It was back in the late 90’s I first discovered that plumbing was going to be my forte. I first started doing work experience as a plumber while I was studying in high school, both in years 11 and 12 I completed 4 modules of work experience and also continued to do some paid work during my school holidays as a plumber’s laborer mostly digging holes and mixing concrete. After successfully completing year 12 at Tyndale Christian School in Salisbury East I decided that I would enrol and attend a pre vocational course at TAFE in Regency Park in the field of Plumbing, Gas Fitting and Sheet Metal.
The TAFE course I enrolled in comprised of two six month modules, 
fortunately I was placed into the plumbing course for the first six months of the year. After having only completed three months of the six month module I was hand-picked out of the class of 60 students to start with a group training scheme and commence my apprenticeship as a plumber and gas fitter, the reason for my early selection was my high marks in written assignments, conscientiousness, reliability, a strong desire to learn and lead and the ability to excel in the practical projects which allowed me to stand out from the crowd.
I commenced my career as a 1st year apprentice plumber/gas fitter with one of Adelaide’s leading commercial plumbing firms Jordan Plumbing. The location of the site I started my plumbing apprenticeship was Astoria Apartments in the East End of Adelaide. It was a very daunting experience for me coming out of high school and moving into the construction industry which is one of the toughest, harshest climates to work in let alone a school leaver who’s worldly experiences are very limited. It was a sink or swim scenario, the first year of my apprenticeship was extremely tough working with men in their 50’s I was taught the old school way and there was absolutely zero tolerance, wow what an eye opener.
Although it was an extremely tough start to my career as a plumber/gas fitter it wasn’t long until I started to excel in my chosen field of plumbing and the managers at Jordan Plumbing started to notice. I was put in charge of small projects as a 3rd year apprentice with tradesmen working under my direction and it was in my 4th year that I was made site foreman of a 5 storey apartment development in Adelaide’s CBD with at times 15 plus plumbers and apprentice’s under my direction.
After then completing my apprenticeship with Jordan Plumbing I continued on to be a site foreman and successfully directed some of Adelaide’s iconic developments such as the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Upgrades and AIR Apartments on Greenhill Road Eastwood to completion on time and under budget. After many years of running projects out on site I was promoted into the office and given a more senior role where I started to estimate and control more of the financial aspects of the projects that were being completed.
Having then undertaken this more senior role as an estimator/site manager I then decided that I would like to attempt doing all of this work for myself and reap the financial rewards from all of my hard work. I then proceeded to leave Jordan Plumbing and start my own business Mayfair Plumbing and Gasfitting.
Today I run one of Adelaide’s most competitively priced and customer focused plumbing maintenance business in Adelaide. It was after these many years of hard and challenging experiences that has now allowed me to excel as a self-employed business owner providing un-paralleled service to the people of Adelaide day and night throughout SA as a licensed Master Plumber and Gas Fitter with Class B Electrical license.
Young Achievers Montessori
