Do things you’ve never done. Be things you’ve never been.
Today, as part of our STEM Mentor Spotlight series, we’re shining a bright light on Felicity Furey - an award-winning business leader, engineer and entrepreneur, who has made a career out of making the ‘impossible’, possible.
Named Boss Magazine’s ‘Young Executive of The Year’ and one of AFR’s ‘100 Women of Influence’ by the age of just 26, Felicity started her post-school career studying a Bachelor of Engineering at the Queensland University of Technology and graduated as one of just twelve women in her class of 120.
But in the world of engineering soon Felicity skyrocketed to the top to lead some of Australia’s most innovative mega infrastructure projects for Arup, Fortune 500 company AECOM and Brisbane City Council, where she delivered a $45 million dollar transport infrastructure project portfolio at just 23 years of age!
And - in her ‘down-time’ - Felicity quietly founded two award-winning STEM education businesses - Power of Engineering and Machinam - which secured partnerships with companies including Qantas, Toyota and Energy Australia, to provide students with practical, real-world learning experiences in mathematics and engineering so young people can better understand how those fields impact our everyday world.
Oh, and she was also elected as Vice President of the Mathematical Association of Victoria.
Quite a powerball, right?!
Today Felicity remains committed to fuelling diversity and impact across industries by taking to the stage to share her inspiring stories, business experiences and insights with 120,000+ current and future leaders across Australia, Asia and the United States.
In 2020, Felicity will also become the first civilian woman to pilot a military-style jet solo - a feat she will capture as part of her new documentary series, airing soon.
Here’s a few words from Felicity.
“What if the rules around what’s possible didn’t exist?
What if we decided to stop putting limits on thinking, and our imagination - on our businesses, our schools and ourselves. What if we all decided to let go of our fears, and fly?
To me, the power of the possible is the power to see our potential as a propellant - our ‘jetpack’ that pushes us forward in times of uncertainty, hardship or change. It’s the power to see our world as a blueprint for making our wildest dreams and ambitions a reality. Just as we did as kids.
The power of the possible is the power to face the future with optimism, and to go ahead and create businesses, schools, industries and movements that ignite change, and lead the way.
What if, today, the rules around what’s ‘possible’ didn’t exist.
How would you change your business?
How would you change the world?
How would you change your life?”
Girledworld is spotlighting awesome women in STEM as part of our Virtual Workplace Mentoring & Employability Skills 2020 program, an online STEM careers education initiative in partnership with the Victorian State Government, to connect Victorian students with leading industry mentors and provide real-world information about the employability skills needed in tomorrow’s workforce. Learn more.