The Deconstruction Podcast is back for Season 4, opening with a conversation about people, projects and what it really takes to deliver infrastructure that creates lasting value for communities.
Joining Helix’s Janelle Kerrisk and Morgan Rooney for the first episode is Kirsty Dykes, Project Director at Bluebird. She is an experienced project leader whose career has spanned social and affordable housing, aged care, hospital projects and major refurbishment programs.
The episode marks the beginning of a new season of The Deconstruction Podcast and its Social City series, exploring the role the construction and infrastructure sectors can play in creating stronger, more inclusive communities.
The deep dive with Kirsty
Working in social and affordable housing has reinforced the importance of understanding who a project is ultimately being delivered for and recognising that successful delivery is about more than reaching practical completion.
“The end user and the resident who is going to be building a life in that space is the heart of what we’re doing,” Kirsty said.
It is an approach shaped by experiences throughout her career, including delivering refurbishment projects in occupied aged care environments, where listening to residents and understanding their needs challenged her own assumptions about what constituted a successful project.
The conversation explores how that same thinking can be applied more broadly across construction and infrastructure, from engaging end users earlier to considering the social outcomes that can be created throughout the project lifecycle.
Kirsty also reflects candidly on her own progression through a traditionally male-dominated industry, including an early-career experience that demonstrated the importance of male allies willing to speak up when it matters.
Now co-Vice President of the Queensland Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) and Events and Sponsorship Committee Chair with the Australian Institute of Building, Kirsty discusses why she has chosen to use her voice to help create a better experience for those coming through the industry behind her.
“If I’m one voice that changes one person’s experience, I think it’s job well done,” she says.
This episode also covers a challenge familiar to many ambitious professionals: knowing when to say yes.
Looking back at the difference between six years ago and the project leader she is today, Kirsty shares why she has become more protective of her time, more deliberate about the commitments she makes and increasingly focused on solutions that work for everyone involved.
It leads to a wider conversation about confidence, boundaries, finding the right people around you and building a career in an industry that can be as demanding as it is rewarding.
Listen to the new season of The Deconstruction Podcast today
From the future of social and affordable housing to male allyship, leadership, community engagement and the lessons that only difficult projects can teach you, Season 4 begins with a conversation grounded firmly in the realities of the industry and the opportunities to make it better.
And there’s plenty more to come, with Janelle encouraging listeners to keep an ear out for what’s next.
“Our line-up of guests and topics for this season is going to be on a whole other level,” she said.
“Subscribe to us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to be the first to know when new episodes have dropped!”
Listen to the first episode of Season 4 of The Deconstruction Podcast on Spotify, YouTube or Apple Podcasts.
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