After 15 years with Oilmin, Karen Kave admits that deciding to walk away was one of the hardest decisions she has ever made. “It’s like my baby. I’ve been part of it”, she quotes.
Since joining Oilmin in July 2011, Karen has played an important role in developing the company’s Procurement and Logistics Department. She helped establish procedures, strengthen systems, mentor employees and introduce processes that continue to support the business today.
But after years of giving much of herself to the company, Karen knew it was time to make room for a different chapter – one that would allow her to spend more time with her family while giving the people she had mentored the opportunity to step forward. “I cannot sit in that position all my life. My team need to move up and take that position”, she mentions.
Knowing it was the right decision, but it did not make leaving any easier. Karen says “Letting go was a bit emotional. It took me a month.”
For Karen, Oilmin was never simply a place where she worked. It became a significant part of her life — a place where she built friendships, faced challenges and helped shape a department she had come to feel deeply responsible for.
“I treated Oilmin like it was my own company and as I would treat it as my home, making sure at the end of each day, work was accounted for and every staff member would go home safely“, says Karen.
Now, she is looking forward to slower mornings and more time with her family. After years of waking up thinking about emails, deadlines and freight schedules, the change already feels different.
“This morning I woke up and it was blank. I wasn’t thinking about work”, There is also comfort within her knowing that the team she leaves behind can carry the work forward.
“You can’t do it yourself all the time. It’s all about teamwork and putting systems in place so every team member has a sense of responsibility to carry out at the workplace.”
FROM CARPENTER DREAMS TO A CAREER IN LOGISTICS
Karen’s career journey began far away from procurement and logistics.
Born in Daru and raised in Port Moresby, she grew up watching her father work as a carpenter. His work fascinated her, and as a young girl she imagined herself following the same path.
“I wanted to be a carpenter like my father as I was always fascinated by how he worked with his carpentry tools, the hammer and saw. I have seen him build houses, renovate homes, build chairs, tables, and cupboards.My mum was a very detailed person and I believe I got that from her.”
Although carpentry never became her profession, the example set by both her parents stayed with her. Their work ethic and determination would later become qualities she carried into her own career.
Karen went on to work as a flight attendant before taking time away from the workforce to raise her children. At that stage, there was little indication that procurement and logistics would eventually become her area of expertise. “Logistics and procurement never crossed my mind.”
LEARNING ON THE JOB
When Karen joined Oilmin in 2011, she entered an industry she had not formally trained in.
“I self-taught myself, hitting brick walls but kept going”, she says.
There was no clear roadmap for her. She learned through experience gained working from FIFO jobs on sites. Observing, asking questions, solving problems and taking on responsibilities as they came.
As her knowledge grew, so did the trust place in her. She became involved in procurement, supplier management, and freight coordination, while building strong working relationships with colleagues and suppliers.
What began as a job gradually developed into a career in which she became someone people relied on to get things done.
BUILDING SYSTEMS AND STANDARDS
When Karen first arrived at Oilmin, many of the systems and processes that are now part of everyday operations were not developed. One of her early priorities was bringing greater organisation to the department.
She quotes “The first thing was fixing the office, the paperwork, filing, going through the emails and ensured the few casual worker were in proper Personal Protective Equipment gear and the office was set up in a safer environment to work in”
She also brought safety into the workplace, everyday emphasising strongly on safety, regularly reminding employees about protective equipment and safe work practices, even when the tasks themselves appeared routine.
Over the years, Karen helped develop Standard Operating Procedures, filing systems and documentation processes that made the department more structured and easier to manage. As the business changed, she continued to review and improve those systems, she exclaims, “Every time there’s a change, I go back and I do that change”.
To Karen, improvement was never something that happened once and was then forgotten. It was an ongoing part of doing the job properly.
LOOKING AFTER THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE ORDERS
For Karen, logistics was about much more than moving goods from one place to another. She understood that behind every order were people depending on those supplies.
“It’s food. People will eat this food we are handling and sending”, which she made sure her team understood the responsibility that came with their work, particularly when supplies were being sent to employees working at remote project sites.
“What we are doing is we’re looking after the people on site. People on site are relying on what we are sending”, her sense of responsibility influenced how she approached quality control, storage, dispatch and traceability.
Karen also recognised that many of the practices the team followed were already aligned with what would later become more formalised food safety requirements, she says “We were already doing food safety. We just didn’t know”.
ONE OF HER PROUDEST ACHIEVEMENTS
One of the areas Karen looks back on with pride is Oilmin’s journey through audits and continual improvement. In the early years, the team often had to identify gaps, fix them, and strengthen their processes. It was not always easy, but Karen saw each audit as an opportunity to improve.
“We were just fixing it. We were not falling back”, she remembers one audit when an auditor asked whether the procedures supporting the department’s processes were documented. Karen reached for a folder and handed it to him, “He looked at it and said, ‘This is what I’m asking for’. I will never forget the auditor’s reaction when he went through the folder.That’s when the warehouse SOPs came into light”
For Karen, moments like that confirmed that the work happening behind the scenes was having a real impact. When Oilmin was named TQCSI Client of the Year in 2025, she saw the recognition as a reflection of years of work by many people across the organisation. Karen speaks with joy stating, “I was so proud to be part of this achievement”
GROWING INTO LEADERSHIP
Karen never set out with the intention of becoming a manager, as she exclaims further “I never thought I’d come up to that. All I saw myself doing was getting the job done”.
Her approach was straightforward: do the work properly, follow it through, and make sure it was completed. Because as she says “With me, I like to follow up until I see it achieved and complete. Do not close it until the end receiver receives it”. That persistence became one of the qualities that people come to associate her with.
Leadership, however, was not only about completing tasks. Over time, Karen found herself helping others develop their confidence and abilities. One person she is particularly proud of is Vicky Moab, now Oilmin’s Procurement and Logistics Manager.
Karen watched Vicky grow within the department and gradually take on greater responsibility, saying “She observes and she picks up.”
For Karen, seeing people she had mentored move into leadership has been one of the most rewarding parts of her career.
A COMPANY THAT BECAME FAMILY
Building a career while raising a family was not always easy. As a single mother, Karen often had to balance the demands of home with the responsibilities of managing a busy department. There were moments when work became so consuming that she struggled to keep up with everything happening outside the office.
One memory has stayed with her — the day she forgot to pick up her daughter from school.
“I cried. I cried all the way to pick her”, Karen recalls. It was a difficult moment, but experiences like that reminded Karen of the importance of having support around her.
During some of the most challenging periods of her life, including serious health difficulties, she says Oilmin’s management supported her and encouraged her to seek answers and treatment.
“The company didn’t let me go. They tried to make sure they found every source and means of what was wrong with me and took care of me,” says Karen. That support left a lasting impression.
A NEW CHAPTER
As Karen closes one chapter of her life, she is looking forward to something she has often had to put second, time with her family. Her family is now at the centre of what she hopes will be a quieter and more relaxed chapter.
After years of early mornings, urgent requests and constant responsibility, she is ready to slow down and enjoy life at a different pace. But leaving does not mean she is leaving without confidence in the people behind her. She believes the team has the experience and capability to continue developing what she helped build.
Her advice to younger employees is simple: “Always Look after your job, you have your policies to guide you and be honest. Speak up, if you don’t know something, ask.”
After 15 years with Oilmin, Karen leaves behind more than procedures, systems and processes. She leaves behind people she has mentored, colleagues she has supported and a department that has grown alongside her. Her career may have started with a dream of becoming a carpenter, but it ultimately led her somewhere she never expected, into a career in logistics, into leadership, and into a company that became an important part of her life.
Now, it is time for her to step away, look back with pride, and make room for what comes next.