In an industry still dominated by men, Olivia Ross is building her way to creating more opportunities for women in construction and to closing that pay chasm of 30%. 

She has her views on the industry that she is passionate about but admits there is a way to go in gender equality.

“There is change, albeit slowly with more women working across all areas of the construction industry,” says Olivia Ross, The GM of Rossiter Constructions, a privately owned Victorian Construction company with an annual turnover of $60million.

“I know women who worked in construction ten years ago and left and went into other industries because the conditions were terrible for them. On the building sites today, there are more women and it is nowhere near equal as the number of men but we are making progress,” she says.

However, Olivia is quick to point out that in her company she employs on merit and it’s the best person for the position. “Unfortunately, some of my generation are influenced by the instant gratification of social media and think it’s easy on a job site. It’s not. Hard work and grit go a long way. They always have and still do, that hasn’t changed,” says Olivia.

Olivia Ross cut her teeth helping to clean the factories her father was developing.

“I would make extra pocket money,” she says. “Looking back now being involved in the process I learned to understand at an early age how projects were built and importantly how to manage my money.”

Her father Louis, a son of migrants, founded Rossiter Constructions in 1997 and has since completed nearly 150 projects around Victoria.

“My brother used to dig trenches to do the footings and I would clean the trenches, I used to be on site with dad and I’d go with him to look at the different jobs,” she recalls.

She says people didn’t really understand the “all in” family commitment to the business and she didn’t know any different. “We work together as a team; this is really important fundamentals.”

“But it wasn't easy. It's not easy – if it was then everyone would be doing it “

Olivia is now the General Manager of Rossiter Constructions and is working to restructure the business to update processes to take it into the future.

“We’ve always operated conservatively,” she says.

Growing up in Williamstown, she completed a commerce degree and worked as a Chartered Accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

As a side hustle Olivia began flipping property and joined the family firm four years ago and last year established her own development company UNO Projex with its first development, “Makers Mile,” an industrial site in Shepparton.

“I don't have a pure property background, but I've been born into the industry, grown with it and learnt to develop my own style,” she says.

“That was probably why I got involved in Rossiter a little bit later because Dad wanted us to have our own life and our own passion, and he didn’t envisage us joining the business.”

But, she says, her passion has always been property. “That’s what gets me up of a morning and has led me to branching out and establishing my own development company and Makers Mile,” she says. The Makers Mile development will deliver a choice of warehouses built with the end user in mind.

Olivia has secured investors for the Maker’s Mile project. She says as a young entrepreneur it was challenging to find the right opportunity in Melbourne that would stack up for the industrial market which has seen incredible growth.

Olivia wanted to deliver a development to the market that would have impact, which led her to look outside Melbourne for other opportunities, including Ballarat and Bendigo, Albury, and Canberra before landing on Shepparton.

“I was looking at regional areas outside of Melbourne because I wanted the opportunity to buy a substantial piece of land and build a good project that actually was going to have real impact,” she says. 

“The project is important to me because I have invested, not only money but my time and heart, “she says.

“The Makers Mile opportunity only came because I was able to cut my teeth on the small stuff. And same thing, I've always been taught to just manage my bottom line and to deliver quality products to market.,” she says.

Olivia’s workday starts at 7am on one of the many Rossiter Construction sites around Melbourne. She is a familiar sight in her business suit and steel capped boots. By 11am she is at her desk in the South Melbourne office and often eating her lunch while running into a meeting or fielding a variety of calls. She makes a weekly site visit to Shepparton and loves the choice of coffee shops and eateries.

“I expect to be working around the clock for the next few years to restructure Rossiter Constructions, deliver Uno Projex and maintain a share in several smaller start-ups. It’s a busy growth phase to establish the foundations for the future. I love my work and would not have it any other way” says Olivia.

Olivia is a proud Board Member of the Building and Construction Foundation which aims to unlock barriers to entry and progression in the building and construction industry. She says the foundation aspires to creating a building and construction industry that is open and accessible for everyone to succeed.

Olivia Ross GM of Rossiter Constructions