This article was written by Trade Account Manager, Donna McCosh
My Mitre 10 career started when I was living in my home town of Warrnambool, Victoria. It’s a beautiful, coastal city that sits along the Great Ocean Road. I was starting out at Pontings, an Independent Mitre 10, in the office and on the trade desk as a cashier. But seven years ago, I made the call to pack up life and move to the big smoke in Melbourne.
I first joined Taits Mitre 10, and have been incredibly lucky to experience a diverse and evolving career – going from cashier to trade desk, flooring consultant to rep support, and back to my role at the trade desk as an account manager with Danahers Mitre 10, where I am today. What I’ve learned is that this is a business where you can try your hand at different things until you find the right fit. For me, that right fit is being on the frontline helping the tradies. It’s where I can lean of my architectural experience and share the knowledge I’ve gathered about a whole-of-house approach to building.
Advice from my Experience
For those contemplating a Mitre 10 career, my nugget of wisdom centres on the vast opportunities for growth. You can start at the ground level and work your way up and around so many different roles. There’s always room for improvement, and the culture is such that we don’t shy away from acknowledging skill gaps, we actually constructively call them out. Doing this means the team is proactive about investing in development, something that I’ve benefitted from immensely.
Whether it’s an e-learning, on-the-job training, or working with a mentor in the business, each and every year I’ve been able to do something meaningful that has helped me progress in my careers and upskill myself. If this is important to you, Mitre 10, and in fact the whole family of Metcash businesses, are the places for you.
Reflecting Back
Looking back over the last 7 years, the things that have made my experience so far are definitely centred around the people. I’ve been lucky to work with so many people who have transformed from work colleagues into genuine friends. In my team I am the only female Trade Account Manager at the moment, but my male colleagues include me and build me up in the same way they would any other on our team. But my team has become a bit of an anomaly here at Mitre 10. There are so many more females joining the industry and smashing it in roles that years gone past were very male dominated.
However, it’s not just the colleagues that have contributed to my experience. Over the years I have cemented (yes, a building pun) relationships with the builders, too. I love seeing their builds grow from frames into homes and seeing their clients happy with the end result.
All in in, this is a work place that fills my cup in many ways. Good humans, good development, and a business that wants to see you succeed. What more could I ask for?
