People always have to come first
CEO of BGE HOME says companies must cultivate relationships
Tamla Olivier is the same on the job as she is off the clock — all about people and personal connections.
In October, Olivier, 44, took over as president and CEO of BGE HOME, a Middle River-based home energy services company owned by Constellation. But before that, she spent her career in human resources.
The Mount Airy resident joined Constellation in 2010 as executive director of human resources for Constellation NewEnergy, and before that worked as a vice president at T. Rowe Price Group.
“I think for me it’s the idea of being able to cultivate relationships,” Olivier said. “No organization is going to be enabled and drive for results if they don’t have the right talent in the right place at the right time.”
Heading BGE HOME and its more than 500 employees is a change for Olivier, but one she said she’s enjoyed so far.
She’s responsible for increasing BGE HOME’s business in residential heating and cooling, and plumbing and electrical services.
Olivier took Baltimore.
She was born in New Jersey, but her family moved around a lot to Florida, Georgia, Ohio and upstate New York, following her father to new assignments with United Parcel.
Olivier was about 10 years old when her family moved in the early 1980s from their home in New Jersey, where most of her classmates and friends were black like her, to Florida, where she said she was one of the few students of color at school.
“You didn’t really see yourself as different until someone would say, ‘Can I touch your hair?’ or “How do you do your hair?’ ” said Olivier, who described the change as a culture shock.
Growing up in different parts of the country, where people responded to her race in different ways, influences her work in human resources and, more broadly, her outlook on life, she said.
“It really gave me the ability to really interface and build relationships with all types of people,” Olivier said. “It doesn’t matter where you came from.”
She and her husband enjoy traveling — he likes action-packed trips, while she prefers relaxing vacations, “somewhere warm with crystal blue water,” she said.
Tamla Olivier
Age: Position: Residence: Education: a winding path to