Greeting my precious Ladies of Hive! It's me again Iris, a working mom from East Java, Indonesia. Today, I want to share my experience to be the only lady in the team and working in the field that majorly handle by men. Surely, there will be sunny and stormy days, but that's why I love my job, after all we need the drama right?
I work for an American furniture company as a part of quality assurance team in Indonesia. Currently, our production mostly done in factories at East Java which spread in several cities. This required me to travel a lot, which is one of the reasons why I love this job. There are no complicated structure in our team, only the General Manager, Quality Control (QC) supervisors, the QC team and me. As the only lady, you can guess that my main role is to handle the administration, the clerical, and the communication between the Indonesian team and the US team.
Here in Indonesia, furniture manufacturing majorly dominated by men, especially in terms of field job related to the production process. We have a small room in one of the factory which I supposed to do all my works, since I don't directly handle the production. But being an impatient and straightforward person, I just can't wait the information passed down to me through messages and emails, which will make my job consists of endless waiting. So few days after I joined the team, I started coming down to the field as well.
I follow the product reviews, check on the production progress, monitor the loading and shipment, while learning about construction and quality standards. Of course, there were the stares as I usually dress in office attire in contrast to casual look that the production people usually wear. It was not impolite or degrading stares though, mostly curious one. Still, there will be guys that tried to make too friendly and inappropriate jokes.
That was easy to handle, since I didn't really mind at all. Usually I use a polite yet friendly and open-minded approach that quickly warmed the ambiance. Soon, they get used to my presence and my endless questions. I also got few friends among the factory workers which I really enjoyed. And for the loud ones, a quick and cold sideye usually quite them fast. I also proposed a formal uniform for our team, which joyfully supported by the QC team, so I didn't stand out to much. It give pride to the team and spare me headache to think about what should I wear to work. I made it in 4 colors, so that I won't be bored and they really like it.
Another annoying things is the "do you really know what you are talking about" look that I often got whenever I said my opinion, which is fair actually since I was new and still needed to learn. But yeah, sometimes I do know more because I learned and I took my duties seriously. However, based on my experience here, came back strong usually only brought tension and not solution. And that's how our innate talking skill will come handy. As shallow as it is, men really are easier to handle with friendly smiles, innocent attitude, soft voices. I pick my battles, so when I really need to hold ny ground, that's when I overwhelmed them with fact and data. As long as my arguments are logic, usually the victory is mine.
The other thing is balancing between the womanly charm without being too spoiled. I do like coming to work neatly, so I wear simple make up, cute jewelry and let my long hair down. However, when I had to check the dusty warehouse, climb into the containers, and drench with sweat in the super hot production areas, I am all in. So, after few months, the workers started to forget about the gender, only the roles and duties that I got, which make things run smoothly.
My closest colleague is this guy, the QC supervisor of the team. Apart of being the only lady, I am also the youngest and he always take care of me. Not in the spoiled way, he treated me fairly despite the gender. But he made sure that I was safe and help me to fend persistent flies through his sharp and witty comment. We often travel together moving from city to city using his motorbike under the blazing tropical sun of Java. He knew that I didn't have to do that, but respect my effort to get things done, however if I was just a little bit whinny, then he will cut me down, hard!
So, generally my strategy is that I never deny my presence as a woman. I accept the compliments, cheris the friendship, while politely refuse too personal approach and make them realize that I also put as much effort as everyone else in doing my job. However, I also appreciate the special treatment too, as long as it means well. After all, a well-manerred man is always a nice companion.
The office is my pride and joy because I really like to keep them tidy and organized. I was firm about making sure everything was in place and placing the documents orderly. Sometimes, my team will joke around that I was so "women" since I always nag them about that, and here is when the firm and motherly no nonsese tone work well. In return, I also take care of them and help them in things that they find it a hassle. I brought supply of coffees and snacks because those guys apparently couldn't function without enough caffeine in their blood and empty stomach.
Those are small things but slowly they realize that being organized helps to make the job easier and putting more trust on me because I know my data well. However, since I was the only one that stay in the office, sometimes I got so lonely and wish that I had a female colleague too. Luckily, I made some females friends among the factory employees too and we often chat and have lunch together.
I didn't realize that this become a long story as well. Thank you for stopping by and reading some part of my life. I was grateful that I can find a job that I genuinely can enjoy and I hope you could love what you do for living too. See you around Ladies!
