Gregarious Mandy Rennehan’s nickname is Bear, derived from the type of hug she likes to lay on folks.
Social distancing is not working for her.
“I’m going crazy,” Rennehan said Tuesday during a phone interview from Oakville, Ont.
“Listen, I’ve got the shoulders and the arms. I was made to hug.”
The founder and CEO of retail maintenance and construction firm Freshco Inc. is adjusting these days along with everyone else.
“One of my development managers this morning, I looked at her and I said, ‘Virtual hug.’ She said, ‘Bear, I can’t wait for one of your freakin’ hugs.’”
Born and raised in Yarmouth, Rennehan credits her down-to-earth upbringing for pretty much all the good that’s come her way in life. In particular, though, it seems to be behind an initiative she started last week to bring back some dignity for working people.
Hearing from her tradespeople contacts that truck drivers were often being denied basic necessities as they delivered essentials during the pandemic, Rennehan oversaw the transformation of four Freshco trailers into tip-top washrooms.
“What's become a humanitarian right is the fact to be able to go to a washroom and wash your hands,” said Rennehan.
“So, you know me, being known as the Blue-Collar CEO, I just was like, ‘This is not OK. It’s unacceptable behaviour.’ I made every phone call you can imagine and said, ‘What are we thinking here?’”
The stations offer a fully accessible washroom, open 24-7. They’re air-conditioned, have hand-free soap dispensers and a supply of tampons, and are well-lit at night.
Rennehan said they’re not just for truckers. Couriers, plumbers, electricians and emergency services workers are welcome, too.
“This was like an easy solution for me, to just pull out very quickly,” she said.
“What it’s done, more than anything, is it’s almost shamed a lot of people to look and say, ‘You know what? If she can do this in three days, then I’m going to open up my bathroom.’ And that's what we're seeing happening.
“We looked and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got these four gorgeous construction trailers, we’re right off the QEW, which is a main artery here in Ontario, let’s do this.’”
In the circles she moves, a lot of people’s business is based out of their truck.
“If I had had more trailers, I would have had them in every province,” she said.
“Without the blue-collar industry, we’d have nothing. We wouldn’t be able to live every day.”
Rennehan has apparently never had a problem finding things to occupy her time. The daughter of a lobster fisherman, she founded Freshco in Halifax in 1995, when she was 19. Headquartered in Oakville, Freshco is billed as the most successful and fiscally responsible retail maintenance business in the country, with three collaborative divisions: maintenance, projects and reconstruction. Typical customers are retail giants like Apple, Banana Republic, LuluLemon, Nike and Tiiffany & Co.
Its success has allowed the self-starter to spread her message about respect for the working class through speaking engagements and business forums.
“I’m a pilot project that went really right,” said Rennehan.
That’s not to say her business acumen saw COVID-19 coming. Initially on a trajectory to grow 25 to 30 per cent this year, Freshco’s got a whole new outlook.
“My company took a pounding; it continues to,” Rennehan said.
“It’s been devastating. I think that when you look at a company like mine -- I would consider myself a medium-sized corporation, all across Canada and the eastern United States -- what we saw more than anything was that I built this company to withstand any crazy weather, but I didn’t build it to sustain a tsunami, and that's what you’re seeing.
“I’m one of the companies out there that will make it, guaranteed. I’ve been very smart, I’ve put a lot of my capital back into the company for many, many years.”
With a reputation built largely on her personality and work ethic, Rennehan comes off like the biggest advocate for downhome common sense.
“I’ve gone from being the founder and CEO to being the founder and CEO and everything else in between because that’s what you do when things like this happen. I really want to encourage people to really try to look after the small-business people that have risked everything.”
She said she keeps an office set up in Yarmouth, where she hopes to be spending a considerable amount of time soon even if hugs aren’t in the cards.
“Right now, we’re just restructuring to get prepared for when a lot of retail opens. I will be in Yarmouth for most of June, July and August,” she said.
“I’m yearning for home, so I’m organizing everything so I can get there for longer in the summer.”
