TALKING THE TALK

Spearheading the rollout of new major buildings in Sydney and Melbourne for global professional services giant KPMG, Peter Dollin is more than aware that people come into the workplace and facilities field from all manner of backgrounds. His just happened to be plastering.

“My background is in construction. I had to leave school in year 10 and the next door neighbour had a plastering business,” he recalls. “I went and knocked on his door and asked for a job. I did solid plastering, cement rendering and ornate plasterwork in old terrace houses. It gave me a passion for buildings, especially when you start with nothing, watch it come to life and see the affinity people have with the built environment.”

Dollin had hoped to study economics, but he fell in love with his trade. “I became the leading apprentice in New South Wales in each year of my trade course because I was just so passionate about it. I even got my builder’s licence because I loved construction.”

But as time went by, Dollin started to think about the process and, with it, a new career direction. “I’d see a lot of mistakes; one day I’d cement render a wall and the next