Hollie Woodard, presented leading rail industry award

We are delighted to share with you the announcement that our own Hollie Woodard, Women in Project Management SIG committee member, was this year nominated for industry recognition and she has been listed in their top 20.

The Women in Rail organisation have named Hollie Woodard, project manager at VolkerRail, as one of its 20 most inspirational women in rail.

Launched by the organisation for this first time this year, the accolade aims to celebrate women in the UK railway sector who have positively influenced others over the course of their railway career.

We caught up with Hollie to find more about her role and her achievements:

How did it feel to receive this accolade?
I was extremely humbled and honoured to receive this award. What makes it all the more special, for me, is the fact that I have been nominated by my colleagues.

What does your role consist of and what is a typical day?
My role consists of managing a package of works on a multi-disciplinary project. A typical day will find me working from our Salford office, reviewing project deliverables against agreed timescales, reviewing design documentation and working with a wide variety of my peers to plan and safely deliver our projects. I will also attend progress meetings with our client and delivery partners and oversee the planning of early scheme activities such as site surveys.

In your career, what is the biggest challenge you have overcome?
Changing my role twice. When I decided I needed a change and more of a challenge I moved from a commercial role as a quantity surveyor into a role as an assistant project manager. I was prepared to start from a junior role again to allow me to progress. Then more recently I have moved within the business to our major projects division which is a larger team with more reporting lines. Again this meant having a reduced amount of responsibility and being less involved in overall team decisions but ultimately, in the long term, it offered me overall betterment and increased progression opportunities.

In your opinion, what is the recipe for success – for a team, career, or otherwise?
For me, a recipe for success individually and in teams is about having integrity, delivering on any promises you commit to and generally doing what you say you are going to do. If everyone performs in their individual roles, then everyone succeeds and the team succeeds. Oh and a good gender balance helps!

What advice would you give to other women working in rail?
Lead by example. Behaviours are mirrored so remember to behave in a way you want others to behave. Do your best, stay true to yourself and it will get noticed. Grab opportunities with both hands and remember, there are no jobs just for boys.
 

Adeline Ginn
Women in Rail