Meet the Crew - Darlene Henshaw, Director
Despite owning and running several successful businesses, for many years Darlene’s worst fear was not having an income. Having brought four kids up on her own the thought of not being able to feed them and look after them was always in the back of her mind.
“I was a single mum with four kids under five and I carried that fear through the last 23 years. When the pandemic hit in 2020 I had to close the doors of my businesses and my worst fear came true – all of a sudden I had no income, all the kids and their partners moved back home, and you know what, I was actually OK. In fact I felt energised – there was no longer any fear of failure – I survived.”
Not only did she survive, in April she launched PASLR, bringing her three successful businesses, Replacement Lamp Services, All Pumps and Pure H2O under the one umbrella to provide customers with the crucial services of power, pumps and water – all in the one place.
Not surprisingly, family plays a pivotal role within PASLR and is something Darlene values highly. Several of her kids currently work in the business, or have done so in the past and the same goes with her team – everyone seems to be related or connected in one way or another which makes for a close knit team who really support one another.
“Full transparency and honesty are so important to me and this culture is something which runs through the team,” she says.
“I’m big on relationships. My relationship with Davey (a key strategic partner who has been with them from day one) is very strong which is why Davey and PASLR work so well together. I care about people and at the end of the day people buy off people. We all trust each other and have worked together so long … some incredible relationships have developed over the years.”
With a strong Operations Manager in the business and a team of experts who she can rely on, Darlene says her job now is to think.
“My days are spent strategising, problem solving, working creatively and bringing people together to provide solutions. I help facilitate the solutions and surround myself with the best people… I really do love my job. I wouldn’t be doing it after 31 years if I didn’t!” she says.