Growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, Alex recalls a beautiful, fun childhood of warm beaches and warm people. There were physical dangers to avoid, but her loving parents would always make her feel secure, and rooted her in her faith in God. And there was the financial insecurity that comes from hyperinflation.
Think we have high inflation in Canada? Can you imagine living with 50-60% inflation (as Alex did in the 1990s) or even 1,000,000% (that is not a typo) in 2018?
Suffice to say, it was very difficult to get ahead in those conditions – so Alex’s parents were business owners who worked not just hard, but smart. Her mother owned visual health clinics; her father a range of businesses including gas stations and warehouses. They instilled in Alex a self-starting attitude that has driven her to this day. At 19, she enrolled in law school in Venezuela. Upon graduation, recognizing the challenge of lawyering honestly in her home country, she went to Spain for an MBA.
She then returned to Venezuela to run a visual health clinic founded by her mother, and, in 2015, came to Canada, where she began her new life as an assistant to optometrists from whom clients were walking away due to wait times.
“I said ‘You can easily shorten those wait times. You just have to do it this way.’” It was Alex applying the adaptive instincts she had honed in her home country, where finding creative solutions was a matter of survival. It is the same positive attitude she brings to her work here at Ardill Group.
“I bring that creativity to work every minute. I am always looking for the best and fastest way to do or improve something. I am constantly figuring out how to make things flow and be absolutely the most efficient.”
No wonder that the brand foundation element Alex identifies with most strongly is our fanaticism about consistent service. As she puts it, “Physical and financial health are so similar. People want to know they are in steady hands. It really is all about feeling secure.”
Outside of work, Alex loves cooking (Venezuelan food in particular) and has played tennis since age eight – but with a laugh, describes her husband and children as her favourite hobby.
