From childcare to construction, making a massive career move could have been risky for Chelsey Froese, but it’s painting a bright future.
The Canadian Queenstowner’s now a qualified painter and is racking up the awards and acknowledgements, hoping to encourage more women to join the trades.
Froese moved to New Zealand in 2016 to take up a childcare job in the Coromandel, and says while it was a nice experience, she needed to try something different.
At the start of 2018, she took on a painting and decorating apprenticeship with BCITO.
‘‘From a young age I was watching renovation shows and painting my own room, so … [it] felt like the right next step,’’ she says.
‘‘But it was a leap of faith.’’
In 2020, Froese took home the award for Painting and Decorating Apprentice of the Year, a huge confidence boost for a female immigrant so early in her career.
She was also selected as a finalist for Tradeswoman of the Year at the National Association of Women in Construction Awards last year, and
recently completed a certificate in construction trades supervisor course.
With women making up less than 12% of trades jobs in New Zealand, Froese says it can be hard going around different sites and getting weird looks, or having people automatically go to a man for answers instead of her.
But she keeps carrying on and wants to stay in her career long term, as there’s ‘‘no shortage of work in Queenstown’’.
She’s also supporting other women moving through the industry, training them up to stand their ground.
‘‘Women in trades might not be normal, but it should be normalised.’’
