Challenging gender stereotypes was not originally on the radar for agribusiness leader Sarah Roche. The UNE Commerce and Teaching graduate simply wanted to establish a successful career and live in regional Australia.
But it’s perhaps not surprising that all bar one of Sarah’s recent roles have been in traditionally male-dominated fields. She was, after all, only the second female president in Robb College history, in 1996.
Sarah with her older brother Chris Reynolds who was also President at Robb College in 1994.
“It was still the era of single-sex dorms and I had to live in North Court with the boys because that’s where the president’s room was,” says Sarah. “It was a bit of a courageous thing to do, but it was a leadership thing, not a gender thing. And I didn’t realise until later the great foundation that role set me for entering the workforce; how it helped develop the courage and resilience I would need to pursue positions that had traditionally been held by males.”
It has become a pattern across diverse industries in the private and public sectors, where Sarah has led large, geographically dispersed teams. First at Rabobank, then GrainCorp (as Operations Manager and then Regional Manager Country Operations in Southern NSW), Essential Energy (first as a Regional General Manager and then Head of Operations) and now Paraway Pastoral, where Sarah is General Manager Operations for its southern holdings.
“You definitely come up against some unconscious bias, but my gender has never been a problem for me. I have always relied on having trusted relationships and building strong teams, engaging in genuine communication and delivering results. Those things that make a good leader mean more than whether you are male or female.”
Having strong (male) allies who support her and the fearlessness “to call out things that are not appropriate or inclusive” has also been vital.
“Women bring diversity of thought to the table, and this helps to tackle challenges and achieve robust outcomes,” Sarah said. “But especially in male-dominated industries, you need someone to back you. Unfortunately, it won’t just happen.”
When she married fourth-generation farmer John, long before COVID normalised working from home, Sarah began carving out a professional career from their farm near Tumut. “It’s been about demonstrating that I can achieve the same results without sitting at a desk in the city,” she said.
Sarah and John with their children Polly, Sidney and Billy
At Essential Energy, Sarah was responsible for an operations team of 1,400 people across 95% of NSW. With Paraway, she has oversight of seven stations spanning 240,000 hectares, 250,000 head of sheep, cattle and cropping operations. And while there are only two women on Paraway’s executive and only one managing a company station (of which there are 28), the number in station hand and overseer roles rivals that of men.
“I would like to see more women assume operational and leadership roles across all rural and regional businesses and I try to put the right kind of support around our emerging female leaders,” Sarah said. “Many women go to great lengths to gain tertiary qualifications and it’s important that they can keep pursuing the things that are of interest to them, to help provide for themselves and/or their family and contribute to something bigger. I try to role-model that to our children.”
However, women still face obstacles. “I’ve said in the past that women need to have expectations of themselves, and then double them,” said Sarah. “You must be prepared, initially, to go the extra mile to get the credibility you deserve. But I also think you must have the courage to go beyond what people think you are capable of. Women are often humble and question themselves; sometimes we just have to get in there and demonstrate what we can do. Once over that hurdle, you’re on your way.”
