On Monday, May 4th of 2015, Annabelle Cormack officially incorporated Cormack Recruitment. The Star Wars fan in me has always wondered if she did that on purpose, but whether she intended to or not, every year on the 4th of May for the last 9 years I have said to myself "May the Force be with you this year, Cormack." And this year, as we celebrate an entire DECADE in business, I truly feel "the Force is strong with this one."
But let's be real, that wasn't always the case. Building this business from the ground up was no small feat and working alongside my amazing friend and mentor, Annabelle, for the first 5 years to do just that, we faced a lot of ups and downs together. Then, when Annabelle decided to sell the business in 2020, I believed so much in what we stood for and where we were going that, like a crazy person (or at least that's what most of my family said) I bought a business in the middle of a global pandemic. I'll never forget the strange looks I got from some of my friends and family when I told them I was going to buy Cormack. "Ummm, Amanda, you DO realize that like hundreds of thousands of people just got laid off across Canada right? How are you going to make any money doing this?? No one is going to hire you to hire people when they are laying people off left and right!"
If you remember back then it was always just "2 more weeks" until the world would open back up and business would get back to normal. I knew it was never going to be just "2 more weeks," but whenever the world was ready to get back to normal, I knew that the world of recruitment would be different and THIS, this would be our time to shine.
Why was I so confident? Because the core values of our business were rooted in the very things that had become more important than ever to job seekers and hiring managers alike: Integrity, Flexibility, Collaboration and Quality. Cormack was MADE for the post-pandemic Recruitment era and even though it was going to be an uphill battle, I was determined to show Canada what we were made of.
But I knew that I was essentially starting from the ground up. Annabelle and I had worked hard together to build a brand that people could trust, but in 2020 we worked predominately in Retail and Hospitality, which were two of the hardest hit industries during the pandemic. So, essentially all of our business went away overnight and I had to find a way to diversify our portfolio of Clients. More than that, I had to find MY voice when it came to business development and client relations. I also knew (at the time) that I wanted to scale the business, to work with a strong team of like-minded people, committed to the same values and last, but certainly not least, I knew that I needed to address the technology (or lack thereof) that we were using.
Looking back, I definitely had a lot of big ideas about how things "should be" and the direction I wanted to take the company. I wanted to change things and "really make it my own" but I hadn't figured out yet what "my own" looked like and certainly didn't have a clue as to how I was going to get there. The next 5 years would prove to be quite a journey of self discovery (personally and professionally), trial & error, growth and acceptance. (Check out our Anniversary Blog Series over the Month of May if you're curious as to HOW we addressed some of our biggest hurdles and what I learned along the way)
Reflecting on where we are today as a company and who I am as a leader, I am grateful for the countless lessons I have learned along the way, and for the future lessons I will learn as we continue this wild ride. I am grateful for all the incredible Candidates, Clients and Colleagues I have met along the way that have shaped Amanda and Cormack into who we are today. Because of you, this year on the 4th of May, I will continue my tradition and repeat to myself "May the Force be with you Cormack," knowing that we are ready to embrace another incredible decade of learnings and growth together - redefining Recruitment through Collaboration and Connection.
Sincerely yours,
Amanda Cox
