Women in Construction: Sophie Panter-Burke
We’re headed across the ocean once again to visit with Sophie Panter-Burke in Northamptonshire, England where Sophie is a Plant Operator and site supervisor/manager.
“From maintaining the machines to running a job outside in the mud and inside doing a tonne of paperwork I pretty much muck in everywhere I can and I’m open to helping with anything!”
She’s also a rock climber and a sheep farmer! ❤️
🐑🐑🐑
What challenges have you overcome as a woman in your position?
Sophie Panter-Burke: As a female in the industry, you have to overcome a lot of obstacles thrown your way. When I first arrived on site I had to prove myself ten times over what a man did when it came to driving the kit and prove I was good enough to do so.
A lot of the blokes I work with are old school. They wouldn’t believe a woman could come in a do the job as well as them or even have the mental strength to do it! But I proved them wrong and they took me in as one of their own.
Then when I began training to manage the sites, I had a whole load more problems thrown my way, including trying to get blokes who have been in the industry for years to do as I ask them to. Being just 17 when I first started, I was only a baby to them and a lot of them didn’t want to listen to what I had to say!
Again, with enough perseverance I managed to get them to respect me and listen to me.
Even silly things like having a women’s toilet onsite (it’s rare you get one, which is cool), I’ll use the men’s, but when we get our own, we’ll get called “sexist” because of it.
I also find there are too many men in the industry who won’t respect us as a worker and just see us as a “pretty face for the company.” They’ll sometimes stare and make unsuitable comments about us to our faces and behind our backs, but we have to learn to become thick-skinned and give them some banter back!
Advice for other women looking to enter your industry? Pros and Cons?
“It’s an amazing industry to be in with so many opportunities and different paths you can go down!”
SPB: Go for it! It’s an amazing industry to be in with so many opportunities and different paths you can go down! If you woke up one morning and decided you didn’t enjoy your job anymore, with the skills you had learned on the construction site, you could branch out into something else within the sector without having to completely start fresh!
It’s hard work! You’ve got to be willing to work hard and get your hands dirty and grow a thick skin because workplace banter is tough but it’s good craic!
Note from the editor:
Here is a language lesson opportunity for us yanks -
Craic (/kræk/ KRAK) or crack is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation.
This concludes today’s lesson.
Describe a time when you totally kicked ass on the job:
SPB: I was working away down in Avonmouth Bristol, and I had been driving the new mixers for months, but on this particular job, it was an older style mixer that was new to me! I had had two days of training on this mixer and the guy who taught me was using it to mix the bottom of a borrow pit that had been dug (which was wet, very very wet) and he kept getting stuck and said it couldn’t be mixed!
So I said I’d give it a try and I hopped on the mixer and headed into the pit, mixing from the driest side into the wet moving over only 6 or so inches each rip, and I completed it!
I mixed the whole thing and dried it up and everyone said how great it was that I’d done it and they couldn’t believe I’d actually finished it because the guy before me said it couldn’t be done! That was a good day for me and that was the day I really proved to them I was a driver!
Describe a time when you felt you had to compete on the job:
SPB: When I ran a job in Gatwick, I was the supervisor and the site managers above me from the client company were hard work and initially thought they could pick on me because I was a young female. I was constantly competing to do the work as I needed to and getting them to sign for additional works we had done.
Eventually, they respected me and they knew I knew more about the earthworks than they did (as they were the main contractor) and let me take control of my works, but I felt like I had been competing for weeks before they respected my opinions and knowledge!
How do you create a work-life balance?
SPB: This is a real struggle I had to overcome but eventually, I realized I was missing out on things with friends and family at weekends. Starting my Instagram work account really helped me personally because it’s a space where I can essentially shed my work life without it overtaking my personal life.
Being able to post about what I’ve done and seen really helps when I get too stressed out over a job. I look through and see all the fun things I’ve seen and done and that I shouldn’t let it ruin my time.
What is your "self care" routine?
SPB: I have always struggled with the self care thing because by the time I get home I’m always so tired but recently I started making time for myself. I like to home cook or meal prep for the week so in the evenings I can find time to relax for myself!
On the weekend I spend a lot of time walking in the countryside or looking after my sheep which to me is how I relax!
What is the one thing or product that you can't recommend enough to anyone who'll listen?
SPB: Headbands/ ear warmers. I wear a Mark Todd fleece ear warmer every day, even in the summer, and I could not recommend them enough. They fit under a hard hat, don’t make you too hot, keep the wind out of your ears, and they look cute—which is always a bonus!
You win $10 million in the lottery. What would you do?
SPB: Buy more property, invest some money, go on some nice holidays with all my family and friends, and continue with exactly the same job I do now!
Follow Ellen on her adventures through construction on her Instagram