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Watch Rio Tinto Vice President Sophie Bergeron discuss challenges and opportunities she has faced in her career in the mining industry.

EY and Women in Mining Canada have joined forces to engage women in the mining industry through a series of interviews. Watch the second interview with the inspiring Sophie Bergeron from Rio Tinto. 

Sophie Bergeron Vice President, HSEC Rio Tinto Minerals.

Sophie is a highly experienced pioneer with more than 20 years’ experience in mining, sustainability and operations. 

Rana Labban: Thank you so much Sophie for joining us today. We're looking forward to this talk.

Sophie Bergeron: Thanks Rana. Thanks for the invite.

Rana Labban: You have an amazing career in mining and you've achieved so much. What would you say was the turning point for your career and why?

Sophie Bergeron: The turning point of my career has been really at the beginning. I started in a mine in the north of Quebec as a production engineer and I was working with operations a lot, and especially with the supervisors, and I really wanted to do that. And I've been asking many times if they would consider me to become a supervisor at some point. I had a bit of a push back. They were kind of afraid that for women, they had never been a woman in that role, and they were afraid that it could become an issue having a woman as a supervisor in an underground mine. I persisted, I asked multiple times, every time that the other role posted, I did ask. And when they gave me my chance and I become a supervisor, I really enjoyed working in operations. That was a turning point of my career. Since then, I knew that operations would be something that I would really enjoy.

Rana Labban: It's remarkable to hear. Your persistence and your drive to keep going until you got what you wanted in the beginning or the early stages of your career. And tailing off of that, I would ask what are the key success factors that helped you achieve your goals and more, what are some of the lessons learned that you can share with us women out there, to help us continue on our path?

Sophie Bergeron: Ask for what you want. So, that was the first thing I've learned in my career. If you don't ask, don't wait for someone to offer it because it might never happen.

Rana Labban: I feel a lot of women are shy to ask and really having the assertiveness and the courage to speak up and ask for what you want is really going to help some of us out there on our path.

Sophie Bergeron: I've always asked myself how I can make a difference. How can I, as someone coming in an industry that is very male dominated, how I can add value. How I can make a difference.

Rana Labban: So, people have been hearing so much about leadership styles and how different styles enable different leaders. What would you say is your leadership style and how has it served you in your role?

Sophie Bergeron: My leadership style, Rana is definitely different from what the industry is picturing. It's something that, and as you know, mining industry, it's a kind of a tough industry. It's something that when I started, people were telling me you’ve got to become tougher if you want to grow in your career. If you want to become a manager you're going to have to be like a tougher person, and I refused to do that. I kind of truly believe that there's other ways to lead people and you can care for your people. You don't have to yell at people, you can be a more collaborative leader and I truly truly believe that you can still get the same result and actually I've experienced it and it did work. So, I'm a big believer in not changing who I am, I do lead with my values. It's very important for me and I am very confident that in the future we'll see more and more different leaders in our industry.

Rana Labban: Thanks so much Sophie, there's so many gems in what you said today and I hope a lot of the women hearing you are able to adopt their own leadership styles and lead with purpose. One more I guess and that is, as you further progress in your career what is the legacy you want to create?

Sophie Bergeron: It's more about participate to change the image of the industry. Like I said, being a more caring type of industry and making sure that I can inspire more women to join our mining industry. So, I hope I can do that. I hope I will be able to achieve that. So, that's what I would like to look back and say I feel so good because I made a difference and I was able to inspire other women to join mining industry.

Rana Labban: Thank you so much for your time and great insights, Sophie. I'm sure a lot of women out there are going to be enjoying this conversation and get inspired.

Sophie Bergeron: Thanks to you, Rana! I really enjoyed it.