Some people with a university degree might turn their nose up if their employer asked them to go and run a convenience store – but saying yes to such a challenge was one of Kate Cahill’s most important business lessons in her 19 years with Caltex.
Unsure of what she wanted to do after completing her marketing degree, Cahill accepted a part-time sales role with Ampol in Perth while also working part time in hospitality as she’d enjoyed the work during her university days and wanted to “keep a foot in both camps”.
Her decision to join Ampol was a tentative one. “I almost didn’t respond to the ad. I thought it would be all men,” Cahill admits.
It certainly was a male dominated environment and she was often met with situations where people would ask her to ask her boss for confirmation on things, and she’d have to stand her ground and firmly state, “No, I’m the decision maker”.
“I’m not sure if it was sexism or because I was young, but it did make me work harder,” she reflects.
After Ampol and Caltex merged in 1995, Cahill was asked to step into a full-time sales role, and she agreed. Not long after, Cahill moved into retail management.
To fully appreciate this section of the business, she was first charged with the task of stepping out of her sales role and into a Caltex convenience store to understand the business at a grass roots level.
“To be honest I was a bit put off,” she laughs, but ultimately Cahill decided it was something she had to do and was pleasantly surprised when she found the experience enjoyable. “I loved the day-to-day interaction with customers, the high energy,” she adds and points out that it was a valuable lesson in the importance of not having preconceived ideas; that she was better off going into new opportunities with an open mind.
Once she’d proved herself as a store manager, Cahill went on to complete a series of business manager and operations roles, steadily climbing the Caltex ranks.
In her first years with the business, she couldn’t have anticipated that she’d remain with the same organisation for almost 20 years. She says the secret has been seeking out new challenges within the business.
After five years in Perth, Cahill transferred to Sydney until 2004 and then moved to Melbourne where she remains today. Another reason Cahill has stayed with the organisation was the fact that they supported her transition into motherhood.
Had she chosen to have children earlier, she mightn’t have been so lucky, but, “Caltex had lost some significant females in the last three or four years and were realising that to retain female talent they would need to do things differently,” Cahill explains.
In 2004, after her first child, Olivia, was born, Cahill’s husband, James, was their daughter’s primary carer so that Cahill could continue working.
But in 2009, when the couple’s son, Jack, was born, Caltex proactively ensured Cahill was given a meaningful part-time role so that she could enjoy her work while also enjoying life as her children’s primary carer.
To other professional women seeking continuing career development after children, Cahill’s advice is, “be clear about what you want. If it’s time with family or flexible work arrangements, hold true to that.”
She continues to be an instrumental player in the business today as its Manager – Retail Projects, but says like many working mums, the key to that elusive work-life balance is a great deal of organisation and, in her case, a supportive partner.
“It would not be possible without the 50/50 help from my husband. He shares all aspects of pick ups and drop offs, cleaning, homework,” Cahill says.
There’s also the zen factor. Six days a week, Cahill rises at 5am to complete an hour of yoga before her kids wake up. She’s only human, however, and says there are plenty of mornings when hurling herself out from under the covers can be a monumental challenge. “But the benefits outweigh the extra bit of sleep. If I sleep in, things don’t run as smoothly,” she says.
Cahill doesn’t have many regrets, although in her early days she wished she’d had a mentor. “You don’t have to be the expert 100 per cent of the time. Actively seek feedback, ask questions about things you could be doing,” she suggests.
Today Cahill manages the introduction of new technology and innovations to the company’s network of up to 600 retail outlets nationally – not a bad result for a girl who got her start working behind the counter in one. She’s proof that sometimes it really is worth beginning on the bottom rung if you want to build a successful career.