T O P 2 O

YOUNG RETAILERS
FLE
A GENERATION WITHOUT
GENDER RESTRICTIONS
BY SIGRID FORBERG
Hardware and home improvement retailing has seen a steady increase in young women rising up through
the ranks into leadership positions—and they’ve got the right tools to break through the glass ceiling.
J
illian Sexton was 17 years old when
she realized the hardware industry
wasn’t an easy place to be a woman.
Sexton, still in high school at the time,
was working in her parents’ store, Hector
Building Supplies, in Pictou, N.S. One day,
she answered the phone and asked the caller
if she could help with anything.
There was a long silence on the phone,
and then a male voice gruffly asked if there
was a man he could talk to.
“That was the moment I realized that it
wasn’t an equal playing field for women in
this industry,” says Sexton. “I still remember
that moment—where I was standing
and how I felt—to this day.”
In the years since that defining moment,
she’s worked her way up to management,
and while her journey hasn’t been without
its challenges, the rewards of taking the helm
of a family business are worth it, she believes.
“You have to be willing to work hard,”
says Sexton. “I definitely did feel some stares
walking into meetings as a young woman,
but once they saw I was there for more than
just to be the next generation, that changed.”
CONNECTING WITH PEERS
Gender isn’t the only thing working against
young women in the industry—their age
can sometimes be an obstacle as well.
Whether in interactions with their peers
in management positions who have more
extensive experience, or with customers,
being a young (and especially a young
woman) means there are always going to be
some people that don’t take them seriously.
Sexton’s experience is just one of the many
examples of this. But the best weapon against
the ignorance of others is knowledge.
In an effort to help the next generation of
leaders in the home improvement and hardware
industry to learn from and develop relationships
with their peers, the Western Retail
Lumber Association (WRLA) started up a
program called NexGEN earlier this year.
Krista Scherpenzeel, project and events
manager for the WRLA, is the co-ordinator
for the NexGEN program. She says the association’s
board consists mainly of (over-40)
males. Last year, the WRLA wanted to welcome
the next generation that might not
have been aware of all the opportunities
available to them within the industry, and
NexGEN was born. Now, says Scherpenzeel,
I want to be involved in
this industry. I just want
“to do it wearing heels.
”
Jillian Sexton at Hector Building Supplies
faced her share of discrimination as she
worked her way up in the family business.
Kim Ystma’s leadership was forged in
tragedy when her father died suddenly,
leaving her to run the business.
40 THIRD QUARTER / 2014
Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly
www.hardlines.ca