Too Soft? She Became a Financial Manager
You know that feeling when you meet someone who just quietly gets on with it, no fuss, no fanfare, just results? That’s Lee Hassen. And this Mother’s Day, we’re shining a light on one of our own.
It started with an interview she will never forget
Lee walked into her interview at Core Catering in 2002, young, hopeful, and pregnant with her first child. The interviewer looked at her and said something she has carried with her ever since: you will not be able to handle the directors. You are too soft.
Two weeks later, the phone rang anyway. Would you like to come in and do some work until you go on maternity leave? She said yes and that changed everything.
She started working alongside the then financial manager, doing small things and quietly proving herself. When maternity leave ended, he called and asked if she wanted to come back. Lee said yes. Of course she did.
Two decades of showing up
From those early days she moved through data capturing, accounts, and imports, spreading her wings across both Core Catering and Core Furniture along the way. She left for a year and a half, came back without missing a beat, welcomed her second child in 2009, and kept going.
Then Core Catering brought her into their finance department. It was not exactly a hard sell. Lee had made the joke herself. Put me in finance, she said. Two months later, they did exactly that.
She built her knowledge from the ground up. In 2013 she travelled to China with Core Furniture. In 2015 she represented Core Catering in Amsterdam and Frankfurt. Every experience added a layer. And when COVID hit and the world went quiet, Lee went deeper, mastering financial management in full. She was appointed Assistant Financial Manager, and then in 2022 officially took on the role of Financial Manager.
Not bad for the woman they once called too soft.
The mom behind it all
What makes Lee’s story really special is that she did all of this while raising two children. Her first arrived in 2002, her second in 2009. Two kids, one demanding career, and countless days where both needed her at the same time.
She is honest about it. When a baby is sick, they need their mom. There were days she chose a family, and she did so without apology. But every time she stepped away, she stepped back in twice as ready. She never coasted. She always puts in the extra. And Core has always made space for that, which is exactly the kind of place worth giving your best to.
Her advice for any mom trying to balance it all? Take it step by step. Set out what is important and trust that everything else will fall into place.
This Mother’s Day we celebrate Lee Hassen. The woman who walked into an interview pregnant and built a career spanning over two decades. The data capturer who became a Financial Manager. The mom who showed her children that you can be devoted to your family and exceptional at your work, and that one does not have to cost you the other.
