Best Boss: Taryn Svenson
The standout about Taryn Svenson is the sparkle in her eye while she’s talking about her experiences meeting hundreds of people and how her career has taken her throughout the province.
Taryn and her husband own and operate Sunny Days Care Home in Prince Albert, a 24 hour personal care residence for seniors. Sunny Days provides personal care and support to 12 residents. Residents have access to long term 24 hour (awake at night) staff, three home cooked meals daily, weekly laundry, medication management and individualized care plans. Taryn speaks very highly of her staff at Sunny Days as she evaluates who she hires to care for her residents very closely. More than half of Taryn’s staff have been with her since she took over this facility in 2009. Taryn’s goal when she took on Sunny Days was to create a home-like environment for her residents with familiar, trusted surroundings to make every resident comfortable in their new home.
When asked about where her knack for helping people comes from, she smiles and says that she immediately thinks of her mom. She talks about how when she was looking for another sales representative for her previous company in publishing, she encouraged her mom to begin a new career at age 50. Taryn feels that her inclination to help people originally came from her mom, and she says that helping people is the basis of being a great salesperson, a great boss and an amazing individual.
Taryn’s desire to help people is evident in her choice of careers. Her first significant career was as a Sales Representative for large transportation company. Taryn had her misgivings when first approached about going into a sales position at the young age of 18, but dove in with support and encouragement from the person she describes as her “Best Boss”, Dawson Thompson. Dawson signed her up for a Dale Carnegie speaking course to improve her confidence. Taryn describes her sales experiences as “being yourself, being honest with people and showing them their best options”. Her career in transportation took her from the Regina area to Calgary, where she recalls entertaining clients at football and hockey games.