That’s me in the background. The co-worker who sent this? Total Wonder Woman. And yet, somehow, I was the one she saw wearing the cape. Funny how Wonder Women always spot the strength in others—just not in themselves.
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About Lillianne Dunstall
About Lillianne Dunstall
Lillianne Dunstall didn’t take the usual route to the top — she took the scenic one, full of potholes (which now is really her responsibility to fix), detours, wrong turns, and exactly zero golf games.
After years in Customer Service and Inside Sales, she landed a role in 2002 as Customer Service/Admin Manager — and assistant to the VP of the Canadian Roofing Division for a large compound manufacturer. Glamorous? Not exactly. But she had a desk, a team of five, and a to-do list that read more like a triage chart.
In her managerial role, she kept the wheels turning behind the scenes — greased them, aligned them, and occasionally rebuilt them entirely. She made sure orders were accurate, vendors got paid (before they called twice), reps were compensated, she worked with production and distribution to make sure the product went out the door without drama. She made sure customers received the best customer service in the industry. She believed if Customer Service could be held responsible for losing a customer, they must have the power to keep a customer. While others chased sales targets and buzzwords, she kept the engine running — with duct tape, Excel, and pure force of will.
As assistant to the VP, she technically had a seat at the monthly strategy meetings, regional and national sales meetings… mostly to take notes, chase down the missing agenda, organize activities while on a 3 day sales meeting and booking group dinner reservations with decent parking. But it didn’t take long before she started taking things of the VP's plate, removing roadblocks, solving problems, and quietly leading from the second chair. She wasn’t there to schedule — she was there to steer. Lillianne proved herself and her boss was her greatest supporter and together they ran the Canadian business quite successfully.
She owned it. She earned it. She began to Rise!
Eventually, head office in the U.S. noticed. She was promoted to Director of North American Business Operations, commuting between Toronto and Cleveland like it was a normal thing. She launched initiatives, calmed chaos, and turned corporate migraines into management wins — which led to her promotion as VP of NA Business Ops and Canada, with 130 people under her leadership (and at least that many unanswered emails).
She retired in 2019… briefly. She and her husband moved to a small rural town, got involved in volunteer life, and planned to relax. That lasted about five minutes. She was asked to Chair the first National Women in Roofing Council which she did successfully for her two year term increasing membership by over 100%.
When Lillianne saw things in the community that didn’t sit right, she didn’t just vent on Facebook — she ran for municipal office. No political experience. New to town. Five opponents. She won by a landslide.
Because apparently, retirement isn’t her style. But shaking things up? That definitely is.
Own it. Earn it. Rise.
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