This is Tradeswomen Together with me, Hattie.
- And me, Steph.
- Today we've got some amazing guests coming to speak
with us all about their 2026 goals.
What this new year is gonna be looking like for them.
(upbeat music)
Tradeswomen Together with Hattie and Steph on Fix Radio.
- The Builder Station.
- So what about you then, Steph?
Are you, how'd you prepare for the following year?
- Do you know what?
I am probably like an optimistic,
worst nighmare, me and me, 'cause I just go,
oh, it's just another year.
(laughing)
- Whatever will be, whatever will be.
I'm very case sora sorah, you know what I mean?
I'm just, if I set myself goals,
I'm only just set myself with disappointment sometimes.
You know, I just wish for health and happiness
and I just go, right, let's just play on,
see what comes and the opportunities that are forward
are two as women not even thinking about it is amazing.
- You know, there's a lot to be said for that
because in some ways if you fix yourself,
you don't see things outside, yeah?
So I think that's a really good approach for us.
We do a lot of advocacy and events and what have you.
So we've got to plan ahead all the time.
So we usually do a bit of a roundup
and then we plan and say, right,
we wanna make sure we've done certain number of things.
So as business women, we kind of
think of it more as a world domination plan.
(upbeat music)
- Tradeswomen together with Hattie and Steph.
- Joining us now we've got Courtney,
director of CS Country Contracting.
She holds N-Paws and CSCS qualifications
and that skill, professionalism and dedication
is the backbone of her business.
Now in this business she works on all sorts of projects
alongside her colleagues, including a bear enclosure.
- Ooh, wow.
- So it seems like business is booming for you Courtney.
So it would be interesting to see how you step this up
a notch in 2026.
So we've got planned what a success look like for you.
- There's quite a few jobs in the pipeline.
We do have a very exciting project
that we'll be working with Southern Water on hopefully.
That sees us through for a good few years,
but I'm very mindful to stay to my roots
and still look after my local customers.
The Isle of White, where we're based, is a small place.
So I still like to fulfill things for them.
- Yeah, it is a small place.
- Yeah, it is a bit.
So what does your day to day look like?
Just so we can give people an idea of why
N-Paws, CSCS qualifications cover, what do you cover?
- Okay, so sometimes there's not every day
that I utilize those.
They are very much for site to work.
My private work sort of fencing and things
in people's gardens, I don't really utilize them.
But if I was to go to a site in the morning,
it's just the usual week we sign in.
Sometimes they have to check all the tickets again
and make sure they're all in dates.
And then I spend a lot of my time
all my tickets are machine based.
- Right, yeah.
- So all diggers, everything like that.
And then the day starts from anything,
from simply digging a hole for an archaeologist,
which is quite exciting,
because you never know what you're going to find.
- Yeah.
- All the way through to prepping grounds,
working with ecologists, it is very exciting.
- Good stuff.
- So with your Southern water, did you say?
- Yes, so with them, you basically have got like,
bare earth and then you do the first gouges into the earth.
- Yeah, so I'm very much working with them
on the first phase at the moment.
This is a big project that will go on three, four, five years,
perhaps longer, because let's be realistic,
everything takes longer than it's supposed to.
- Especially if you find things like bones and things.
- Bodies and things.
- And up is an archaeology project.
- We want to just know, have you found a body?
- I haven't found a body,
but I have found something very exciting to do with a mammoth.
- Oh!
- Yes.
- Which I think probably being on the Isle of White is expected.
I think we have a very good history here,
but it was a very exciting day for the archaeology scene
that I was working with.
- Wow, so they suspected something and they got you in
and you found it?
- Yeah, we found it.
And to be fair, when I did all my tickets,
I didn't think that I would be finding parts of mammoths,
you know, it's broad, it's out there.
- Well, I think it's really interesting to talk about stuff
like that because people really don't realize
how broad and exciting our industry,
or the different things about our industry are.
So, fantastic.
- I think a lot of people think you just put your boots on
in the morning and you're sort of knee deep in mud.
and it's all very disappointing, labor-intensive,
but actually you can learn a lot beyond the construction world.
- Absolutely, absolutely.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaking about next year now,
so what mindset shifts have helped you to reach goals
for this year and what will you do next year?
- Yeah, so I'm very much, when I started the business,
I'm not sure if it's because I'm female,
or it's just my personality, I'm very much a yes person.
Even if something's not possible, I will just say yes.
- We all know that feeling, don't we?
(laughing)
- I think we're all slightly guilty of that.
So I've really had to implement saying no,
and that's to benefit one, the business,
to my wellbeing and family time as well
and just not being tired and run down,
taking time out, I'm very close to my mum
and that's very important to spend that time with her.
So taking it back to that, yeah,
I've really implemented the saying no,
I will do all I can for my customers,
but I think it's really important
to remember I can say no.
- Yeah, and also doing all you can,
it's not like infinite, you can't continue infinitely.
So when you say I'll do all I can, that has a limit.
- Absolutely.
- And it's a problem, don't you?
- You gotta be careful you know that people please.
- Yeah, you gotta be careful.
- And I am that person, even if I know it's not possible
to do, I will make it happen.
And then you start, you end up doing the seven days a week
and it just has a knock on effect to the future
and people aren't happy.
- Yeah, absolutely.
I turn up sometimes at my mums of a weekend
and I'm just a burnt out
and I just, I can start arguing, whatever.
And it's all because I've done too much in the week
and I've not left enough in the tank
for the weekend for myself.
- Yeah, and that's, you know, that is a big thing
because I think it's very easy to forget
that you do have a life at home outside,
that digger or outside that site and job.
- Yeah, definitely.
So now then, let's talk a bit wider about the industry
and what changes would you like to see in 2026?
How do your goals fit into that vision?
- So I would really like to see,
I was thinking about this recently
and I feel like for females in the trade,
there isn't that stepping stone of leaving school
and being able to come into construction,
whether that be as a plaster, a plumber,
any kind of trade or a machine operator,
there isn't that stepping stone there.
You know, I was terrible at school,
I'm not academic at all and I think it's important
that it's put out there.
You don't have to have the best GCSEs, A levels,
university credentials to come into this field.
There just doesn't seem to be that option at the moment
and I have been approached on the island
to go and do some speaking and put across how I made my way.
So I think that will do me well personally as well
because it will give me the confidence to speak out
and it also gives me a sense of doing the right thing
and guiding these ladies into this for the future
but specifically being on the island,
you know, it's not easy to get in to this kind of work.
It's tough.
Yeah, so if you've got a few of you
and some like-minded people to make it easier.
Yeah, okay, well listen Courtney,
I hope 2026 is everything you want it to be and more.
Yeah, thank you.
You sound like our kind of girl
Yeah.
What the four of you went around you
and take those opportunities?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
So thank you so much for giving us your time today
for our podcast.
Thank you, I've loved it.
Great. All right then.
Bye.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
See you soon.
You're listening to Trades Women Together
with Hattie and Steph for Fix Radio.
Fix Radio for Builder Station.
Next up, we've got Rhea,
the self-employed soul trader,
painter and decorator,
but also dear to my heart, a qualified plumber.
Ooh round her.
Yeah.
She's had many jobs after leaving college,
but didn't like having a boss.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know that.
Very cool.
So it went straight on to help with her dad
with a decorating business.
And 23 years later, here she is.
Wow.
Well done.
So tell us, Rhea,
are some of the biggest challenges
that you face when juggling work,
scared jaws with customers and home life and all of that?
It is difficult trying to balance for me the paperwork
and being out in the job and sourcing tools,
but I'm very, very lucky that my wife,
actually, works from home.
Right.
So she can pick up and all of this sort of house stuff,
really.
But honestly, if that wasn't the case,
and she was out at work as well,
I probably wouldn't be able to do as many kind of hours
on the tools, you know?
I'd have to be at home to do that,
but I don't know how some people do it.
So yeah, kind of a little clap there for the people
in the background, you know?
I'm going to join you.
Yeah, yeah, me too.
Can we have her number please?
There we go.
Yeah.
So have you got any goals?
Have you got ideas that you want to explore?
How are you going to move your business forward in 2026?
Sure.
So from being a sole trader,
I've worked alongside my dad and I've worked alongside another lady,
however, we're both independent sole traders.
And I've really been toying with the idea of maybe trying to take on an apprentice
or take on some more stuff because my diary and my books are so busy,
I'm turning away more work than I'm taking on.
I mean, at the moment, I'm kind of like booked up to August next year.
And actually, I'm losing some bigger opportunities for the fact
that people kind of don't want to wait that long.
So it's definitely a scary step,
but I think it's one that I'm going to have to take to grow the business.
Yeah, yeah, well, I mean, I think a lot of tradeswomen find that they are,
just stacked all the time.
Yeah, it's really hard to manage everything, isn't it?
Yeah, and maybe I kind of I book myself back to back as well.
And then if something does go wrong or if there's an issue with the van,
there's no leeway.
I need to give myself a little bit more leeway as well.
Yeah, you do.
And also, let's just bring up the wellbeing word.
You know, you need to make sure that you're not burning yourself out.
Or because...
Well, I'm off to Egypt tomorrow for two weeks.
Oh, I know.
That's not worried about Rhea burning herself out.
I'm burning.
You could start sun burning yourself out of burning yourself out of burning.
Exactly.
That is one thing I do do to be fair.
I work really hard, but I do enjoy my holidays.
I do probably have three to four holidays,
but to be honest with you, that's where I can put family time comes in
because I'm kind of tired and really busy.
And that's sort of special time with my son and stuff.
So I do schedule that in, but yeah, it can be belonging between that.
Yeah.
I try to take like an afternoon off or something.
And then what happens is, I'll probably inevitably book work in.
but it means I've got the ability to be able to book that overspilling
if something goes wrong.
Yeah.
Yeah, you know, when I was on the tools, I used to work.
First of all, I started working 24/7 because I felt like I couldn't turn anything away.
Yeah.
And then I started just working five days a week.
And then I went down to four days and I'd spent,
but I'd still be working on the fifth day, but just not on the tools.
Yeah, me too.
Yeah.
And then I'd be working three days on the tools, one day looking at jobs
and one day doing a book.
So I was working still five days, but three of them were on the tools.
Yeah.
Because it's not the work that brings in the money.
It's the invoicing.
Exactly.
Exactly that.
I think it's fair.
I mean, I find it.
Well, I find out I spend a weekend kind of maybe one a month and I book in four or five jobs to go and look at on a Saturday.
And then it's all Saturday afternoon and Sunday, as you say, is taken up with the paperwork and maybe trying to go and source materials.
It kills a whole weekend off.
Yeah.
So it gets away from any family time and rest.
Yeah, that's right.
But yeah, these are all things that I do want to start taking into consideration for next year.
I mean, as I've got busy or I'm kind of working longer hours and look, it's not even worth me.
I love it.
And I get paid well, but it takes away from the family aspect to have opened the business up a bit more.
I'll have that bit more freedom to be able to.
Well, I mean, and the other thing, of course, is when you take on your apprentice, who's going to leave on jobs.
Is it going to be a woman?
Do you think you're looking for a women?
I would like to keep it.
I would like to keep it like that.
There's a few new newer to the trade ladies who aren't necessarily apprentices, but I've kind of had a chat with a couple of those to maybe come and stay and work with me for a week or two to.
They are getting some experience, but they're kind of, I've had quite an influx of people asking.
And of course, you've got to be careful who you pick.
Of course.
I think, different might be like that might be a good start. And then, yeah, definitely, a female apprentice.
Because you've got to make sure that they're still, that they are meeting the quality that you are.
Are you probably so accustomed to, finding a clone as the other thing to do?
It is so hard.
I mean, I get messages constantly saying, you know, I haven't got much work on, can I come and work with you?
But it is even a safety aspect to someone else being in the house and then having to sort out obviously the right insurances and...
It feels like you lose money at first, but you know, in the long term, your really not.
When I worked on me and I thought, I can't give this away because I am my brand.
And I really struggled with that.
But I employed my two lads and they're fantastic. And you know, I get people messaging me saying,
"God, they clean up like a woman." And I'm like, "Yeah, they were taught to."
So for me, and they feel so comfortable with them in their houses and that's all I need to know.
They can do the job. They make people feel comfortable and they clean up after them.
Fantastic. Absolutely.
And it's hard to find.
Yeah, it is. And I own more money now. I've got them too.
And me, rather than just me on me own, trying to keep hold of my own wages.
It's just the best thing to do. Yeah, you won't regret it at all.
Quite a few people have said that. And that's what's making me kind of lean more towards it.
You know, when I have got the patience and I want to teach people.
So, yeah, just that job. But I'll get there.
Yeah, so don't ever think that you're going to lose money or lose credibility because you wont.
Yeah, doing things the right way you want.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
I hope it's great that we got to speak to you finally.
Yeah.
And have a fantastic 2026, Rhea. Thank you so much.
Well, there you guys too.
Great, cheers. All right. Bye.
Bye.
Tradeswomen together.
Fix Radio. The Builder Station.
Joining us now we've got Jenny Jones used to be one of our stopcock plumbers down on the South Coast.
And she's doing a call, and she's asked if we can help promote something that she's providing four trades women.
Great. So, I thought this was a perfect opportunity for that.
So, Jenny, welcome to the podcast and just tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah, well, of course I'm doing it.
It's a master's degree in creative writing.
So, what for under assignments? I'm going to be running a one hour online writing workshop for trades women.
So, it's titled writing for resilience.
And as it suggests, it's a wellness wellbeing workshop.
And it gives us time to check in with ourselves to see how we're feeling.
And a time to come together with other trades women to perhaps talk about any sort of issues or stories or anything we want to share with each other.
And tell us, why do you think you're obviously done this because you feel that writing is cathartic in some ways.
Theapeutic, it helps.
So, can you just expand a little bit on why you think that?
Yeah.
Well, when I'm out working on the tools, plumbing, I'm a plumber. It's a really difficult job.
And I find it really busy during the day.
Come home and I'm still thinking through all the jobs and all the things associated with that job.
And I don't ever really switch off.
And I find that writing lets me slow down some hope in we can explore a little bit of that in the workshop.
Yes, yes, great. So tell us when are these workshops happening?
It's just a one-off workshop, one of them.
It's on Sunday January the 4th at 6pm.
And you can book your place on eventbrite.
So if you go to the eventbrite website and then you can search for the name of the workshop, it's called "Writing for Resilience".
And then when it asks you the location online, and then it pops up in there.
And it's just a case of following the links to book.
Well, thanks Jenny. We've squeezed you into this podcast because we think it's really important that women have access to your course.
So book yourselves online and it's just an hour, isn't it?
Yeah, one hour. Fantastic.
Well, thanks Jenny. Thanks a lot and I hope loads of people come to it.
Yep, that'll be great.
Thank you.
Have a great 2026.
And two.
Bye, bye, bye.
Bye, bye.
Tradeswomen together with Hatty and Steph.
Thank you so much for joining us on TradesWomen Together.
Today we spoke about setting goals for 2026, both personal and business.
We spoke to Courtney Sanderson from CS Country Contracting and she was very much talking about not being a people pleaser and trying to just, you know, get more of a work-life balance.
That's really important, isn't it?
Yeah, and it comes with experience, I think, but if you're not well enough, you can't do the job so you need to look after yourself.
Absolutely, absolutely, yes.
So that was words of advice from and to Courtney.
And we also spoke to Ria Kirby, a sole trader and a painter and decorator who has somebody running all the business side of it.
Before her butch, she still works 24/7 and buys me two or something on Saturday and she was thinking that for 2026 she might take on somebody and try and unload.
We hoped you enjoyed it as much as we did and you know, is ever this show is not just for us, it's for you as well.
So please get in touch with us if you want to hear us talk about anything or if you want to tell us anything that you think we might be interested in talking it or be a guest even.
Yeah, just drop us an email, it is studio@fixradio.co.uk