After completing Year 12 Katrina Watt admitted she wasn’t sure what career path she would end up taking.

Her one-year gap year became a ten-year gap year, where she travelled and worked various jobs; from door to door selling encyclopedias, to nannying on the Gold Coast to business development for an IT company.

After moving back to Mildura from Melbourne, Katrina “reluctantly” accepted an accounting role.

“At the time I was studying IT at TAFE but then I took on this role and absolutely loved it so I decided to start studying accounting,” she said.

After seven years, Katrina had obtained her Bachelor of Commerce – Bcom – Accounting from La Trobe University in Mildura. During that time, she was initially a single mother, who was working full time and then went on to get married and have two more babies.

“I almost became part of the furniture at La Trobe and within a few months of completing my degree I was offered to do casual lecturing,” she said.

“I was working part time in a public practice in accounting with the boys still little when a friend who was teaching at SuniTAFE said they were needing teachers and I would love it here.”

Shortly after, Katrina’s career at SuniTAFE first began.

“I went across to GTS Freight Group and was doing two and half days there and two and a half days here while doing my CPA program,” she said.

“Then full-time positions came up at both places, I loved working out there and I loved working here so it was a really hard decision to make on what to do.

“I did choose SuniTAFE because it was a different sort of challenge, numbers are easy but people are hard.”

In 2020 another role that would challenge Katrina made itself available and she was quick to put her hand up to step into the role of Acting Business Manager.

Katrina is now the Senior Manager, Education Delivery – Education and is valued member of the Executive Strategic Leadership Team.

“I love it, I do love my job, I love working here, I feel very lucky,” she said.

“It is absolutely important that women are given the same opportunities, which is part of why I was attracted to the role, to be able to provide input not just from an educational perspective but also as a female staff member."

“It is important others see females in these sorts of roles so more women will put their hands up.

“You get a really balanced perspective when you do have a group of unique and diverse people making the decisions.”