Glenys Tristram is the National Marketing Manager at NightOwl Convenience. She’s a passionate musician, marketer, animal lover, and mother of two teenage boys living in Queensland. This is her story…
I have nothing but fond memories of my childhood. I was born in Brisbane and went to a private high school in Ipswich along with my younger brother and sister. At home, my parents always made sure we had one or two dogs around to complete our happy family.
Always an extrovert, my two great loves in high school were music and Girl Guides. I spent an inordinate amount of time camping, going on excursions, and working towards my badges. As I’ve grown, my love of camping has dimmed slightly, but my love of music has stayed with me my whole life, even now, I’m looking to join a local choir.
Throughout my school years, I tried my hand at the piano, violin, and even flute for a while, but it was singing that gave me the most joy. Encouraged by Mum, in Year 11 I auditioned for, and was accepted into, the Queensland Youth Choir and followed that with a Bachelor of Music at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music after finishing high school.
Once I graduated, I spent some time travelling through parts of Africa and backpacking around much of Europe, eventually coming home to work as an audio engineer touring Australia and New Zealand with musicals through the 90s.
It was a calling and career that I loved, but when it came time to start a family of my own, the semi-chaotic life of a travelling freelancer didn’t seem to fit anymore, so I had to rethink my next move.
I descend from a couple of generations of soft drink manufacturers and the family business, Trisco Foods, played a big part in my life growing up. The original company was called Tristram’s Soft Drinks and Trisco and still manufactures wet food products today.
It was only natural to go to work for the family business after I decided to leave my audio engineering career. I started looking after various elements of marketing there and took to it immediately.
Marketing quickly became my new passion, so I enrolled in a Master of Business (Marketing) at the Queensland University of Technology. Then, moving on from the family business, I started at NightOwl when I graduated in 2020.
Starting out just as the disruptions of COVID-19 set in was a challenge. Still, I thrived in the company and about a year and a half after starting as the Marketing Coordinator at NightOwl, I was offered, and gladly accepted, the role of National Marketing Manager.
One of my proudest career moments came to fruition recently with NightOwl’s first-ever wall token donation program, through which we donated more than $36,000 to the Children’s Hospital Foundation.
It’s a cause I passionately championed to actively bring to life the core NightOwl value of community-mindedness. I’m very proud of the execution and results we achieved as a team.
In today’s business environment, it’s more important than ever to show your customers, through concrete actions, who you are as a company and what steps you’re willing to take to back your values.
Customers have high expectations regarding company values, and it’s a career highlight for me to have introduced this level of social responsibility to our franchise.
Outside the office, I love to spend my time with friends, singing, reading, hanging out with my sons, and relaxing with our extended furry family. I grew up with dogs, so when we started fostering animals through the RSPCA during the pandemic, I wasn’t expecting to end up with a cat.
However, due to the kids, we had a massive foster failure with a cat called Mouse, now a permanent and well-loved family member. I’ve always been a big dog person, so this new life with a cat still makes me laugh.
Regarding my career, it’s hard to say what the future holds. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is certain, but still, having a solid direction is important to me.
Leadership roles are of interest to me, as it’s an area where I can make a positive impact. I completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) ‘Company Directors’ course in early 2022, and I aim to put everything I learned to good use.
One thing I know for sure is that I absolutely love the franchise business model, so when I’m ready for a new challenge, it’s likely I’ll move sideways into another franchise-based company in some capacity.
This article originally appeared in the Feb/Mar issue of Convenience & Impulse Retailing magazine.
To stay up to date on the latest industry headlines, sign up to the C&I e-newsletter.