A mum of two has become an internet sensation by telling the world about her job - as a digger driver. Digger Girl Amy Underwood began posting on public social media sites when her friends weren’t interested in her pictures of diggers.
Now, with more than 450,000 followers around the globe, her daily blogs and videos are inspiring others to follow their dream. Fans follow her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, where she is posting a weekly video on the daily life of a digger girl.
But Amy, from Dalmally, Argyll, is quick to brush off any online critics who make sexist remarks. One recent post on YouTube asked: “Have you got any of you washing dishes?” And a TikTok commentator said: “You didn’t iron your top.”
But Amy said: “I laugh it off and let my work do the talking. It doesn’t upset me.” As a role model for women who are keen to work in what was once regarded as a man’s world, she is pleased that many misconceptions are gradually being broken down.
She said: “We are heading in the right direction. Girls are always messaging me on social media asking how to do something or how do they get experience. I have made some great friendships.”
The 28-year-old added: “None of my friends were interested in what I was posting about my diggers on my private page, then I saw a guy doing that on a public site so I started doing it. It took me 11 months to get the first 10,000 followers and it just took off after that.”
Aged just 17, Amy – who now runs a construction business with her dad John – was the only girl in her plant operator college class. She said: “I have memories of being tiny, sitting in the back of a digger machine with Dad. I was always in among petrol and quad bikes, motorbikes, machines. I’d always go away in lorries with Dad. When I was 15 or 16, I started going to work with him in the holidays.”
As a teenager, she wanted to be a mechanic but there were no openings when she left school. She added: “My dad said, ‘You can work with me until you find something you want to do.’ I never found anything else I wanted to do.”
Now mum to Ellie-Lou, seven, and John, four, her success has led to her appointment as a brand ambassador for Hyundai and a year-long partnership with the Construction Industry Training Board to attract new apprentices.
In November, she was recognised by the National Federation of Builders as one of the UK’s top 100 women in construction. In the same month she won the title of UK Groundworker of the Year from On The Tools.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
