Earlier this year at the ISSA Cleaning & Hygiene Expo in Melbourne, Cleaning Marketer CEO and Cleancorp owner Lisa Macqueen joined Winc Australia BSC & FM facilities manager Kathryn Groening and Jena Dyco International director Jenny Boymal on the Hygieia Women in Industry Panel.
“Growing up in a family business instilled in me a discipline to work hard to achieve what you wanted in life,” said Groening. “And I don’t think I’ve ever lost that. And I think this is an industry where that kind of mentality exists.
“I think this is an industry where you need to be friendly, offer good customer service and be open and honest. What I see in this industry now is change. It is moving, it is evolving and it is digitally improving. We’ve got a lot more happening now, particularly with females, culture and customer service.”
Macqueen echoed Groening’s view, saying that the way cleaning businesses are run has changed.
“Anyone who is not on board with that change will be left behind,” she said. “When I first joined this industry – about seven years ago now – I felt like the odd man out since I was a woman. I remember going to industry shows where there were no women or female role models that I could look towards and look up to.
“One of the things that I’m very proud of now in my own organisation and in other organisations that I work with is that there are so many more women that are joining this industry which is cool.”
Boymal agreed with Groening and Macqueen, adding that trying to balance life at home and at work was a major challenge she had faced in the industry.
“My second son came to work with me everyday until he was five months old,” she laughed. “Leaving the business to have a family was a big challenge, especially as a woman.
“I also found in such a male-dominated industry that some men don’t seem to cope with working with a young female, but I simply move on and try to ignore those things.
“Because I absolutely love the industry; I think it’s an amazing industry. It touches so many people and it creates so many opportunities for people to run a business that is totally different from other businesses. Everyone has some sort of fabric or surface they need cleaned, and what I’m really passionate about it is helping people find their niche market to service these people.”