Maral Porretta worked in the fashion and beauty industry for 10 years before joining Dalhousie’s Corporate Residency MBA program. Attracted by the 8-month paid work term and courses such as the elective offered by Creative Destruction Lab for those looking to start their own ventures, the Mongolian-born Ottawan chose Dalhousie to pursue an MBA. She is using her time in the program to work toward her dream of becoming a fashion editor and having her own fashion and beauty line.

Maral recently completed her Corporate Residency at The 7 Virtues Beauty Inc., a beauty social enterprise that sells organic and sustainable perfumes made with ingredients sourced from nations rebuilding after war or strife. She worked as a Marketing and Merchandising Lead. “My biggest accomplishment was being able to help increase sales across multiple Sephora stores in Ontario and Atlantic Canada through facilitating education about the brand and its products,” she says. She shares that she also thoroughly enjoyed developing relationships with Sephora executives. Maral had the opportunity to work on a new perfume and lead new social media and digital marketing strategies by diversifying their content – two projects that she was extremely excited about. “There were so many opportunities to travel and engage with clients and Sephora teams worldwide!” She worked from home for the first four months before travelling to different provinces. “Having that mix was really fun, exciting, and balanced the workload,” she says.

Maral credits her amazing Corporate Residency experience to Jennie Brimicombe, Career and Resilience Coach at Dalhousie, who helped her connect with her employer. When asked for advice for other students, she shared something very simple but true. “Hone in on your passion! Ask yourself, ‘what’s my purpose in life? What’s my dream job?’ Then you can reach out to people in that field on LinkedIn, network, and be proactive. Lastly, have fun! Your work should never feel like work, and it should be something that drives you to excellence.”