Meet the Chippy Chick
STEFANIE
APOSTOLIDIS-
ELGAMMAL
35 · Half Greek, half Italian · Mum of 3 under 4 · Carpenter · Tradie Advocate
Before the trade
I was stuck in a desk job I hated. Walking into a building before the sun came up, walking out after it set. No fresh air, sick all the time from whatever bug was going around the office. I knew I wasn't built for it.
Out on the road
So I tried traffic control. Early starts, outside all day, hands-on, meeting new people, in nature, learning something different every shift. For the first time it didn't feel like work — it felt like me.
Heritage
Dad has been a builder and carpenter his whole life. I grew up tagging along on his sites, and I always showed a bit of interest. My uncle said it first — if you love being outdoors and you love the industry, why don't you do an apprenticeship under your dad?
The apprenticeship
So I went to dad and said: I want to do what you do. I want to be a builder. He looked at me, and the lesson came straight back.
You can't just be a builder. You need to know what you're doing and talking about. You need to walk on site and tell people what's wrong, and then show them how to fix it.
— Dad
13 years later
We looked into it. I did it. I'm still doing it. Thirteen years on the tools, three kids, two businesses and one community of thousands of women later — I'm still that apprentice who showed up to dad's site, except now I'm the one calling the shots.
