With more than six years at BCI Minerals, Stephanie Majteles considers herself part of the furniture.
First employed as a sub-contractor in 2017, Stephanie officially started with BCI in 2018 as General Counsel and Company Secretary – a role in which she is accountable for the Legal, Risk and Compliance and Company Secretarial functions within the business.
Stephanie is a cornerstone of the business; she lives and breathes the BCI values and not a day goes by that we aren’t grateful for her years of dedication to the company.
Question: What does being one of the longest standing staff member at BCI mean to you?
A: It’s been so rewarding to be a part of the evolution of Mardie, from the very beginning when it was just a side project, to seeing all the years of hard work paying off. Like all greenfield projects, we have had challenges along the way, but we continue to grow and improve as a business and that’s what keeps me energised to see the project go all the way and beyond.
Q: What do you like about your job at BCI?
A: There are always interesting challenges, continuing learning opportunities, fabulous talented people around me, and many laughs along the way. I love seeing my team knock their work out the park, deliver quality advice, and genuinely help our colleagues and the business achieve its objectives. There is never a dull moment, which I love as boredom does not suit me. I enjoy a challenge, love rolling my sleeves up for some hard work, and ultimately adore finding a way to deliver.
Q: What’s something interesting about you?
A: To look at me, you won’t be surprised to know that I have Chinese heritage on my dad’s side of the family. However, people are often surprised to learn that my Chinese family have been in Australia since the gold rush era, having immigrated to Australia in the 1880s. My maiden name is ‘Quan Sing’, a name which was uniquely given to my family when, at census time in 1888, my great grandfather’s shop named Quan Sing (akin to ‘Lucky Trader’) was mistakenly recorded as his surname. The Quan Sings were then written thereafter into Australian history, with Quan Sing’s General Store a protected heritage site in Carnarvon. I’m proud of how uniquely Australian my Chinese family are and the 140 or so years that the family has contributed to the Australian experience.
Q: What was it like growing up Australian Chinese?
A: Growing up, I considered that I had a very Australian upbringing, but I always felt that we had a very special element to life with my Chinese heritage and culture. My earliest memories are of a family home filled with delicious Chinese food. My Chinese grandmother lived with us while we were growing up and was renowned for her cooking and generosity, and family and friends came from far and wide to experience and learn from her incredible art and love of cooking.
Q: Does the Quan Sing surname still exist?
A: The Quan Sing surname absolutely still exists – my dad and brothers are all Quan Sings and it’s good to know that every Quan Sing is 100 per cent related to me. There were two Quan Sing General Stores - one in Derby established in the 1880s and one in Carnarvon established in the 1930s. Neither store is physically there, but plaques have been erected by the Heritage Council in Carnarvon and historians have captured several fascinating Quan Sing stories from that period. I think that some of the family’s grit, work ethic and strive for and success and equality has potentially been passed to the present day.
Q: What do you do with your weekends / spare time?
A: I am someone who likes to fill their weekends to the brim with all things fun, family, and friends related. I do not like to be bored and am rarely idle. I have three kids, a husband, and a dog that I adore doing fun things with. I love keeping fit and filling my bucket with friends and frivolity. I have also been known to enjoy some extravagant pleasures such as champagne, amazing food, karaoke and dancing like no one’s watching.
Q: What has been your professional highlight so far this year?
A: Completing the equity raise for the Mardie Project in February this year and signing our first binding offtake with Chandra Asri in March filled me with a huge sense of achievement. We had been working on both milestones for such a long time, so it was great to finally see all the hard work deliver a great result. The supporting teams were second to none and I was so grateful to have such dedicated people to help us get it over the line.
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“Salt of the Earth” is a fortnightly series where we get to know our dedicated team members.
To see the current opportunities at BCI Minerals, please visit our careers page: https://www.bciminerals.com.au/careers.html