When Sonja Wilson first entered the workforce, her “office” was a storage room behind the weight room at the local YMCA. She was a junior auditor for a public accounting firm, and her assigned workspace had a unique ambiance: the steady aroma of sweat and the chorus of strained grunts from weightlifters.
“They stuck the auditors in the worst places,” Sonja laughed. “You could smell all the sweat, and hear all the ‘eee-eee’ as they lifted weights. That was my glamorous start in accounting!”
That unceremonious beginning was just the first step in what became a remarkable, multi-decade career filled with reinvention, impact, and growth. Earlier this year, Sonja retired from her role as General Manager at Prescor, a Conrex company within the Canerector network. Sonja leaves behind a legacy defined not by titles, but by transformation, trust, and heart.
A Career of Chapters
Sonja’s career path was anything but linear. She started late by conventional standards, entering university at 22 after helping put her husband, Dan, through school. “We were high school sweethearts,” she said. “I worked to put him through college, and then he did the same for me. We’ve always been partners, 51 years of marriage and counting.”
Almost immediately after graduation, Sonja began supervising accounting departments and catapulted into financial management. But an opportunity to join her husband’s business lured her away. Together, they developed a web-based software for environmental health and safety professionals called Enviryx. “The software was hailed by IBM as a top twenty Software-as-a-Service applications and we were poised to go big, but the dot-com downturn happened and we were caught up in it,” Sonja said.
But fate has a funny way of working itself out. Through this experience, Sonja gained exposure to the world of venture capital helping owners capitalize their businesses or prepare them for sale. It was here she met the then-owners of Prescor.
Prescor, at the time, was a nearly 50-year-old operation still reliant on index cards and paper travellers. “They were pricing products without knowing what it really cost to make them,” she said. “That’s where I started, creating a tangible system to track costs.”
But it didn’t stop there. Over time, Sonja became more than a consultant navigating their preparations to sell. She became a mentor, a leader, and eventually the GM when Canerector acquired the business in 2023.
Leading Through Change (and Cheese)
Sonja’s early days at Prescor had their challenges. “They thought I was the ‘she-devil’ coming in to change everything,” she recalled with a smile. “And I kind of was, but in the most supportive way possible.”
One of the earliest and most telling moments came when she was training shop employees to clock in on the new ERP system. At first, the hesitation looked like pushback, but she soon recognized it for what it really was: uncertainty. “They weren’t fighting the change, they were unsure of their place in it,” she said. That realization helped her slow down, listen more, and focus on building confidence alongside capability.
To help ease the transition, Sonja handed out copies of Who Moved My Cheese?, a simple fable about how people respond to change. “It became our shared language,” she said. “Even today, someone will still joke, ‘Hey, someone moved my cheese.’”
People First, Always
Sonja is quick to credit others for Prescor’s transformation. “I’m most proud of what we did as a team,” she said. “Our culture changed from siloed and manual to collaborative and tech-enabled, but the heart of Prescor stayed intact.”
Her leadership philosophy evolved over time, influenced by mentors like Mike Bartlett, a former boss known for his self-deprecating humor. “He helped me realize leadership isn’t about proving yourself, it’s about making others feel comfortable stepping up.” That belief shaped how Sonja led: not with ego, but with empathy.
“I used to think success was about being the best at my job,” she said. “But I learned that real leadership is helping others become the best at theirs.”
A Bittersweet Goodbye
Sonja officially retired in March 2025, and it’s already clear what she will miss the most in the days ahead.
“Everyday contact with the people. Conversations in the shop. Little moments. I’ve tried not to call too much, so it doesn’t seem like I’m meddling,” she said. “But I miss them.”
Her calendar post-retirement includes gardening, church groups, and time with her grandchildren. “I was the mystery reader for my granddaughter’s first-grade class recently, that was a first for me.”
She’s also taken on the unofficial role of neighborhood organizer, driven by a desire to build community in a divided world. “I’m trying to bring people together. It feels like a good use of my energy.”
Reflections and Advice
If Sonja could sum up her career in one sentence, it would be this: “I am grateful that my work journey was filled with inspiring challenges and amazing people.”
Her advice to new leaders is clear. “Get to know the people. Learn what they do, and why. Their knowledge runs deep, and your ideas will be better if you build on theirs.”
As she steps into this next chapter, Sonja leaves behind a model for what it means to lead with purpose, compassion, and integrity.
“I wish everyone the very best,” she said. “Canerector is a company of exceptional people, built on a lasting foundation. I was lucky to be a part of it.”