Company: College Pro

Position: General manager

Employed: Six Years

Where did you go to School? What program did you attend?

I completed both my BSc and MSc at the University of Guelph in biomedical sciences. Since early childhood I had wanted to be a veterinarian, and as Guelph has the only veterinary college in Ontario it was my school of choice.

What drew you to your current field?

In a first year chemistry lecture, someone came into my class and ran through a quick talk that caught my attention. They described a job opportunity where it was possible to take on a new challenge, run your own business and make (on average) $15,000 in one summer. The potential earnings and the idea of running my own business tweaked my interest. I was willing to work hard to avoid going into debt over the four plus years of undergrad, but I needed a new summer job ' one where I wasn't staring at the clock all day making minimum wage ' so I signed myself up.

Tell us a bit about your responsibilities.

The responsibilities of a general manager change with the seasons. In the fall, we recruit entrepreneurial university and college students to run their own painting businesses for the following summer. In the winter, we begin training these students, teaching them how to market their businesses, how to estimate a job, some general paint knowledge, and safety. Training continues into the spring with both in-class and in-field training. In the summer, we continue to coach franchise managers through weekly phone meetings and field visits. We work regularly on goal setting and review, accountability, skill development, and problem solving. We provide support and encouragement as managers face the ups and downs of running their own businesses.

What is the most challenging aspect of your position?

As a franchise manager, I was always very hands-on. If there was a problem, I wanted to be on site to fix it. This past summer, working with 10 franchise managers scattered throughout northern Ontario,it was not possible for me to continue with the hands-on approach. I had to learn (and am still learning) how to effectively lead these managers from a distance and teach them how to solve their own problems.

What skills have you learned through your work experience?

Too many to list! My experience with College Pro has been life changing. I was never interested in business; I was, and still am, a science student. However, the opportunity to run my own business and then lead others to do the same, has allowed for tremendous skill development in areas such as leadership, communication, problem solving, time management, goal setting and planning, accountability and financial management. These life skills are universally applicable regardless of your intended career path. I have heard numerous people say they learn more in one summer of College Pro than they do throughout four years of university.

Is there one accomplishment you are most proud of to date?

Last summer I participated in the trial run of a new business model College Pro was looking to experiment with. I took on an area three times the size as I had in previous summers in hopes of running a $300,000 painting business in five months. The original business plan my coach and I developed seemed impossible. It would require me to do 25-30 estimates a week in three different cities when a busy week in previous summers consisted of 10 estimates. This position pushed me beyond what I had previously believed to be my limits and with a lot of hard work I produced $288,000, finishing as the top female franchise manager in North America and the sixth largest College Pro painting business in Canada.

What advice do you have for students looking to land their first job?

Pick a field or type of job that you would like and apply to as many as you can. Expect the worst but hope for the best, because no matter how good you are there is always someone better than you, so don't get discouraged if you don't get your first pick. Keep your options open and don't give up. jp

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