Elaine Ruck – A Deeply Spiritual, Slightly Crazy Entrepreneur

Elaine Ruck

Meeting this extremely responsible, “go-the-extra-mile” person that Elaine Ruck is now, you would be unlikely to imagine the child that she was.

A Childhood of Adventure

As a complete tomboy, Elaine’s childhood was “high adventure”. She was one of four children, growing up without television, but with the advantages of a close family. There was always someone to play with, and someone to fight with. The children in the family regularly had feuds amongst themselves, but under no circumstances would they allow anyone else to attack one of their siblings. Their regular activities included building forts in the back yard, performing “circus acts” on their bicycles, digging holes all over the back garden (deep enough to stand in and be hidden), having mud fights, and playing cricket, tennis and “stingers” in the road outside their home. They swam in the summer and winter. They led active, outdoor healthy lives.

When it came to school, Elaine admits to not being an A-student, but she was extremely sporty and fit. She made the Western Province team in softball in Std. 9 (grade11). In hockey, she regularly played 3 matches for school and club teams each Saturday.

The Gospel in Her Young Life

With this busy life, it seems difficult to imagine how Elaine managed to find time for, or interest in spiritual matters. And yet, when her father joined the Church when she was seven, she quickly gained her own testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. She loved the Church, and as she grew up, despite loving partying, living the principles of the Gospel was something that came naturally. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could sacrifice what they had in terms of the Gospel, by going off the tracks. Early-morning seminary was a joy.

Discovering Her People Skills

When she left school at 18, she began working as a clerk for an insurance company – work that she found “mind-destroying”. But, by the time she was 20, despite having no knowledge or prior skills in the area of human relations or negotiations, she was running the union for the white-collar workers in the organization – representing 1000 people. Already her natural skills in dealing with people were coming to the fore. She may not have had any training, but she had enough savvy to put someone in place who knew how to deal with the administrative work, and then she got on dealing with the negotiating side. In her first negotiation, she was able to get a 17% pay increase for the members of the union – the highest the company had given in 40 years. One of her particular strengths in the position was in taking note of, and showing a personal interest in everyone – from the lowest ranking workers up.

Serving a Mission

At the age of 21, Elaine left the insurance company to go on a full-time mission. It was an especially good time for sister missionaries from Cape Town – there were 13 sisters on mission from the stake at the time. She served in the Johannesburg mission, which resulted in her serving in Bloemfontein (her favourite area on mission), Witbank, Pretoria, Edenvale, and Roodepoort (in the mission office). She arrived on her mission on Valentine’s Day, and considered that this was just typical of Heavenly Father’s sense of humour – finally putting her in a situation where the guys outnumbered the girls – and they had to keep them at arm’s length.

Her mission was a wonderful experience – if you don’t count the tracting. She loved teaching and serving, but this was the time in her life when she realized that “cold calling” was not her thing (as would be confirmed later in her life). Her experience with the gifts of the Spirit, and the constant inspiration in doing the Lord’s work, were a great source of strength to her, and helped to solidify her already strong testimony.

Back to Work in the World

After her mission, she returned to Johannesburg to work for five years. An indication of her interpersonal skills is that she got a job as a secretary despite being able to type only 19 words per minute, and failing the spelling test she was given.

After returning to Cape Town, she worked for a year as a project administrator, and then decided to leave there to set up a crafting business of her own. This was when it was confirmed to her that “cold calling” was not her strength. That was how she had to get business, and that was not where her strength lay. Needless to say, she realized that she needed to find herself another job, which she did. And there she stayed until she was retrenched five years later. But in those five years she had helped to grow the business from three employees to eleven.

After being retrenched, she set up business for herself again – but this time, in an area which has proved successful. No “cold calling” required. She isn’t selling anything but her knowledge, expertise and savvy, and there lies her strength. Elaine is a lateral thinker, and she can see a big picture when others are still trying to take a peek. This business, which is a consulting business and builds on all that she has learnt in her life and work experiences, spreads by word-of-mouth. What she does involves helping other people to use their own and their company’s resources and strengths most advantageously. She will look at a particular company and their functioning, and assess their strengths and weaknesses, and help them to be more productive. She looks at every aspect, including the kinds of things that she began noticing at the age of 20, when she was running the union. In other words, she notices not only the physical working conditions, but aspects of the workers themselves and their behaviour. She helps employers to be more aware of their employees, which makes for better efficiency and productivity in the company, and happier employees.

Her ability to notice things has resulted in her being able to go into newly completed buildings, and looking for all the “snags” – things which need to be fixed before the building gets handed over to the new owners.

Studies

At present, she is extending her ability to understand and help people, by studying psychology part time through the South African College of Applied Psychology. This is a very practical course, and can be very draining, as it demands a lot of time and effort, and also a considerable amount of introspection, and self-awareness.

Sarcoidosis

A very particular personal battle that Elaine has dealt with for the last seven years is sarcoidosis. This is an immune-mediated condition, and is very much affected by things like stress. It initially manifested in a chronic severe “bronchitis” and skin lesions for the first few years, and now is coming out with lumps under the skin. This has been an incredibly draining condition to battle, and treatment has not been simple or definite – she has tried both medical and holistic approaches.

Stake Employment Specialist

All of these challenges that Elaine has faced have fitted her up especially well for her current calling – Stake Employment Specialist. This is a calling about which she is passionate. In fact, if there is one thing that can get her emotional, it’s talking about this calling. The reason is that she really cares about the members, and what she can do to help them. But one of her frustrations is when other people don’t see the vision that she sees. She sees so much more than helping people get through an interview and land a job. She sees the individual and the challenges that are present in that person’s life, and in their family – sometimes because of a lack of work, and sometimes, preventing them from going out and getting work. She wants to find the obstacles that are in people’s paths, preventing them from getting employment and supporting themselves and their families. She sees it in this light: “This is the year of healing the broken hearted.” She wants to sit with people, one-on-one, and help to “take them to Christ”. It all works together. If someone can’t feed and clothe their family, it’s difficult for them to be committed to spiritual matters. But if they are committed to living the Gospel, they are more willing to apply faith and try the things that she suggests.

She has seen miracles happen in this calling. She felt that she needed to tell one man that although he couldn’t get a proper job, he should take an opportunity to work for nothing. It would keep his skill up and he would feel better about himself. He did this, and within a week, the employer started to pay him, and he now has a permanent job. A woman who had been receiving welfare from the Church, and was very negative about her possibilities of getting a job to support her children, finally took the leap of faith that Elaine suggested, and now is gainfully employed. And there have been many others that she has helped – helped to help themselves. That is important. The fact that each person is responsible for helping themselves, and taking what steps they can improve their circumstances.

A delightful, outgoing, decidedly crazy person to be with, Elaine has great depth that she would laugh at anyone suggesting she might have. Her family of nieces and nephews are very special to her, and thoroughly spoilt by her, given half a chance. What a privilege to know her.

Elaine and the one man who gives her no headaches