At SPI Health and Safety, we are proud to have as many women as men working for us. Gender diversity in the workplace is a value that we hold dear, and we want to defend it.
Who better than our president, Kim Levesque, to represent this diversity and the essential place women hold within SPI. As a young woman with big dreams, Kim took on several challenges before accepting the one SPI offered her.
After 18 years of hard work with the company, Kim Levesque was named the first SPI Health and Safety president. She embodies SPI’s values, which is to have GRIP (Go-Getter, Render Service, Innovative, and Passionate).
Our CEO, Martin Tremblay, writes of Kim that she “combines great leadership, business development, and operational excellence. Clear-minded, passionate, and accountable, she has an unconditional love for our great team and the company.”
Learn more about a passionate and humble businesswoman and a loving and caring mother in a few questions.
Q. Which female personality has inspired you the most?
A. I’ve had several good female coaches in my career, but I would say that the two women who have inspired me the most are Oprah and my mother. Oprah, because of her intelligence, fighting spirit, resilience, and desire to help people.
My mother, for her resilience and the values and learning she passed on to us. When my brothers and I were young, she used to tell us two things: “Sky is the limit” and “You can achieve anything you put your mind to”, and I believed it. Those words drove me to want to reach new goals.
Q. Kim on what drives her
A. The more I am challenged or told that I am not capable, the more it motivates me! It drives me to be better. I think, as women, we set the bar high for ourselves.
Q. Kim on her position as president
A. I often tell people, “I’m just Kim”. Sometimes the title seems to intimidate some, but I have my ups and downs, successes, and failures like anyone else. The latter hurts more, but over time, I’ve learned that failures are what make me grow the most. My role is to be a guide. I don’t care about the title; what is important to me and makes me happy is to build alongside a wonderful team while having fun.
Q. How do you define success?
A. For me, success is reaching your goals and realizing your dreams. Success is finding your place.
Q. What are you most proud of?
A. I’m proud of the fact that I have managed to find a balance between my personal and professional life. Professionally, I am proud to work for a humane company like SPI with a great team dedicated to our raison d'être, which is the well-being of people. Specifically, the well-being of our employees, our clients, and their workers by making sure they return home safely, and the well-being of people in the community by investing time and resources in different organizations.
Q. What advice would you give to young women who want to make their mark in the business world?
A. Never miss an opportunity to learn, be curious, and don’t be afraid to ask. Ask a question, ask for a contract, ask for a price, ask for help, etc. As my mother told me many times, “the worst that will happen is that you will be told NO”.
Q. What can I wish for Kim in the next few years?
A. This is going to sound clichéd, but I want to continue to be a better version of myself. My primary role is being a mother. I want to raise my two young boys to become good humans who contribute to society.
I try to share with them what we do at SPI so that they will want to give back to the community, have great love for people, and help their peers. If they contribute, help people, and are honest, I will be fulfilled.
