In the third episode of our mini-series "The Cheat Sheet", we tackle the daunting task of choosing a career path. This is especially tricky when you're just starting out in your career and are trying to deal with so much noise. Today - we share some thought starters to consider as you map out the next move. The aim is to find a role at the intersection of as many of those questions as possible.  As a quick reminder - in addition to long-form interviews with our incredible guests, we're releasing short-form content that will answer the most burning questions that we receive from students ..read more

A few months ago, we sat down with Conor Clarance. Since we spoke - Conor shifted into a new role as the Director of Go-to-Market & Partnership Marketing at Crunchyroll (US, CDA, AUS, NZ).  Crunchyroll is a one-stop shop for anime fans. They’re best known for being a streamer that is home to the world’s largest collection of anime content. When we chatted with him - Conor was helping the brand grow within Canada by launching everything from new partnerships to experiential activations.  Prior to his time at Crunchyroll - Conor spent the majority of his career as: the Head of Sp ..read more

We recently chatted with Stephanie Wall who is the VP of Marketing at Sport Chek. As the largest sporting goods retailer in the country - they operate around 200 stores across the country & are owned by another iconic Canadian brand (hint: Canadian Tire). Stephanie has been at Sport Chek for 2 years & has helped them to continue their evolution towards building even more compelling, intentional & data-driven marketing.  Prior to joining Sport Chek, she spent 5 years in a variety of marketing roles at Rogers & had an illustrious 15 year career in advertising (at the likes ..read more

We recently (virtually) sat down with Azim Akhtar who is the Director of Brand Marketing at KFC Canada. For the past few years - his team has struck the perfect balance between respecting KFC’s iconic history while still pushing the brand into new, uncharted territory. His team has been on an incredible run with exceptional work: heartfelt apology to utensils (because KFC is finger-licking good), hosting a funeral for old fries, "fixing" the competition's chicken sandwiches, and tapping into culture moments in basketball.  In this episode, we chat with Azim about the power of (good) mark ..read more

In the second episode of our mini-series “The Cheat Sheet” we tackle the nerve-wracking cold email/message to someone you've never met. The only thing standing between you and the individual that you’d like to connect with is a 300 character LinkedIn message (that may get buried in their inbox along with all of the other messages that they receive from hungry students).  As difficult as it may seem to craft that “perfect” introductory message - we share a few tips on how to: get in the right headspace, improve your odds of standing out, and ultimately, build a long-lasting connection.&nb ..read more

We had the pleasure of chatting with Sydney Petrovic who is the Global Head of Brand at The Ordinary. The Ordinary is a Canadian skincare brand that has grown into one of the hottest skincare brands in the world.?However, their story is far from ordinary as they’ve broken most of the rules of the beauty industry on their way to becoming a billion dollar brand. Sydney’s team of brand builders has helped to fuel this growth by developing remarkable campaigns, crafting the unique brand identity & ensuring that the brand shows up consistently in new markets.  When she isn’t helping to sc ..read more

We recently chatted with Lauren Aitchison who is the Director of Marketing Operations at Cineplex. Cineplex needs no introduction - they’re synonymous with movies in Canada & many of us have found ourselves enjoying buttery popcorn at one of their 160 theatres across the country. Interestingly enough, their business actually extends beyond movies. They have a digital media arm, entertainment hubs (i.e. Rec Room), and much more. Before joining Cineplex, Lauren spent ~10 years between Telus and two of Toronto’s leading ad agencies.  When Lauren isn’t helping to transport movie viewers ..read more

The networking circle is one of business school’s greatest mysteries. It’s usually stressful, cringe-inducing, and highly transactional. Yet, business students everywhere will find themselves in these circles over and over again as they frantically try to land jobs. The experience doesn’t have to be all that bad. A networking circle presents an incredible opportunity to chat with industry professionals and could serve as a launching pad for a much deeper connection. All you need is a few tips on how to reframe the experience & best position yourself to make the most of it.  Introduc ..read more

In our third episode, we chat with Tayyab Rizvi who is a Product Marketing Lead at Patreon. Patreon is a platform that enables creators (i.e. podcasters, musicians) to build direct relationships with their biggest fans, share exclusive work, and monetize their efforts. Patreon currently has over 250K+ creators, 8M+ members & has paid $3.5B+ out to its creators. Tayyab helps to identify new features to increase creator engagement & develops the go-to-market plan to bring them to life. Before joining Patreon, he had an incredible 8 year run at Google where he most notably led Creator Mar ..read more

In our second episode, we chat with Dean Hayward who helps to lead the Brand Partnerships team at Instacart Canada. His team is focused on partnering with Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies to grow their business on the platform via advertising. Instacart is a tech company that is best known for powering eCommerce for some of North America's largest retailers (users can receive same day delivery from the likes of Loblaw, Best Buy and Sephora). Before helping to scale Instacart's advertising business - he had done the same at Amazon Ads Canada for 5 years and held various sales positions a ..read more