When Loretta West joined Lotus in February 2021, she brought decades of experience in transportation and logistics. Over the past five years, she has helped solve complex challenges, support customers, improve operations, and, perhaps most importantly, develop the people around her.
On October 16, Loretta will retire, closing an impressive career and leaving a lasting impact on Lotus and the many people she has worked alongside.
A Career Built on Experience
Throughout her career, Loretta worked across customs brokerage, freight forwarding, air and ocean imports, and logistics management. She supported major projects, including the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, and spent years managing complex freight movements for customers across North America.
When she arrived at Lotus, she brought not only experience, but a willingness to share it.
Whether helping solve operational challenges, supporting customers, or mentoring teammates, Loretta became a trusted resource across the organization. More importantly, she invested in the growth of others, helping build knowledge, confidence, and capability throughout the team.
The Impact She Leaves Behind
Ask her colleagues what they appreciate most about Loretta and you’ll hear the same themes repeated: experience, honesty, calmness, and a genuine willingness to help others succeed.
Parvathy Nair credits Loretta with helping build her confidence and always standing behind her when she needed support.
She didn't just correct me when I was wrong, but she also stood by me and voiced out when I was hesitant or underconfident.
Brad Bentz, who entered logistics without previous industry experience, says Loretta played a significant role in his development.
I learned an immense amount from Loretta. Her knowledge, guidance, and willingness to share her expertise have played a huge part in my growth in logistics.
Jeff White also points to the calm and thoughtful approach Loretta brought to her work.
Loretta's success is due to her level head, calm demeanour and ability to look at challenges with a critical eye to determine the best way to move forward.
Stories like these reflect one of Loretta’s greatest contributions: she didn’t just solve problems herself, she helped others learn how to solve them too.
Leading by Example
For Prab Bal, Loretta’s legacy is reflected in the people she helped develop.
Loretta is one of those people who makes everyone around her better. She brought tremendous experience and knowledge to our team, but what stands out most is how willingly she shared it. She stayed calm when challenges arose, focused on solutions, supported the people around her, and always kept the customer in mind.
The strongest organizations are built by people who develop others, and Loretta has done exactly that. Her influence can be seen across our team today. While we will miss having her at Lotus, the standards she helped establish and the people she helped develop will continue moving the company forward.
The Next Chapter
Over the past five years, Loretta has helped strengthen Lotus through her experience, professionalism, and commitment to helping others succeed. Her impact can be seen not only in the work she accomplished, but in the people she mentored and the knowledge she shared.
On behalf of the Bal family and everyone at Lotus Terminals, thank you, Loretta, for your contributions, leadership, and friendship. We wish you all the best in retirement and in the exciting chapter ahead.
