Those of you who know me personally have likely heard this story before, so I apologize in advance for boring you! For those of you who don’t, I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about my journey with Plan A.  

In June 2015, I had just completed the second year of the Business Administration program at Cambrian College, and I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to continue on and complete the third year, which offered an 8-week placement. Do I really want to spend another year in school? Where will I complete my placement? What do I really want to do with my life? One fateful day while I was working as a waitress, I ended up serving two businesswomen who I got chatting with about the program I was in. They liked my attitude and offered me a position in their office for my placement – those women were Sheri Tomchick and Mel Morin!

After completing my 8-week placement, I returned to school for the next 8 weeks while working part-time in the Plan A office as a Recruiter. I graduated on a Thursday and started full-time the following Monday… and I never left! I moved into the role of Recruitment Manager where I stayed for just over one year before working with StaffStat as a Solution Sales Specialist. I then went on maternity leave, moved to Newmarket and opened Plan A York in June 2018. 

Looking back, when I first started in the Plan A office as an HR student, I never thought I would be where I am today. I’ve seen the company grow from a tiny office in Azilda, to a franchise that’s servicing long-term care homes in British Columbia, Alberta and all across Ontario. I started when there were four of us working to service Greater Sudbury, and I now work alongside a team of amazing men and women who are on a mission to keep long-term care homes running fully staffed all across the country. Has it been an easy journey? Absolutely not. Has it been an amazing journey? Hell yes.

Like I mentioned previously, I officially started up Plan A York in June 2018; more specifically, I conducted my very first interview in a tiny Tim Hortons in Woodbridge on June 5, 2018. My goal originally was to just hire, hire, hire. I made that my mission and I succeeded pretty quickly. I now have over 100 nurses and PSWs on my team and, just recently, I signed my very first long-term care partner (Whoop whoop!). You’re probably thinking, “You opened your doors one and a half years ago and you JUST signed your first partner now?” Yup. Remember when I mentioned that it wasn’t an easy journey? That’s what I was referring to.

I felt like a failure more times than I could count. I wondered if I’d made the right decision. Maybe I was doing something wrong. Do I not look the part? Do people not like me? Am I the reason that things aren’t going the way I thought and hoped that they would? But I kept moving forward and never gave up hope! I continued to hire new staff and reach out to homes and it finally happened. I finally signed my first long-term care partner. I finally signed a lease agreement for my first very own office space. I finally feel as though I’ve succeeded!

Of course, I know that my journey isn’t over. In fact, this is just the beginning! As Sheri always says, it’s like we’re on a crazy roller coaster ride and we’re all doing it together. There are ups and there are downs, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

~ Tessa Anderson, Owner/Operator of Plan A York