Fijian Laisa Pickering has been flying the flag for Pasifika in the electricity supply industry for over a decade, and she’s keen to see more follow in her footsteps.
Pickering works as an electrical trainer for MITA Consulting in Auckland, helping new line mechanics through their apprenticeships.
It’s a role that sees her travel up and down the country to teach line mechanics about staying safe on the job.
“Safety is really important,” she says.
“It starts at the grassroots. Teaching the ‘lineys’ [or] teaching the trainees how to work safely [and] what they need to be thinking about.”
Her journey began in 2013 when she left her job in civil construction to become a line mechanic trainee for family reasons.
“For me, it was just keeping my daughter in school and hopefully giving her a better opportunity than I had and putting food on the table.
“[My family] thought I was crazy, especially my mum and that back home. They were just like, ‘first you’re driving big trucks, and then now you’re gonna climb up power poles’?”
The work wasn’t for the faint-hearted, and being a female in the industry brought its own challenges.
“When I would first come into a crew – or first come onto a site, they sort of look at you as you’re not capable of doing a particular task and when I step in and actually do the task, then they step back and go, ‘actually you can do it’.
“It’s just kind of going through that beginning phase of kind of proving yourself, but having to do that over and over again is tiring.”
In 2022, she proved it again, managing an all-female team to compete at the Annual Connection competition, where line mechanics from across the country test their skills.
“We came second – we beat the boys digging a pole hole,” she says.
“I’m still hopeful I can get through another team next year and try and go for gold. Silver’s not good enough!”
Four years ago, Laisa joined the glove and barrier team, which works with high-voltage lines. She’s one of the only women in New Zealand to have reached this milestone.
“It’s quite a rigid process to get selected,” she says.
“Not every line mechanic becomes a glove and barrier line mechanic, so if you do, it’s a bit of bragging rights for most ‘lineys’ to say they are glove and barrier trained.”
Now, she’s taken her career even further, stepping into her new role as an electrical trainer. She hopes to use the opportunity to encourage more Pasifika to sign up.
“I love sharing my journey with other Pacific people because unless you know someone in the industry, you kind of know this job exists; otherwise, most people don’t know it exists.”
However, her crowning achievement is seeing her daughter thrive – proof that all the hard work and long hours have paid off.
“Really grateful for all the people that believed in us – in me anyway and I guess she is the product of that. Just really proud.”
