The speaker for International Womens' Day for PCYC Mount Isa has a career like no other, and will influence women to back themselves in male dominated industries.
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Amy Chetcuti has spent the last 14 months in Antarctica as an Expedition Mechanic, and is sharing her experiences of progressing through the male dominated trade industry with locals this week.
Ms Chetcuti has spent the last decade in the trade industry and said "as a woman it has had its challenges".
"I started off working prominently on forklifts and from there I went into earthmoving and into a site supervisor role," she said.
"While working for this company I was the first female employed and they didn't even have a parental leave policy. But I was on a good career path, with the company I was with, and then I found out about Antarctica and the work down there and that shifted things a lot.
"I had always liked travelling and exploring new places, so when I heard about the chance to work in Antarctica I knew that was something I wanted to do."
Ms Chetcuti applied for the role but was unsuccessful, but she persisted.
"I was unsuccessful at the time so I quit my job and moved to New Zealand to work in a ski field for a third of the pay, but it was more about getting the experience and doing what needed to be done to achieve my goal," she said.
"I was unsuccessful again and got feedback on what I needed to do, so I moved around and got the experience necessary and finally made it down there after four years."
Ms Chetcuti said she wanted to share her experience with women to prove that anything was possible.
"Anything is possible if you put your mind to it. I think it comes down to determination, when we get knocked back people may feel it is not for them and go and go something else," she said.
"So it is just conveying a little perseverance and determination can get you literally anywhere."
Ms Chetcuti said working in a male dominated industry came with many challenges.
"I have always been the only female in the workshop or in the field, and only once in 10 years have I worked with another woman and that was very briefly for a week or two," she said.
"For me what some people might have seen as a challenge I saw as a motivator. Being the only female you do stand out, you are noticed and your work is noticed and I think that is where a lot of women do struggle by being watched and feel intimidated but I found it invigorating.
"It made me work harder and made me back myself and I saw myself excel."
Ms Chetcuti said with her contract in Antarctica finished, she was unsure of what her next adventure would be but was excited to talk to women in Mount Isa about her journey.
PCYC Youth Engagement Officer Constable Aimee Sewell said Ms Chetcuti would be talking at a number of events throughout the week.
"Amy will talk at the PCYC Young Womens Breakfast on Friday March 6 from 8am-9am, and the objective of that is to obviously show selected young women about the type of trades they can go into and the success they can have in a male dominated industry," Constable Sewell said.
"The theme this year is about equality. During that session we will be talking to women about how they can break down barriers to equality and recognise in themselves biased genders and stereotypes that may be a barrier for them."
There was also a free community Wine and Tappas event on Friday evening.
"This is an informal type of meet and greet and people can have a chat to Amy about her experiences," Constable Sewell said.
"She will also be the guest speaker at the Women in Mining and Resources breakfast on Thursday.
"We were able to have Amy here due to the 2020 Queensland Community Week grants thanks to the Queensland Government Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women and as a result of that successful application we were able to arrange Amy Chetcuti as a guest speaker for a few events in Mount Isa."
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