Figure: Gail Vaz-Oxlade, a financial guru and television personality, is shown in a photograph taken in Toronto in 2010.Figure: Gail Vaz-Oxlade, a financial guru and television personality, is shown in a photograph taken in Toronto in 2010. Text: Gail Vaz-Oxlade, the financial expert and host of “Till Guilt Do Us Part,” wasn’t always knowledgeable about money because she had none. She faced significant challenges as a young immigrant to Toronto in 1977. Early Job: As a new resident, Gail had to work hard to earn money. An uncle offered her a job as a telephone surveyor, which she took despite having no prior work experience. Phone Surveying: Gail’s job involved calling people to conduct political surveys. Each survey had a set number of payment targets: reaching the first point earned a partial payment, while completing the entire survey paid in full. Challenges: Gail often called people at inconvenient times, such as Sunday mornings, to ask about their political views. She faced many rejections and rude comments, but she persevered. Personalizing the Experience: To overcome objections, Gail used her Jamaican accent to her advantage, creating curiosity and engaging people. She also developed a positive attitude and a playful approach. Income Breakthrough: After four weeks, Gail’s manager recognized her exceptional skills and switched her from a piece rate system to a regular hourly wage of $10. This was a significant income boost for her in 1978. Lessons Learned: Gail learned the importance of persistence and adaptability in achieving her goals. She also realized that a positive attitude and a willingness to learn could overcome challenges. Call to Action: The article encourages young Canadians to listen to the award-winning “Stress Test” podcast to gain financial knowledge and avoid costly mistakes.
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Author Gail Vaz-Oxlade in Toronto on January 6, 2010.JENNIFER ROBERTS/The Globe and Mail
Financial guru and Till guilt do us part Presenter Gail Vaz-Oxlade didn’t always know everything about money… because she didn’t have any. In 1977, the new immigrant faced big changes and challenges. In Canada, she had to work hard to spend money.
I was 18 and a recent immigrant from Jamaica to Toronto. I had never worked before, never even had a clue what kind of job I could do if I had to work. My family’s financial circumstances were noticeably different here. If I wanted money, I had to find a way to earn it myself.
I had an uncle here, a real businessman who had spent his early life trying to scrape together a living for his family while he finished his studies. He had a job as a telephone surveyor and he said, “You can come and work here.” I didn’t think at all about whether it was a good job – just that it was a job – and I wanted it because I wanted money.
I showed up every day and was given that day’s political survey questionnaire with a long, long list of phone numbers to call. That’s what I had, a very small space and a phone. It was a pay-by-piece job: there were two marked sections of each survey, and if you reached the first point, you got a certain amount of money, and if you reached the end, you got paid in full. If you didn’t reach the first point, you got nothing.
Sometimes I would call people at 9am on a Sunday morning to ask which political party they were going to vote for, so you can imagine how well I was received. Still, my goal was to at least make it to the first cutoff point so that the conversation wasn’t a complete waste of my time. Once I got past that point, I could smell how much money I would make by making it to the end. I kept cajoling and cajoling my prey until I got to the very last question.
I would ask questions about the topics – education, housing, health care – but also very specific questions about voting: “How have you voted in the past?” “How do you plan to vote in the future?” A lot of people hung up. Some were rude, some were offended. There were a lot of people who didn’t want to talk about politics, but there were also quite a few who did. want to talk about politics. That was a problem because I didn’t really know anything about politics; Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats were all the same to me.
Keep in mind I am Jamaican, with a heavy accent, but I spoke the Queen’s English. At first I lowered my voice and tried to hide it, but I soon learned that my accent provided a kind of intrigue that kept people listening. My whole life people have said, “You have such an interesting accent, where are you from?” They usually guess South African or Irish. There are actually a lot of Irish in Jamaica, so the way we put our words together is similar.
I decided I didn’t want to work on changing my accent, even though it’s hard to be true to yourself. I am who I am. I learned to smile on the phone, because it shows, and that, plus the accent, actually made me really good at the job. It took me about a week to get the hang of it, but soon I had a terrible record for taking surveys. After about four weeks on the job, my manager switched me from a piece rate system to a regular $10 an hour. In 1978, that was a lot of money — about $47 an hour today. Pretty good if you can take a beating!
You couldn’t deviate from the script during the questions, but you certainly could during the questions in between. They’d ask, “Where are you from?” and I’d say, “I’ll tell you at the end of the survey.” I learned to be playful and that a positive attitude meant a better chance of a positive outcome. But negative outcomes do happen. Maybe this summer was the birth of my thick skin. If you wanted to get what you wanted, you had to keep going. This tenacity would serve me well for the rest of my life.
Are you a young Canadian with money on your mind? To set yourself up for success and avoid costly mistakes, Listen to our award-winning Stress Test podcast.
