Laury-Amelia: Conquering Fears and Fields
Laury-Amelia takes us on her Sodexo journey, as a resilient woman who faced out internal fears, a global pandemic and flew out provinces to attain larger goals.
Laury's Career Overview
Laury joined the Sodexo family four years ago, starting as a bistro chef in Montreal and then taking on the role of caterer chef. The global pandemic had grandly affected the catering and food industry, which consequently left Laury-Amelia with no choice but to lose her job and continue her job search remotely from home for a long period of eight months:
It was hard, very hard. From one day to the other, you find yourself forcefully adapting to this new reality and continuously finding creative ways out of this hardship... Ironically, hardships like these are always accompanied with some kind of light at the end of the tunnel. To me, that light shed through new opportunities that opened up to me - a whole new perspective on what my career could become.
A City Girl Surpasses Provinces and Fears
Travelling has become a new established routine in Laury's life since she has accepted the role of food Inspector a month ago. Laury was contacted by Sodexo to take on the role situated in the Energy and Resources segment at Havre-Saint-Pierre.
Where is that, you might ask?
The camp is located 200 km east of Sept-Îles and 850 km from Quebec City. Laury travels from Montreal for 21 days to work with the rest of the crew. Once her run is completed, she comes back to the city and enjoys her 10 days rest before her next fly-in:
When I received the call, I did not even hesitate one second, which is something I would have questioned of doing in pre-COVID times. I have always been comfortable living in the city, even back home in France, I never thought I would be exposed to a different work scenery, let alone this frequently
Both the fear and comfort of what I knew and experienced have been consequently redefined with the pandemic. What I thought was fear and nervousness have been replaced with excitement and adaptation. Whatever I feared, ambition has surpassed it.
Sodexo's Resources: A Family to Support You
Laury spoke to us about the role Sodexo's safe and reassuring environment has had on her new experience as a food inspector up North. An important step in her career she decided to take on rapidly and apprehensions were naturally growing as she was questioning her capacities in fulfilling this new role:
As a woman and part of a visible minority, taking a huge and unfamiliar step in my career and this quickly was very scary...I was nervous on so many levels, repeatedly questioning and fearing external judgment of myself and my work from my future teammates. However, as soon as I reached the camp, I was quickly appeased when introduced and working with my team and the rest of the crew. It is now what I consider my second home far from home.
"Finally, I would say to men and women, whatever your racial, cultural and professional backgrounds are, your skills and experience are important and Sodexo really does value them. Putting fear aside and opening up to newness and change can take you a long way!"
Are you also looking to take your career to the next level?
Find new opportunities and map your way to success!