LiveWire Electrical & Design, Wendouree, VIC

We are highly experienced, reliable, qualified electricians. We pride ourselves on delivering exceptional customer service.
It's not just their pair of green and black Renaults, a Trafic & a Kangaroo, that makes them unique, Livewire Electrical & Design's all-female workforce comprises owner Kylie Slade and her daughter Chelsea, along with apprentice Tayla Ritchie.

Crawling under houses, up ladders, into roofs, lugging coils of wire, coping with spiders and other nasties, are all in a day's work for this intrepid trio. Becoming an electrician wasn't Kylie's first choice; her vocational change was sparked by a downturn in the hospitality industry that left her jobless. "After 14 years in hospitality I found myself unemployed," said Kylie, "Then I got a job helping wrap houses with insulation. From there I started with Laser Electrical in Ballarat but was soon told to take on an apprenticeship, or risk not being kept on."

So, in her early 30's, Kylie was back in the classroom, surrounded by students not much older than her own kids, working her way through trade school. After completing the first two years of her apprenticeship, work dropped off and this time she was let go. Undaunted, Kylie contacted local electricians and found work. She completed her apprenticeship, staying on with a local electrician until another downturn and another bout of unemployment.