Reflecting on over 40 years of service: Bonnie Vaughn

By Bonnie Vaughn, Program Manager

​As we say goodbye to our Program Manager for sister brand BarPellam, Bonnie Vaughn (who will be retiring in a few months) shares her career story and gives advice to those starting out in their career.

I was surrounded by strong female leaders in my job and personal life when I started my career in staffing 41 years ago.
They taught me the importance of having self-confidence, strong client relationships, delivering excellent service and always following through on promises made to customers. This foundation and years of experience have led me to where I am today. Hopefully, I have passed this torch onto my current team as well as others who I have led in the past.

The best part is that at the end of the day, I know we've helped people find jobs which has been the most satisfying feeling.

My daily key focus is that our team always provides the best service possible
As a Program Manager, we must communicate with each other, our clients, and suppliers. We all depend on each other for success, and we need each other. This excellent service can only happen with strong communication, collaboration, flexibility and understanding.

I hope I have taught this well to my team and they will be able to continue growing and finding success in their careers.

I have been very fortunate to work with strong leaders at BarPellam
While I have only been with BarPellam a little over 4 years, I have learned a lifetime of staffing knowledge and been given opportunities I’ve never had in the past. I've also had opportunities to work directly with our COO leaders which simply wouldn’t happen in most companies and I’m very fortunate to have had this level of exposure and opportunity.

Growing up in Southeast Missouri
My parents, who had grown up during the depression, taught me the values of hard work, pride in one’s work and the importance of working with a team. Success is not all about you, and as my good friend and colleague, Marie France, Vice President of Client Services, likes to say: it truly takes a village.

I worked at another big staffing company for 15 years and took a break when my daughters were young. I returned to work part-time in HR before working as a Scientific Recruiter and On-Site Manager for a major pharmaceutical company. I then moved into the MSP Staffing space and eventually joined BarPellam as an Operations Manager looking after one of our banking accounts before becoming the Program Manager in 2020.

My advice to those starting in the world of work is...
Believe in yourself and work hard to achieve success both as an individual and as a team. Be loyal, take pride in your work, but don't be boastful. We can all accomplish more as a whole than on our own. If we support each other, we will all be successful and continue to grow personally and as an organization.

Delivering our best every day
I want to thank my client for challenging us every day to do better and be better as an MSP provider. It is too easy to become comfortable in what we are doing well, and we always need to continue to seek out how to do better and deliver the best of the best to our clients.

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Congratulations Bonnie, thank you for your years of service and we wish you a Happy Retirement!