Like people, there’s a lot of different types of bosses out there in the world: good, bad, horrible, terrifying, etc. Also like people, there’s very few exceptional bosses out there. And in Banff, I’d wager, that number is even lower. No offence to anyone managing here, but the general opinion towards bosses - like landlords - is rarely very friendly. And can you blame them?
Many of us have dealt with horrible bosses and, sometimes worse, the Just Okay bosses who are generally good people but poor managers. The Just Okay boss is the relationship equivalent of “I can fix him.” And the horrible bosses are… well, if you’ve been there, you know. It often takes the same shape as an abusive relationship, but there’s one or several shaped just like a hotel.
Did I write that out loud? They may also be shaped like restaurants or retail stores or coffee shops. They might even be shaped like florists, but I can say with confidence they’re not shaped like Banff Mountaintop Flowers.
It might come as a surprise, but I’m not the only employee who applied here mid-mental breakdown because of a crappy boss. I was desperate - my job prospects included everything from ski hills to bus driving to gift stores. I would have taken anything. I had to get out. And when I got a job offer from Banff Mountaintop Flowers, I didn’t think twice. I gave my newly ex-boss about 16 hours notice.
SEE YA NEVER.
What followed after a week of work was me telling my husband in relief, “Terry, they’re fucking normal.”
In the beginning I was grateful the little things: an hour long lunch break, a consistent 9-5 schedule, my weekends being two days beside each other. As time went on there was a longer and longer list (and a sudden lack of depressing journal entries in my bujo). Two months after I’d started there, I finally made a new entry detailing all the reasons I was happy. And working in a store operated by lifetime Banff locals was special. I was starting to get to know the town in a way I’d never known it before. I felt like I was part of a community. And at work, I was part of a family.
I know, I know, there’s usually a lot of bullshit in workplaces that call themselves a family. But Christine and Ian never called their shop a family, because they never had to. And I don’t want to just disparage the Banff businesses I had experience with before I came here; there were plenty of businesses I worked for in Calgary, too. The point is that I may never find an employer as amazing as Christine and Ian. I can search high and low, but until I’m working for myself - actually, even then - it seems a slim chance.
They set the bar way too high.
By now, in my last week, it isn’t the hour-long lunch and 9-5 schedule I’ll be missing. It’s a workplace where I’ve been trusted. It’s a place full of laughs. My bosses are people who relate to me and understand what it’s like to be human. I know this is something everyone should relate to, but a lot of workplaces are curiously missing the ‘human’ aspect of human resources. Here, there’s a healthy dose of sarcasm, and understanding, and wine at close - or midday - depending on how hard the day’s been. And one day, after one of those glasses of wine, I came out to them before I’d even told some friends and family. Because I knew they were good for it. I knew I could be myself here, and that meant more than anything.
And you might ask me now, Juls, if it’s so great, then why are you leaving? And the answer is complicated, as it is for most people leaving Banff. I thought I would stay longer. I wish I could stay longer, but I have a degree to finish. Ironically, it’s the mental space this work has allowed me that let me think and adjust my trajectory, which is a luxury other workplaces only gave me in the way of “what the hell can I do that isn’t this?” The same seems to have been true for other people who have worked here and left, only to go on to do incredible things like start their own business or return to school. Suffice to say, this is the very first job I have not wanted to leave. I think at 28 years old that’s saying something. I think that’s something people go their whole lives without finding.
I may still write the occasional blog post here - I hope I do - but it’s bye for now. And I have no worries that Christine and Ian will continually find amazing staff at this shop, because they only seem to attract the very best of people and know how to bring out the best in them. I wish I could stay a part of it. But I feel lucky to have ever worked here at all. It will stay with me as the best part about living in Banff. Not the mountains, not the lakes, not the skiing. It was working here, learning from the best, and on occasion, playing with flowers all day.
Later days!
Juls