Then and Now: Life after Ryerson MPC

"I've always been a go-with-the-flow kind of person when it comes to learning about what my strengths are and career goals are."

Then

Before entering ProCom, I was working for a big bank in a minor marketing and communication role. After about a year, I discovered that the investment world didn't really light my fire, and I knew that it wouldn't be my "forever" job. I started to seek out opportunities to further my career and education. After discovering the Professional Communication program at Ryerson, I knew that I had to pursue a different path. Of course, this was a little bit scary, but I ultimately knew that the program would help me grow as a person and also provide me with alternate career opportunities.

Now

Currently, I am working in the healthcare sector at Can-SOLVE CKD as a Communications Coordinator. I relocated to Vancouver to join the team at the end of May 2019! (woo!) My main goal is to dive right into my new role and apply my ProCom skills! I'm really looking forward to working with a new team, in an amazing city, and working in the communication field.

I think I got to where I am today by being open to life's possibilities and constantly looking for opportunities to learn more about myself and the skills that I possess. I can't say that I always expected to be doing what I'm doing, but I am happy with where I have ended up so far.

"If you had asked me eight years ago, I definitely couldn't have predicted that I'd be living in New Zealand and starting my dream job - but feel very fortunate to be doing exactly that!"

Then

I came into ProCom after working a few years on a variety of contract jobs. I wanted to deepen my knowledge in the communication field and ultimately move into more permanent work. I was also interested in moving to Toronto, since I grew up and went to college and university in Winnipeg. I remember being nervous about leaving the workforce for a brand new program. I was also nervous (and excited) about moving to a new city, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I made for my career.

Now

I am now living in my favourite wine region in New Zealand's southern alps (near Wanaka, Central Otago), and about to start a new job as the Digital Marketing Manager for Zeffer Cider – New Zealand's largest independent craft cider company. I'm super excited to be moving into the beverage industry, and I'm also studying to become a certified sommelier.

I did spend seven years climbing the corporate ladder, however. After MPC, I was with the Corporate Affairs team at Nestle. I was then promoted to an external communication specialist role, and later became the Digital Content Manager on a different team. It was a hard decision to leave the company where I worked with such an amazing team, but it was time for a new experience.

“I always assumed I would end up in the communication field somewhere, but I was never quite sure where exactly.”

Then

Before the MPC program, I was working with a small organization in the outdoor education industry as their primary marketing and communication lead. After two years, I realized that I wanted to transition to something more significant, but I wasn’t quite sure how. I stumbled on the Master of Professional Communication program at Ryerson and thought it would be the perfect way to learn new skills, while leveraging existing qualifications. At the same time, I thought it would be a way to differentiate myself from the competition. I started the program in late-2017 and graduated in late-2018!

Now

As I finished my major research paper at Ryerson, I started working at the University Health Network (UHN) as a Public Affairs Associate. Recently, however, I’ve made a switch to a technology and cloud infrastructure organization called WatServ as their Communication and Marketing Specialist.

Truthfully, I love this industry -- it can take you anywhere (quite literally), regardless of your interests. For these reasons, I've decided to start my own side-business (largely inspired by the MPC program), which will launch mid-2019.

“I didn’t quite expect to end up where I am––I thought I would be a consultant or running my own small business. But I’m not unhappy about it.”

Then

In the fourth year of my undergrad journalism program, I realized that as much as I loved storytelling, I didn’t want to spend my career chasing hard news. Working in communication seemed as if it would allow me to be creative and tell stories, while also developing a speciality in whatever industry I found intriguing. Of course, this was all conjecture at the time, as I had no work experience in the field yet. I had a lot of questions with unknown answers.

Now

Currently, I am the Director, Growth at a boutique Toronto agency called Mayk Ideas. A few years ago, I was able to negotiate a change in my role that allowed me to work remotely, from anywhere in the world. Many of my current challenges are related to being physically out of office. From needing to ensure I’m connected at all times, to taking meetings at odd hours, both my team and I have to be more flexible with each other. Those logistical elements are more than worth managing, considering how much freedom I have.

I’d love to say I was completely intentional with all of my career choices, but that wouldn’t be true. What I’ve realized looking back is that I’ve consistently chosen or gone after opportunities that lead to (1) flexibility and a healthy work/life balance, (2) being given the chance to take on responsibility and leadership, and (3) working with good people.

“The lesson I took away from MPC is: If you have an opportunity to be around smart, successful people -- take it.”

Then

I remember back in 2011, I drove two hours to the MPC info session in a huge snowstorm to learn about the program. Back then, my main goal was to transition my career from advertising to healthcare communication.

Through MPC, I met professor Gregory Levey who founded the healthtech startup, Figure 1. I was the first employee and ended up spending six years growing the company. Now, it’s one of Toronto’s most exciting tech companies with more than 2.5 million healthcare professional users. It wasn’t the way I anticipated working in healthcare, but it ended up being way better.

I learned so much from the people in my class and seeing myself as “one of them” pushed me to grow a lot. I look back really fondly on that year.

Now

I’m now living and working in London, UK at the fintech company, Square. We help level the playing field for small businesses by allowing them to accept credit cards in person and online. I transitioned from communications to partnerships, which has allowed me to be closer to strategic business decisions (something I sometimes missed with communication). I am enjoying the experience of living abroad and broadening my skill set.