One-time food bank client climbs corporate ladder

Rita Alterio

While many who aspire to business success turn to the likes of Anthony Robbins for inspiration, salesperson Pamela Tennant simply looks to her daughter, born with brittle-bone disease.

"She's had broken bones after broken bones, surgery after surgery, been in and out of the hospital tons and tons of times," said Tennant. "But she just keeps on trucking. She's an A student with a great attitude."

Going through those experiences with a loved one brought Tennant to certain realizations.

"I have to live life in an extraordinary way," she said. "Go out there and do what you have to do."

Tennant has had other obstacles to overcome. Fifteen years ago she was a single, out-of-work mother and a client of the food bank.

Today, she is a market sales manager at Labour Ready, a provider of temporary manual labor to the light-industrial and small-business markets. She was awarded Labour Ready's salesperson of the year award in both 2003 and 2004, when she sold $1.8 million and $2.3 million dollars respectively.

Away from the job, Tennant helps raise money for the Surrey Food Bank, which helped her through some tough times when her daughter was an infant.

At the food bank's annual Breakfast with the Bank event May 4, Tennant's speech in front of 450 early-risers helped raise close to $62,000 for the charity.

Tennant believes her success at Labour Ready is due to the company being a good fit with her skills.

"I had to find a company that suited me," said Tennant. "My last position was industrial and office sales. I knew that when I went in to do an office sale, I really bombed, but when it came to industrial staffing I was able to deliver."

Tennant started with Labour Ready at its Surrey office in 2003, working as salesperson for the entire province. Labour Ready, a public company with 840 offices around the world, is billed as the largest temporary staffing provider in B.C.

The company supplies temporary industrial manual labour with as little as one hour's notice, in warehousing, shipping, receiving, unloading trucks, construction site cleanup and moving.

The office opens at 5:30 a.m. and people are lined up waiting for work. "They don't wait for long. Right now we need workers."

A third of workers are hired on to full-time jobs. "I like evoking change in peoples' lives," said Tennant. "We supply jobs to people who may not have an opportunity to even get an interview. The look on peoples' faces when they're hired is so rewarding. I love that, along with the flexibility, the autonomy and the ability to effect everyone's income to a plus level."

posted on 05/18/2005