Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Natalie Cooke is a first-year Corporate Residency MBA student. She chose Dalhousie for its strong academic reputation and its CRMBA program, which includes a mandatory eight-month professional work term and the opportunity to apply classroom learning in a real work setting. What has made the experience especially meaningful for her so far is the depth of industry knowledge that faculty bring into the classroom, offering practical insights that have already helped shape her understanding of where she wants her career to go.

Natalie’s background is in communications, in which she completed co-ops across marketing, public relations, and communications roles. Those experiences helped build a foundation in storytelling and brand strategy, while also clarifying the type of work that energized her most. “Working at a public relations agency in particular showed me how much I enjoy collaborating on a wide range of projects and supporting different clients, which is what first sparked my interest in consulting.”

She is currently completing her corporate residency with the Customer and Engagement team alongside the Healthcare Operations advisory at KPMG Vancouver, where she supports initiatives related to systems transformation, service design, and process improvement. The role has offered exposure to large-scale change projects and client-facing work that impacts how services are delivered. “One of the highlights so far has been building connections with fellow interns in Vancouver and across Canada, as well as contributing to French language projects, which has allowed me to put my French skills to use in a professional setting.”

Since starting the CRMBA program, Natalie has challenged herself to develop a professional network by meeting professionals for coffee chats. As someone who identifies as an introvert, the idea of reaching out for coffee chats felt uncomfortable and intimidating, and networking did not come naturally to her at first, but she knew it was an important skill to develop. “In a world shaped by online job portals and artificial intelligence, thousands of applications can be submitted for a single role, and many are never meaningfully reviewed.” Natalie found that in-person conversations became less intimidating and more essential as her job search progressed. “Relationships are often what open doors, which makes building and maintaining connections one of the most valuable professional skills you can develop.” Her approach shifted away from treating networking as transactional and toward building genuine relationships over time. Starting small helped make it sustainable. “When I first started, I set a goal to schedule one coffee chat each month,” she says. “The most meaningful connections come from being curious, listening closely, and showing who you are in an authentic way.”

Looking ahead, Natalie sees the Corporate Residency MBA as shaping both her direction and her leadership approach. Just as important is the community the program creates and the relationships that will carry forward. “At some point in the future, I am sure I will be sitting in a meeting with someone from this cohort and quietly thinking about how we both started out here in Halifax.”