Propane Personality: Leslie Woodward

EDUCATION

McMaster University
Master of Business Administration in Finance

University of Toronto
Bachelor of Arts in Economics

Woodward also has a master’s in history from Brock University, a master’s in creative and critical writing from the University of Gloucestershire and a graduate certificate in creative writing from Humber College. She’s halfway through writing a historical fiction book.

WORK EXPERIENCE

1991-Present

Fairview Ltd.
⦁ President and CEO
⦁ President of U.S. Division
⦁ Vice President of U.S. Operations

Fairview – a family business

Woodward’s father started Fairview in 1969 as a small manufacturer and distributor of fittings and hose in Toronto. Now it has multiple locations in Canada and the United States, offering products for numerous industries and markets. It’s been a big supplier to the RV industry. But, she says, “My heart is with propane because that’s where I volunteer and do most of my voluntary code work, all focused on propane.” She also feels it’s an industry to which she can relate. “I have to be one of the very few [manufacturers] who own a company. I’m a family business like the propane people, where I’m showing up and going to these little technical committee meetings. I deal with all the same things they deal with.”

Straddling the border

Woodward is a native Canadian, born in Toronto and raised in nearby Mississauga. She now lives in
Niagara on the Lake, crossing the border often between the company’s main offices in Canada (Oakville, Ontario) and the United States (Wheatfield, New York).

Volunteer roles

Woodward’s volunteer roles are many. She’s currently a Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) councilor, serves on the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) board of directors and is a past chairman of its Technology, Standards & Safety Committee. She’s also on the National Fire Protection Association 58 committee overseeing the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code, among other roles with codes and standards committees. “I didn’t ask to become the code queen,” she laughs. “It just happened.”

On ‘Canada’s Wall Street’

After earning her MBA in finance, Woodward worked on Bay Street, which she calls the “Canadian version of Wall Street.” “That’s what I wanted to do,” she says. “I did tax shelters. I was a small cog in a big investment wheel.” But she was drawn back to the family business of Fairview.

“Being a techie and a code writer is a thankless task. You’re not sexy and glitzy, and people don’t want to buy you drinks at parties. It’s OK. I’ve learned to live with it.”

Code world

Early in her time at Fairview, Woodward found herself immersed in a world of codes and standards because they were so closely tied to her company’s work. “I got more involved with people who are making things,” she says. “I’m able to read and absorb a lot of information. I taught myself everything, and I still do.”

Women in Propane

Woodward is also involved with the NPGA Women in Propane Council and offered her perspective on women’s roles in the industry. “It’s changed now, but when you did get females, it was always administrative, marketing – really important roles but not technical roles. I was odd because it would be just men and me.” 

Hobbies

Woodward loves to lift weights, waking at 5 a.m. each morning to hit the gym in her basement. Weighing around 107 pounds, she can bench-press 110 pounds. “I realize that you get frail when you get older, and I refuse to get frail, so I have way more muscle now than I did 20 years ago,” she says. Woodward also enjoys playing the piano and reading fiction.