You don’t necessarily expect to see a mother-of-three heaving a battery into the engine bay of a Dodge Ram 2500 ute on a hot day.  

But that’s exactly where you’re likely to find Batteries Sunshine Coast co-owner Ash Calluy.

Since taking on an active role in her business Ash performs battery installs on vehicles ranging from cars and trucks to motorbikes and machinery. She also handles HR, customer service and admin, updates all the business’s social media and maintains the website. 

That’s in addition to raising three kids eight 10 and 12. Oh, and in July she will graduate with an Associate Degree in Business for which she’s been studying part-time.

Ash is also a finalist for the Sunshine Coast Small Business Women’s Awards and was recently recognised as a finalist for the Australian Small Business Championship Awards to be held April 29 in Sydney’s Star Casino.

The  fledgling company has come a long way thanks to the hard work of Ash and husband Peter Calluy since it started from their home in 2017. 

“We started with just a mobile service van and now we’ve employed two more people,” said Ash who enjoys the mix of work. “I work in the shop, four days a week and also get out in the van and do roadside battery installs. I also can do solar battery installs, write the blogs, do social media and take care of any website glitches.”

Peter was full of admiration for his wife. 

“It’s a tough job sometimes. There’s a lot of heavy lifting. Batteries are very heavy. Even I find it challenging at times,” he said.

Ash said she was proud that more women were finding roles in the trades and hopes she can help inspire others to continue to break down the old barriers.

“There’s this stereotypical thing where people say it’s not a woman’s job, and I do get some curious looks when I go out on a job, but more and more women are doing these roles and doing them well. There’s female mechanics, female electricians, female tradies and we can do the job just as good – if not better,” she laughed. 

Ash said her female customers appreciated working with a woman. “I think women customers really enjoy the fact that I don’t mansplain,” she joked.

Peter and Ash said they enjoyed taking on larger competitors in the industry. “They’ve got massive backing so, for us, doing a retail store has been quite scary. But also exciting, challenging and rewarding.”

Sunshine Coast Batteries do battery replacement for cars, trucks, golf carts, marine, deep cycle & motorcycles. They respond to all vehicle battery needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Phone 1800 955 032.