Challenge
Honour a matriarch who led without apology
In the 1950s, industrial bearings were a man’s world.
That didn’t stop Wendy McDonald after her husband died.
Raising four small children, she managed to grow a small Vancouver machine shop into a profitable company with 60 locations worldwide.
So when she retired, those around her didn’t want to hand just her a gold watch.
They wanted to honour the woman who fought the odds.
Solution
Capture a straight-talking leader in her own words
But what kind of story would we write? Many clients are torn between a leader’s personal story and their corporate legacy.
Wendy proved an excellent example of finding the sweet spot in between: a warm and approachable family history book laden with archival photographs and rich stories that merged her personal life with the complex journey of BC Bearing.
Through recorded interviews and deep research, we helped shape a memoir / company book that reflected the qualities she was known for:
- Blunt honesty
- Strong loyalty to her employees
- A refusal to be fussed over or idealized
Wendy spoke candidly about her life, her business philosophy, and the culture she helped create.
We kept the tone direct, the stories tight, and the voice unmistakably hers. But there were many more perspectives to add, so while her story is the throughline, we added large quotes from almost 30 people to the pages. We also profiled key figures in sidebars, and added a time across the entire book.
It was about capturing a life.
Result
A personal history with company-wide impact
The book became more than a tribute.
It told the inside story of how BC Bearing’s culture was built, quietly, firmly, and without compromise.
It celebrated Wendy’s legacy as a business leader who put people first and didn’t need recognition to lead with impact.
The result was a book that captured her world view and gave future generations a clear sense of what she stood for.
One more cool thing...
Her voice was the through line
We didn’t write about Wendy.
We wrote with her.
Her voice shaped the structure, tone, and feel of the book.
Wendy died in 2012, but her voice lives on. That’s the power of You Got That Right: The Story of Wendy McDonald and BC Bearing Engineers.
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