Carol Ann Lawrie

S7E3: Are you in congruence?  Explore personal and professional alignment with Carol Ann Lawrie

Sounds like a dream, right?

No matter what stage of your career, aligning your personal and professional values feels like the path to a fulfilling, long standing relationship with your workplace.  For our more visual and strategic listeners, this feels like a giant Venn diagram, with a juicy middle in service of what’s best for employer and employee. Host Anika Chabra explores the topic of congruence with a guest who is living this reality.  Carol Ann Lawrie credits her Scottish roots, upbringing, and the personal work she has done to become a loyal servant leader and community builder, aspiring to leave the world a better place than she found it. Hear stories of her familial background, how she worked with other leaders to co-found a vibrant community at her workplace and sage advice for those who might be struggling to find their place at work.

About our guest:

Meet Carol Ann Lawrie! A passionate storyteller and community advocate, Carol Ann is the proud daughter of Scottish immigrants, with a deep sense of loyalty and support rooted in her close relationship with her brother. Married for over 22 years, she is a devoted mother to her two daughters, Ella and Eloise. Carol Ann works as an administrative assistant and co-founded the Canadian Assistant Committee, leading wellness initiatives and monthly book clubs at Home Depot, where she's worked for 16 years. Her career also includes corporate roles at McDonald's and General Motors Canada. An active volunteer on her local school board parent committee, Carol Ann is committed to making a positive impact while honoring her family's values of respect and kindness. She’s excited to share her journey on the Root & Seed podcast, connecting with others through life’s stories and experiences.

Carol Ann

What keeps you up at night? is always a question that I like to ask leaders when I'm picking their brains.  And I think what keeps me up at night is actually not always worrying. It's actually what footprint that I leave within the organization. 

Anika

Welcome back to Root & Seed, a podcast about tradition seekers who are sparked to explore, define, and celebrate their family and cultural identity. I'm your host, Anika Chabra.  If you've had a chance to listen to the last two episodes of Season 7, you'll know that we're having so much fun speaking to some pretty self aware individuals, both who have done the work to understand who they are and translate that into how they contribute professionally in their respective industries. This includes surfacing the stories that society, their culture, their families may have told them as well as the stories that they've told themselves.  And in doing so revisit and reframe in a way that makes sense for them, their goals, and their future selves.  

What does it mean to be truly in congruence with the work that you do? To have your personal and professional values meet workplace values and in harmony meet collective goals so that it feels like a win for everyone involved. 

We can't think of anyone better to speak to this notion than Carol Ann Lawrie. Carol Ann is an Administrative Assistant for leading North American home improvement retailer, The Home Depot, and has co-founded the Canadian Assistant Committee, leading wellness, skillsharing and meaningful connection initiatives across Canada. 

You see, for Carol Ann, it's not about the title, the rank, or even perhaps the career path. It's about the impact that she can make in an organization when given the opportunity, the tools, and the mandate.  It's that desire for impact that drives Carol Ann to be one of the most human centric, empathetic leaders in her corporate workplace.  Carol Ann helps us to understand how her values and the way that she moves through the world helps to inform her professional self, starting with her familial background. 

Anika

Carol Ann, can you introduce yourself to our audience and tell them a little bit about yourself? 

Carol Ann

I'd love to. Thank you first of all, for having me today. I'm super excited. My name is Carol Ann Lawrie. Some call me CAL, some call me Cara. So it gets a little bit confusing depending on who you are and how you know me. I am first and foremost a mom to two beautiful daughters, Ella and Eloise, and a wife to Terry, and a daughter to Archie and Eileen, and a sister to Richard, and an aunt to Ryan and Taylor. So I come from a large family and I come with a big heart and I currently work at The Home Depot head office in Toronto.And I'm actually celebrating my 16th year tomorrow with the organization. So I am really excited to be here on this sort of milestone date. 

I lead with heart always. If you know my heart, then you know me. And so that makes every other reaction to everything else make sense to you or none at all, if you don't know me, because depending on how I know you, you may have different thoughts of me and my brand. But I always hope that  it was a good interaction or something you learned from meeting me. Some may take it differently, but I feel like I leave hopefully not a sting, but yet a glow or a little sparkle as some will call it along the way. 

Anika

Oh, beautiful Carol Ann!  Honestly,  I feel like you and I could have so many different types of conversations! As you know, this season is really all about understanding who you are as an individual. Because when we go to work, it's part of a collective and a collective narrative. And so the intersection of you as an individual and then the collective is actually really, really important. And so I'd love for you to tell the audience a little bit about your heritage, your cultural background, your family…I know that's a big one and that's very important to you because you started off talking about that. But if you could talk a little bit about your background and those lived experiences in the context of how you show up in the world, that'd be great.  

Carol Ann

Absolutely. I'd love to. So my heritage and roots are Scottish. My mom and dad are both from Glasgow, Scotland, and they came here after they got married at 21 years old. They'd never been to this country before. My dad's family had come here earlier. My dad is the youngest of 12 siblings and they came from Scotland to find a better life, to build a family here, to find work. And it doesn't really just start there as to people leaving their homeland and moving across to their destination. My father's father, so my great grandfather left the Isle of Skye to move to Glasgow, to a district called Anderson and his then wife that he met there had left Ireland to come to Glasgow to find work. So I think that the roots that I have seen through my family is that we have to always think outside of what we know. And we always have to go outside of our comfort zone to possibly find new ways to provide for our families through working. And we have to be open minded when we're in a stage of real mercy to find the job that's going to fit our family. But that doesn't always come on the first knock. And so as my parents found out coming to this country by trade, my dad was a carpenter at the time, and my mom was a florist. And they came here with $1000 in their pocket on a boat and with a wooden table that someone bought them for their wedding.

And so when I think about working….No matter what I've kind of endured or faced, I've always thought back to my parents journey and to my grandparents journey and to my great grandparents journey. And, as we enter a room….what do you see? You see the physical side of a person, right? Many times that's what people think of, right? That’s a Scottish girl (but) I hope when I walk in, it's more than that. Think about a halo behind me. It's like, yes the Scottish roots are there, but then the person is - what I've learned in those traditions of being around Scottish people. I feel like every day when I go to work, I show up in the best way that I can on that day. It's like chin up and keep going. And that's what my roots did. Right? Everybody, you look back as far as I know of, they were fighters, right? Soldiers, police officers, one died in the war, my great, great, great, great grandfather. Right? So I come from this line of amazingness. So I think bringing that into work,  it's everything that you do at work. It's who you are.  

Anika

You're such a beautiful storyteller. I was able to really listen and really picture the people walking through the world before even Carol Ann existed. So, I appreciate that.  Tell us a little bit about your journey at Home Depot and how that has evolved over the years.You know, 16 years is, is, you know, a lifetime really. And I think it's, it's such a great testament to the organization. But, really to you, and I would love for you to explain how that has evolved for you and for the company and your role there.  

Carol Ann

Absolutely. So 16 years ago, um, I I had this awesome opportunity to walk across the street because I was working at McDonald's head office at the time. And one of my best friends from childhood had moved over to The Home Depot and told me how great it was, just like the McDonald's environment. Because I'm all about the culture. So she was like, don't worry. It's just as awesome here…The people, cause I'm all about the people. So that was really my first question was, you know, not even what's the title because I'm not a title person. And I didn't know at the time that Home Depot was that way too. Everybody matters no matter who you are. I didn't know that much about the internal of the brand. I just knew I liked to shop there because I obviously love design and gardening or picking it out anyways and someone else doing it.

So when I walked into those orange walls and looked around, I thought, Yeah, I love Home Depot. I love shopping there. And then I didn't even know what I would fall in love with about Home Depot until I started working at Home Depot and I got to know their values and their value wheel. it's everywhere in the sense of marketing, But it's living those values like “Taking Care of our People”. One of our founders always says take care of your people and everything else takes care of itself and there couldn't be anything more true. And when I saw that quote, as I was looking and researching and thinking about this interview and 16 years ago, I was captivated by that. I knew I was on the right path because people are my passion. And they fuel me. There are some people that train you and there's some people that feel you, but in one day you can find all of that in the same space because it's looking inside of you.  

Anika

Now, obviously being at a place for 16 years is going to have its ups and downs, right? But you're such a positive person and you certainly see the good in a lot. But when times have been more challenging, what has it been from your perspective, your personal standpoint and some of the work that you've done on yourself that has pushed you through? And then the second part to that question might be how you evolved your role at The Home Depot and expanded it, given some of your personal passions and the way that you want to show up in the world. 

Carol Ann

I would say that without a doubt, it was inner work in realizing that you have to always remember that how people perceive you is, is truly none of your business. And when you sort of realize that it helps you to just continue to thrive where you are. It doesn't mean you don't have moments where it's hard, but I think it was remembering that I did have some amazing leadership amongst me and people that I could go to and it was having the courage to go and speak up and to make sure that I I was heard with different things that were occurring right and being that I'm an assistant, there's a level of you're a vault, right? Everything is very confidential and I'm very much again, back to my roots about loyalty. My family is very loyal. My parents are still together. They met at 13. They're still together at 77. We are loyal to a fault, as I say all the time. And so knowing that, in the assistant world, I started to think about the fact that who do assistants directly have? You all work within teams and you have your leaders and you have your team. Yes, but you kind of are the one person doing that role. Within that body of people. So what do you need? You need a community. And though we all sat on different floors and worked for different levels of executives within the organization, I felt there was always this need to have like a community, a gathering of assistants to understand like, Hey, Do you go through this when this is due? What do you do with that?

Or, you know, how do you prepare your executive for the week? I just want to make sure I'm being fresh, right? Asking those questions. It's not even necessarily that the bumps always were individuals that you're working amongst. It could also, at times it was, and could be, continuously be, changes. What was that thing that I kept scratching on all these years was the committee. Yeah, a committee, a community. It was always in the back of my head. I had a coffee chat with one of my peers and it was like, you know what, this would be great if we just  did something for all the assistants - a committee. We got to take care of our people and we're taking care of our people in this sense. And Home Depot is doing the best with white glove service with that. But what can we do? And for me, it was what they needed, they needed an outlet that's healthy to talk about. their health and wellness, they need to know what soft skills that they're going to need in this time for their leadership. And so from that, my peer, she's in HR, so she went to HR and long story short, we now are going on our fourth year of the Canadian Assistant Committee in Canada, which was the first for Canada. The US has had a committee for, I think, at least 15 to 18 years. Hopefully I'm not wrong with that number, but you know, a very long time and we hadn't had anything. So to be a founder of that and to leave that mark on a place that's left me with more happy times than I can fill in a jar, and more laughs and fun at work.  Work has been a happy place when the world always wasn't, and I think that that's because of the people. And I hope and I'm pretty sure that I might have been that ray of sunshine to others in a really hard time. But with the committee… we dove in and looked at what do assistants need and from there people leaned in.  From the CFO assistant to HR to marketing. We all just leaned in operationally and thought, what skills do we all have?

And when we made the call for volunteers, we had a good chunk of ladies because we are all ladies that said “yeah, I want in on this.” And so those are really the people that helped, I want to say to me and my partner, Dolly, to just build this community. We went across Canada, we went virtual, and everyone showed up and I remember thinking who's going to come to this like all these things were in my head….self doubt like who's going to log in? Who's going to want to hear what I have to say in this moment and then I looked on that screen and I just saw everybody you know eating it up. As my kids would say right eat that up it's like yeah they ate right?

Anika

May I say, yes, they came and ate, but you have to set the table. And that's what you did, right? If the table doesn't exist, infrastructure doesn't exist. If the food is not there, there is nothing. So I think it's such a beautiful example of someone who is obviously very committed to the organization. You shared your passion for what the company is doing. So foundationally that's there, but you've brought in your personal gifts and brilliance and the ways and places that you shine in. And if I was to imagine, a Venn diagram, it's almost like the two have intersected now. And you've birthed something in such a way that it's congruent with the organization and being in service of the Home Depot, but it's congruent with you.  And I think that's, what's beautiful about that. It might sound to yourself even like, or to anybody else.  You are just doing your job, you just stepping up a little bit? You moving into a leadership position? And to me, there's something very magical about what you've done, because you've really found that sweet spot between what are your values? What does how you want to show up at work look like with the company's values? And I think that's not how everybody can conceive those things. And I think that that's very, very special, so I just want to applaud you for that. 

Carol Ann

Thank you. I love that, Anika. And what keeps you up at night is always a question that I like to ask leaders when I'm picking their brains at things. And I think what keeps me up at night is actually not always worrying. It's actually what footprint that I leave within the organization.

And that really is part of my personal brand. And if you don’t know me, it’s not like I'm like being a poster person and by any means, not representing The Home Depot at this moment, in the sense of like officially, but I truly want to say that I genuinely care what's produced within this community of Assistants. If it doesn't fit, sort of the vision that I personally have….and I'm not the only person on the committee, but as one of the founders, I will be like, I can't do that because it doesn't feel right. I can't be a part of it if I don't feel right with it because I do take it that personally. I think it's so important to have these conversations.  And you and Jenn were, were part of one of the most beautiful moments that I've seen and thank you both for coming in earlier this year and opening up conversation with our teams the way that only you and Jenn could do. The questions that you asked, just the way that hearts were opened. You have to understand the history, the fact that you and Jenn brought people together in a sense that they were like, there were tears, there was laughter, they were understanding traditions about each other that now made them look at each other differently. 

That's what I've wanted this whole time was, doesn't matter who you support. It doesn't matter what your title is or who you are… Those deep questions. That's my kind of talk, right? It's like, how are you? Good. That's so not true. It's like, actually I'm terrible. You know, like my coffee spilled this morning. My hair is just not working out. Or, you know, my kids are driving me crazy or my parents, or I don't know how I'm going to pay next month's car payment. I don't know. People have a lot going on. Behind the apron, behind everything, right? And we have to start remembering that, right? I don't know, on my way here I just heard about, you know, five different things, that are happening around the world that are like wars or children are starving or  I just drove by someone that looked like they needed a hug. Like there's all these things and I think the fact that we were able to dive into some deep questions that you and Jenn brought…your favorite Christmas tradition or your favorite holiday or whatever it is within your family. Right. What's your favorite thing to do as a family together? What's something that sticks with you? That's people knowing people. And not only that, I think your conversations  brought up things for people that they didn't even know they needed to hear.  You know, I think there's parts of our minds and our hearts that we forget to explore. And for me, your workshop and your questions, like to see that in a workplace, it was so beautiful. Like, thank you both again. Because it was so beautiful. I mean, there was a day, like I told you that not many would even come to anything.  And now we filled a room virtually and in person and something so beautiful happened in that moment. 

Anika

Love that.  We did an exercise where we sort of wrote out  all of the misconceptions and the myths that are in the workplace. So it's sort of like “most leaders think this…but this is actually true.” And I think you’d be a wonderful person because you are a leader at the organization. And you're amongst leaders all the time. If you could isolate one and answer the question of….what do most leaders think, but actually the truth is. I'd love for you to take that one on if you can.  

Carol Ann

Yeah, that's a great question. 

I don't want anyone to think that it was something that is relevant now. I will use a past experience if I can. I would say working with a few leaders in my career in general and in different formats, I think self awareness is the most misunderstood thing for a leader that hasn't come to the realization of being self reflective. And a servant leader is much better and much more will be accomplished by being that way and leaning into actually looking at their strengths and their weaknesses and  sort of looking at  the blind spots that maybe they can't see as individuals. I will say on the contrary, when you do have a leader, which I have had many that are that way, the difference of their approach and their leadership and their style it trickles down to everyone within their scope, whoever they deal with cross functionally.  Watching somebody up close who has self awareness is one of the most beautiful things.

But even if I put myself in different arenas where I wasn't an assistant, but I was working as a leader myself with other leaders of different seniority is the ones that thought they knew how their teams perceive them and they just carried on were not always the ones that had that loyalty. And longevity is certain. individuals within their scope. 

Anika

I just like your call to personal agency and responsibility. And I think that's really, really important. So I appreciate you sharing your wisdom of how you've been able to get through your own personal journey in the workplace.

I would love to ask you a question from our workplace deck, if you don't mind.

Carol Ann

Absolutely.  

Anika

Alright. I picked one for you. And the one that came up today is about food. Are there any objects, smells, or flavours that bring back memories?  

Carol Ann

Scottish bakery. If I smell a bakery, it doesn't matter what bakery it was. That's where my brain goes, like, those Scottish treats. If you've never had Scottish bakery — please go to your local store and grab some for your next dessert, because everyone will want them! They're just so delicious. And so I think smelling any type of bakery will make me think of being a child and all my aunts sitting, drinking tea and gabbing as Scottish people drink a lot of tea. And me sitting with my cousin and we would sit with our little cups like we were little ladies with our China cups and we would be eating these delicious bakery items. And if you got them warm, it was even better. I was like You must've just got these from Jimmy's bakery. Right? Like everyone went to this one place, right? So that's a real focus for me. And a highlight  was my dad who was a police officer and he worked in Pickering and he used to have to check the properties and there was a Scottish bakery on his route. And one morning he opened the back door, checking it and it opened and he went in and it was like making sure. Nobody broke in, they didn't, they just forgot, but there he found this old gentleman in there baking at 4 in the morning and he was like, Oh, hi officer. Like, would you like a tea and bakery? My dad being Scottish is like, well, you know, sure. If I don't get a call, I could do this. Right. So my dad sat and met this complete stranger who then kept calling my dad, Andy, which is not my dad's name. It's Archie. But he still would call him Andy, like 20 years later. Because we continued to visit this man who owned this bakery in Pickering. And he said we have children as they got to know each other. He said, bring them in one Saturday and I'll let them make the bakery. So there I went as my 4 year old little self, very excited that I was going to get to see my favorite snacks were made. Then I maybe get to eat a lot more of the icing thanI usually would. And my mom wasn't going to be there. So I was definitely going to get to eat it. Right. And I went in there and he was like, you can help make all these tarts, which were my favorite. And then you can take as many as you want. So you can imagine me with my little strawberry shortcake bag getting jammed with as many of those as I possibly could. 

Anika

Carol Ann, thank you so much for this conversation. Oh my gosh, we covered so much ground. And your story is really, really inspirational. So I really appreciate you just sharing a piece of your heart with us.  I am so looking forward to bringing this to the world. Is there anything else you wanted to say? 

Carol Ann

I think the main thing that I want to just loop back for just one second to the work aspect is just for anybody that's coming into the work world that isn't sure, I think they just need to show up as themselves. A lot of us journey through our careers and we're trying to or someone we're trying to imitate. It's flattery to imitate someone that inspires you, right? I think if they grab onto the things that they think about, who they've inspired, who's been inspiring to them, who they want to inspire, and think about the generations before them that are standing, with them, for them to get to that door of that interview at that job and to land it, is that never just take it for granted that you have that job, whatever that job is, do it your best.  

Anika

Those are words to live by. And it really speaks to the authenticity of character that Carol Ann exudes in every aspect of her life. As we heard, she truly embodies a whole history self- awareness, and brings her own unique sparkle to every community she enters and creates, be it personal or professional.The Home Depot is lucky to have her.  

Stay tuned for more episodes coming up this season. We will continue to explore cultural self awareness and meaningful connection in professional and community settings. They are Ted speakers, social impact leaders, researchers, age technology experts, all with a diverse point of view on how understanding your roots and its impact on how you live today and in the future benefits all from the young to the old.

This episode was hosted by me, Anika Chabra, executive produced by Jenn Siripong Mandel and edited by Camille Blais. Bye for now.

Episode Credits

Hosted by: Anika Chabra

Brought to you by: Root & Seed

Executive Producer: Jennifer Siripong Mandel

Sound Editing by: Camille Blais

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