Name: Nicole Trumbull
Position: Associate Director
Company: WT Partnerships, Victoria
What do you enjoy the most, working in the field of construction & development?
It is great to be part of shaping our city. As the largest Quantity Surveying company in Victoria, we get the opportunity to work on most of the major projects in Melbourne. As nerdy as it sounds, I love being able to appreciate how much the spiral staircase at Tiffany & Co. cost, or tell my kids how many meters of LEDs there are on the Southern Star Observation Wheel, or even talking to uni students about 50+ meter long piles under Australia 108, that are required to keep such a tall building upright. In the past 6 months I have worked on a residential tower, casino gaming areas, a ham factory, aged care and a few high schools. After 17 years I still have the opportunity to work on unique projects and learn new things.
Where do you see life in the next 5 years, what possibilities are ahead of you?
I hope to be an Equity Director within the next 5 years, which means continuing to work with clients, but also being part of our business decisions and helping to shape the future of our company. I am a big advocate for diversity and strongly believe it provides numerous benefits to an organisation. I am looking forward to helping to grow the careers of our staff and ensuring we take advantage of the strengths of all the various people within our business.
I am also a mum of two young children, who will both be in primary school, so the juggling act will continue; with the ongoing terrific support from my fantastic partner I am confident we will grow our careers while our children grow.
If you could write a letter to a 13-year-old ‘you’ what would you say?
Stop worrying so much about what other people think.
The girls at school teasing you about being great at sport, aren’t good at sport. The ones that don’t want to be your friend because your smart, aren’t very smart.
You may believe that your parents can’t possibly understand what you are going through, but believe it or not, they were teenagers once themselves and they know you better than anyone else does.
Most importantly, don’t ever worry about boys being better than you at anything. Some of them will be…a lot of them won’t.
What are 3 skills you have had to develop to get to where you are presently?
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Communication: The pressures and expectations are constant. Effectively communicating what is required of you and by you, by when and in what form, puts everyone on the same page and reduces the chances of any issues arising.
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Delegating: You need to accept you can’t do everything yourself. Trusting others to work for you both empowers them and provides you the time you need to focus on the bigger issues or clients.
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Vulnerability: As a young woman in the industry 17 years ago I felt like I needed to be tough, strong and confident; and back in those days I probably did. But with age and positions of greater responsibility I have found that sometimes being soft or gentle, owning your mistakes and expressing when you don’t know something, builds much stronger connections and trust.
