April 1, 2017
Patty Beug-Jang | A lot to be proud of
春色直播 10 years ago, Patty Beug-Jang joined the human resources (HR) team at the University of Calgary as an HR co-ordinator. Just five months later, she became the manager of the Office of the Associated Dean Research at the university鈥檚 medical school.
Prior to her work with the university, Patty and her husband Les were entrepreneurs. 鈥淲e had to manage everything from HR, to marketing to financials. It was an exciting time filled with opportunity, change and a vision for the future.鈥
鈥淟es and I met at the University of Saskatchewan while completing our bachelor of commerce degrees,鈥 says Patty. 鈥淲e had always dreamed of starting our own business, which is what brought us to Calgary. Instead of just having one business, we ended up with three.鈥
Patty and Les had businesses in wholesale, retail and distribution. Their distribution business successfully spanned western Canada for 10 years. Eventually, they were acquired by another company in the industry.
鈥淲e had originally approached another distributor to see if they鈥檇 be interested in selling to us,鈥 explains Patty. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛, but they were interested in expanding and wanted to buy us. We were left with a big decision; one that ultimately brought me here.鈥
When Patty began working for the medical school, her position was new. The office didn鈥檛 have a manager, there was a lot of repositioning of team members and things weren鈥檛 running as smoothly as they could be. Patty has since created a strong, dependable team that helps the school and its researchers with financial management, infrastructure, endowments and more.
鈥淚 really love the team that I鈥檝e built; I鈥檓 very proud of them. They鈥檙e my work family,鈥 gushes Patty. 鈥淚 relate my team鈥檚 attitude back to business and growing up on a farm. You have to know how to do a lot of different things and can鈥檛 ever say, 鈥業t鈥檚 not my job.鈥 When people come to us and need assistance, we always try to help them. We all have the same mentality and I鈥檓 very grateful for that.鈥
In addition to her team, Patty is also extremely proud of her two children. Her daughter is attending the University of British Columbia to study psychology and her son is attending Mount Royal University to study accounting.
鈥淔or a little while, I was called 鈥楧r. Phil鈥 because everyone would tell me their problems,鈥 laughs Patty. 鈥淚 think my daughter inherited some of those traits and my son picked up my passion for business.鈥
Looking ahead, Patty鈥檚 鈥淒r. Phil鈥 side has some pretty great advice for our school.
鈥淥ne of the best things about our school is that we really care about our people. Everyone鈥檚 important 鈥 students, faculty, staff 鈥 everyone participates in making things work. There鈥檚 no one person who makes a difference, it takes a whole group of people to make a difference. It鈥檚 nicer to stand on a stage with a group of people than to stand on a pedestal all by yourself. No matter how big we grow, we must always remember that.鈥
Tidbits from Patty:
Favourite food: 鈥淣othing beats a carrot pulled fresh from the garden!鈥
Hobbies: 鈥淚鈥檓 a very avid reader. I loved reading Nancy Drew books as a little girl. Right now, I鈥檓 reading a series about the fall of the Roman Republic. It鈥檚 very interesting how history repeats itself. In the summer, I enjoy being outside in my garden. I have a beautiful perennial garden sprinkled with annuals. I鈥檓 also attempting container gardening for vegetables, with variable results!鈥
Role models: 鈥淢y parents and extended family. Their get the 鈥榡ob done, creative problem solving, and always help others鈥 attitude is something to be admired.鈥
Hidden talent: 鈥淚 think I could鈥檝e been a jingle writer. If there鈥檚 a song playing, I鈥檒l change the words in my head. I also have a strange knack for writing limericks.鈥
Pets: Three Siamese cats named Tweety Bird, Rex and Lucy.
On the Cumming School鈥檚 50th anniversary: 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 exciting that the school is celebrating its 50th anniversary. I鈥檓 so impressed with the tremendous strides the school has made in trying to help the people here 鈥 they鈥檝e listened to the feedback and have taken steps to implement new programs that support both research and education.鈥
What the Cumming School should do in the next 50 years: 鈥淥ne thing I鈥檇 like to see is further support for the talent that exists here. I think it鈥檚 great that we鈥檙e still recruiting exceptional talent, but sometimes the next big thing is right under your nose. You just need to nurture it in order for it to grow.鈥
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