“ We’ ve got to showcase that you can be successful. You can get to the top. You can reach for the stars.”
Reflecting on her own journey, she added,“ I used to be quite shy when I was younger... but when I started building up through my own business, you don’ t have a choice. You just have to be out there.”
She sees the WIFM initiative as a platform for real change, not just another committee or program.“ It’ s got to be something that people want to be part of,” she said.
“ We’ ve got to create something that’ s going to create value … where people that come into this program are going to have the opportunity to land a job potentially at a fleet company or become a fleet manager.”
Her past experience on similar committees in South Africa demonstrated the impact welldesigned programs can have. She recalled one standout initiative during Nelson Mandela Day, where young professionals helped build homes in disadvantaged communities.
“ At the end they were just like,‘ Wow, look what we’ ve done today,’” she shared.“ They could feel like they’ d added and contributed something.”
She also highlighted the creativity that can emerge when young people are given a challenge and the support to pursue it.
“ We gave them challenges … build a new insurance product … and the ideas that came out of it were amazing. One of the winners actually travelled to Lloyd’ s of London as the prize.”
Drew also spoke warmly of her experience mentoring Emily Pang, as part of AfMA’ s previous mentoring program.
“ At the end of it, she said to me,‘ What a great year. What a great experience. Thank you for being my mentor.’ And that made me feel good because I also learned from it.”
Together, they even created a vision board to map out career goals.“ She was stuck in her career,” she explained.“ I said,‘ You know what? The only thing I can leave you with is you need to create a vision board and we’ re going to do it together.’”
Looking ahead, she believes focus and intention are key to making the committee successful.“ We need to choose maybe not more than three things of what we want to do this year and be very focused... so that we get something out at the end of the year that’ s just going to really stand out.”
Most of all, she hopes the women involved walk away feeling uplifted and proud.“ If we can just have been able to uplift one female or one woman this year, we would have achieved something.”
Today, Drew has also become part of AfMA’ s Board.
“ I asked Mace three years ago if I could join the board. Although it only happened now, he had the foresight that my growth over the last couple of years will now be well utilised to support and add value to the board and the AfMA Management team. I am delighted and cannot wait to unlock the potential and contributions.”
Advice to Women in the Industry
When asked what advice she’ d share with women in fleet, Drew had one clear message: build strong networks— both with women and men.
“ You’ ve got to network, firstly, with women that you know you can trust, that you know are going to uplift you and support you,” she said.“ And you’ ll know— some of the women out there are going to be that for you in the industry.”
But she also stressed the importance of male allies.“ It’ s important to have a good network of men … they contribute a lot to the fleet industry, and we can learn from them. They will introduce you; they will advocate for you.”
Drew recalled her own journey, where male mentors played a vital role.“ All the mentors I had in Australia have been men … because I just know that’ s the only way I could get in. And today, I’ ll still be the only female in the room, but I know who will have my back, because I built that network.”
She encouraged women to push for progress, even when the room is still mostly male.“ We need more females,” she said.“ So push that, promote that agenda, because we belong here too.”
34 ISSUE 54 AUGUST 2025 / WWW. AFMA. ORG. AU