Shannon Hall: "Women offer a different perspective.."
From my experience, women offer a different perspective, new ideas and a different point of view.
I love our industry! I’m not sure growing up I had thought about the cleaning industry as a destination for a career in sales, but I quickly discovered that this industry provides people with an opportunity to help others and there is always an opportunity to be challenged and learn more. There couldn’t be a more exciting and interesting time then where we are right now in the cleaning industry.
Prior to my role as Vice President – Sale & Marketing with Dustbane, I had always had roles in an industry that was male dominated and ripe for diversification. I have been lucky to have had some great mentors and leaders that have helped my career develop and grow. I believe that as a leader, it’s our responsibility to bring people together from diverse backgrounds to foster growth and change. My goal is to ensure that we give every team member the opportunity to develop, stay, succeed, and lead. Having a peer network in place can help do just that. Understanding the value of a network, I was seeking an opportunity to develop a network and build relationships within our industry I joined the ISSA Hygieia Network. The Hygieia Network is designed to support the advancement of women in the cleaning industry. I felt there was an opportunity to expand the network in Canada and the team at ISSA have been helping build the membership here in Canada. The program offers a mentoring platform, educational sessions, and networking.
What advice would you give to other women?
From my experience, women offer a different perspective, new ideas and a different point of view. Having diversity creates greater solutions to help solve complex issues. I owe the success that I have experienced in my career to being passionate about learning & development, creating room for collaboration and building a strong network. I am truly grateful and honoured to help support the advancement of women in our industry. If I had to give a few words of advice to those starting out, I would say stay focused, take every opportunity to learn, share your knowledge, ask great questions and network.