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Ashley Larochelle’s first job was at an exotic pet store, Zoo Creatures, in New Hampshire. While working as an associate, 16-year-old Larochelle was tasked with hand-feeding parrots, cleaning up after alligators, and tending to several other extraordinary animals on a daily basis.
She said her hard work at Zoo Creatures led to multiple promotions over her four-year tenure. But, more importantly, it taught her valuable HR lessons that she still uses today. Now the VP of people and culture at insect repellent company Thermacell, Larochelle shared with HR Brew the people lessons she learned from her first job.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What HR lessons did you learn in your first job?
One would have been just the way that I was treated by the leadership there...I remember I never had to ask for a raise. I always felt valued and recognized…If I did good work, my good work was appreciated. And, I think that’s something that I learned from the leadership there, that I’ve translated into my world, is that I never want to have anybody to have to ask [or feel] under-appreciated or feeling invisible. I always put out on the front…this is what exceptional looks like from a sales perspective, from a behavior perspective, from a responsibility perspective.
Did your first job affect your career trajectory?
I am not one to kill a bug. I hate the idea of causing harm to any other living being, whether it’s a plant or animal or pest…[My] first job definitely helped me with a full appreciation of all animals [and] insects. There were some things in that shop…I couldn’t deal with, [like] spiders, but I appreciated what they did for the world…There’s a sustainability thing there that is inherent in who I am.
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Do you plan on staying in HR?
I think I have a lot of work to do to master this world. There’s plenty of opportunity, plenty of runway, certainly at Thermacell, for me to continue to make change. I will tell you I’m really energized by social impact. So, when it comes to sustainability [not only] in the traditional sense, [but] the ecological part of sustainability,it’s more the human impact for me—to be able to do people, culture, and impact is definitely in my wheelhouse.
It seems like care has been a theme throughout your career. Do you think that’ll continue?
Oh, for sure, and doing things with intention…I don’t just do things to do things to check a box. There’s always a reason to do something that is intentional…I liken this to the idea of creating experiences for people. So [with] recognition…I can go ahead and issue someone [a] $1,000 spot bonus for doing great work, put it on your payroll, and they forget about it two years from now.
There’s some level of gifting for me that I make very intentional in recognition or in support…[An employee was] going to treatments for his cancer and was really complaining about the noise and distraction. So, we bought him noise-canceling Bose headphones, a couple 100 bucks on the company. And, at the end of the day, this man was incredibly loyal after…people become very loyal when they know they’re being cared for. And, I think that’s the virtuous cycle of taking care of people. Business taking care of people, people taking care of business. I think they can coexist.