She’s Not ‘Helping’- She’s Running the Show!

When people think of the building trade, they usually picture blokes in high-vis swinging hammers, fixing pipes, or knocking up a new extension. And sure, that’s part of it—but what they don’t see is the real force keeping the business running: the women behind the scenes.

At Plumbstruct Industries, our tradies might be the ones on-site cutting timber, plumbing in bathrooms, and making renovations happen, but let’s be real—without the women in the office, there’d be no jobs to go to, no invoices getting paid, and absolute chaos on-site.

Tradies are great at working with their hands, but let’s be honest—organisation isn’t always their strong suit. That’s where our Business Manager and Administration Manager come in. They’re the ones keeping the ship afloat—scheduling jobs, ordering materials, making sure quotes don’t get lost in the void, and gently reminding the lads that paperwork doesn’t magically do itself.

Some people assume the office team just ‘helps out’ the tradies. The truth? They’re running the whole operation. Coordinating customers, suppliers, and staff? TICK. Keeping the books balanced and the taxman happy? TICK. Answering never-ending phone calls while somehow remembering every job in the pipeline? TICK. Magically knowing where every missing document is? TICK TICK TICK. It’s a full-time, multitasking masterclass, and it requires just as much skill as the guys on the tools.

If you’ve ever seen a tradie’s job notes, you’ll know they could double as ancient hieroglyphics- usually on an offcut of plasterboard! Lucky for us, our office team has an uncanny ability to translate things like: “Fix pipe, urgent” (Which pipe? What’s wrong with it? Where? And when was this actually written!?) or “Customer rang – needs job done” (Which customer? What job? Do we have ANY details!?) or “Ordered stuff for job” (What stuff? From where? Paid for or… surprise expense incoming?). And yet, somehow, those ladies figure it out every single time. It’s like they’ve got a sixth sense for tradie nonsense.

Each of our tradies are brilliant at their craft, but let’s face it—if it weren’t for the women in the office, there’d be unpaid invoices, forgotten appointments, and a whole lot of “I thought someone else was handling that?” flying around. They’re the ones making sure jobs actually happen in the right place, at the right time. Suppliers get paid (and customers don’t ‘forget’ to pay us). The team has what they need before they rock up on-site asking where the materials are. Basically, they keep the business running while making it all look effortless.

So, this International Women’s Day, we’re raising a cuppa (or something stronger!) to the women of Plumbstruct Industries—the ones who keep the wheels turning, the jobs running, and the tradies out of trouble.

To all the women working behind the scenes in construction: you’re not ‘helping’—you’re the reason everything works. And today, we celebrate you!