Tanya takes a chance and takes the lead

In March, Tanya Hirtle had a decision to make. She was a store manager in training at an Atlantic Superstore^® location in Chatham, N.B., and her district manager came to her with a question: The manager of store 388 in Montague, PEI, had retired. How would she feel about working at that location during the pandemic?

“He told me to think long and hard about it,” Tanya says. “I knew it would mean time away from my family and not having the freedom to come and go as often, due to provincial travel restrictions.”

Tanya thought about it — and she jumped at the opportunity.

She’s been enrolled in the SMiT (Store Manager in Training) program since January, and one of the key lessons she’s learned is to take ownership of the experience.

“A lot of the program has talked about getting out of your comfort zone,” she says. “So alright, let’s go — take me out of my comfort zone!”

For 11 weeks, Tanya has worked at the Atlantic Superstore location in Montague. She self-isolates in her cottage after work, taking solo walks on the beach and completing her SMiT homework.

Every other weekend, she goes back to New Brunswick to visit her teenaged son and husband. When she’s home, she has to self-isolate there, too.

“There are times when it’s hard, when it’s tough,” she admits. But the good has clearly outweighed the difficult. Tanya speaks highly of the staff at store 388.

Over the last two years, working as an assistant store manager in Chatham, Tanya began to think about becoming a store manager. Her manager there encouraged her growth, acted as a mentor, and helped her develop new skills.

With her son now 18 and preparing to leave the nest, Tanya began to feel that it was her time, which led her to sign up for the SMiT program.

Before the pandemic, she travelled to head office for leadership courses and spent a week at a Loblaws^® store in Ottawa — her first time working with a female store manager. “That was a wonderful experience for me,” she says.

For other women who are considering leadership roles, Tanya recommends seeking out mentors.

“I just made the decision that I'm going to own this program and move forward with it, regardless of what else is going on,” she says, reflecting on the last three months. “I'm not the kind of person to just sit back and wait for somebody to tell me what to do.”