Joselyne Kumari is more than a team leader at a leading contract processing unit — she’s a portrait of strength, perseverance, and determination.
For the past seven and a half years, she has steadily climbed the ranks at Rentokil Initial, starting in operations admin, transitioning into finance, and eventually finding her place in contract processing.
Today, she leads a five-member team serving Australian clients.
But behind the title is a story shaped by hardship, sacrifice and grit.
Raised in a family of four sisters, Ms Kumari’s life changed dramatically after the loss of her father shortly after she completed Form 6.
“My mum wasn’t working, so we had to find holiday jobs just to keep things going,” Ms Kumari said.
“Eventually, I had to put my studies on hold to support my family full-time.”
An information technology student at FNU at the time, she made the difficult choice to leave her studies and take up work to help at home.
Then, in 2019, she faced another devastating loss — her mother passed away after a battle with cancer.
“It was hard, but there was no other option. My family needed me.
“When I joined Rentokil, I started in operations, then moved to finance, and finally found my space in contract processing.
“It wasn’t easy, but I worked hard and slowly, the opportunities came.”
Today, Ms Kumari oversees Rentokil’s contract processing team for Australia.
Her team is responsible for handling documentation for cities like Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth — processing, matching, and reconciling contracts and product orders through a system shared by teams in Fiji and New Zealand.
“Every document we receive has already been approved by the higher management in Australia.
“Once it hits our queue, it’s our responsibility to process it correctly and match the data in our systems.
“It’s a lot of work, but I enjoy it and I’m very comfortable with computers, typing, and system work.”
She recalls how the early days in operations tested her patience and resilience, especially when reconciling field reports with technicians who were often difficult to reach.
“It was tough calling them repeatedly and waiting for them to come to the office to complete their reports, but we had to stay persistent.
“If you work hard and stay focused, you can grow – even when life gets hard.
“You have to encourage yourself sometimes and just leave the rest to God.”
