Tirza de Bruyn, director and owner of De Bruyn Transport

The construction and infrastructure industry is primarily a man's world. But if you look carefully, you will come across women as well. On this page we offer them a stage. To read what motivates them, how they do their work and especially what it is like to work as a woman in a predominantly male world. In this edition we give the floor to Tirza de Bruyn, director and owner of De Bruyn Transport together with brother Joeri since 2011. 

Already at the age of 23, Tirza made her "debut" in her father's transportation company. "At the time, I was already used to working in a man's world, having previously held a job at an installation company where I filled various roles. At some point I was ready for a new challenge. I wanted more. I soon noticed that I got energy from developing and improving business processes. That's how I ended up in my father's transportation company in 2002."

My father comes from a male family, a very entrepreneurial family, Tirza continues. "The division of roles was quite traditional and I found that I really had to prove myself as a young woman. I also had to break free from those traditional thoughts within myself. That wasn't easy in the beginning, but it shaped me into the person I am today. Especially the period around 2012 when my brother and I took over the company from my father was a hectic period. We were really in a state of flux and then we also made three other business acquisitions in a year and a half. That does something to you as a person. I learned a lot from this period, but I also came up against myself very hard. In the period that followed, I started taking many personal development courses, which eventually even led to a turnaround of our company."

Tirza is now mainly concerned with positioning De Bruyn Transport, the social cohesion, identity and atmosphere within the company. "The way we are connected, the cohesion between colleagues, that is of great impact on the resilience and attractiveness of your company," she believes. "Moreover, that also makes it very exciting for me as a woman to work in such a male-dominated company. My goal is to strive for success, where colleagues derive satisfaction from their work, are willing to take steps in their growth process and constantly strive for optimization in line with our company's vision. This is only possible if you work together with a good team that supports each other, and that is what we have certainly achieved now. And then developing and growing together is fun."

The transportation world is definitely a man's world. "Out of 120 colleagues, only a handful are women. Of course we try to enthuse women for a job in transport, but that is still quite difficult. Although we do now have two ladies who enjoy driving trucks again. They are given every opportunity for development, just like the men. I have very consciously integrated my personal development program and the 'female touch' into our operational management. That means paying attention to the ups and downs of colleagues, room for development, dealing with each other in a healthy way, but also creating awareness of current issues, such as sustainability, safety and health. We can invest in electric vehicles and sustainable resources, but it will only work if our people are aware of their (driving) behavior and see the added value in it. Not focusing on where things are going wrong, but approaching them in a positive way: how can we do even better together. It is fun to work on this continuously. And we also notice that it attracts new people."

Tirza's story is an inspiring example of how individual growth and perseverance can make a difference, even in the most traditional and challenging business environments. It demonstrates that diversity and leadership go hand in hand to transform and innovate businesses in the earth, road and water construction industry.