From a summer internship in Peterhead to Regional Manager for Europe and Africa, Stacey Neish discusses the challenges and strengths of leadership.
“Individuality should be encouraged and inspired regardless of gender” is the phrase that motivates Stacey in her role as one of Fulkrum’s regional industry specialists.
“Throughout my career, I have always ensured to give young people the opportunity to experience the industry, no matter their educational background and I believe this has stemmed from my own experience. I was given the opportunity to forecast my own development.” Stacey observed. Her professional journey began with a summer internship at an energy services company in Peterhead while studying at Robert Gordon University (RGU), but she has always had an interest in the industry from a young age.
During her summer internship, Stacey would watch her father at work as a Pipefitter and has interacted with and observed engineers and inspectors for as long as she can remember. With passion and a keen attitude for learning; she went on to gain an HND in Business and later a Bachelor of Honours degree in Management with Economics from RGU.
After graduating, her interests and drive to be part of the energy industry led her into her first role coordinating third party inspections, this was pivotal in strengthening her knowledge of manufacturing and fabrication within the energy industry.
Eager to progress and challenge her industry knowledge, she went on to seek a role that would sharpen her skills as a leader and help her develop her reputation as an industry professional. She noted, “In some of my previous roles I felt restricted on how I could progress within the company which was challenging as I felt I had the skills, passion and initiative to progress, so this has been a big focus area for me as I stepped into a leadership role.” Using these obstacles as experiences to grow from, she soon flourished into a leader that would prioritise personal development and encourage innovation.
Stacey’s next career move would see her join Fulkrum, a leading provider of inspection, expediting, auditing and technical staffing to the energy industry, as a Senior QC Coordinator. Her ambition and determination were evident and within just nine months she was promoted to Operations Manager. Now, as Regional Manager, Stacey is a key player in Fulkrum’s expansion strategy across Europe and Africa.
Reflecting on her journey to leadership, through setbacks and step forwards, Stacey added: "Individuality should always be encouraged and inspired. From a women’s perspective, progression may not always seem feasible in a competitive industry but I’m a big believer in going above and beyond where you can. Be proactive, seize the situation; ask questions, there will always be more to learn; and show initiative, take advantage of every opportunity.”
Never one to back down from a challenge, Stacey strives to lead and support both her Aberdeen based team and her colleagues further afield. Looking back on her career and the obstacles she’s overcome, Stacey commented: “Managing a team is of course challenging and can be complicated at times. One of the hurdles I found most challenging was dealing with client issues and being sure of how to resolve it correctly, but I’ve learned a lot from the other Regional Managers. I’m incredibly lucky to always have immediate support from them, we believe in each other, and I think that’s apparent in the success of our leadership team.”
Reflecting on her work since becoming a Regional Manager, Stacey noted, “We have been heavily involved in the Energy Transition, coordinating successful Renewables projects across the UK and internationally. My region is involved in cross-industry projects including renewables, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and nuclear.” With her goals for Europe and Africa echoing Fulkrum’s efforts to continue providing solutions for the oil and gas industry, with plans to develop renewable energy globally, Stacey is set to have further success as she embarks on this new journey.