Chloe Williams, associate transport planner at Arup and regional lead for the West Midlands, Women in Transport:
As regional lead for Women in Transport in the West Midlands no two days are ever the same. I really enjoy engaging with people from across the region, from all different sectors and organisations, and I am proud that we have built a brilliant local network of organisations and supporters.
Having the support of our national team and network but being able to develop and design events and initiatives of local importance to the West Midlands (as a very proud Brummie) has been great.
My day job is working as an associate transport planner at Arup working within the Cities, Planning and Design team. I am travel behaviour change lead for the organisation so I work on a diverse portfolio of exciting projects aiming to leverage human insight in order to put people at the heart of transport planning. I technically lead teams on client projects and also coordinate work winning opportunities. I work on projects with a whole range of clients including local authorities, transport authorities and international government agencies.
I became involved in transport purely by chance. I graduated during the recession and considered working in a number of industries at the time. An early career opportunity presented itself at Transport for West Midlands and the rest as they say is history... I have since worked for a number of organisations in the industry across both the public and private sector.
I really value how Women in Transport are working to inspire the next generation and are role modelling transport as the place to be. I would love to see transport become an intentional career choice for future generations and with the continued work of Women in Transport I think we can make real progress with this.
For those starting out in the industry my key piece of advice would be to spend time on building your personal support system. So, what does this mean? Well, it means:
1) Building relationships with your champions and identifying those trusted contacts who you know will have your back. These are the people you can reach out to and seek advice when needed.
2) Find a professional mentor who you can meet with regularly to guide, support and encourage your development.
3) Ensure you build personal resilience through having identified channels through which you can let off some steam. To help maintain a healthy work life balance - whether that be through the gym, socialising, relaxation etc.
I really value the Women in Transport network, which has personally provided me with so many learning, development and networking opportunities. I love that we unapologetically celebrate and recognise the women who are delivering change within our industry.
Here is to the next 20 years of Women in Transport!
To find out more about the WiT West Midlands Hub please visit - West Midlands Regional Hub | Women in Transport or please contact - westmidlands@womenintransport.com
Annual membership of Women in Transport is £60 per year providing access to professional development and networking opportunities. We very much welcome guest blogs from our members - a great way to share the incredible diversity of opportunity in transport, raise your profile and connect with our community. Join us today.
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