Philip Hemlin

It would appear that my friend Joe will be running for city council in Wasaga Beach once again.
Nothing pleases me more than to have the opportunity to give you my thoughts with regards to Joe and give you my thoughts as to my experiences with him.
I worked with Joe in the late 90s and again in the early to mid 2000s, I reported directly to him from more or less 2006 – 2012 as a regional manager to his national status although we were very close even in those years when we were not necessarily director/regional.
From my experience: Joe was very demanding. We had quotas to achieve and he was hell bent on making sure we hit them. That said, he was very understanding and very supportive. If we were coming in short of our quotas, he would certainly have ideas for us as to how we could hit them. Quota was one thing but the most important factor for Joe was the team.
I would say that Joes number one priority was always his team. One had to do his or her maximum but even when things were not going well, if you did your best, Joe would back his team members 100%. I remember when he had a bit of a special mention at one of our national meetings, the management honored him for having created a great new team and the first thing he did was to bring his team on to the stage. In his mind the results were not his but rather the results of the team. In fact, quota was one thing but the thing that gave Joe the most pleasure was to lose a team member because he or her got promoted. Joe had a great record of having people promoted. His main interest was always the team.
As a regional manager, retired since 2017, I still have contact with several of my ex -employees (representatives). They say that I was a pretty decent boss. If that it is true, it is certainly thanks to the coaching from Joe. I would also say that I am a better person for having spent those years under Joes leadership. I learned a lot.
I am happy and honored to have been associated with such a good man.
For those of you in Wasaga Beach. I envy you having a councilman like Joe, you can be sure that his number 1 priority is your well being.