Seaforth's Swinimer honoured nationally for work at local Shell station
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
Recently, a hot tip informed The Citizen that Seaforth Shell station store manager Leigh Swinimer has just been nationally recognized for her joyously full-tilt approach to customer service.
Armed with the intel that she was recently named one of the winners of the 2026 Star Women in Convenience Awards (SWCA), The Citizen sought out Swinimer on location for a mid-shift interview, which was conducted in her unapologetically eclectic office.
The SWCAs are a national program mounted by Convenience Store News Canada (CSNC) to recognize the hardworking women that have made outstanding contributions to the convenience retail industry. While this year’s list of winners contains a fair number of corporate CEOs, big brand managers and regional representatives, Swinimer is one of the only single-store employees to be honoured in 2026. Not only that, but she received an eye-popping eight nominations this year!
Many of those nominations highlighted the unique and welcoming atmosphere she has cultivated at the Seaforth Shell station store, from its wide-range of local and craft beers to its elaborate holiday decorations. Swinimer is a woman with more than a few mantras, but one of her all time favourites is “Go big or go home!”
From the moment one steps into the store, it’s obvious that Swinimer has an absolute aptitude for customer service, but she’s the first to admit that she never imagined that her current career could become such a fulfilling aspect of her life.
Before her big move to Seaforth, Swinimer operated a sprawling equine farm far north of Huron County, complete with more than 30 horses, boarders and a steady stream of riding students. It was the fulfillment of her lifelong ambition. “When I was a little girl, I said - ‘I’m gonna grow up, I’m gonna have a horse farm.’ And that’s what I did,” she recollected.
However, the path through the garden of life often forks when least expected. Following one such fork led Swinimer to leave everything equine behind as she and her daughter struck out for Seaforth in search of something new. “I found myself, all of a sudden, off the farm - I had never planned past it,” she explained to The Citizen.
After the big move to Seaforth, serendipity struck in the guise of Swinimer’s unreliable old truck. In search of a job within walking distance, she decided to apply for a cashier position at the nearby Shell station.
It would be a big change for anyone to process, but the ever resourceful Swinimer found a way to cut through the noise and embrace all facets of her new reality. “Everything was just a blur,” she said. “But you’ve got to find happiness in life. It wasn’t that I decided to learn to love my job… I realized that I already did love my job.”
Her upbeat attitude quickly became contagious. Customers noticed her enthusiasm, which reinforced her long-held belief that finding joy in one’s work is the only way to live.
She set out to methodically master the art of being a cashier, just as she had with riding. Then, Swinimer started setting goals for this stage in her life. First, she decided she wanted to become lead hand. Within a year, she had achieved it. Then she set her sights on becoming the store’s manager. When the opportunity came, she was ready.
Funnily enough, Swinimer is so good at her job that she almost deleted the e-mail informing her she had won. Like many other managers for large corporations, she regularly receives “phishing tests” from her company to help protect the business from online scams. When the congratulatory e-mail arrived from the magazine, Swinimer’s training led her to assume it might be part of an anti-phishing exercise. “I didn’t even know if it was real,” she confessed. After checking with her supervisors, she discovered that she had, in fact, been selected as one of this year’s winners. Even more exciting was the fact that she was one of only five award winners selected to be on the cover of CSNC’s nationally distributed magazine.
It was an unforgettable experience for the horse-girl-turned store star. Swinimer was spirited away to Toronto for a professional studio session, complete with hairstylists, makeup artists and photographers. “It was the fanciest day!” she laughed.
The celebrations will continue in September, when all 64 award recipients from across Canada will gather in Toronto for the official awards ceremony.
While all the accolades and free hotel rooms are greatly appreciated, this award means something more to Swinimer. “It means there’s life after life,” she told The Citizen. “You can always reinvent yourself - it doesn’t matter how old you are. I don’t do this for the money, and I don’t do it for the recognition. I do it because I need to go to bed at night knowing that I’ve lived a good day.”
As for what’s next, Swinimer isn’t currently looking too far beyond the task at hand. “My current goal is to be able to say I’m a fantastic manager of the Seaforth Shell station,” she said. “When I can say that, maybe then it’s time to be fantastic somewhere else.” For the time being, though, store manager Leigh Swinimer is exactly where she wants to be.