Passion is the driving force that has kept Pat Smith-Bravo committed to the same organisation for 28 years. Currently holding the pivotal role of stores operations manager for the Progressive Grocers of Jamaica Ltd consortium of supermarkets, she initially started as a head cashier in 1995 working for the late Ken Loshusan, one of the eventual founders of Progressive.

Her rise through the company began shortly thereafter when she was asked to manage a newly acquired supermarket in Portmore. As time progressed she managed other supermarkets within the group before being promoted to the position of area manager. This was by no means the end of her upward trajectory as she was later appointed as stores operations manager for Progressive’s entire operation, a position she has held for the past 10 years.

In her current role, Smith-Bravo’s responsibility is to monitor the 22 supermarkets across Jamaica operated by the consortium. The former head cashier now has area managers in different parts of the island reporting to her. Nevertheless, the job still involves a lot of travelling between the various locations.

“My boss says my office is in my van,” she said, laughing.

But Smith-Bravo does not tire of her job.

She maintains her interest in the work with every new experience.

“The good thing about retail is that every day in retail you learn something new,” she emphasised. “I’ve got several offers [for other jobs] but the love for the company, the love for my staff and the support that I have gotten from them has kept me going and steady on that course which I love.”

The most important ingredient for enduring in the job, however, is passion.

“You have to have a passion for retail, a passion for long hours, a passion for customers, which is foremost of everything,” Smith-Bravo related. “And a passion for staff, for people in general. That’s a love of the business.”

When asked which of those passions provide her with the most satisfaction, she revealed that her biggest reward comes from helping individuals achieve their goals in the retail industry. While serving customers and ensuring their satisfaction is a significant aspect, the joy of seeing staff progress and succeed in their own careers is particularly rewarding.

It’s heartening for the stores operations manager to see them grow as she has grown. And her own development arc has been an impressive one but she talks less about the progress of her career and more about how that growth has shaped her as a person.

“I have matured over the years and I think most of that has come from my four senior directors, each of whom has taught me different things,” Smith-Bravo said. “Patience. Negotiations. Relationships with both customers and suppliers.”

According to the Progressive executive, despite years of development she feels there is still so much more to learn.

“You can never stop learning, and in this industry every day something new happens,” she insisted. “You have new products to deal with, new suppliers to deal with, new stuff to deal with,” she explained.

In addition to acknowledging her pride in past achievements, she also stressed that she is not comfortable because her ambition demands more for her, and this includes a desire to one day be on the organisation’s board.

“It’s self-development with expectations,” she added. “Because you really can’t try to develop something and you don’t expect to know what is going to be the end result.”

While stressing passion, a constant desire for learning and the energy that comes with both, Smith-Bravo adds that life away from work is a key part of the equation to maintaining her drive.

“I have a very active personal life because I work hard,” she said. “And then I am also a person who goes out to a lot of functions, a lot of parties. So I do have a social life, a very active one, too. You see, at the end of the day, you work hard. But then if you don’t take time to unwind, it will never work out. It leaves you miserable. So it doesn’t matter how hard you work, you should always take a little time to unwind and have a healthy balance between the two.”

The stores operations manager disclosed one more ingredient that keeps her steady on a long and enduring career path: Gratitude for what she has learned but also gratitude for the sense of accomplishment that comes from achievement.

“Remembering where we are coming from to where we are today, that we have opened so many more locations and having been a part of packing those stores, I think, ‘yeah, I am proud of that’,” she declared.

Smith-Bravo is particularly grateful to her four senior directors for being her biggest motivation with each one teaching her something different.

“Mr Ken Loshusan, he taught me that in this business all you need is common sense,” she said. “Mr Albert Lym has taught me negotiations. Mr Gladstone Loshusan has taught me patience. Mr Sing Chin has taught me all of the above combined, and determination.”

More than 20 years have elapsed since Smith-Bravo served as a head cashier. Fuelled by a deep appreciation for her foundational experiences and an enduring passion, she has ascended to the role of stores operations manager for the entire consortium. With this proven dedication, further significant contributions can be expected from her at the highest levels of Progressive Grocers of Jamaica.