Le Ho is used to being one of the few women working in a male-dominated industry.
When she bought her first waste management company, Capital City Waste Services, some in the industry took bets on when her business would fail. But Le says that only fueled her drive to succeed.
"That helped me get out of the bed at 4am in the morning, take a call at 3am from one of my drivers - I had to prove that yes I am a woman, and yes it's a male dominated industry but I can make it work."
It's determination that was needed - when she bought the business from a friend, it was on the brink of receivership and losing $20,000 a month.
"I had to let all the staff go," Le says. "So that was the person in accounts, sales manager and I took on all those roles. So it was 16 to 18 hours days for me to turn it around and reach breakeven point. In the morning I would wake up and do four or five hours in the [garbage] truck. Then I would get changed and go to have my meetings with customers."
Capital City Waste was on the brink of receivership when Le Ho purchased it for $20,000. Source: Supplied
Her efforts paid off.
"The first year we were at break even. And Capital City has grown thereafter to becoming one of the largest privately owned waste management companies in New South Wales," she says.
Now Le's turning her attention to her latest venture, Sustainable Solutions Group, after selling Capital City Waste Services.
"Sustainable Solutions Group isn't just in waste management, it's a facilities management company. We don't only provide one solution, but many for our clients," she says. Services could include cleaning, as well as building maintenance, air conditioning, mail management, waste management and more.
Le's invested her own money into the business and is hoping to turnover 5-7 million dollars in its first year.
"It's a business where I want to be able to make, in Australia, a business that is owned by an Australian from a migrant background, to give back to Australia, by employing Australians and those who come from English-as-a-second-language background."
Le Ho launched SS Group in 2016. Source: Supplied
Le's says her own background has influenced her desire to help others. Originally from Vietnam, her family fled when she was a baby - just 18 days old. They spent a year in a Thai refugee camp before coming to Australia, settling in South Australia in 1981.
"When we enrolled in the primary school, [my brother and I] were the first Asian people to ever be enrolled. There was a lot of outcasting."
It's that experience that Le says makes her passionate about her work.
Le Ho and her family on Aussie shores. Source: Le Ho
"My parents came with nothing. And so when you come to country with nothing, everything is more than what you had before."
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