2:34 min read
The year is 1968 and Beatlemania has gripped Australia. In the small town of Colac, Victoria, life is sweet and a 15-year-old Julie Finch is starting her lifelong journey with Woolworths.
Julie wasn’t planning to start a career that day 56 years ago, she was just enjoying her summer holidays and shopping with her mum at the local Woolworths. But fate, and one determined manager, had other ideas.
“A guy in the meat department asked if I would like a job,” Julie recalls, and with the curiosity of youth, she accepted it. Little did she know, this decision would place her into the heart of the Colac community.
What was meant to be a three-day trial resulted with an instant job offer. “One day he said, ‘When can you start?” says Julie.
Fast forward to 2024 and Woolworths is now celebrating its 100th anniversary in Australia, and Julie Finch is now one of our longest-serving team members.
Her journey is a testament to loyalty and the deep connections that can be forged in the workplace. For more than half a century, Julie has seen the world change but her love for her job and the people she works with has remained constant.
In 1968, Woolworths was a different place. There were no scanners at the checkout and certainly no online shopping. Julie recalls those early days with a fondness that’s hard to miss as she looks at old photos of that original store with her current store manager, Mark.
“We'd have to hand-write all the tickets to put on the meat,” she recalls. From the introduction of barcode scanners to the rise of self-checkouts, technology has transformed the way the store operates, but the lessons from the early years remain.
“The first day, the boss said to me, ‘If we're going to do it, we do it properly.’ And I do.”
On the highlights of her job, Julie answers easily. “I think the main thing is the friendships I forged with people,” she says, referring to both her colleagues and her fellow Colacians.
After working in the meat department for 54 of her 56 years with Woolworths, Julie now works in produce. The proud team member has formed close friendships with many of her colleagues and some are now lifelong friends. Her store manager, Mark, speaks highly of her, describing Julie as the heart and soul of the store. “Julie's well and truly part of the foundations of this store, and the foundations of the town itself. She is well respected and loved by all of her customers and all of her work colleagues,” he says.
Reflecting on the past, Julie has advice for those beginning their career with Woolworths. “Do your best and if you don't know, just ask. That's what I was taught,” she says.
