When Jess Wilson took over the family business full-time after her father died about two years ago, she inherited more than a company.

She inherited a challenge from the man who started it.

"My job is to start it, your job is to build it," her dad told her.

Jess is now doing exactly that, evolving the Indigenous-owned business he established into what she hopes will become a generational asset for her children and provide sustainable opportunities for communities in the Pilbara.

Bugarrba established about seven years ago and spent its first four years focused on capability and sustainability, with access and scaffolding the initial platform.

It emerged from a partnership between Walganbung - the business owned by Terry and wife Gloria, a Yindjibarndi woman, with SRG Global (49 per cent), and structured to maintain majority Indigenous ownership and leverage the strengths of both organisations.

Fortescue relationship realises family vision

Jess credits the company's first major mining contract with Fortescue with helping the young business gain relevant experience and credibility to pursue bigger opportunities.

"I think 90 per cent of the people I know, all their businesses have started via Fortescue," she said.

Jess said Bugarrba had become profitable in the past two years and now was focused on building assets to further secure contracts on the plethora of projects operating across 42,000sqkm of the Pilbara.

The business is heavily labour-based, with 18 Indigenous employees - roughly 50 per cent of Bugarrba's staff - and its workforce capability expanding significantly when major shutdown projects require additional labour.

Bugarrba has since partnered with major Pilbara players such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Hancock, while its partnership with SRG went beyond simply winning work.

Jess took the opportunity to develop relationships with senior executives and build genuine partnerships with major listed companies.

Her father kept turning up to meetings and pushing for an opportunity despite being knocked back. She said the lesson she learnt from her late father - after he pursued withy meetings and pushing for opportunities in the face of knockbacks - was to take your chance when it came.

"Grab the opportunities with both hands and run with it," the mother of three young kids said.

Bugarrba is now engaging SRG Infrastructure to build its capability in road maintenance, gradually expanding beyond its traditional shutdown and construction work.

Jess said growing the business was not simply about winning contracts, but turning her father's dream of it becoming a generational legacy.

Resilience arises after addiction battle

Jess's remarkable journey to running Bugarrba as managing director was far from straightforward. She struggled at school before completing Year 12, began working young and later gained experience through opportunities with Rio Tinto and other mining-related employers, in between overcoming an addiction issue for several years.

Her parents remained a constant influence, instilling their work ethic she now applies as head of the business.

After her father's death, Jess said she easily could have relapsed and reneged on her father's vision... instead his belief in what they were building became another reason for her to keep going.

Now her focus is on ensuring what they started does not end with her.

"I'm building something that's going to be generational rather than just come and go."

Pushing past the critics

An unexpected challenge for the young executive has come from within Indigenous communities themselves.

"It's not the industry that you often have to worry about, it's people from your community who show a lot of criticism," Jess said.

This sentiment extended to various family members who wanted to share in Bugarrba's success without necessarily contributing to it.

"They want to be a part of your journey and your success. But they don't want to do the work. They just want the end product of it all."

Jess said that pressure reinforced the importance of resilience - a trait she believed essential for Indigenous business owners building their own sustainable companies.