“There’s no place like home.”
Do you recognize that line? It comes from the mouth of a young brunette who loves her dog and is terrified of flying monkeys. No, it wasn’t me that said it. Although, I strongly agree with her and I could easily fit the bill (I mean, who wouldn’t be terrified of airborne primates?!). Dorothy and I seem to have something else in common, aside from our hair colour and shared phobias. She and I both found ourselves on a journey down a road we never imagined ourselves on.
My first step into the Land of Picture Perfect Cleaning was not the result of being hurled around by a tornado, but rather, my appearance at the 2017 Christmas Party. I attended with my partner, Michael, who had been a Sales Manager for PPC at the time. We found our table, sat down, and I was immediately greeted by managers and other employees. I could feel the close-knit relationships between every single person who was there. Unbeknownst to me, many of the amazing people we shared the night with would appear in my life throughout the months to come; affecting my journey more than they had before.
Fast forward to March 2018, when Michael solidified a cleaning contract for an office in Airdrie, where we live with our two daughters and our dog. I was working an early morning part-time job when I was asked if I would be interested in cleaning one night a week. I remember the nervousness I felt when Aaron and Waseem came to train me on-site. I constantly wondered if I was completing tasks properly and hoping the client would be consistently happy with my work. I’m proud to say that I have since built a great rapport with the office owner through my work ethic and my personality.
Further down the road, I found myself lost in the hopes of finding a permanent position that would pay well and allow me to put family first when needed. It was as if Glinda the Good Witch had waved her wand and saved me from my fruitless job hunt. In September, another opportunity had opened up within PPC and, without hesitation, I decided to climb fully aboard. There are too many good things to say about my work family. The weekly meetings, the training, the support; it is all like a dream come true.
Just like Dorothy, I had made my way down the brick road, building incredible relationships along the way. For her, meeting the Wizard of Oz and receiving her wish to go back home was the end of her story. For me, my Wizard is the unique position I now hold within PPC, which is just the beginning of my story. I am an Operations Manager, a Business Administrative Assistant, and I dabble into Social Media Relations. If anyone has ideas of how to fit that on a business card, please let me know!
Dorothy was right; there’s no place like home. Picture Perfect Cleaning has shown me what a home in the workplace is meant to look like.
