by Nick Drew | Wed 24 Jul 2024
Brazilian Backhoe Girl in the Pink
In 2007, she began working on a backhoe with her father, Nelson, who always supported her and taught her everything about the job. “I was 24 weeks pregnant with my daughter, and I drew attention to myself because I was a woman operating a backhoe, driving a truck and with a big belly. I worked until the last day of my pregnancy and everything went well, thank God,” Daiane recalls.
While working at her father’s company she was often to be found running a backhoe loader or a skid steer, but her dream was to become the proud owner of her own Cat backhoe loader.
In 2021 Daiane’s dream finally came to fruition as she received the keys to a brand-new Cat 416 backhoe loader, supplied by her local Cat dealer Sotreq and purchased through investment business Consórcio Maggi.
This was not just any old backhoe loader though, Sotreq had it painted in a stunning pink livery and now the machine and Daiane are recognised and well known in the region. In addition to this she has become something of a brand ambassador and often attends Expo style trade shows and product launch events.
As a woman in construction, an industry that has for so long been seen as a male dominated sector, she rather sadly has not had it easy as she explains. “I have been through some rather unpleasant situations, such as when I arrived at the construction site with the machine, they asked me if the operator was on his way. They made it difficult for the machine or truck to pass, as if it were a test to see if I was really capable of carrying out the work without causing some kind of accident, sometimes it’s just quite unbelievable”.
By European standards the machine is of pretty basic specification, no 4-in-1 front bucket, stick controls for the backhoe, no extending dipper, and direct mount backhoe buckets, but having said that, its still a beautiful backhoe loader, and definitely one that stands out from the crowd.
Daiane is another individual who has cleverly used social media to further gain exposure about her business and work, which has led on to many more opportunities coming her way. On Instagram alone her @operadoradaianesilva account has amassed over 126k followers and she also has Facebook and TikTok accounts to further document her work.
Checkout the promotional video below, its in Portuguese but you will get the idea!