What type of roles and responsibilities have you taken on over your career?

I started out as a Contractor, I did that for about 5 years. After that I worked as a NSW/ACT Rental Coordinator for TR Bearcom. They were the largest Motorola dealer in Australia. My role consisted of taking the rental orders from the Sales Executives and processing it and sending it out. When the gear came back, it was my duty to ensure they were in good working condition, tested and disinfected, ready for the next hire. I was lucky to get the opportunity to provide my technical expertise at events such as the V8 Supercars in Bathurst and Sydney Olympic Park, NRL Cronulla Sharks, St George Dragons and State of Origin home games and the Day on the Green concerts in Bowral and the Hunter Valley to name a few. I was there for 2 years. I’ve worked at Coates Hire, starting out as a Sales Coordinator at the Willoughby branch for 12 months and an opportunity came up in sales. I applied and got the role as a Geographical Account Manager for Gladesville and Willoughby branches. I have previously worked in retail sales however I did find working with B2B customers very different. It was more about providing a solution and building a robust ongoing relationship. Our industry heavily relies on customer loyalty and repeat business. I went to Allcott Hire as a Major Account Manager for initially the Artarmon, Brookvale and Hornsby branches then being transferred to the Alexandria branch then eventually to the flagship Silverwater branch. Whilst there, I managed to bring some customers across from my previous company and built relationships with new customers. I was also working closely with the CFO assisting in chasing overdue monies and getting a better understanding on accounting and finance.

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I’ve worked at Orange Hire as a Business Development Manager. Once again, the role was similar as before however this time I was specialising in Civil and Traffic products. Whilst I was there, I managed to score my first Major Project which was the Parramatta Light Rail Enabling Works. I gained a lot of experience on that project and built many relationships whom I keep in contact with.

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I am currently with Alltracks Plant Hire as a Senior Business Development Manager. My role is predominantly in sales but I also get the opportunity to be involved in Accounts and Operations as well. It’s exciting as the owner gives me enough flexibility and I get to implement things I have learnt at my previous companies.

Who played a big influence in your career, and would you consider being a mentor for someone in the next generation?

That is actually a very hard question to answer as I have had so many influences over the years. My father who had good business accruement and an incredible work ethic, my maternal grandfather passed on his knowledge of accounting and banking. Paris Cockinos taught me a lot about how to be innovative at work and in my personal life. When I was at Coates Hire, I had a lot of work colleagues who were willing to lend a hand, give great advice and teach me new ways of implementing things. Some of these skills that I learnt I still use today. Some of my work colleagues who took me under their wing were Philip Hefford in Operations, Tony Armstrong and Mark Snook in Sales. When I was at Allcott Hire, it was the CFO, David Fleming who taught me the financial side of running a multimillion-dollar company. At Orange Hire and now Alltracks Plant Hire, it is Martin Costello who’s always been there listening and reminding me to keep being positive and to keep improving.  There are many more people I haven’t mentioned as I could go on and on.

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I would consider it a privilege to be able to mentor someone in the next generation who is thinking about or have recently started in the rental industry. I've been so lucky to have learnt so much from other people and from my own experiences through trial and error that I am more than willing in impart that knowledge as well.

How has the equipment rental industry changed over the years?

I came into the industry when safety was transitioning from the ‘she’ll be right’ attitude to one of utmost importance. There’s so much more compliance and paperwork involved. It’s no longer about sending the equipment out and worry about it when it gets back in our yard. It’s about sending service histories, plant risk assessments, safe work method statements, safety inductions and much more. It’s an ongoing battle as ‘we’ as an industry are still experiencing workplace accidents and deaths. A lot of the times, it due to complacency. I’m not entirely sure if it’s because we are drowning in an overload of information that we focus on what’s only in front of us.

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​The other thing that has changed is the utilisation of technology. Back in the day it was mainly paper based documentation and records. Now everything is all about being paperless, self-automation and cloud based data storage. At Alltracks we’ve done just that, where as a rep on the road we can access the information such as contracts, invoicing, delivery dockets, workshop paperwork from our smartphones without relying on the branch staff to email it to us. Another area where technology has improved is on the machines themselves. The Next Gen Cat Excavators for example, can tell us the hourly fuel consumption being used to being able to calculate on how much material has been dug up and removed from site. This information is readily available on our fingertips.

What one piece of advice do you think would have helped you early in your career?

The three best pieces of advice I was lucky to receive early on in my career was the following:

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To acknowledge and respect people regardless of what position or status they hold in society. Could be a cleaner or the CEO, everyone has a part to play in the company. I’ve seen truck drivers who have through their hard work and effort become branch managers, I’ve seen cadets on job sites who have moved up the ranks to Site Managers, Construction Managers, Directors and CEOs. Everyone must start somewhere. My start was a paperboy for the local newsagency, blowing the whistle whilst pushing a barrow full of newspapers

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If something isn’t right, speak up. Be the voice for the voiceless. Sometimes people you work with don’t have the confidence to voice their concerns to their managers or further up the company tree. It’s usually due to fear of rejection, ostracisation or repercussions that maybe associated with standing up for what’s right. We share more time with our work family than our own personal families. There’s no point being unhappy at a place that only offers contempt.

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Lastly, the best advice I received was to treat my job and the places I work at as if I’m running my own company.  So, everything I do I have the good intention  for what’s best for the company in mind. There were occasions where I have made the wrong call or mistakes. I’m only human. However, I took ownership and rectified the situation as best as I could.