From law firm to building boss: Hamilton woman’s journey in the trades

Amanda Kerley spent much of her childhood following her builder-dad around worksites. Now, she is a qualified builder herself. Photo / Malisha Kumar

“Building has been in my blood.”

These are the words of a Hamilton woman making a name for herself in the male-dominated construction industry.

This International Women’s Day, BCITO - the building and construction industry training body - and Master Builders have recognised Amanda Kerley, 50, as a woman confidently proving that trades aren’t just a boys’ club.

The recognition and sharing of her story comes as the industry remains heavily male-dominated, with men still making up about 84% of New Zealand’s construction workforce.

Kerley qualified as a builder in 2019 and that year entered the Master Builders House of the Year competition, where her team won a bronze award.

Although she only qualified six years ago, Kerley spent much of her childhood following her builder-dad around worksites.

Hamilton woman Amanda Kerley on the job.

She learnt so much from him that when she bought her first home at 21, she had the skills to renovate the kitchen herself.

“I would use any opportunity to [help] him on a work site, even if I could get a day off school,” she told the Waikato Herald.

But when leaving high school, Kerley was unsure what career path she wanted to pursue, even though she loved building.

“I could just see it wasn’t a very acceptable female path.”

At 18, she took a complete U-turn and worked at a law firm for 12 years before leaving in 2005 to have her first child with her then-husband.

Three children later, and after separating from her husband, Kerley began rethinking life as she was helping out at his mechanic shop.

Her first step was opening a Xero-certified accounts business, which soon evolved into painting work — another skill her dad taught her as a young girl.

In 2017, she began painting and helping with building work on the side for Whippet Development in Hamilton, whose owner she had known for years.

After seeing her skills on the job, she said the owner, Matt, suggested she begin her apprenticeship.

“I’d never actually had anybody say that to me [before].”

She met with BCITO advisers, but sat on the idea for months before starting her apprenticeship.

With three kids, she said it was a “hard” decision.

“If I was doing this, I wanted to succeed, and I didn’t know if I could commit to it or not.”

She put her best toolkit forward, and a few months later, kicked off her building apprenticeship with BCITO.

But entering a male-dominated industry came with challenges.

“There were other girls doing it [too], but it was very minimal,” she said.

Amanda Kerley qualified as a builder in 2019. Photo / Malisha Kumar

Although most of her experiences were positive, she said some men would give her the ‘Oh, it’s a girl’ look and question her skills.

A year into her apprenticeship, she nearly quit.

“I just felt like I couldn’t do it. I just really doubted myself,” Kerley said.

“It just became overwhelming, and I just needed a reset. At the end of the day, I pushed through it [and] carried on.”

What kept her going was her determination to succeed.

“I committed to becoming a qualified builder, and I didn’t want to give up. I just had to get that out of my system and say, ‘No, I’ve got this.’”

After her apprenticeship journey and being part of an award-winning build, Kerley says she now feels exactly “where I should be”.

She’s still with the Hamilton company, but now as the general manager, working alongside the owner, Matt, her now-partner.

When she was working at the law firm, she’d have days filled with FOMO, wondering what her dad was building. Often, she’d drive to his job sites during her break if it was close enough.

“It might have been building a deck or something, but I was just always keen to see what was [being] done.

“I felt like I was missing out.”

When kickstarting her own building career, she realised she still had all the “old-school” tricks her dad had taught her.

“We can have all these flashy tools now ... but it’s still cool to know there are a few different ways of doing something to get the same results.

“I think dad gave me a lot of good grounding for where I am today.”

For other women wanting to get into trades, Kerley said: “Just go for it”.

“Don’t overthink it. Just start, push forward, and push through any fear you might have.

“Once you’ve been on site and you’ve worked hard ... the gender doesn’t matter, and you earn the respect of everyone around you. And I have.”

For Kerley, the girl who once followed her dad around building sites, it’s confirmation she’s exactly where she belongs.

Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.