2025 Star Women in Convenience winner: Cherry Shepherd

Cherry Shepherd         

Team Lead, Associate Support & Site Operations - Retail Back Office Downstream      

Petro-Canada, a Suncor business   

How did you get into this business? 

I started with Petro-Canada as a Guest Service Attendant at their flagship location in Scarborough, Ontario. The intention was to become a convenience store specialist; however, this role was not available. Believing I could advance my career, I started with the available opportunity by pumping gas on the midnight shift.

What do you like most about your job?

I enjoy the variety. It's great to face new challenges every day, which helps me learn and grow. I thrive in a collaborative environment and appreciate that I get the opportunity to work with multiple stakeholders in various departments to achieve common goals.

What was the biggest challenge or your career? What did you learn?

For quite a bit of my career, I struggled with work/life balance. I threw myself into work especially when I was working on aspects that I truly loved, or it was impactful. It took having a child and a huge mindset change about a decade or so ago to move from working harder to working smarter!

What's the best advice you ever received? 

“The grass isn't greener on the other side, it's greener where you water it”. I received this advice during the interview itself when starting at Petro-Canada. I had a direct focus on a specific job while there were multiple opportunities in front of me that I was choosing to ignore. The hiring manager was essentially telling me that while it was great to have a goal, I shouldn’t spend time daydreaming about what could be in a different place or circumstance. Instead, invest my energy in what is right in front of me and see how it can be cultivated into something beautiful.

What's your career highlight/biggest achievement?

When I organized and facilitated a safety conference for a national network of service providers we worked with. The conference provided a focused learning environment, allowing the attendees to gain meaningful education for their company and their employees, and in turn, potentially save lives. It fostered communication, collaboration, sharing of best practices and overall, promoted a culture where safety became everyone’s responsibility.

How do you define yourself as a leader?

I am collaborative, empowering, and honest. I believe in the power of teams and leveraging everyone's expertise and talents, and I am completely comfortable not being the expert in the room. I aim to enable the success, growth and development of my team while exhibiting empathy, patience, encouragement, and accountability. I exist to remove roadblocks while still providing good oversight and coaching. Through these actions, the hopes are that I am seen as more of a mentor and less of a boss.