We chatted with Becky Paroz from Queen B Project Systems:
Tell us about Queen B Project Systems?
This is my mainstream consultancy. I offer a variety of services to the construction industry such as:
- Project Management
- Leadership training, team building and support
- Mentoring and coaching – particularly women seeking to increase their roles
- Compliance systems – development, implementation, auditing and support
- Networking to find staff, services, etc
I am often asked to support in finding someone, something, or solutions for small to medium business who can’t afford to employ me full time, but can use my services occasionally. I enjoy this as it offers me a variety of contacts and ways in which I can still work within the industry, without spending many hours a day on-site, which I have done for 30 years now!
What are some of the services you provide?
I can lead and deliver actual projects within the company environment, most recently was some works in Darwin for Defence, but I’ve worked on rail, major utilities, in industrial production, and power generation. I have been mentoring young women and men in the industry for almost 15 years now and am seeking to gain some private clients, so that I can encourage them to go further in the industry and become leaders.
I have had a great deal of success in developing and receiving certification for the implantation of WHS and other compliance systems to a Commonwealth level of accreditation. I offer this to small companies in order to support them in meeting ever-increasing regulations.
I also undertake public presentations and am a multi-award-winning author.
Tell us about your book ‘Words of Bek’
It is a collection of writings I have submitted to anthologies and magazines throughout the world, under one cover. It contains some speeches I’ve given to women in the US and some articles that were published in the US and Mexico.
It is a guide to mentoring and self-coaching. Many people can’t afford the prices that coaches now charge and don’t guarantee results for. I have been a qualified coach for 20 years now and come from a non-privileged background. So I understand some of the barriers for people in approaching this service. My book is for those who want to go at their own pace, and dip a toe in first before committing big bucks. It deals with the gap I believe there is in the market, which is how does one believe in themselves when they have never been shown how to by their life’s circumstances.
I have also been involved in the #1 best selling ChangeMakers IWD edition just released, published in over 12 US anthologies, and am writing for several magazines this year.
How does Imaginarium 2.0 assist aspiring authors?
Imaginarium 2.0 exists because there is a gap in the market for indie and self-published authors. They can’t often distribute via traditional methods, and the systems used in major bookstores are prohibitive for individual sales. So I2.0 creates that space for authors to join a collective and use the combined power of a community to leverage in that space.
We also have a network of support, so we can recommend publishers, editors, cover artists, and the like, to assist authors to get their books ready for print and distribution.
Who do you mentor?
My ideal clients already have some success in their life, but they want more and aren’t getting it through their usual habits. I am looking for women who don’t fit into the normal expectations of society and don’t feel they belong. I really related to that place, having spent half my life there as a forerunner in the construction industry. And obviously, women in any male-dominated space that needs support, and wants to short cut a whole lot of lessons learned from someone who has been there.
Can you describe a typical day?
Not really. I don’t have typical days! That’s the whole point of the life I lead, not to be typical and routine. I find that stagnating. But my days include things like a shout out from a client with a new issues who just wants to some reassurance, or to run some ideas passed me before taking action. They want a qualified cheer squad some days to just tell them they got this! Other days I am writing magazine articles and working on my next two books. I am also building a compliance system for two different companies currently. So I keep busy! And in between, I am managing a chronic illness and raising my two monsters, which are disguised as Rhodesian Ridgebacks. They are less than a year and a half old and are full of beans, cuddles and claw. It’s a good thing I like variety!
What do you love most about you do?
The variety, I think that is probably already clear. The ability to support other women, properly, according to what they need. I don’t believe there is a cookie-cutter approach for everyone and I want to support those women out there who are really challenging themselves to be the best they can in unusual and non-traditional areas.
Who or what inspires you?
I am inspired by lots of women around me and whom I see in the world, but I get up every day and inspire myself to keep going, to keep achieving, to keep being the best me I can be. Why wouldn’t you be inspired by yourself? I think it one of the unusual things I bring to the coaching and mentoring space, permission to be who you want to be, not what others thin you should be, and to be inspired by that.
Single mothers, women who deal with disability, female leaders, stay-at-home full-time mothers, women who challenge stereotypes – we all have a place and it’s about time we owned it.
Do you have any plans for the future?
So many! But for now, they are:
- Publish my fiction book
- Support more women through some coaching spaces this year
- Find more ways of getting my message out there
- Cuddles from my Ridgebacks
- And just stay positive about the world’s future as much as possible!
About Becky Paroz
With 30 years of experience in engineering, construction and project management, Becky Paroz has been managing successful and strategic change her entire career. She has an extensive background as an inter-generational leadership manager, mentor and qualified coach, as well as development in compliance, business management systems, leading project of significance as well as her personal efforts in developing and delivering many outstanding learning and developmental workshops during her distinguished career.
A published author herself in 2014, “Words of Bek” was recently released and the lessons she has learned from her challenging professional and personal life. It is a guide to mentoring yourself – it is a guide for people who don’t fit into the accepted model society prepares them for and their life doesn’t.
Becky is also part owner of Imaginarium 2.0, a professional support system for independent and self-published authors.
A highly proficient performance coach, trainer, mentor and transformation manager, Becky specializes in empowering and supporting women in STEM, STEAM, construction and associated industries, such as mining and building, as well as the successful business owner who are seeking more success.
Website: www.wordsofbek.com.au
Leave a Reply