Connections, timing, and the power of positivity

Erin Sullivan says she’s a big believer in the power of energy and connections, and she has a great example to back it up. In fact, it’s the story of how she ended up at Lauren Services in a job and a work environment she loves.

Six or seven years ago, Sullivan and her mother booked an airbnb in British Columbia for a little get-away. When the host invited them to a dinner with some neighbours, Sullivan says they jumped at the chance.

“Those neighbours were actually Rod and Candy Phipps,” she says. “We spent the weekend conversing about life, I was just expressing everything I wanted in a career. Rod said he’d like to stay in touch and if anything opened up, I’d be a great fit for his company.”

Two or three passed as Sullivan earned more experience in the corporate world. She had begun contemplating a job change when connections and timing intervened.

“I got a message on LinkedIn from Rod. He said, ‘are you still interested in a position, something just opened up and I think you’d be a great fit, let’s go for a coffee’. It was perfect timing.”

Fast forward four years and Sullivan is leading accounting and finance at Lauren Services, a role she both appreciates and enjoys.

“I find the culture that’s here is supportive and encouraging, people are just genuine, and kind, and I know that to me goes a long way,” she says. “You won’t find that in every company.”

She says the company’s strong work ethic and collaborative approach helped them steer through the rough waters of 2020, and in fact the team is highly motivated to grow and diversify.

“I’m really proud of us, we had a pretty strong 2020 given the circumstances, and just the fact that we were able to really adjust to that, I think that’s important. If anything, it’s really set us up to be able to adjust to anything, to be able to tackle anything, and it’s shown us more avenues we might want to get into.”

For Sullivan, 2020 may prove to be a milestone year as she also got engaged and bought a house.

“It’s hard not to be optimistic,” she says with a big smile.

With offices in Calgary and Vancouver, Lauren Services delivers dynamic performance and intelligent design across the entire suite of engineering services.