Welcome to UPLevel’s Meet the Team blog series, where we post Q&A sessions with members of our awesome Work Family. We’re excited for you to get to know our team!
This month, the spotlight is on Abbey, Manager of Employee Experience…
Q: What’s your name?
A: Abbey S
Q: What three words would you say describe you best?
A: Energetic, Creative, Supportive
Q: When did you join the UPLevel Work Family?
A: May 29, 2003
Q: What is your role with UPLevel?
A: Manager of Employee Experience (HR – but shhh we don’t call it that)
Q: Is this a role you would have envisioned yourself in 10 years ago?
A: No, I wouldn’t have envisioned myself in this role
Q: We would love to hear about your professional journey that led to this role. Care to share?
A: I started with UPLevel as a student back in elementary school. I worked part time through high school and university in various support & customer service roles. Upon returning from my first maternity leave there was a position open on the talent team as a recruiting specialist – I applied internally and was selected, I never thought ‘HR’ would be my path but I LOVED the manager of the team and wanted to learn from her so I applied. I learned more than I ever could have dreamed and the plus was that I LOVED the job and started my HR management certificate through University of Toronto. Fast forward a few years and one more maternity leave and due to growth opportunities, awesome coaching and mentorship I was promoted to the manager of our team! As a child I wanted to be a teacher and as I grew older I thought I wanted to be a corporate event planner…my role today is an awesome balance of both!
Q: Who was your role model growing up?
A: I would say my role model has always been my mom – she was a single mom of two energetic kids and she worked her butt off to give us an amazing life. I just hope that I can bring even a crumb of that work ethic to my own life.
Q: What skill would you love to learn, at work or in general?
A: In general I would love to learn more about technology, I would love to be able to code and develop websites or something like that, I think our world is transforming into a pretty exciting technology centered place and I want to be able to keep up!
Q: What would you say is the most fulfilling part of your role at UPLevel?
A: The most fulfilling part of my role is helping others to achieve their potential, I love watching the light bulb go on during a training or coaching session, makes me excited to see employees surpass their own expectations.
Q: What is one experience you’ve had in the past week that truly exemplified UPLevel’s Culture of Caring?
A: I think one of the things I love about working at UPLevel that really exemplifies our Culture of Caring is our mindfulness room. We have the opportunity to go and meditate with other members of the team after lunch, it is a time of gratitude, peace and rejuvenation that I think is an amazing gift from the company that really demonstrates how the organization cares for its employees.
Q: If you had to choose one “focus word” to represent your mindset and goals for the next year, what would it be?
A: Fierce would be my “focus word” that represents my mindset and goals for the next year – I think really exciting things are going to continue to unfold!
Q: What’s your hidden talent?
A: I think my hidden talent is reading people. I am sensitive to people’s energy and can quickly determine a person’s motivation, work style and emotions. Definitely helps during the interview stage 😉
Q: What animal would you be?
A: I think I would be a raccoon! I am not a morning person although you would never know it, I have lots of energy, focus and drive, and much like the raccoon when it comes to food nothing holds me back!
Thank you so much, Abbey, for taking the time to share with our online community!
