2022 Star Women in Convenience winner: Pauline Prokopshyn

Operations manager Kelowna

Wallace & Carey

How did you get into this business? 

I stumbled into warehousing and logistics when I applied for a picking position at a wholesale pharmacy.  Watching the movement of pallets on and off the dock was mesmerizing, it was like watching a ballet.  I was hooked!

What was the biggest challenge of your career?  

Biggest challenge thus far has been moving to manage the Kelowna branch.  This location has more delivery and less warehouse than I am accustomed to.  However, the learning curve through the summer of fire and the winter of flooding brought daily challenges in relation to daily routing, equipment availability, and maintaining team morale and safety.

What's the best advice you ever received?   

A very wise manager I was fortunate to work with told me sometimes good things fall apart, so better things can come together. This manager was an awesome mentor and never failed to provide inspiration and positivity when challenges arose.

What are you most proud of during the last year?  

My proudest moments over the past year were linked to our ability to service our customers with minimal interruption during the floods that occurred in November of 2021 in B.C.   The challenges of providing service to some of the areas devastated by the flood were overcome by entire Western team and completely validated that only as a team do we get the job done!

How do you define yourself as a leader? 

I believe that being a leader is always walking the walk and talking the talk. I over communicate, if that is even a thing.  An informed, educated team has many more opportunities to be successful and raise their own bar than having someone else do it for them.

What challenges do you think lie ahead for your sector? 

As for many sectors, labor availability is and will continue to be an impacting challenge for some time.  It is not enough to have people, but more and more important to have the right people.

What is your management or leadership philosophy or approach? 

I am very competitive and will always educate and challenge my team to be the best they can be.  With that goes the commitment to educate and communicate to ensure the best opportunity for success.