How she shines: I believe that through team collaboration, mentorship, and true connections, we can achieve growth both professionally and personally. Through engagement, teams get to be involved in changes and how they affect them. The idea of changing a product or way of doing something just to meet a sustainability goal does not make sense. Including those who have their hands involved in this really matters. Their input on challenges helps to develop actionable solutions that last.
Years in the industry: 20 years
Job responsibilities: I oversee custodial and security services, fostering a strong team dynamic, assess practices and procedures for cleaning facilities, develop and implement training for further team growth and support, ensure daily cleaning is being completed and planning periodic maintenance cleaning, ensure a safe and supported environment is available to the team or teams on-site, and manage administrative planning, waste management, purchasing and other supports to ensure the cleaning and environmental practices are evolving along with the times and research findings.
Career path: After becoming a mom, I decided to stay home and run a dayhome. Once my children became more independent, I took a position sweeping floors at hockey games. I fell in love with the energy of the events. I moved into a supervisory role within one year and quickly learned and developed a true pride and curiosity in how to clean and maintain large venues and how to support my teams. After another few years, I worked in a senior supervisory position, and by year seven, I took on the role of Event Manager for Custodial Services.
This role expanded my portfolio into three major venues. At year 10, I moved over to the University of Alberta as the Site/Contract Assistant Manager, overseeing a much larger team and working with some amazing industry veterans. Those three and a half years taught me sustainability, safety, and much more on how to grow and nurture a team. From there, I went on to open a new site as a Contract Manager. This is when we hit the pandemic shutdown, and I transitioned to an Area Manager and provided training to our teams across Edmonton in decontamination and disinfection protocols and procedures, along with respirator-fit testing to ensure our teams remained as safe as possible during a trying time. I worked alongside AHS and provided support and training for temporary clinics and testing sites. I then moved into a remote Area Manager position for year 15 of my career.
To kick off my 17th year in the custodial industry, I moved organizations over to the Edmonton Convention Center as their Building Services Manager, where I had a very veteran team of custodians and had to take my time getting to know their ways and their personalities. I took on procurement, safety, training development, and team engagement activities during this role, and worked with the organization on green initiatives and RFP processes to help achieve these goals. I learned to collaborate with all departments within the venue and help us all achieve a common goal of service excellence for our clients and guests who choose to rent or attend events at the venue. Through team building, open-door policies, and engaging with all teams throughout the venue, I was able to build a bridge connecting the entire facility and helping to create more cross-departmental collaboration and cooperation. Now I am at Concordia University as a Manager of Custodial and Security Services, looking forward to growing and encouraging a new team that I get the pleasure of getting to know.
Best advice received: Teach—remember to teach others so they can grow, even when it is easier sometimes to 'just do it yourself.'
Fun fact: Personally, I have helped grow families through surrogacy and believe that helping others with an open heart is my ultimate goal. Professionally, I actually love the chaos! I thrive on solving unexpected problems, bringing people together, and turning complicated situations into something that works.