Bev has actually had two stints of employment, first with SED Systems beginning in March 1977 at the ripe old age of 18. She left SED to raise a family with husband Nestor and came back to SED in December 2003. “In total I have been with SED/Calian for 30 years,” says Bev. “Sandra Naylor, my previous manager, used to call it my 17-year mat leave because I stayed at home during that time … to raise our three daughters.”

Bev’s first role was as an assembler and she remembers that time as much different than today. “There were only five assemblers in the division of SED that I worked in at that time. There was no SMT line, we preformed, installed and soldered all the components/circuit cards manually. It is so different now.”

One particular memory stands out the most from that time. “Shortly after I left SED the first time I worked for them—I was still on maternity leave and had not formally given my notice—they called me to ask if I would go to China Lake, California, for a month to take a course to allow me to become a trainer for SED assemblers. I was very honoured to be asked but, unfortunately, I had a four-month-old baby and two other children under five and so the timing just wasn’t right, or I certainly would have taken the opportunity to go.”

Bev was never one to shy away from hard work and a new challenge. That was one part of her Calian experience she will always remember fondly. “When I worked in manufacturing, I was a team lead, mostly for the Kidde harness and CEP BTP products,” says Bev. “We went through an extremely busy period when there were several shifts working 6am to 9pm six days a week. I was a team lead to more than 140 people on the harness team alone.

“Being team lead on that project was filled with daily challenges, which we overcame as a team. Fortunately, I like challenges. There is always something to learn in each one. They helped me to grow and gain confidence in making the right decisions to move forward.”

Every step in her 30-year Calian career has been rewarding for Bev, but her place right now makes it more difficult to make the decision to retire. “My current role I will miss the most. Working directly with our customers and with our sales and marketing team for Calian products to fill customer needs and requirements has been very satisfying and a great learning and growing experience for me.”

There were other pieces of Calian life other than her work experience that she looks back on fondly, including the charitable efforts SED/Calian were involved in. “Another proud moment was when I was on a Calian team to raise funds for kids with medical and physical challenges to go to Camp Easter Seal. I was one of a few other employees who rappelled down a 22-storey building. I raised enough money to send three kids to camp.”

In whatever role Bev was in, she always enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends from among her Calian colleagues. “The co-workers I have had the entire time I have been here have always worked as a team towards the same goal,” she says. “Overall, the attitude has always been ‘What do we need to reach our goal,’ as opposed to feeling defeated if things went a little sideways. We always moved forward one way or the other, no matter if the journey was a bit zig-zagged.” Bev hopes that despite the fact she won’t be at Calian every day anymore, the relationships she has made will continue. “I hope we can stay in touch.”

But retirement does offer her something she feels needs more of her attention—family. Along with Nestor and their three daughters, Kimberley, Liana and Pamela, and two grandchildren, Sebastian and Sophia, Bev expects to be busy doing mom and grandma things. Both of Bev’s parents are still going strong and she looks forward to spending more time with them, too. “I am looking forward to getting out in my yard and garden more, longer stretches of time at the lake, spending more time with family—all of the things we all wish we had more time to do, and now I will.”