, leaving my four year old for a week, but then having an entire for like eight days with her.

Speaker 3 (00:09:23) - Yeah, without.

Speaker 1 (00:09:24) - The running around. So I was a single mum. I paid off my mortgage. I'm putting her through private school. She's got the braces, I got the car of my dreams and I did it. I did it for eight years and that totally set me up.

Speaker 2 (00:09:37) - What have you seen in the mining industry in your career?

Speaker 1 (00:09:42) - When I started out, there wasn't women operators. They weren't women train drivers. There was very few truck drivers. And now it's almost like, I want to believe that the women that are getting employed now, that when the companies employ them, they're doing it from an honest place of integrity and seeing the value that women have to offer, they're not just doing it to tick the box.

Speaker 3 (00:10:03) - Um.

Speaker 2 (00:10:04) - You know, I was having a discussion today about this, of having an influx of females in male dominated spaces and have things really improved in welcoming females in those spaces, or is it more about I check my box, so to speak?

Speaker 3 (00:10:24) - Yes.

Speaker 2 (00:10:26) - What do you think is the biggest challenge for a female in an industry like this?

Speaker 3 (00:10:31) - Um.

Speaker 1 (00:10:32) - Biggest challenge you've got? What are the existing old school men thinking about these women coming in and. Perhaps it's the maturity of the woman coming in that can appease that. And that's what it all comes back down to value and integrity. Because if they want 50% of the workforce to be a split between male and females, what are they going to have to do to change that with the living conditions, with the privacy? You know, people's attitudes.

Speaker 2 (00:11:02) - They've done studies that businesses that have more of a 50/50 balance between male and female are more profitable by 10%. So it is lucrative to have a healthy balance of female and male. How much profit does that actually bring to the table? I don't have the numbers on that, and I would be interested to see how one would figure out the actual income advantage of it.

Speaker 1 (00:11:33) - I think it's great to encourage a 5050 split when that person isn't in such a remote, isolated environment. They get to. They get to let off steam. When they go home, they have the freedom to eat gym. They can go for a walk, whatever they can do in that eight days, for.

Speaker 3 (00:11:49) - Example.

Speaker 1 (00:11:50) - You're in that same community and they have to. They're not just working together, they're living together. That is something really to be considered considerate of.

Speaker 2 (00:12:00) - So what would you like to see within the community?

Speaker 1 (00:12:04) - One of the biggest things that I can say would benefit is creating and understanding boundaries, so that when anything does go wrong, you're already kind of prepared for and how you're going to react and behave and how you're going to report it, but creating your own boundaries to keep yourself safe. So boundaries and respect, I think, are the two key things here.

Speaker 2 (00:12:25) - So you're trying to be a strong support system for women who love the field and are isolated. Do you have a group of women that you guys get together?

Speaker 1 (00:12:40) - This is this is my passion right here.

Speaker 1 (00:12:42) - So. So since leaving mining, um, I'm now fully focused on life coaching. I'm the founder of women in Fifo. So I'm specifically looking after women in fly and fly out. I'm nurturing women that are wanting to get into Fifo by helping them look for jobs, because it's really tough to get your foot in the door. And then I've created another program where I help them through their first swing because you're living in a domestic environment, and then suddenly you get off a plane and it's just like, Holy hell, where am I?

Speaker 3 (00:13:16) - But what do I do?

Speaker 1 (00:13:17) - Where am I going to eat? Where's my room? What am I going to wear? I nurture them from getting the job to landing on site, and then I'm available to them as a life coach to then see them through any issues that they may be faced, whether it be boundaries, whether it be, you know, sometimes when you're in that environment, you put on weight, fatigue, separation, relationships, finances, all those things.

Speaker 1 (00:13:40) - So if I can use my 20 years in mining, my eight years in Fifo to help these women now to leverage off my experience, that's my passion now, is helping women to adapt and be become, you know, diverse and resilient so that they see out their time in mining the same as what I did from the start to the finish, and that nothing happens along the way that forces them to think that they can no longer do it.

Speaker 3 (00:14:08) - That's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (00:14:10) - You're basically providing the support.

Speaker 1 (00:14:13) - That's right from my perspective. So, you know, it's great that, you know, there's programs that you can reach out to when something goes wrong, but quite often the person on the end of the phone has never been in mining. They're definitely most not likely to be female. They're never going to really understand what that woman's going through and to help her. And we don't want to offer help to that person in two weeks time when they can finally get an appointment. We want to get them help while they're on site, while they isolated whatever they're going through to, to keep them safe through that swing as well, so that they can continue through that swing to see out their time for that week.

Speaker 2 (00:14:48) - Yeah, safety is a big thing. This reminds me very much of Alexis Armstrong and her experience where, you know, she is with this crew day in, day out, male dominated. You can't get away. There's not much support. And she she said I'll never forget it. Yeah. She was like worked so hard for this dream job on this vessel. Killed herself to get there and then experienced sexual harassment. And you know, the the fighter in her was like, I'm not going to let this asshole take this away from me. But she did say that if she hadn't had the female mentors available to her, she doesn't know if she would have actually been able to make it.

Speaker 3 (00:15:41) - Through. Yeah, I think.

Speaker 2 (00:15:43) - That's why many women leave male dominated spaces.

Speaker 1 (00:15:47) - That's right. Because I've got no choice. And it's so interesting that when a woman is sexually harassed, if she rejects that person, it then becomes bullying. It leads into more than just sexual harassment. And if she hasn't got the right person to reach out to, or it's like, oh, you'll be right, love, don't worry about it.

Speaker 1 (00:16:06) - What's still going on in her mind? And yet she still keeps going. That resilience that that woman has to build and that what if she's a single mom? What if she's the provider for her family? She's not just carrying that sexual harassment on her back. She's now carrying all these extra pressures, and she still has to perform in her role. And it's almost like you need to leave your emotions and shut down as a human to continue in her role. And I know what it's like to be stuck in a mindset and be isolated when something does go wrong. You can't wait two weeks to speak to anybody in Australia. As far as I'm aware, there's not too many women that are offering to support women. When you look at all the mental health talks and all the rest of it, it's all been delivered by men. So where are the women supporting these women? And you look into the photos and there's like one woman or two women in the room, where's the women who's supporting the women?

Speaker 2 (00:16:59) - I don't know what has happened, and I can't speak for every country, but for sure in America, women relationships have broken down.

Speaker 2 (00:17:09) - We don't act like a tribe anymore. We don't tend to support and nurture one another like we did back in BC times. I mean, it used to be that one woman of the tribe would have a child and all the women would come round and nurture and help and support is men tend to have stronger bonds with men than women have with other women. It's heartbreaking. But to have women like you leading the way, showing how when we elevate one another, we elevate everyone.

Speaker 1 (00:17:46) - Yeah, I'm just passionate because I know my story of the advantages of how this job has set me up through all the rubbish that I had to go through in phase. I don't want any other woman to have to go through that, and I certainly don't want a woman to quit and resign and give in before her time. And so if I can strengthen, if I can coach, if I can support, if I can help a woman get into Fifo and set herself up, then you know, that is like the best thing that I've ever accomplished in my life.

Speaker 1 (00:18:20) - And if this is my in my purpose and my journey now is to help these women and to reach out to as many women do. You know, it's so interesting that you say that because, like, first of all, what's broken down that women can't support women like what's happened. And, and, you know, women are almost like so apologetic when it comes to reaching out for help.

Speaker 3 (00:18:40) - Yes.

Speaker 1 (00:18:41) - I just put out there for Q3 call and let's have a chat. And they they reach out to me and they're like, hi, this is mine. Is it okay if I take up some of your time? They're almost so apologetic. It's like we're trying to grow these women to stronger, more confident, independent women. And it's almost like they're retreating and just going, I'm so sorry to be here. It's wrong. It's not. We should not be retreating. This is our time to come out and to evolve. And it's just it's got to change. We've got to just get stronger, ladies.

Speaker 1 (00:19:12) - And, like, gel together. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:19:14) - Go back to being tribe. A tribe of sisterhood.

Speaker 1 (00:19:19) - Maybe that's where what's causing it to break down is as we're giving up our femininity to step into these male roles. Is that what we're also doing is is leaving behind our identity and our our tribe. As you say.

Speaker 3 (00:19:32) - It's a good.

Speaker 2 (00:19:32) - Question. It's a very good question. I find the whole thing fascinating. And I experienced this when I stepped into the skilled trades. I put on a very masculine role. I leaned into my masculinity in order to be accepted, in order to be seen as a coworker. I was literally just speaking to my father about this today, that it is so frustrating to be sexualized all the time. It gets to you no matter how strong you are, no matter how modest you are, no matter how you present, women deal with being sexualized excessively. I can't say that that doesn't affect me because it does. If we can build our tribe. I know that having relationships like that will definitely bring back the confidence, elevating the environment and trying to embrace.

Speaker 2 (00:20:43) - Or at least I mean, one of the reasons I started sparking life is I want to see more women in the skilled trades. It sounds like you want to see more women in the mining industry 100%. You're going to be building that support and balancing out that atmosphere. You so beautifully said that you do not want women to step out of this amazing path, this amazing career, before their time, or not even get to see the benefit of it because of these potential challenges that they most likely will face.

Speaker 3 (00:21:18) - Yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (00:21:19) - Think you have just hit on so many valid points, and perhaps when we step into these male dominant roles, we have to put on some sort of armor. And I think what we do in doing that is that we harden.

Speaker 2 (00:21:33) - I'm just popping in to let you know we have exciting things coming in 2024. I can't wait to fill you all in on the live show, which is launching in the new year. I look forward to seeing you there. If you'd like to get all the info, just follow me on Instagram at Spark Life of Leah.

Speaker 2 (00:21:51) - Now let's get back to the show.

Speaker 1 (00:21:55) - And then we do this over and over again. And then suddenly we reprogram ourselves because we're stepping in and out of that environment. We're going to work, we're putting this armor on, and then we're stepping, stepping into our femininity. And maybe over time, the femininity side starts to drop off because we're having to always be brave and strong. And, you know, I don't have tears and I don't have emotions. And are we suppressing to our own detriment? Are we suppressing our femininity to step into these male dominant areas, to prove ourselves in some way, and has a lot changed since the 1950s?

Speaker 2 (00:22:32) - I got to tell you, I'm jealous of the male bonds I seek that with females. I grew up with very poor relationships with women and I am lucky enough to have. I realized what I was missing and then was introduced to amazing women and now have a beautiful network of women, and it's only added such value to my life on unspeakable levels. Did you come across a female mentor at some point that helped you along the way?

Speaker 1 (00:23:07) - I did not in 20 years or my role models and mentors were men.

Speaker 1 (00:23:12) - Wow, that could be turning now that we are getting more women in there. But, um, I don't know. Is there some sort of you get into that environment and in order that primitive survival mode kicks in, where it's like, I have to be like one of the blokes. Yes, because otherwise I'm going to get I'm going to get thrown out of the cave anyway. So I can't bond with women. And so, like the men, I'm going to turn on the women as well. Is it the primitive brain that puts us into survival mode? Because if because if I don't step in with the blokes, I'm going to get. I'm going to get eaten.

Speaker 2 (00:23:44) - Right. That's a very good point. I can tell you that. I felt that way when I first stepped in. Like, I gotta win these guys over. I gotta get them to take me on in the Brotherhood.

Speaker 3 (00:23:54) - Yeah, because.

Speaker 1 (00:23:55) - I mean, you're dressing like a man, right? You're still wearing the same pants and high viz shirt and the boots.

Speaker 1 (00:24:00) - I mean, you pretty much dress like a male, and, you know, like one of the things as well, like, does your speech change or your how you communicate change? Do you start swearing or do you swear more when you're at work than when you would normally at home because you want to fit in with the group? So how how are we moulding ourselves to fit in?

Speaker 2 (00:24:18) - Yes, definitely no, I well, I was in commercial fishing before skill trade, so I always cuss like a sailor.

Speaker 3 (00:24:26) - Even as a.

Speaker 2 (00:24:26) - Teenager, parents.

Speaker 3 (00:24:27) - Hated it, but I.

Speaker 2 (00:24:30) - Can't help it. I like using, uh, passionate language. Right? I like using passionate language to make emphasis. But my gait, my walk, I walk wider, less delicate, definitely more masculine stance. Was your whole career leaned into the masculine aspects of yourself?

Speaker 1 (00:24:49) - I think when I was on site I would have a harder persona, but I think I, I still felt feminine. It's very hard to express yourself as a female when you're wearing the same clothes as men, and about the only way you can do it is by painting your fingernails.

Speaker 3 (00:25:05) - Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:25:06) - And eyelashes, I suppose so. Quite a different person on sight to what you'd say, because I would take that hat off as a male dominant environment to survive with the hard persona and come home, and then I'd have to be the mum, like, now I'm the mum and I have got a daughter and just. Yeah, so you let go of all that and suddenly become the nurture and the mother and the, the femininity again. So yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:25:30) - That's a lot of pressure.

Speaker 3 (00:25:32) - But it.

Speaker 1 (00:25:32) - Was worth it.

Speaker 3 (00:25:33) - Without.

Speaker 1 (00:25:33) - A doubt. I stuck it out and it was worth it. And I recommend any woman that has ever thought about getting into Fifo, pursue your dream and at least get in there and try it and know and have support around you. So that you can succeed.

Speaker 2 (00:25:49) - You're creating that support. It's amazing.

Speaker 3 (00:25:52) - Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (00:25:53) - It's beautiful. I really am excited about what you're doing. With everything that you're now bringing to the community, you're basically providing the mentor that you never had, which is beautiful, beautiful.

Speaker 2 (00:26:08) - I'm sure that you had challenges along the way that kind of brought you to this place. With everything that you've learned. What tool is in your tool belt? What's the number one thing that you keep with you every day that has helped you get to this point?

Speaker 1 (00:26:31) - Uh, I want to say self-preservation.

Speaker 3 (00:26:35) - Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:26:35) - That's survival. Because what doesn't kill you literally makes you stronger. And I was not going to give in to anybody else's opinion or thoughts or projection and give up on what I needed to achieve.

Speaker 2 (00:26:51) - I love that. That's great.

Speaker 3 (00:26:54) - It's the fact.

Speaker 2 (00:26:55) - That you recognize what would happen.

Speaker 3 (00:26:59) - If, right?

Speaker 2 (00:27:00) - Like, yes, you had to go through all these struggles and you had all these challenges. But what if you had what you're giving others? It's really about how you're serving other women, and I'm all about that.

Speaker 1 (00:27:15) - My ideal woman. I start with her, I help her get the job, I help her get land on site. And then I'm right. Throughout this entire journey, I just.

Speaker 1 (00:27:23) - I want to nurture her from seedling to oak tree.

Speaker 3 (00:27:29) - I love it, I love it.

Speaker 2 (00:27:32) - That's fantastic. I'm excited for you. This is brilliant. Thank you. It was a pleasure. It was such a pleasure.

Speaker 1 (00:27:39) - My honor, thank you so much for just allowing me to be here and just spreading the word. Really so amazing.

Speaker 2 (00:27:47) - Thank you for joining us. If you felt a spark in today's episode, I invite you to write a review.

Speaker 4 (00:27:53) - I'd love to hear what lit you up, take what resonates with you, and if you'd like to hear more of the spark your life, please subscribe, like, follow and share. Until next time, create the sparks in your life.