Trucking Australia ‘Empowering Women’ Session

The “Empowering Women” Panel consisted of Sally-ann Eather of Eather Group, Cara Spencer of Alex Fraser Group and Rachel Michaud of Knorr Bremse and was facilitated by TWAL Vice Chair, Coralie Chapman.

Each panelist represented a different program offered by Transport Women Australia Limited (TWAL).

Cara, the Women Driving Transport Careers, Licencing Program; Rachel, the Creating Connections Mentoring Program and Sally-ann, the TWAL Daimler Driving the Difference Scholarship Program.

After each had the opportunity to speak there was a Q&A session. The time passed very quickly and the trio on exiting the stage were greeted by audience members keen to let them know how much they enjoyed the session.

The panelists and the audience were energised by the session, and Coralie had moderated the excellent session with panache after having to step in at the very last moment.

The advice from Sally-ann was, if you want to grow, put yourself out there. Go to the conferences and accept award nominations or speaking engagements. If you are part of a network, be active in it. Look at what programs are available and apply for them. Seek opportunities and say yes, do not let yourself get in the way of your growth.

TWAL provides the opportunity for all of us to be empowered, and we need to take advantage of that. TWAL aims to ‘Empower Women’ in a traditionally predominantly male industry. They can only do that if the TWAL members allow the empowerment.

If you are not a member of TWAL yet, investigate the amazing work they have done for decades and continue to do. If you are a member, explore the various programs available to you and get involved.