For more than 25 years, Amanda Bulow has been one of the quiet forces shaping Australian residential construction. From estimating and procurement to founding one of the country’s most influential advocacy groups for women in construction, her impact reaches far beyond job titles and project lists.

In this episode, Az sits down with the founder and CEO of Awesome Women in Construction (AWIC) to unpack the story behind her mission, her grassroots rise from an Ipswich farm, and the moment a simple breakfast catch-up in 2017 grew into a national movement supporting thousands of women across the industry.

Amanda shares the early foundations that shaped her “no excuses, get on with it” mindset, how AWIC grew from 14 women around a table to more than 500 attendees at this year’s International Women’s Day event, and why she believes the industry must rethink flexibility, job-sharing, and pathways if it ever wants to genuinely grow female participation beyond the current 15%.

She also explains the real barriers women face, the blind spots most builders don’t see, and the practical solutions that actually work — including her Skilling Queenslanders program helping long-term unemployed women re-enter the workforce, and the Be Ready app built with QUT to show young people the 30+ career paths that sit beyond trades alone.

For builders, Amanda gives unfiltered advice on estimating mistakes, cost-centre blind spots, pricing accuracy, and why many small-to-medium operators lose money without ever seeing it coming.

This is a conversation about leadership, resilience, and what happens when someone stops talking about change, and actually builds it.

Links:
https://awic.org.au/
https://abulowconsulting.com.au/
https://awic.org.au/app/