You can make it! Finding Her Place in Print Manufacturing

Laila Stevens

In a busy printing facility filled with the steady rhythm of large machinery, Laila Stevens is at the beginning of a journey that combines technical precision with artistic appreciation. As a lithographic printer apprentice, she’s found a manufacturing career that unexpectedly aligns with her creative interests.

“I’m a lithographic printer that works in manufacturing. A lithographic printer is basically a massive printing machine. We print all kinds of stuff like books and calendars, notepads, coasters,” Laila explains. “Each unit has a different colour, and you have to use lithographic plates and those plates get burned with an image. Each job has a separate set of plates. They get put into each of the units for the different colours, and it goes around on a cylinder and the paper goes through and prints from each unit.”

From Carpentry to Printing

Laila’s path to manufacturing wasn’t direct or planned. Rather than growing up with manufacturing aspirations, she found her way to printing after disappointment in another trade.

“I was in the carpentry industry for a bit, but I didn’t feel like they were as accepting as printing and manufacturing is for women,” she recalls. “I was kind of down and wanted to quit my job in carpentry. Then a family friend told me about printing and how they use photography and put that on paper. And I was like, ‘That’s amazing, I want to do that.’ So I jumped on board and found myself here.”

This career shift has proven fortuitous, connecting to her existing creative interests. “I actually didn’t know anything about manufacturing or printing. I wanted to become a photographer. I still do photography now, just as a hobby, but it really shows your appreciation for how your photos have been put onto paper. That kind of helped with printing because of the detail you have to look for—colours and tones and images.”

A Fresh Start in Manufacturing

Though very new to her role—“Just this week,” she says when asked how long she’s been working in manufacturing—Laila has already been embraced by a company with an innovative approach to training.

“Our company is doing a different thing where they are trying to get more apprentices in… they throw apprentices right into it. They show them what you can do straight away instead of making them do all the unnecessary things before. They dumped me straight in with my supervisor,” she explains. “It’s to encourage apprentices to keep on board, to show them that there’s more to printing and bindery than what other places show them first up. And it keeps their heads focused and in it because they’re doing more complicated things than what they would be doing as a first year.”

Her journey to securing this opportunity was straightforward but required showing genuine interest: “I handed my resume into the establishment, got a call for an interview, and then they walked me around the workspace. They saw I was really interested, so they put me on a six-week probation, and within two weeks, they offered me an apprenticeship.”

Navigating Gender Barriers

As one of the few women in her workplace, Laila has already encountered both challenges and support.

“There’s no other women doing apprenticeships, but there is I think one tradeswoman downstairs in the signage area,” she notes. Her experience so far has been mixed but ultimately positive: “At first, the other guys don’t think women will be able to make it through. But proving them wrong, they see us as an equal now, not as men and women.”

She appreciates the supportive response from management when issues arise: “There were a couple comments that one of the guys said downstairs and my supervisor, Todd, he went to the boss and was like, ‘that’s not OK. He should not be saying that stuff to her.’ And then he got spoken to about his behaviour because it was not tolerable here.”

Laila recognises her role in changing perceptions: “It’s a shame that it still happens, isn’t it, that you’ve got to prove yourself. But I guess you’re sort of one of that pioneering generation, so that it becomes more normal. And having more women in manufacturing would help too, because obviously the first of us have to kind of break that cycle.”

Advocating for Manufacturing Careers

Laila is already actively promoting manufacturing careers to the next generation: “Me and Emma have been going to schools—primary and high schools—showing that we are a team in manufacturing and looking to bring more people on.”

Her advice to young women considering manufacturing is direct and empowering: “Don’t let anyone bring you down. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it. Because as long as you try, how will you know if you can do it or not? Do the job that you want to do. Don’t listen to anyone else’s opinion because the only opinion that matters is your own.”

She understands the uncertainty many young people face: “People ask: ‘What subjects are you going to do? What are you going to do as a career?’ No one really has any idea. And I think you sort of only know what you know.”

Through her story, Laila demonstrates how manufacturing can offer fulfilling career opportunities for women coming from diverse backgrounds and interests—combining technical skill with creative appreciation in ways that traditional academic paths might not reveal.