Humble beginnings
From humble beginnings as a commerce student in the 1980s to an unexpected career spanning more than three decades as an executive at one of the biggest multinationals in the world, Lois Bruce (BCom 1987) comes back to UBC Sauder several times a year.
Lois’ career ultimately started by chance: as a favour, she accompanied a friend to a Procter & Gamble info session on campus one day—with zero interest in the company. The personable campus recruiter hosting the info session quickly nabbed her attention and they hit it off – so much so that her first interview with P&G ran 30 minutes over! She was quickly offered a permanent position in ’86, a full year before graduation. Little did she know this would turn into a fruitful 32 year (and counting) career as an executive, moving her from Vancouver to Calgary to Toronto and back again.
Throughout her career, Lois has experienced many changes at P&G. One of the perks she stressed about joining a big multinational is the wide and varied experience she’s had with the same company: over 30 years she’s been in 17 different roles with 19 different managers, all under the same roof.
Her UBC roots bring her back to campus on the regular—she is now one of the personable P&G faces you’d see at campus info sessions. Lois and her team have also been involved in teaching part of a sales management course at UBC for the past ten years, as well as working on the newly-launched Sales Mentorship Program. When not leading info sessions or interviewing, you can find her on the golf course or touring around the UBC campus with her daughter around in hopes that she, too, may be bound for UBC.