‘I wanted to get stuck in, work hard and earn my stripes’

Liberty’s Stacey Massam discusses her transition from teen administrator to Commercial Manager.

Donning steel toe-cap boots, high-vis jacket and a hard hat, Stacey Massam was determined not to be ‘the girl in the office’ some people thought she should be.

She started in the property services industry aged 17 and today, she works as part of our Projects team as Commercial Manager responsible for the teams commercial delivery and performance.

She joined Liberty in October 2019 as part of the transfer from Warmer Energy Services.

It was her dad (a gas service engineer) who led Stacey to a career in the industry. Believing she could do anything, he took her into work to see his boss and she began straight away.

“I didn’t want to be treated differently for being female. I wanted to get stuck in, work hard and earn my stripes,” she says. “I was conscious that things may be a little harder because the people around me had been in the industry longer than I had been born and I was a girl but that wasn’t a deterrent it just gave me the motivation to work harder .”

She then began to progress in her career working for different social housing providers and contractors, before joining Liberty.

“The industry was already shifting towards acceptance of women as I began my career. Rather than face the obstacles that I had anticipated, I sometimes felt that my progression was viewed purely because of being female as opposed to on merit,” Stacey added.

“A lot of the time I think people were trying to be nice, offering to do site visits for me, offering to do stock condition surveys on my behalf if the estate we were working on didn’t have the greatest reputation, but I enjoyed doing those items myself.

“I wanted to do the entire role and not shy away from some parts because others would offer to do them for me.”

When she progressed to project management, she had a number of strong male and female role models to learn from, making the most of their varied experiences she has maintained strong relationships with all those who pushed her in the early parts of her career.

Our Projects team delivers construction, mechanical and electrical engineering, sprinkler installation and retrofit, and renewable energy schemes.

“I’ve worked across operations, procurement and commercial teams for Clients and Contractors, so have a great appreciation of the sector,” she said.

“When I started, it was very different. Very manual. I have seen the shift to automation and reliance on systems, from operatives working off walking lists and paperwork to PDAs and electronic documentation.

“I’ve also had a lot of inspiration from people in senior positions throughout my career, those who encouraged me to challenge the norm and ask lots of questions, those that made me feel that my opinion mattered and gave me the opportunity to succeed, this is what has stuck with me the most, and hopefully I encourage my teams to do the same. ”

One of the key drivers for Stacey in progressing her career with Liberty has been opportunities to learn, which has enabled her to grow and develop her skills in new areas.

“I’ve have so many opportunities to keep learning at Liberty”, she says.

“This has really boosted my confidence and enabled me to fulfil my aspirations. I’m excited for the future and continuing to progress my career here.”