Australasian Bus & Coach – May 2019

busnews.com.au May 2019 ABC^39

Werunaquality fleet

with greatstaff, so we see

qualityas ourcompetitive

advantage.

Above:

A computerised

fleet has seen the

company adjust to

diagnostic scan tools.

Opposite, Top

and Bottom:

Melissa attended

the Young Leaders

Seminar organised

by BusNSW recently;

Marshall’s places

great emphasis

on looking after its

staff, thinking of

them as family.

There is very little sleep for
Melissa who is trying to get
herself up to speed with studies
in transport management and
tourism – all for the better for the
future of the business.
Her grandparents and her
family are her greatest inspiration
who have put in the hard
work to get the business to its
current state.
“I want to keep it going
for another generation and
if I have children, possibly
another generation after that,”
Melissa said.
“Their hard work and
dedication early on allows me
the luxury of being in, and
continuing, the business.”
However, there was never
any pressure for her to join the
family business.
“I was always interested,”
she added.
“Always around the buses,
cleaning and questioning my

granddad on why he was doing

that, constantly asking and

always interested – I think

I always had a business brain.”

Melissa plans to step it up

next year when her aunty and

uncle retire.

Some of the similarities she’s

noticed between the generations

is the family focus and their old

school business methods.

“Obviously I’m a young female

in a generally male dominated

industry but we are lucky that

my nan, mum and aunty, who

still drives, all used to drive so we

don’t have an issue with male

staff looking down on me in this

industry because they set the

path previously.”

She plans to continue on with

that tradition by getting a licence

this year.

INSPIRATION

Melissa keeps on top of new

trends by attending innovative

industry networking.

Having recently attended

the Young Leaders Seminar

organised by BusNSW, she

was one of 25 up-and-coming

industry professionals who

shared their ideas on where the

direction the bus industry is

headed in the state.

“At the forum, we were all

there from different companies

and sometimes we compete for

the same quote and, therefore,

we become competitors, but

basically at that forum no-one

in that room felt like they were

competing. They were very

generous with their time and