True Pro Ladies – STABILA supports women in the building sector

Even in our current day and age, the number of women in the building sector worldwide is still extremely low. But with the industry facing an acute shortage of tradespeople, the opportunities to break into a career in this area are better today than they ever have been. With the True Pro Ladies campaign, STABILA is establishing a global community dedicated to female tradespeople, highlighting women who have forged successful careers in trade sectors and promoting a new generation of up-and-coming female talent in the industry.

For more than 130 years now, STABILA has been dedicating itself to supporting young talent in the trade industry. As the world faces an acute and increasingly prominent shortage of young tradespeople, this is a mission that has become more important than ever. In trade professions, women are mostly the dominant force in areas such as hairdressing, tailoring, jewellery-making and baking – and while their numbers are certainly growing in sectors with a more industrial slant, they continue to be under-represented there. Not only that, but female tradespeople in the construction industry are still failing to receive the recognition and appreciation they so richly deserve.

The campaign was launched in February 2020 with 16 female tradespeople in all kinds of sectors, sending their messages out to more than 300,000 social media followers whose voices they represent.

These are exactly the issues that we are seeking to tackle with the True Pro Ladies campaign. We have established a global community for current and future female tradespeople with the long-term goal of making trades more appealing to women.

The campaign was launched in February 2020 with 16 female tradespeople in all kinds of sectors, sending their messages out to more than 300,000 social media followers whose voices they represent. The launch included tradespeople from Germany, Austria, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

„In the trades you create
things with your own hands.
You are always learning.
And no two days are the same.“

Bardie Somerville (@bards.builds)

The official True Pro Ladies Team 2020 includes Kortney Heit (@seq_chippy_chick) and Bardie Somerville (@bards.builds).

From left: Kortney (@seq_chippy_chick) and Bardie (@bards.builds)

The official True Pro Ladies Team 2020 includes Kortney Heit (@seq_chippy_chick) and Bardie Somerville (@bards.builds), both young Australian carpentry apprentices who give their community insights into their experiences and the challenges they face in their training.

Germany is represented by Jessica Jörges (@buntezukunft), who is a member of the country’s National Painting and Decorating Team and showed off her abilities at the WorldSkills Kazan 2019 event, scooping an impressive fifth place for Germany. Her social media activity talks about the training opportunities that are available in trade professions – and provides a channel for her followers to see her progress in working towards her master painter qualification.

Germany is represented by Jessica Jörges (@buntezukunft).
Hailing from Canada, Kayla Beckett (@the_taping_queen) is slightly further forward in her trade career, with more than 20 years of experience behind her.

Hailing from Canada, Kayla Beckett (@the_taping_queen) is slightly further forward in her trade career, with more than 20 years of experience behind her. She has been running her business, One Chick Taper and Company, for a number of years now and her work includes renovations of entire houses.

„Through Social Media I gain so much inspiration and motivation
for me and my job every single day.“

Jessica Jörges (@buntezukunft)

In addition to the official True Pro Ladies team members, female tradespeople and young women with an interest in trade professions from around the world are able to engage in the campaign by sharing their thoughts using the #trueproladies hashtag and becoming part of a community that provides a mutual source of inspiration and motivation.

Over the course of 2020, we have already managed to reach millions of young female tradespeople through our campaign activities on our marketing channels (website, social media and press). The feedback we have received from women and men alike has been overwhelmingly positive, reinforcing just how important it is to engage with this kind of issue facing  society.

As we move into 2021, we are looking forward to working more with our community in order to promote the True Pro Ladies campaign and keep pursuing our goals and ambitions in this area. Our ultimate hope is to inspire lots of young people to explore a career in a trade profession!