Over a thirty-year career Sue Smith has worked in a wide range of fascinating roles, initially with Shell and today with Viva Energy. Throughout that time, Sue has earned a high level of respect that has helped her succeed in a traditionally male dominated industry.
Sue qualified with a Bachelor of Applied Science (App. Chemistry) before starting an internship with Shell in 1986. That was her “foot in the door,” and after a stint with Queensland Nickel she applied for a permanent role within Shell’s laboratory. In 1987 Sue became the first full-time female employee in the lab at the Pinkenba Terminal.
“Back then things were very different,” Sue explains. “The terminal was like a mini city. You came across so many characters, which I think helped me develop the communication skills that I’ve relied on throughout my career, in all the roles I’ve had.”
Expanding horizons
Sue’s willingness to push herself and try new experiences was evident early in her career. “I had to write a persuasive letter as part of a Management Diploma course,” she explains. “It could have been a fictional letter, but I decided to write to the Terminal Manager to propose a recycling program. The timing was perfect as environmental matters were just evolving as a focus area, so I then found myself in an environmental role – implementing the program.”
Embracing change has been a trademark of Sue’s career. It led to her accepting roles in Tank Farm Operations and I.T. “The I.T. system work gave me a window into the end-to-end operation of our business. How systems work, from finance and master data to transactional systems and the customer’s point of view. Knowing how one change impacts other people and groups in the whole supply chain was a great learning.”
It also led to a role in global projects. Sue was travelling across Asia (Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Pakistan) overcoming language and cultural barriers to help people learn systems, make systems work to suit the business, and bridge the gap between the two. “I never thought I’d be travelling the world, so that was pretty exciting. And I really felt like I was adding value, because I could see people benefiting from the work I was doing.”
Sue implemented system changes in Australia and seven other countries. It was always a thrill seeing people and businesses move to bigger and newer systems, and knowing that she had a hand in making it happen. “It was really about working with people. A system is just a system – you need people on board to make it work.”
There were some confronting moments, too. Pakistan in 2009 was turbulent at times. “Shell security would meet you at the airport, before immigration and customs, and walk you through. Then at the hotel there were sniffer dogs around the car and your bags were put through x-ray machines. Flights out were always at midnight or two o’clock in the morning, so driving back to the airport there’d always be a security escort in the front seat.”
While she loved the global experience, Sue was thrilled to land another role in 2010 as a Fuels Product Quality Excellence Lead, where she continues to work today as an important member of Viva Energy’s Product Quality team.
Still making a difference
In recent years Sue has helped pioneer on-board Ship Blending. Blending is the process of adding components to base fuel oil to deliver the correct specification and quality in the final product.
“By blending products like marine oil in the ship’s tank, we bypass the need to discharge components to an onshore facility. And because it remains in the ship, the blended product is ready to go to wherever it’s needed. It’s both energy and cost efficient.”
Sue’s responsibility was to establish good shore-side preparation so that the product blend would be right the first time, and have the Laboratory conduct testing to prove it. On-board Ship Blending of marine oil has proved so successful there are already plans to expand the program to other products.
Sue has also been heavily involved with supporting fuel supply for the Australian Defence Force. Due to their operating conditions, naval ships historically required a special diesel blend with a unique specification. This meant sourcing high quality additives in the necessary quantities, and keeping the product segregated from other diesel fuels.
For three years Sue and Viva Energy worked with the Navy to move them towards a standard automotive diesel. “After trials and testing we have given them confidence that the complex specifications were no longer required. With our standard diesel being more than suitable for their needs, it has also meant a cost saving for Defence.”
Sue has also worked with mining customers, helping educate them about fuel combustion and to understand how to maintain and handle the fuel they use, to reduce diesel particulate emissions and improve machinery maintenance schedules.
But perhaps most satisfying of all was the successful launch of Shell V-Power Diesel in Australia, having played a major role in its development.
Shell V-Power Diesel is an innovation in diesel fuel technology designed to improve engine performance. It contains a special additive that helps clean diesel engines by removing deposits that can build up over time, so the engine will operate at its optimal best and be most efficient in providing fuel economy and power.
Suitability of the product in market was critical, to make sure the fuel performed as expected and that it met Australian fuel quality standards and specifications. This responsibility fell to Sue and the Product Quality team. “We had to ensure that when we added the Shell V-Power Diesel additive to our local diesel it wouldn’t result in any issues for customers’ cars in the Australian market.”
Throughout Sue’s career, she has always loved the focus it takes to deliver a project successfully. “Shell V-Power Diesel is an important new product for us, and the sense of teamwork we experienced during the launch was absolutely wonderful. We had people from across the Viva Energy business all working together to achieve a common goal. That was amazing to be part of.”
Memorable moments
Sue has also enjoyed many memorable moments, such as the time she was invited by a lubricants customer to visit a mine at Mount Isa. “They’ve got so many tunnels. It goes down two and a half kilometres underground and it is absolutely pitch black, no light whatsoever. It was really interesting to see because it’s like a mini city underground where they operate huge machinery remotely, and I got to see how we supported them in the supply of lubricants.”
On another occasion she found herself riding pillion on a racing motorcycle traveling around Wannaroo racetrack. “Back in those days, we sponsored a race team over in WA and they would have a customer day or a sponsors day, and let their guests go for a ride. So I put the leathers on and away I went. It was an amazing experience, especially as I’d recently got my motorcycle licence.”
Being invited aboard the HMAS Canberra as part of our support of the Australian Defence Force was an experience Sue won’t forget anytime soon. “The head of the fuel services branch was a one-star general, so there was an impressive ceremony where they blew a whistle and saluted him aboard. The ship is seventeen stories tall, so it’s quite impressive.”
Succeeding in a male world
Today Viva Energy is working hard to achieve gender equality and diversity in the workplace. But back when Sue began her career, attitudes were very different. So how did she thrive and succeed?
For Sue it wasn’t about gender. It was about contributing, and feeling valued as an individual and for the expertise she could bring to the task at hand. Once people realised that Sue was could help them achieve their objectives, gender became irrelevant.
One of Sue’s character traits is that she’s always willing to have a go. This made it easy for her to gain the respect and admiration of her colleagues. It meant, for example, that Sue would willingly climb a storage tank or a ship, undergo training so that she could work in confined spaces, and basically do whatever was necessary to get the job done.
Passing on knowledge
Sue has a great deal of advice to help people make the most of their careers, whatever field they work in. It begins with finding where you can add value, and sometimes you won’t know the answer to this question until you try something different. That requires being open to every opportunity.
“A university degree gives you knowledge. But now I tell people that personal success is also about learning new skills and applying those skills. Find what you’re good at, find your passion, and then how you can use that to make a difference.”
From the start Sue realised that communication skills were invaluable. “It’s about engaging people, communicating and learning. If you need help from someone, quite often the first step is to understand why that person would want to help, their motivations, and how they can help. Then it becomes ‘us’ instead of ‘you’.”
According to the old saying, knowledge is power. Sue, however, has a different take: “I think it’s more powerful to pass your knowledge on to others. Giving people confidence through learning new things is incredibly empowering.”
Embracing the future
Our industry is changing quickly, and Sue is excited by the opportunities these changes will present to current and future generations of Viva Energy employees.
Her advice? Embrace change and keep evolving. “There are always new challenges and new skills to learn. Things will never be the same as they were. Take on the new and see how you can fit into it. Look for the new niches and go for it. Engage people, seek their input and knowledge and learn from them. Meet people and build relationships.”
It’s sound advice from someone who has built an amazing career on her willingness to give anything a go. “Curiosity and learning will take you places, that’s for sure.”
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