WITHOUT PREJUDICE

The plumbing industry has made big progress towards becoming more diverse and inclusive, but there’s some way to go yet, as Phoebe Coers of Rose Line Ltd tells NZ Plumber.

hoebe Coers has achieved a lot in a short time. At 27, she has become a Certifying Plumber, Drainlayer and Gasfitter, and set up her own business, Rose Line Ltd in Rotorua.

Between times, she has fitted in an OE, spent a year doing three-month plumbing maintenance stints in the Pacific Islands in the middle of the Covid pandemic, and taken her mountain bike racing to an international level.

True to her friendly, honest and open style, Phoebe is quick to acknowledge all the support received along the way. “People ask me why I say ‘we’ whenever I talk about my company, even though I’m the sole owner.

“‘We’ is my mum, who loves to help with things like sorting out my website and signwriting, and chasing up admin. It’s my partner, who brings me dinner if I’m working late in the office or tosses ideas around with me for quotes. It’s the friends I ring for advice, the merchants I deal with. No one does it on their own. We all need support. If we don’t have that, we don’t have anything.”

Having started her training at Foleys in Dunedin at 17, straight from school, Phoebe also acknowledges her employers for setting the tone for her whole apprenticeship.

“On my first day, Brian Foley called everyone in, sat them down and introduced me. He told them to treat me like their sister, and that Foleys wouldn’t tolerate anything else. It drew a line in the sand, giving everyone a benchmark to work to, leaving me knowing my workmates had my back and supported me. If anyone on site wasn’t acting as they should, my workmates would deal with it.”

People at the top of a business have a responsibility to use their power to establish a respectful, inclusive workplace culture, she believes. “Brian had the power to change the entire culture in the room in a sentence—and potentially my whole future in this industry. He led from the top and it went down the whole line.”

Breaking stereotypes

Employers are also in a position to open doors for others and to open people’s minds, says Phoebe. “There are some really good role models who are pushing for diversity and I want to thank them. Our industry is making good progress and collectively we can make this progression faster and smoother. As someone who hates change, I understand how deep a lot of people have dug to adapt.”

And among those much-maligned ‘stale pale males’ are some of the biggest champions for diversity in the workplace,