Twenty years ago, on 12 March 2003, Sarah Frost started what was to become a journey of different jobs and career growth at one single company – Care Park.
Today, as one of four portfolio managers and the only female of the team, Sarah holds the title as one of Care Park’s longest serving employees.
Care Park has been operating for 26 years delivering parking services to Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, the UK and Hungary.
“I started my career at Care Park on a 12 month contract working in accounts payable at the company’s first office on St Kilda Road,” Sarah Frost says.
“I have worked doing the administrative work, processing payment notices, I then moved to sales administration.
“I was promoted to managing the sales team, later to commercial assistant, audit manager and now I am in operations, managing the assets of important corporate clients.”
Sarah says she came to the parking industry through an introduction from a colleague at her previous job working at McDonalds. The colleague’s wife worked in payroll at Care Park.
“Terry told me about this job going at Care Park which he thought I might be interested in. He told his wife about me, I applied, and I got the job.
“I’ve been so fortunate to have been given a lot of career opportunities at Care Park. I worked hard over the years and they came my way.
“I learned the business of parking from the ground up and made sure I learned every facet of the business.”
Sarah says choosing the parking industry as her career has also had its challenges. She is a busy mum of two primary-school-aged children. When the children were younger, she had to take a step back from full-time work and take on a part-time role at Care Park. I was given that flexibility to transition to part-time, but it was up to me to manage the properties for the landlords and also meet Care Park’s high expectations in delivery to its clients.
Sarah says anyone considering a career in the parking industry would not be disappointed. “Not one day is the same; you can expect something different every day; and let’s not forget the element of surprise too, that, at times can take your breath away, but that’s when I know I have to step up and work through all the elements to move us over the other side positively.
“The parking industry is very accepting of women and their contribution to the workplace. We are all equal with our male colleagues. I’ve been fortunate to have had good mentors along my journey, both men and women who have supported my development,” Sarah Frost says.