Gurpreet Mann

Occupation: Daycare Owner

Location: Edmonton, AB

Email: parteek.mann@gmail.com

Gurpreet Mann is a childcare worker and a daycare owner of Little Otters Daycare Center Ltd, Leduc. She moved to Canada with her husband and son in 2010 from Punjab, India. Being a teacher, she always had an interest in learning new things and educating herself.

I come from a Sikh family, which allowed me to volunteer at the Sikh temple as a Punjabi language tutor for kids. I did not speak or understand English very well, but I started taking ESL lessons part-time while working full time to improve my communication skills. I worked hard to get my level three license as a daycare instructor and got a job in a daycare. I knew that I wanted to have my daycare one day; however, I did not have any support. Coming from a background where women are not as acceptable in leadership roles, she faced difficulties to work for her goals as she lacked confidence.

My family believed in me and supported me through my career. Along with it, I got support from the Sikh temple and my students. I also used lynda.com, now LinkedIn Learning, to learn many things like to become better at using Microsoft office, learning about how to start your own business, a lot of technical training on using computer software, etc.

She worked a lot harder and earned enough to start up her own daycare. She gained confidence in herself after achieving that. She also started encouraging others to come forward and dream big.

From my previous experience as an employee at the daycare, I realized how important it is to be a great leader to your employees and keep them motivated. I always encourage my employees to get a higher education, as I believe that knowledge shows you the way to success. Education doesn't necessarily mean going to a college or university; education can be simply learning about your environment, learning about the people around you, knowing your potential in life. Learning makes you a stronger, better, and more self-aware person.

I also believe that women are important assets in every profession. It is essential to growing women leaders as it encourages other women to get out of their comfort zone and do the things they like. Science shows that women are more sensitive and patient. This skill is required at every workplace and women should be included as much as men are, it does not matter on the industry. Women have proven themselves and they deserve to be in leadership positions as well.