Laurie Schultz didn't exactly grow up poor, but she grew up next door to poor – in a trailer park in Calgary, where her mother – a single parent – worked two jobs.
She had teachers who saw potential in her and gave her encouragement. Now the successful CEO of a 200-person enterprise software company, ACL Services, Schultz likes to pay it forward in her own company by identifying people she thinks might have been overlooked but who show potential for advancement.
Her upbringing also had something to do with how she chose to give back to the community – by seeking out the Vancouver chapter of Dress for Success, where she is vice-chairwoman.
The organization helps women – many of them immigrants and single mothers – enter or get back into the workforce by providing them a professional business suit, help with their resumés, mentoring and confidence boosting.
"Definitely there's a strong drive that comes from my childhood," Schultz said. "What my DNA is about is to discover people that are amazing and create an environment where they can practise developing [their] skills."
That is evident in the makeup of ACL after Schultz came aboard as chief operating officer in August 2011. One of her first tasks was to hold a "town hall" meeting – something she still holds regularly – which resulted in a major shakeup of the company's leadership.
She brought in new blood and promoted from within. Since she took over as COO – later becoming CEO – 45% of the company's workforce and 75% of the company's senior leadership team is new.
She brought a similar approach to Dress for Success, said the organization's chairwoman, Cindy Kaczmarek.
"Right at the early days, she came in and really dug in, rolled up her sleeves and started looking at how we could diversify and expand our funding sources," Kaczmarek said. "It was a new set of eyes and somebody with a different set of experiences and that business focus that we were needing at that time. She's been a really good model around balancing productivity with being caring and passionate."
ACL's revenue historically came from hard sales of compliance, audit and risk management software. But since she became ACL's CEO in September 2012, Schultz has been moving the company toward the software-as-a-service model.
She increased the company's investment in research and development and acquired Workpaper.com – a cloud-based governance risk and compliance platform. It represented a fundamental shift in the way the company does business.
"That product last year did triple-digit growth for us," Schultz said.
And now that it has a new business model, Schultz is focused on expanding the company's market.
In 2012, ACL acquired a company in Singapore that had employees in five Asian countries, so the acquisition greatly expanded ACL's global footprint.
After earning a bachelor's degree in commerce and an MBA from the University of Alberta, Schultz's first job was with Alberta Government Telephones, which was bought by Telus (TSX:T).
After seven years with Telus, she spent three years doing consulting work with KPMG, then went to work with Intuit Canada in Edmonton, where she was the product manager for Quicken, Intuit's finance software.
In 2004, Schultz moved her family to B.C. to work for Simply Accounting, in Richmond, which was acquired by Sage Software, where Schultz was senior vice-president and general manager for Sage North America's enterprise resource planning portfolio.
Shultz pointed out that, in Canada, only 18% of senior management roles are filled by women, but she said she has personally never experienced any career barriers because of her gender.
"I have not really ever felt any kind of glass ceiling obstacles. I've been in companies like Telus, ACL and Sage that have been excellent organizations in terms of diversity. Where I would more recently notice it is in our foreign operations."
Schultz has two children, but being a mother has not hindered her career.
"When we moved out here, my husband quit his job, so we have an atypical household scenario. He's a stay-at-home dad. He's awesome at it. I've been lucky to have that. Not everybody has that choice."
In addition to winning the Influential Women in Business award, Schultz has received the Minerva Foundation for BC Women Excellence in Leadership award and a Stevie Awards for Women in Business (bronze) Executive of the Year award. •
For more information on our March 5 gala luncheon event celebrating this year's Influential Women in Business, click here.
