We salute women in the agricultural industry! They make up some of the most inspiring contributors, but there’s no denying that there are traditionally a little outnumbered. So, when we have a female crew member who’s celebrating close to 20 years in the game, we think it’s something to shout from the rooftops.
Cass Foster (aka, Ramsey Bros Wudinna’s guru Service Administrator) has been in the ag machinery industry for close to 20 years. We caught up with this highly-respected member of the Ramsey Bros team to find out what’s got her hooked…
“Born and bred in Kimba, I’ve been surrounded by the industry for years, but my career kicked off when I was offered the chance to do work experience with King Motors back in 1998. They created a role for me as their receptionist and when the company was bought out by Ramsey Bros, I began my long association with the group.
“After a very short stint with council, I was lured back into the industry when I bumped into Brenton Ramsey in the front bar of the Wudinna pub and he offered me a job doing administration for Ramsey Bros. Of course, I said yes and it was a pretty holistic role, including front of house sales, service admin, everything.
“The late nineties don’t sound like that long ago, but it’s amazing to think just how different things were. We were still using typewriters to do warranty claims, our customer workshop invoices were all handwritten and we were doing pricing by calculator. There was no such thing as precision technology — it was all hand steering for machinery, so it’s pretty incredible to think how far things have come and how much technology has changed things in the last 20 years or so,” Cass recalls.
“I was only 21 when I really kicked things off with Ramsey Bros and from the get-go, I’ve enjoyed what I do and a big part of it is the people. I love working with fellas, you can be brutally honest and then next minute be having a good laugh, and I’ve met some real characters over the years. But I guess you could say there’s been one in particular who stood out from the rest,” Cass says cheekily.
“When I joined the Ramsey Bros team, I noticed there was a certain Diesel Mechanic who I knew from around Wudinna. He’d been with Ramsey Bros for four years as a qualified Service Technician. We were friends, but suddenly we were in the same space, day in, day out,” Cass recalls.
“He caught my eye and eventually, I asked him if he’d be interested in catching up outside of work. It would’ve been a little nerve-wracking for management because it was pretty obvious that we were interested in each other, but luck was on our side.
“Fast forward twenty-something years and Fos and I are married with two beautiful teenage kids and we’re still going strong. Better yet, we still work together at Ramsey Bros — even after some time off to have the kids and a stint living over on Streaky Bay. There’s obviously something that brought us back to where we started and we’re not showing any signs of slowing down. Regardless of having found my husband here, this has been a great ride and it’s exactly where I want to be. There’s definitely places for women in this industry, and I couldn’t have picked things working out in a better way.”
