2026 Star Women in Convenience winner: Lindee Hilker
Lindee Hilker
Customer care manager
Core-Mark International
How did you get into this business?
I started my career in document management, but about eight years ago, I made the move into food service and convenience—and it completely changed my path. It was a bit of a leap into the unknown at the time, but I quickly realized this industry is where I thrive. It’s fast paced, constantly evolving and deeply rooted in relationships.
What’s the best career advice you’ve received?
Control what you can control. It’s simple, but it’s something I come back to all the time. There will always be challenges and things outside of your control, especially in a fast-moving environment. Staying focused on where you can make an impact helps you stay grounded and keep momentum.
Career highlight?
One of my proudest achievements was leading the centralization of Customer Care across all Canadian operating companies. It was a significant shift—from multiple ways of working to a more unified, consistent approach. We took the time to understand what was working in each location, identified opportunities to improve and built standardized processes that supported both efficiency and service quality. We also established balanced KPIs and aligned staffing to demand, ensuring we could meet service expectations without compromising the customer experience. It created stronger alignment across the business and set a foundation for continued growth.
Nomination highlights
Since joining Core-Mark in 2018, Lindee Hilker is a catalyst behind the company’s customer experience strategy and a key leader through the transition to Performance Food Group. As customer care manager, she leads a team of 20 associates supporting more than 8,000 customers and over $1 billion in revenue across Canada. She successfully centralized customer care operations across all Canadian operating companies, standardizing processes, implementing balanced service KPIs and leading the rollout of a new call centre platform across North America’s convenience segment. Her ability to translate complex operational changes into practical tools for front-line teams has strengthened both service consistency and employee confidence. Her people-first leadership also contributed to an impressive 11-point increase in the company’s 2025 employee engagement survey. Beyond operations, she is a founding member and Global Chair of Women of PFG, championing inclusion, career development and community. She also leads Core-Mark Canada’s annual Customer Appreciation Event, which has helped raise more than $700,000 for ovarian cancer initiatives.
Click here for a full list of the 2026 Star Women in Convenience winners
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