Tina is Project Director Water and has built a varied career across environmental science, engineering, water treatment, operations and leadership. She shares how meaningful work, new opportunities and supportive leadership have helped her continue growing while raising a family.
When the best career advice was to do less
When Tina Feenstra was preparing to return from parental leave, she thought she knew what she could manage. Three days a week.
Chief Operating Officer Water ANZ, Dan Spiller, suggested she start with less.
He was not questioning Tina’s ambition or capability. He was concerned that she would return with too much pressure, find the transition overwhelming and decide that continuing her career was simply too difficult. “He encouraged me to come back with less pressure than I thought I could handle,” Tina says. “That support helped make the return feel possible.”
It was one of several moments that showed Tina she did not have to choose between continuing her career and making space for her family.
A career shaped by opportunity
Since joining Veolia in 2019, Tina has led the Gold Coast Desalination Plant, served as General Manager Water Queensland and moved into her current role as Project Director Water.
Her career has spanned environmental science, engineering, water treatment, operations and leadership. It has not followed one carefully planned path. Instead, Tina has pursued opportunities that interested and challenged her, building experience across different disciplines, industries and working environments.
“I sometimes wonder where I might be if I had chosen one area and followed a more structured career,” Tina says. “But I would have lost the value that comes from having such broad experience.”
That breadth now shapes how Tina approaches complex projects, makes decisions and leads others. It has also allowed her to keep learning while contributing to the operation and development of essential water infrastructure.
Support through different stages of life
Following her first period of parental leave, Veolia supported Tina to work part time while she was overseas and preparing to return to Australia.
She had applied for a General Manager role, and the position was held until she was ready to return. “The business did everything it could to make the transition easy,” Tina says. “I had complete flexibility around my hours and felt supported to make my career fit around my life.”
Returning after the birth of her second child felt more challenging. Tina had greater responsibilities at work and more demands on her time at home. The encouragement to return gradually gave her the space to adjust without feeling that she needed to manage everything at once.
Becoming a parent also changed her perspective as a leader. “You can feel as though you are trying to do everything well but not doing anything particularly well,” Tina says. “I had underestimated that aspect of parenting.”
The experience made her more conscious of the many factors that can influence what someone needs at work. It strengthened her commitment to flexibility, respecting people’s time away from work and allowing people to work from home where their role permits.
Tina is also clear that flexibility should not be treated only as an issue for women.
“Support for fathers is equally important,” she says. “People need to be able to build careers that work alongside their lives.”
Leading by listening
Throughout her career, Tina has learned that leadership is not about having every answer.
“Leadership is not about being the boss and telling everyone what to do,” she says. “It is about understanding the different parts of the puzzle, seeking people’s feedback and expertise, and being willing to let others lead you.”
For Tina, strong leadership means knowing when to guide a team and when to step back and listen.
“Sometimes your view is not the best one,” she says. “A strong leader needs to recognise that.”
This approach helps create space for people to contribute their expertise, build confidence and make their own mark.
A career that can change with you
Tina offers an honest perspective to women concerned that having children could affect their careers.
“It might affect your career, but not necessarily because the opportunities disappear,” she says. “It might change your view of what is important.”
Taking time away can broaden someone’s perspective or change what they want from work. Tina believes people can still return to a particular career path while also having the freedom to choose a different role, pace or direction.
Her own career continues to evolve. Her current role is challenging, unfamiliar and outside her comfort zone, which is exactly what makes it interesting.
For Tina, a long term career is about doing meaningful work, continuing to develop and having the support to make work fit alongside different stages of life.
“That flexibility, combined with the opportunity to keep doing new and interesting things, is one of the reasons I have stayed,” she says.
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