Sofia Devine is a fourth-year Commerce Co-op student, majoring in Finance with a minor in Law. Originally from Vancouver, she chose Dalhousie for its co-op program and the vibrant student life. “I loved the opportunity provided by the Commerce Co-op program, though the city was one of the most beautiful places to study and I heard that the student life was awesome!”

During her first year in the program, Sofia began what would become a long-term career journey with the organization HARVEST Clean Eats. Initially hired in a serving position, she developed relationships with the organization’s founder and CEO as well as the Head of Operations and decided to she take the initiative to ask if they would be interested in hiring her as a co-op student on their corporate team. “I knew they were wanting to grow the company, and I had a feeling there was a great opportunity within the brand,” she shares.

This led to her first co-op in winter 2023 as a Finance Intern, which grew into a promotion of a Finance Manager by the end of her second co-op. Sofia has stayed with the company ever since, working part-time while taking classes in between her co-ops, including her third and final co-op this past summer, and will continue in her role after graduation. “I truly do feel my experience and knowledge has grown alongside the company. When I started, there were only two HARVEST locations, and now with nine across Atlantic Canada we are moving to Toronto in 2025!”

As the company expands, she explains that the sophistication of their financial modeling and reporting, with the help of the new VP of Finance, also expands. “From what started as handwritten performance reports on a Google Doc has transformed into sophisticated accounting software, high level reporting, and consistent analysis of financial reports.”

Looking back, Sofia shares that she is grateful for how HARVEST helped her find her voice in the corporate world and develop critical analysis and problem-solving skills. One piece of advice she would give her first-year self is to not be afraid of getting creative and sharing ideas with colleagues. “In growing alongside HARVEST Clean Eats, it’s like I got to develop experience with a different sized corporation each term.”