Lillian was a young French Canadian girl who grew up in the farming community of River Canard, Ontario. At 16, her father decided she had "had enough schooling," forcing her to drop out to help support the family. In 1922, with limited English, education, and skills, her future seemed bleak.
Her stern father, Eugene Bezaire, demanded she find a job. Lacking confidence and self-esteem, Lill didn't know what she could do. Each day, she rode the bus to Windsor or Detroit, hoping for work but unable to muster the courage to answer an ad or knock on a door. She would wander aimlessly and return home at dusk, meekly telling her father she'd had "no luck."
As her father's inquiries grew more insistent, Lill knew she had to try. In downtown Detroit, she saw a "Help Wanted—Secretarial" sign at the Carhartt Overall Company. Cautiously, she climbed the long stairs and knocked on her first door.
Office manager Margaret Costello met her. Lill, speaking in broken English and lying about her age, expressed interest in the job. Sensing her nervousness, Margaret decided to give her a chance. Leading Lill through a somber office filled with rows of workers at typewriters, Margaret seated her at a machine for a test.
Lill looked at the clock: 11:40 a.m. She planned to slip away at noon. Her first attempt yielded four mistakes in five words. By 11:45, she resolved to leave with the lunch crowd. A second try was full of errors. By 11:55, with a completed but error-strewn letter, she was minutes from "freedom."
Just then, Margaret returned. She read the letter, paused, and said, "Lill, you're doing good work!"
Lill was stunned. Those simple words of encouragement made her desire to flee vanish and her confidence grow. She decided to stay.
Lill stayed at Carhartt Overall Company for 51 years, through world wars, a depression, and multiple changes in leadership—all because someone had the insight to offer a shy, uncertain girl the gift of self-esteem when she finally knocked on the door.