Meet the Chippy Chick
STEFANIE
APOSTOLIDIS-
ELGAMMAL
35 · Half Greek, half Italian · Mum of 3 under 4 · Carpenter · Tradie Advocate
Stefanie Apostolidis-Elgammal is a qualified carpenter, the founder of two businesses and an advocate for women in trade. She started out in an office.
In her words
I was stuck in a desk job I hated — walking into a building before the sun came up and out of it after the sun set. No fresh air, sick all the time from whatever was going around the office. I knew I wasn't built for it.
So I tried traffic control. Early starts, outside all day, hands-on, learning something different every shift. For the first time it didn't feel like work — it felt like me.
Dad's been a builder and a carpenter his whole life, and I grew up tagging along on his sites. My uncle said it first: if you love being outdoors and you love the industry, why don't you do your apprenticeship under your dad?
So I asked him. He said:
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
Thirteen years later I'm still doing it. Three kids, two businesses and a community of thousands of women — I'm still that apprentice who showed up to dad's site, except now I'm the one calling the shots.
