On International Women’s Day, and it seems fitting to me to pay tribute to a woman who has helped positively shape the lives, careers and character of so many people, especially the women in her life.
After sixteen years of dedication to our company and our cause, a beloved leader from our team retired this this week. I’ll refer to her as WW (Wonder Woman)… until I get her permission to use her first name.
For her retirement celebration, she insisted on a small, quiet event, comprised of just our department (and our immediate executive leadership team). Despite her impact across the entire organization in a myriad of ways, she wanted no company wide invitations issued, and no lavish gifts or extravagant meals. In fact, she was practically browbeat into having any sort of going away celebration at all. She had originally demurred countless times, insisting that, “You give me too much credit. You ALL played a role in our success.”
It was a bittersweet evening as we honored her on the eve of her retirement. Two team members had spent a considerable amount of time interviewing every member of our department, and one of them took that material and created an 11 minute video tribute that was shared with the group. Amidst laughter, tears, and nods of agreement, we heard various team members share how her character and values helped shaped our department into one of the organization’s top performing business units. Everyone in attendance shared a WW experience that stood out in their memory.
It should be unsurprising, then, how many women on the team told stories of how much her support and encouragement has impacted them. Many were stay-at-home moms who were re-entering the workforce, a handful were young and entering the workforce in a “professional” job capacity for the first time and a few were “older” and felt that nobody would want to hire them because of their age. I personally know of one occasion where an older female colleague was relocating out of state. She had shared with us that she was frightened that she would not have any luck finding a job because of her age. WW made a phone call to a vendor to let them know that one of our top-notch employees was moving to their area and would be seeking employment. She then encouraged the Exiting Employee (EE) to stop by and introduce herself to the people she had worked with countless times over the phone. EE agreed to stop in and say hello once she was settled and she followed through on that promise. By the time EE left the “meet & greet”, she had been offered a job, which she accepted, and continues to work at today. Creating moments like these is WW’s gift to us all – she encourages people to step outside their comfort zone in order to achieve excellence and success. There are countless other examples of how this amazing woman mentored, supported and encouraged others (women AND men), to be the best version of themselves each day.
Yet despite the adulation and admiration heaped upon her, when we clamored for her to speak, she took no credit for her success, saying instead, “Heavenly Father has blessed me,” and that the job had been an answer to her prayers. WW told us that prior to receiving the opportunity our company extended, she had been working for a different company, but had been continuously praying for a job that would allow her to be successful while still keeping her family as her #1 priority.
WW told us that she had become pregnant as a teenager, and by the time she graduated from high school, she had a three month old baby. Fast forward a few years and she had three children by the age of 22. “By all statistics,” she said, “I should never have been as successful as I was.” While we were commending her strength, courage, compassion, support, unwavering integrity and work ethic, she was giving the credit for her success to the many people along the way who mentored and encouraged her. WW said she will always remember the help she received along the way, and has spent her career trying to do the same for others.
WW reminded us that “it takes a village”, and I agree wholeheartedly. For the past 16 years, she has been our unanimously elected village chief and now moves on to new adventures. We will miss you, Chief Chavez! Enjoy every moment of retirement… You deserve it!
