Neave experienced a serious head injury while playing sport which pushed her to seek a new career path. She was previously in social work roles and ran a Cookie business. Neave was ready to learn a new skill and be challenged daily while not adding to her student loan. She recognised that she was a great problem solver and planner and decided to apply herself in the trades industry.
With Neave’s husband Ben already working in the building industry and running his own company, she knew what it was like to work on site. Every now and then she would help him out on weekends and really enjoyed it. Neave took the plunge and enrolled herself in Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology’s Pre-Trade course, which she found extremely beneficial due to its hands on and practical nature. She was able to learn from her mistakes while gaining skills experience.
After completing the year-long course, Neave took on an apprenticeship with her husband for Osborne Build. She is thriving in her new role, and says she really enjoys picking up new skills daily and is constantly improving. This continual growth is an extremely rewarding part of the job. She gets a great sense of achievement when she completes a project and loves that she is earning while learning on the job.
Neave enjoys the outdoors and appreciates Nelson’s amazing scenery and lifestyle. She makes the most of the beautiful beaches and the water by going out on the boat with friends and family. Neave also spends time in Kaiteriteri camping and enjoys the various walking and hiking tracks in the area.
“Neave is proud and passionate about the trades industry and encourages anyone to give it a go as you might just surprise yourself.”
Neave spends most of her workday alongside men, but she highly recommends more women get into the industry. Women on site as can offer different strengths and bring a more balanced dynamic to work, just like any other industry. During the week, Neave makes time for catch ball – a social sport that is like volleyball and dedicated to women only. This helps her work life balance.
She mentioned there a lot of opportunities in Nelson to further your career and the Pre-Trade course is a great place to start. Neave has some great advice to those starting out in the industry “take each day as it comes, show up and try every day.”
