Hannah Brown is a third-year Commerce Co-op student majoring in Entrepreneurship with a certificate in Marketing. Originally from Guelph, Ontario, Hannah chose Dal because of the co-op program and the excitement of experiencing an unfamiliar environment.

In winter 2023, Hannah completed her first work term at Doing Things Simply, an audio-visual company based in Toronto. “At Doing Things Simply, I was the Support Services Coordinator. I would help the team schedule appointments with their clients.” During her time at Doing Things Simply, she quickly connected with her manager, as they were both new to the company. Throughout her work term, Hannah collaborated with her manager to reorganize the company’s procedures and processes, transforming how the operation runs.

She then worked at the Society for Enterprise Education and Development (SEED) for her next co-op in fall 2023, a non-profit organization specializing in increasing youth employability skills. There, Hannah was an Administrative Communications Coordinator and her main focus was creating content for their social media channels. She also had the opportunity to contribute to the Skills2SucSEED (S2S) program, a series of workshops for students. “S2S is a workshop program that works with around 20 youth at a time to help them learn employability skills, and it ends with a work placement.” The program was a highlight for Hannah. “My favourite thing about working with SEED was that I was able to work with the youth in the program during workshops.”

For her next venture and final co-op, Hannah has decided to do an Entrepreneurial Work Term (EWT) this summer, focusing on growing her subscription box service. Her company currently has two products, one designed for students, and the other contains local Nova Scotian products. Hannah says that she has wanted to pursue entrepreneurship for quite some time, stemming from her desire to run her own business in the future.

Throughout her time at Dal, Hannah often leveraged the assistance offered by Management Career Services (MCS). “MCS was a really big help in finding my first two co-ops. I found both through myCareer. I think that the variation of jobs is great and having them all in the same spot and not having to look too far for them is very helpful.”

Here is Hannah’s advice for you:

• Start early while looking for co-op. If you find something you are interested in, be sure to jump on it.
• If you have an idea, pitch it to someone. There are a lot of people that are interested in helping you if you are willing to put yourself out there.