A CLASSROOM of teenagers was enough to send Footscray’s Heidi Hanlon ‘around the bend’. But her gamble on a new career is paying off, with the one-time teacher winning a plumbing industry award.
Ms Hanlon is the first woman to win the Master Plumbers Association’s Albert Smith Award, which goes to a plumbing apprentice specialising in mechanical services.
The fourth-year apprentice works for AG Coombs in Moorabbin and studies at Holmesglen Chadstone. Originally a high school teacher, Ms Hanlon had never tried anything so hands-on, but this was actually part of the appeal.
“I wanted to challenge myself, to step into unchartered waters.”
She has noticed more and more women entering plumbing and urges anyone to give it a go. “You don’t know until you try.”
