August 25, 2015
Did you hear the one about the travelling salesman saleswoman?
She says, “I don’t feel like my job is work.” It’s her twenty-sixth year as a manufacturer’s sales representative covering Alberta and the East Kootenays. She sells apparel and accessories. She sold equipment. And she’s played the game …
Where/how did this interesting career of Kim Carrington begin?
Born in Vancouver, moved to Montreal – then to Edmonton with dad’s employment. Eldest of three siblings, mom worked with dad. Parents divorced. Mom worked in real estate. Mom remarried – to a guy in the same business as dad, moved to Calgary and still works with him. School at Scona High in Edmonton, finished at Beaverbrook in Calgary. One year at Mount Royal studying law enforcement, but that didn’t take. There was a short stint with PWA as a flight attendant. That didn’t take either.
An average student, her sports were baseball, swimming and basketball. She took up golf somewhere between seven and ten. She’s been playing seriously since she was nineteen. Best round ever, 68 at Willow Park. In tournament competition, a 69 five years ago, and a 69 in the final round when she won this year’s Alberta Senior’s Open.
You have to wonder if she really had any choice – it’s not just the ‘family business’, it seems that golf is in her DNA so it’s no surprise she’s in the family business. Kim’s dad is the legendary golf pro Bill Carrington – long of Windermere fame who is the pro at Blackhawk in Edmonton, mom Shelley married Jim Jempson, Head Pro at Willow Park Golf & Country Club in Calgary. Shelley is the buyer, sister Tanya works there too. Brother Martin is a golf course superintendent in Grande Prairie. They are all in ‘the family business'.
She's partnered - not married. No kids. Pretty tight lipped about personal life, unless it's golf. She smiles easily, crys easily, makes friends easily - that's very clear.
And focus, focus, focus. She didn’t say that – but as we talked I found that ringing in my head as I sought to find out what makes a great golfer great. What caused the success, what built it, what sustains it? I found, as I often do with corporate titan folks, a mixture of extremely affable qualities – and incredible single-minded focus, and a lot more as I sat down recently with Kim Carrington. Most golf fanatics in Calgary will know the name but not the pedigree. They might know her as 2015 Club Champion at Willow Park (for the 15th time), know her as a long time sales rep for manufacturers of golf merchandise.
How much golf do you play? “Not counting practice, about forty rounds during season. And a couple of rounds when I go south in the winter – usually for a couple of weeks in January, February and March.”
Why didn’t you turn pro? “I thought about it very seriously, of joining the LPGA in 1996 – but in those days I was representing Cobra, the line was hot and the money was great . ..”
What has contributed most to your success? “I’ve been told I have an infectious positive personality. I strive to learn every day. I try to dive in – for than a dollar or making a sale – I give myself, into good things happening to me, lots amazing experiences. I feel good karma around me. And I still have a bucket list!”
What has held you back? “Work gets in the way of golf - I have to work to live – I would love to dominated somewhere in golf.”
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