As General Manager of Women’s Network Australia and co-owner of Brisbane custom car audio business Bay City Kustoms, Bec McCoan has a unique perspective on the challenges facing women in business and the value of connection, confidence and having people in your corner.
Running a business is a tough gig. Owners must wrap their head around finances, staffing, administration, marketing, compliance and the constant pressure of finding enough work to keep the doors open. Days can be long, stress can be very real, and uncertainty is a constant companion.
Success, when it comes, is rarely built on expertise and hard work alone. It depends on confidence, professional connections and, when challenges arise, the support of those connections and others.
Few understand this combination better than Bec McCoan, a marketing specialist who experiences it from both sides – as co-owner of Bay City Kustoms, a specialist custom car-audio and automotive accessories business based in Capalaba, Queensland, and as General Manager of Women’s Network Australia (WNA) where her work is centred on connecting, supporting and empowering women in business.
The two roles – small business owner and corporate executive – might seem miles apart, but for Bec they are closely connected, with the challenges she experiences at Bay City Kustoms providing a first-hand understanding of the women in business she works to support through WNA.
So what do these two roles entail?
At Bay City Kustoms, the small team create custom audio systems for all manner of vehicles, from classic to modern. Its work can range from relatively straightforward upgrades through to extensively designed systems involving custom fabrication for components such as subwoofer boxes and A-pillars for tweeters and also include modern technologies such as 3D printing. All used with the aim of delivering a stellar in-car audio experience.
While Bec’s husband Adam and colleague and Paul do the technical stuff, Bec’s job is just as critical in keeping the business wheels turning.
“My role in the team really is keeping the administration flowing, getting the marketing voice out there, putting our brand together and doing whatever roles I can in the workshop to help things keep flowing,” she explains.
For WNA, the mission is slightly different and Bec oversees operations, supports strategic growth and helps shape programs, partnerships and member engagement.
“Women’s Network Australia is Australia’s longest-running network for women in business,” says Bec. “The objectives of the organisation ultimately are to connect women in business, encourage them to collaborate with each other, and collectively empower them. We do that through three core pillars, which are lifelong learning, financial well-being, and health and wellbeing. And it’s all about ensuring that women have the tools they need to succeed in business.”
In many ways, Bec’s working life reflects the realities facing the women WNA exists to support – particularly the challenge of balancing multiple professional responsibilities.
“I think like most women, particularly in business, juggling multiple roles is exactly what we do,” she says. “And I will not lie and say that I do it well. Some days I do. Other days it’s very different . . . I really have to manage my time as well as I can, but my worlds do tend to overlap quite a bit.”
A WINDING ROAD
Bec’s journey to executive at WNA and small business owner started in Wynnum, on Brisbane’s bayside, where much of her childhood was spent outdoors and involved in sport. Swimming, trampolining and netball occupied plenty of her time, instilling a competitive streak that remains a characteristic today.
“I would say that competitiveness and drive to do lots of different things is what’s led me to take on multiple different roles and always look for varied career options,” says Bec.
There was certainly plenty of variety on Bec’s career journey.
Her working life began at Subway as a teenager before taking her through roles in local and state government and into marketing. And it was marketing that would provide the connection that ultimately led to her working at WNA.
The organisation was one of Bec’s marketing clients, and over several years she became increasingly involved with the organisation and the women it supported.
Established in 1990 and subsequently growing into a national organisation focused on connecting, supporting and developing women in business. After more than three decades of evolution, the organisation entered another chapter when it was purchased in 2021 Cheryl Gray, the current CEO and, incidentally, Bec’s sister.
“When the opportunity then came up for Women’s Network Australia to be purchased and my amazing sister took on that opportunity, I was thrilled to jump on board with her and support her,” says Bec. “My role initially was marketing and I just sort of carried on what I was already doing for the network, but that grew into running events around the country, connecting with the ambassadors that the network has and making sure that we were supporting not just businesses that we were connected with locally, but those in Perth and Hobart, where they have really strong groups as well. And working with those women is so inspiring and really joyful to be a part of.”
BUILDING SOMETHING OF THEIR OWN
If WNA developed through Bec’s marketing background, her journey into the automotive industry took a very different route.
Bay City Kustoms emerged from the extraordinary circumstances of 2020.
Bec and Adam returned from a European trip just as COVID was making its dramatic impact on the world and the disruption provided an opportunity to reassess where they were heading in their working lives. For Adam, a 20-year veteran of the car audio sector. It was time to consider whether he wanted to continue working for somebody else or take the chance of building something of his own.
The couple decided to create a business that would give Adam the freedom to be more creative and approach custom car audio in the way he believed it should be done.
It was a risk, of course, but being willing to take a chance is how many successful businesses start.
“Bay City Kustoms started at home with clients that already knew us and were comfortable with us working on their cars,” says Bec.
“It only took six months for us to outgrow home and be looking for a space to move into and we’re very lucky now to be based in Capalaba, surrounded by automotive businesses which are some great connections for us.
“I’m still adjusting to my role in the business. To be honest, I never saw myself being part of it and I did so because we’re a small family business. We didn’t have a team to rely on, but we needed things to be done. And, ultimately, we had to be the team.”
Bec says she initially viewed the operation very much as Adam’s business but that changed as Bay City Kustoms grew and she came to recognise that she is not simply someone helping her husband, but a true co-owner making a genuine contribution to the business.
“I struggled with calling myself an owner of Bay City Kustoms,” she says. “I would always refer to it as my husband’s business because I was generally talking to people in another capacity.”
Eventually, Bec acknowledged the reality.
“I really had to step back and focus on the fact that I was an owner of the business. You know, my name was on the paperwork, my name was on the lease, and I did play a role, and I do play a role in keeping that business alive and driving it forward.”
That experience has also given Bec another perspective on many of the women she works with through WNA.
“. . . they may not all be in male-dominated industries, but they cover such a broad base of business types and they’re all doing it on their own. They’re putting together websites, leasing properties and doing amazing things,” she says.
“It’s not easy to do that alone. It’s not easy to do it without a hype crew behind you who can say you’re doing an amazing job and to keep going.
“For me, the two roles complemented each other well because I was feeling the same. I was stepping into this industry that I really didn’t know a whole lot about and feeling small . . . and I needed those people to say, ‘Hey, you’ve got this. You can do it. You know what you’re doing, just do it’.”
VISIBILTY MATTERS
Bec’s automotive experience has strengthened her appreciation for initiatives such as Auto Women, a sister initiative of sorts to WNA.
“When I first made the connection with Auto Women, I was thrilled to hear that the automotive industry had a group of people who would bring women together and connect in the automotive industry, and really spotlight the work that they were doing,” she says.
She adds that the visibility component is important.
From the outside, automotive can still be viewed primarily through the image of the mechanic on the workshop floor. That overlooks the enormous range of roles required to operate modern automotive businesses – from administration, finance and marketing to management, technical support and specialist positions.
“We know that we can’t be what we can’t see,” says Bec. “And for girls looking for career opportunities, so often industries like automotive are seen as heavily male-dominated and that the role is ‘mechanic’, and we don’t see beyond that.
“Yes. Let’s go and be a mechanic if that’s what we want to be, but there are so many other roles within automotive businesses that women do play and can play. And the more that we shine a light on what those roles are and how we can contribute to automotive businesses, the more likely young girls are to come down these paths.”
But attracting women is only part of the challenge, she adds. Businesses must also provide genuine opportunities to build careers.
“Having opportunities for women within automotive businesses is really important and remembering that women aren’t just there to take up a seat or get the job done in the first instance, they’re there to grow a career like they are in any other industry, and creating pathways is really how we need to do that.”
BUILDING STRONGER BUSINESSES
At WNA, the challenges facing women in business extend beyond confidence and connection and financial wellbeing has become a major focus and so a program called Bridge Your Money Gap was established.
It’s an initiative designed to improve financial knowledge and address not only budgeting but ‘our connection to money, the way that we value it and the way that we can do more with it.’
WNA also works with WeConnect International, which certifies women-owned businesses and connects them with corporate and other buyers around the world.
This connection, she says, is another way for businesses to be visible, to connect and have more potential avenues for growth and be “. . . a real opportunity for those business owners to tap into corporates globally to sell their products, to sell their services.”
Growth is also firmly on the agenda at Bay City Kustoms.
While expansion into a bigger location is a consideration, Bec and Adam have decided to focus on the custom work they do so well. The aim is to become more efficient and continue producing work to the highest standard.
“For Bay City Kustoms, we’re on a growth trajectory and we’re excited about that,” says Bec.
A DRIVE TO SUCCEED
Away from work, Bec’s connection to automotive is pretty strong. It’s difficult not to when your husband is an enthusiast who works in the industry!
Cars were part of her childhood through her father, a fitter and turner, and the McCoan household today has no shortage of machinery. While Bec drives a Stage 1-tuned VW Tiguan, the family collection includes a BMW M5, a V12 Jaguar and Caprice.
“There’s a lot going on at home.,” she says with a laugh. “And if money were no object, I would love to see all of those cars able to leave the driveway – that would be a good, good place to start!”
It’s an appropriate answer for someone focused in their professional life on always moving forward, helping to build and develop projects and businesses.
She believes women interested in automotive should not be deterred from giving it a go, and for those considering business ownership, her message is similarly enthusiastic. Planning is important, of course, but so is having the courage to go for it.
“If you’re looking to start your own business, I’d say do it . . . Work with people who can support you no matter what part of the journey you’re on, but absolutely go all in. Do it and love it . . .
“And for young women looking to enter the automotive industry, I would say don’t hold back if it’s an interest for you. The industry is amazing. There are so many different pathways, so many different things you can do and achieve within the industry that you shouldn’t let any element of it hold you back . . .
“We just have to step into ourselves, be confident about who we are, and no matter what environment you’re in, you can succeed if you’re committed enough to it.”