High Powered Woman

Forget manicures. Tracey Johnson, 26, is too busy keeping the Manawatu's power supply online to worry about perfect nails. The recently qualified electricity supply technician carries ladders, climbs power poles, checks faults and fixes fuse boxes as the only woman on the lower North Island team of power distribution company Tenix. 

 

Any female that wanted to do it could do it, Tracey says. "But they'd have to be aware that it is quite a physical job and you do get dirty fingernails and stuff like that. You get cuts and scratches and you don't have very girly hands at all," she says. 

 

Tracey doesn't find that a problem, as she's been non-traditional since school. "I did automotives, woodwork and metalwork. I played rugby, soccer, hockey and all that stuff ... I've never really been a "girly girl" but I've been a tomboy the whole way through basically. I think that has a lot to do with where I am at the moment." 

 

She loves working out in the environment, the challenges of the job, and "getting out there and showing people I can do it", she says. She honed her attitude in the Army, where she relished the challenges of basic training. "It's normally when you either break down in tears or you go 'give me more!'" She opted for "more" and went on to serve for four years, saying it was the best thing she could have done. "It teaches you respect, it teaches you motivation. It's a good stepping stone for any young person, and I truly believe that."

 

During her Army years she started doing telecommunications work, which she found interesting. "We were running lines and connecting bits and pieces up to a line. I thought, 'I really really like this work'." Training as an electrician through the army would have taken too long, so she got out and started a pre-trades apprenticeship through UCOL. She has just finished a three-year Modern Apprenticeship at Tenix, which she was able to do although she was a year older than the usual cut-off age of 21 years when she started. 

 

Tracey had to overcome some scepticism from her male workmates at first. "They thought, 'Oh man, no, is she going to be able to carry the ladder when it's cold?' And things like that. But once again you just have to get out there and prove to them all that you can do it."

 

 Now Tracey has other apprentices under her "to boss around" but she would like to see other women join the industry. Her Tolaga Bay family - many of them Nga- ti Kahungunu - and her friends are very supportive. "My grandparents are so proud of me it's not funny. And my hubby, he's really proud of me and worries about me at the same time."

 

At some point, Tracey wants to have children but stay in the trade. Meanwhile, she knows it is possible to earn over $70,000 a year with overtime rates if she is willing and able to do callouts. Although Tracey's job is in the power lines and distribution side of the business, her apprenticeship has also equipped her to do domestic, commercial and industrial work. "I can go anywhere and do anything!" she says. "I definitely could set up my own business. It's definitely something to look at further down the track."