Marisa Ellison – the general manager at Golf Town in Windsor – has made stops in Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg. Now she’s trying to share with other female employees the advice she received when she was just starting out after thriving in her own career that’s taken her across the country.

“It’s cliché but I’ve always been a believer in doing the job that you want. You have to do your job and also do the job that you want to go into next,” she says. “I always try to further myself with knowledge and my big thing was always making sure I was the expert.”

Marisa’s golf career was kickstarted by her father, who got her into the game when she was eight. She was an athletic child, playing any sport she could get her hands on. While she didn’t play at a super high-competitive level, she says she was part of a high school squad that made it to the provincial championship in her native Alberta a couple of times.

Initially she went to university for engineering and her clubs collected dust as she focused on school. However, she switched to business and got back into golf. She graduated from Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan University with a Bachelor of Commerce (with a major in management) in 2013.

She started at Golf Town the year prior at the North Edmonton store as a part-time associate.

“As I was finishing my degree I loved golf so I figured why not put the two together. I always laugh because I say I never left,” says Marisa.

Her journey with Golf Town included roles as the department manager for soft-line goods in Edmonton. She worked there under Suzy Maxwell, a long-time Golf Town employee and the first female general manager in company history.

“I was really fortunate to wind up at the store she was at and she developed me, gave me a lot of opportunities along the way,” says Marisa.

From Edmonton she was offered the assistant manager position at the East Calgary store. After just six months she then moved to Winnipeg after being offered the store manager position there. She moved another province over – to Ontario – after four years in Manitoba.

“I’m a big believer in taking any opportunities that further you as a person and employee so I was a big believer in saying ‘yes’ as far as making a big move – I had already done it once. I had crossed that hurdle when I moved to Winnipeg and it wasn’t a difficult decision to make,” says Marisa about coming to Ontario for the first time.

Marisa says golf is in a good spot right now. Coming through the pandemic the game has been “injected with new life,” she says and she’s excited to join the community of golfers in Windsor, which she calls a small-town city. Although she’s only been in town briefly, she says she’s going to be out there in the community making connections and relationships on the course as soon as possible.

And since she was mentored by one of the most important female leaders in the company, Marisa says she’s passionate about passing along as much knowledge as she can to the next generation – especially with Golf Town committing to developing a new mentorship program.

“I strive every day to be that mentor for other people that I had because I know how valuable it was for me. I strive to be that for my employees,” says Marisa. “I really want to try to develop the next group of women who want to further their career in golf and with Golf Town.”