Dodging LEGOs and life’s curveballs

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn about Lillianne Dunstall’s journey into the roofing industry.  

Everyone’s journey into the roofing industry is unique. In this Roofing Road Trips® episode, Heidi J. Ellsworth visits with Lillianne Dunstall, former chair of Canada National Women in Roofing (NWIR) and the author of The Unlikely VP, about her journey into the roofing world. 

Lillianne’s career started right after high school as a bell operator. She explained, “I was the person that said, ‘Hello, operator, can I help you?’ Those days there was no 911 so the first person that someone would call in an emergency was zero, so answering those calls certainly honed a lot of my skills.” It wasn’t until 15-20 years later that Lillianne would get her first job in the roofing industry at Tremco’s Canadian division.  

That job was the turning point for Lillianne’s career and she began to thrive in roofing. She shared, “I was lucky enough to be hired by the vice president of Canada, who treated me as an equal, and I started taking things off of his plate. The more things I took off of his plate, the more he gave me responsibility and authority. So, by the time we got the division running, he was managing the sales side, I was running the business operations piece, and we were true partners.” 

From there, Lillianne began to rise through the company. But that journey wasn’t without hiccups or challenges. She spoke about this in her book, sharing, “I talk about this in chapter five and it's called climbing the corporate ladder while dodging LEGOs and life's curve balls. And I had to do both. I certainly had a lot of pivot points. I think like most people, life is not linear. Life will throw you either a gift or a punch in the teeth. And either way, you have to either pivot, re-strategize or re-calibrate.” 

However, whether it was challenges as a career woman raising children or making moves to new jobs when her husband’s work took them to a new city, Lillianne pivoted, re-strategized and continued to rise. When the VP that first hired her left the company, she took on a leading role as the go-to person. She explained, “I became the go-to person right when there was an inventory shortage and we weren’t going to make our numbers. So I was on daily calls with the senior management team in Cleveland, all of the manufacturing, marketing and distribution people. And I started wheeling and dealing, saying, ‘So if I sent you product from Montreal to New Jersey, can Cleveland send me product A?’ And by the time we were done, we made our numbers.” Her ability to step up and adapt in that moment got Lillianne recognized. And a few months later she was getting a call from the new president of the company, asking her to accept the position of director of North American business operations. 

Listen to the whole conversation to learn more about Lillianne’s journey into roofing.