Meet Sandra, President of Elgin County Professional Service

Sandra is the oldest of six siblings and the only girl—that probably says everything you need to know about her right there, but for the sake of this exercise, let’s just keep going. After high school, Sandra graduated from Durham College with a diploma in Human Services Counseling and worked in the field for a short time. However, she soon realized it wasn’t her true passion. At the time, her car was always breaking down—who could blame it? It was a 1982 Chevette! Every time Sandra pushed on the gas, the gas pedal cable would snap. Every. Single. Time. After several days of taking the city bus to get around, Sandra had had enough of paying someone else to fix her car. So, she did what any woman in her early twenties might do—she decided to become an automotive mechanic!

Sandra's career journey began in an era when women in the automotive industry were few and far between. It was here that she learned the true meaning of resilience. After years of working in a male-dominated field, Sandra made a bold shift—trading in her grease-stained overalls for business suits and heels.

For the next 20 years, Sandra worked in Purchasing and Logistics for several Fortune 500 companies, navigating the corporate world with the same tenacity that marked her early years. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Sandra found herself at a crossroads, needing to pivot and reinvent her career quickly. After two decades in the same industry, she asked herself: What’s next?

Her answer came in the form of real estate. Sandra earned her real estate license in record time, eager to dive into a new world of entrepreneurship. For two years, she immersed herself in learning new skills and gaining experience—confronting valuable (and often tough) lessons along the way. While she loved the flexibility and independence of real estate, Sandra soon realized her true passion lay elsewhere.

Her natural talent for organizing spreadsheets, receipts, and budgets led her to discover bookkeeping—a hidden passion she didn’t know she had. Sandra made the leap, put her real estate license on hold, and became a certified bookkeeper. She opened her own firm, and just like that, a new chapter began. Building a business from the ground up wasn’t easy—there were challenges and setbacks, but Sandra wouldn’t change a thing. The lessons learned along the way have shaped her into the leader she is today.