Kat Stapleton

In her own words

I was all set to have a biomedical career and was studying science at university when I watched the movie Top Gun. The next thing I know I am in the Royal Canadian Navy, training as a naval warfare officer and sailing the high seas between the west coast of Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, and San Diego. My seven years in the navy, including an exchange program in Australia, provided me with not only technical training — navigating and fighting a ship — but also leadership and a sense of accountability from an early age.  Alongside 200+ shipmates, a wrong manoeuvre or miscalculation can have dire consequences on those around you, so the importance of taking personal responsibility and working as a team is ingrained in your mind extremely quickly and vividly. 

When I moved to Australia, I joined the telecommunications industry and built a 20-year career working across the United States, Middle East, and Australia. Working in a variety of roles and cultures, I learned to always put the customer front and centre, seeking to be agile in an ever-evolving technological world.

After working on the nation’s transformative National Broadband Network project, I was planning to retire to the Gold Coast and fulfill my dream to become a pilot — finally, all these years after the original Top Gun. But I had to put the dream on hold and my logbook on my bedside table when I was approached by Queensland Rail.

The attraction of joining rail was the absolute challenge presented, particularly coming from the innovation-rich telecommunications industry. I thought: I am going to have a go!

We are in a golden age for rail with over $150B of investment pipeline ahead of us across the nation. To deliver on this massive mandate, it’s all about attracting, retaining, and promoting talent so that in turn, we can deliver great, sustainable services for our customers and communities.

At Queensland Rail we have examples of three generations of a family working with us. And we always talk about making connections count – with colleagues, customers, and our communities.

Customers first

Whilst the task of building tunnels, tracks, rollingstock, and deploying new technology can be all-encompassing, we need to always remember WHY we are doing this and put the customer at the core of all we do. This was my greatest learning from the telecommunications industry. For our customers in rail, it’s all about delivering services so people can connect with each other safely, easily and affordably and we can transport massive amounts of freight efficiently and sustainably across the country.

What I absolutely love about my role is connecting with people. Nothing gives me more pleasure than being on board one of our services talking to our customers, going out on the Kuranda Scenic Railway with our drivers and seeing our operations in our rail management centre. There is a strong sense of pride and purpose in our work, which is infectious. We connect communities and what we do matters.

Expanding our horizons

Building a diverse workforce will require a multi-prong approach and a willingness to invite people outside of rail to join our exciting industry. Skills can be transferrable and learnt as we put the right training initiatives in place. In my case, I still recall the pride of navigating a warship into Pearl Harbour, leading the ship’s dive team in San Diego, and launching and recovering helicopters in Jervis Bay. Throughout my training, I was surrounded by people who had confidence in me, trusted me and together, as one team, we knew we would succeed in our missions. 

I encourage people to always have a go because there is never really a big downside. I had a number of sponsors who offered me extraordinary opportunities to which I always responded “Yes please”, and my career grew.

Be curious; the world is an amazing place and full of opportunities.