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Category: Entrepreneur

Student Spotlight: Kiarah Seon

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Kiarah Seon, a fourth-year Commerce Co-op student from Bermuda, is using her passion for artificial nail extension design to start and run her own company, Divine Nail Care, while she’s still in school. Kiarah took advantage of the opportunity to complete an entrepreneurial work term to grow her new business venture.

Divine Nail Care (DNC) is a start-up business providing goods for nail care, nail enhancements, and nail technology. Kiarah introduced DNC’s first product, the ‘Net Nails N3 Smart Nail Chip’ or Net Nails for short, in February 2022. It is a radio inductive fingernail chip that utilizes near-field communication (NFC) to share links and files with mobile users. Simply tap your fingernail on the NFC-inducing area of the cellphone to unveil the unlimited information-sharing options.

Kiarah considers developing an infrastructure that her company can grow on, forming constructive business relationships within her industry, and making sales to be her biggest achievements during her entrepreneurial work term. “Start-ups require a great deal of consistency, patience, and self-governing. Considering this, every small milestone feels like a big accomplishment,” she says. She thoroughly enjoyed how often her daily activities would change and being in control of her own learning experience and professional development while driving her own business venture. Kiarah says entrepreneurship has taught her to adapt and follow through. “My business mentor and family were a great support in decision-making when I hit an obstacle. It is important to ask questions, not only from those you know but also from those you have ‘yet’ to know,” she says.

Since Kiarah was young, her dream has always been to be a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. She aspires to work for herself and eventually help others, specifically friends and family, in creating the life they desire most. “I feel equipped with the knowledge necessary to start taking on this lifestyle,” she says. As she began her entrepreneurial work term, she was looking forward to the unexpected. Although she created SMART goals and forecasted potential growth, she couldn’t predict how her work term would have impacted her business, which made every new day exciting and interesting. She thanks her professor and business mentor Albert James and her Career and Recruitment Specialist for helping her during the process and being ready to support her whenever she had questions.

Kiarah has some advice to share with her fellow students: “You must believe in yourself and be willing to take risks. When you’re building a company from the ground up, the top of the mountain looks a lot further away. You must be determined to persevere and understand there will be lows along with the highs. Know who you are and trust in your ability to make your vision a reality.”

Student Spotlight: Maral Porretta

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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.”

Student Spotlight: Jasmine Rana

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Meet Jasmine Rana, a second-year Bachelor of Commerce Co-op student who is planning to major in Marketing. She came to Dalhousie from Oakville, Ontario to experience living in a university town. “Halifax is very different from where I grew up and I was excited to get out of my comfort zone, meet new people and be able to call this place a temporary home,” she says.

Jasmine worked for Dash Hudson as a Marketing Intern for her recent co-op in the winter. Dash Hudson is a marketing software company that focuses on social entertainment and producing metrics and insights that brands can utilize to measure their social media performance. “Engagement as a brand is extremely important because it helps solidify your presence on social media and humanizes the brand. I had the pleasure of creating an engagement playbook for Dash Hudson, which was my greatest accomplishment of the term,” she says. In the playbook, she outlined what strategies work and don’t work on social media and listed ideas the company could use.

Jasmine says that she truly felt like part of the team at Dash Hudson, being constantly involved and getting a chance to express her ideas. “I was able to participate in the monthly social insights meetings compiling the analytics across all social platforms to help assess our performance: what we can do better, what is going well, and what should be tested going into the next month,” she says. She also had the opportunity to demonstrate her creativity by making TikToks, Instagram Reels, and graphics for social media channels. She contributed a Gen Z perspective, giving the brand options for current social media trends and providing team members content to amplify the hashtag #LifeatDashHudson.

Jasmine was excited about meeting her manager, diving into her responsibilities, and getting work experience at a company she truly admired. “I am lucky to have been in an environment that fosters discussions and welcomes questions, which allow me to complete my best possible work,” she says. She worked remotely throughout the term, finding the transition to the online environment to be a smooth one. “Dash Hudson offered me a space to learn and grow, and I have been able to find myself more while working with extremely talented individuals on work that is so innovative and cutting edge. If this is what work life is like, sign me up!”

Jasmine’s advice for you:

  • Start your job search early and make sure to have all of your documents in order.
  • Identify what you like within your co-op role, from responsibilities, to people, to environment, as it can help align your future career path.
  • Keep an eye out for experiences that you would love to have again as well as those you are longing for.
  • Remember that you’re doing your best and that’s what matters.

Instagram Handle: @jasminerana__

Pronouns: she/her

Student Spotlight: Himanshu Kumar

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Himanshu Kumar is a third-year Bachelor of Commerce student majoring in Marketing Management. He was born and raised in Bihar, India. Himanshu came to Dalhousie through non-traditional methods, first applying to the Engineering program and eventually attending the University of Manitoba with the hope of transferring to Dalhousie at some point. After one year at UofM, Himanshu realized that he was more interested in the world of marketing. “I was exposed to marketing through some of the electives, and that’s when I realized what my true passion was. I thus set on to ensure I could align my passion with my field of study. I quickly started researching the best available universities with marketing programs, and  as I would have imagined, Dalhousie University seemed to be the right choice. The coursework, pedagogy, global ranking of the university and the mandatory co-op program again put Dalhousie on my dream list.” Himanshu added. With Himanshu’s hard work and determination, he increased his GPA and secured a place in his newly desired dream program here at Dalhousie.

Himanshu quickly began looking for work that would allow him to gain marketing experiences while simultaneously building his resume. He received a part-time job in sales and marketing that allowed him to do just that, “I was able to secure a job at a Mobile boutique store. This job helped me develop many of the interpersonal skills that are key to the field of marketing.” Himanshu added.

Despite the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, Himanshu landed his fall work term at Proposify as a Product Marketing Intern in early summer. In his job search, Himanshu sought the help of his Career and Recruitment Specialist to prepare and worked hard to find his dream job. Himanshu believes that the help and aid of Management Career Services allowed him to become more of a polished professional individual, “MCS has played a major role in developing my career. MCS’s support in resume review, mock interviews, and career counselling has helped me equip myself better for the corporate world. I believe, through their services, MCS has helped me build myself as a much more skilled and polished individual. I am ever thankful for the mentor that I have found in Jonathan Perry.” Himanshu added. In this role, Himanshu is involved with competitive intelligence, blog writing, and many other product marketing facets. “Proposify has truly helped me put my classroom learnings into practice in the corporate world. It has given me a plethora of learning opportunities with the safety net of the supportive team,” Himanshu added.

The ongoing pandemic has affected every one of us in very different ways. Himanshu has taken this time to work on gaining skills and developing a healthy lifestyle, “A gregarious person that I am, I always enjoy being in the company of other beings. The current situation of lockdowns and social distancing has thus not been very encouraging for me as an individual. I have used this time to keep myself busy by learning new skills, reading the long-pending books that I had on my to-read list, pursuing hobbies that I always wanted to and, most importantly, developing a healthy and active lifestyle. This entire process has made me a much more disciplined and determined individual than I was ever before.”

Tips from Himanshu:

  1. Follow your dreams and choose a career path that you are passionate about.
  2. Social media platforms like LinkedIn are powerful tools to help you understand various career paths and connect with the right individuals. Use them to the best of your ability.
  3. Put yourself out there and get involved in on-campus activities (or virtual events for the time being).

You can follow Himanshu on Instagram at himanshu_sawarn.

Student Spotlight: Margaret Lewis

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Margaret Lewis is from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and she has lived there almost her whole life. She graduated from Dalhousie’s Corporate Residency MBA program in June 2019. Before completing her MBA, she completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychology also at Dalhousie.

During her MBA, she found an internship at Scotiabank as a Small Business Advisor. In this role, she worked with small business clients and students in professional programs. Up until recently, she worked as a Business Analyst. This role was responsible for project management, providing analytical support on marketing initiatives, conducting market analyses and creating business process workflows, flowcharts and product documentation

Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, she was laid off from her Business Analyst role., “I knew that it would be difficult for job searching, but I tried to remain positive,” she said. Marketing has always been Margaret’s true passion, so she knew she needed to continue finding her dream job. One successful approach for Margaret was reaching out to individuals who worked within the industry to talk to them about their marketing experiences and any advice. Over the last five months, she met with many people virtually to continue her search. She mentioned that she was very grateful for the opportunity and appreciated the knowledge that it gave her.

Another way that Margaret stayed positive thought her job search was her continued effort to become more qualified. She took online courses and certification relevant to the areas she wanted to work in, such as Google Ads, Google analytics and some HubSpot marketing courses. Continuing to learn and study helped her stay motivated and increased her desirability to employers.

Margaret’s continued effort finally paid off, and she has just received an Advertising Analyst position at a local Halifax marking company. She is set to begin this month and is excited about what the role has to offer; she added, “I am excited for this role as it will combine my passion for marketing and analytics and work with a great team.”. Due to the ongoing pandemic, Margaret will be working from home but is not concerned because her employer has an extensive virtual onboarding/training program.

Margaret’s Advice:

  • Network with as many individuals as possible because each person you speak with will provide a different perspective and new advice. There are also many great free resources (e.g. certifications and courses) online that can make you stand out to potential employers.
  • Know that you are not alone. This is a difficult time for all job hunters, but the right opportunity will come along when you least expect it!

 

Student Spotlight – Noah Innes

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For this week’s edition of our student spotlight, Noah Innes, a 3rd year Bachelor of Commerce student shares his experience.

Originally from Halifax, Noah chose Dalhousie’s Commerce program for the mandatory co-op and the opportunity to gain valuable work experience during an undergraduate degree.

Over the last Fall, Noah secured his job with InterTalk Critical Information System as a Marketing Intern. InterTalk  is a company based in Dartmouth that makes and sells and sells radio dispatch consoles. He was attracted to the job because it was a completely new position in the company which means the scope of development was huge. In his role at InterTalk, he was responsible for managing their social media, writing press releases, and maintaining the website.

While talking about managing a heavy workload, Noah said that his strategy to an effective work term search “is to get started early, preferably by using connections and networking, before the academic load picks up.  I also have decided to only invest time applying to positions I am extremely interested in”.

Noah’s short-term goal is to find a third co-op position that allows him to build upon his current business acumen. His long-term goal is to find a full-time job in a marketing or customer related role with a large multinational company.

Tips of the week from Noah:

  • Ensure you take the time to personalize each cover letter, even if it may seem not to be worth the time investment.
  • Network as much as you can – the old adage ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is actually true.
  • Maintaining a good balance between your social and academic life is critical for your happiness while doing a university degree. Get your work done first, then you can have a fun time without any responsibilities hanging over you.
  • Ensure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date and has as much detail as possible.
  • Leverage your shared connections on LinkedIn and ensure all connection invitations are sent with a personal memo.
  • Maintain your connections throughout your degree – that means meeting for coffee chats to update them on your academic progress. You never know when one of them may have a hiring need down the road.

Do you want additional tips on your resume and cover letter? Book an appointment with your CRS to learn more. 

Book via myCareer or pop in to Management Career Services at Room 2100 in the Rowe Building.

Student Spotlight – Henry Locker

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Henry Locker is a third-year Bachelor of Commerce student who recently completed a four-month co-op in Vietnam as an Asia Representative. Originally from Halifax, he chose Dalhousie’s Commerce program for the mandatory co-ops and the opportunity to gather a real work environment while exploring multiple industries. “The co-op program is very reputable and unique with 3 staggered co-op placements. This gives me the ability to test the water in many industries” said Henry.Henry

Henry used his networking skills and reached out to friends’ families to find this job. Over the last fall, Henry secured a self-developed job with Confederation Partner in Vietnam, an international finance and service company. Confederation offers many methods for high net-worth individuals and their families to become dual citizens in Canada, USA, European Union, and the Caribbean Islands. He was attracted to this job because the work was inspiring, and he enjoys the satisfaction that this service offers. As an Asia Representative, he performed a variety of different roles, finding the appropriate location for an office at an appropriate price and working with the marketing team to market the company to prospective clients. He was a keynote speaker at 8 seminars with attendance ranging from 30 to 100 people.

Henry spoke to us about his transition, saying “The biggest difference between working in Canada and Vietnam is that Its very common for a workweek in Vietnam to consist of Monday through Saturday 8am to 6pm, and it’s common for most people to even bring work home with them. Even the communication preference is different, most people used an instant messaging app instead of email.”

After Graduation Henry is looking to do his MBA at Dalhousie and continue to explore options in different MarHenrykets. To follow Henry’s success, follow him on his Instagram @henry_lockyer .

Student Spotlight: Blair Miller

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Blair Miller is a fourth-year Bachelor of Management student who has completed an 8-month work term at a digital marketing company, Blender Networks. Originally from Halifax, he chose this program at Dalhousie because he believes that this program would provide him with a great opportunity to learn more about varying professional fields in the business world. The most pertinent factor that led to his decision to do an internship was tBLAIR MILLERhat he wanted to know what working in the real-world was really like and which field(s) he is truly interested in.

Upon starting his internship, the company had agreed to involve him in many of the different aspects of their business so that he could be exposed to as many different areas as possible.  This helped him figure out his interests.  His official job title at Blender was Ad Operations Intern, which involved the optimization of Ad campaigns.  However, he was involved in many other tasks such as market research, search relevancy optimization, and content development.  Blair’s favourite part about working for Blender is the small community and open-workspace type of atmosphere. The bosses are close with all of their employees, leading to a great manager-employee dynamic.

 

Blair has learned multiple things from the internship program and being on a work term.  “The internship program itself is incredibly useful in teaching skills regarding how to network with people, how to organize your resume, how to navigate an interview, etc. All of the teachings are extremely practical and super helpful for when you are actively looking for employment in the workforce.”  Specific skills that he has developed by working involve: competencies in using advertising platforms, analytical skills for Ad campaign optimization, communication skills for contacting brands and other potential partners, and organizational skills in terms of managing his time effectively to complete the different tasks he was assigned.

 

“I would absolutely recommend the internship program to other students.  The experience gained from the program is essentially priceless. Seeing as most university students are still trying to figure out what they really want to do in life, while navigating the difficulties of obtaining a degree, working an internship is an invaluable tool to help sort things out.  Not to mention the experience will look incredible on a resume and you are paid for the duration of your work term.”

 

A major tip that he would give to students who are pursuing an internship is that reaching out to family, friends, and family-friends for job opportunities is almost a must. Just as he said, “someone in your life knows somebody, who may in turn know somebody else, that could put you in contact with the right connections that lead to eventually securing an employment position”.

 

In his spare time Blair still trained and competed for Dalhousie’s Cross-country and Track & Field teams. He was also enrolled in an online class and was studying to take the Law School Admission Test in order to get into Dalhousie’s combined JD/MBA program after graduation. For the long-term career goal, he wants to start his own business, as he has always been passionate towards entrepreneurial ventures.

Student Spotlight: Olivia Fitzpatrick

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Our Student Spotlight features a student who has truly set an example for how to make the most of a co-op. Olivia Fitzpatrick, a 4th year Commerce student majoring in Marketing Management, has recently accepted an offer for full-time employment with her former co-op employer, Dash Hudson, a local company that focuses on helping businesses grow their brand through Instagram. Olivia Fitzpatrick

Olivia is from Bedford, Nova Scotia, and was drawn to Dalhousie and the Commerce program because of the opportunities available to gain real-world experience before graduation through work-integrated learning and experiential learning opportunities. She has achieved this by not only completing the three required co-op work terms, but also by opting to spend a semester studying abroad in France in her third year and by participating in the Rowe School of Business’ Israel Exchange this past year. On top of that, she is also a heavily involved member of the Dalhousie Community.

“Once at school, I got involved with anything I could. I’ve held various roles in The Dalhousie Commerce Society over three years as well as an executive position in the Rowe Women in Business Association for the past two years. […] I really just threw myself into whatever the school had to offer.”

After spending her first co-op work term at an accounting firm, Olivia realized that marketing might be a better fit for her. When it came time to begin her second work term job search, she knew that she wanted to try something completely different. At the time, Dash Hudson was still in the start-up phase of its operation. She found the prospect of working for a growing business to be very appealing, especially with the added responsibility that it would involve.

She joined Dash Hudson in the fall of 2017 as a Brand Strategy Intern on the company’s Demand Generation team. “My first role in Demand Generation really taught me a lot about hard work – it was a hustle to get all of my work done each day and it was at a time in the company where co-op students had the opportunity to take on a lot of responsibility, which I loved.”

Even before she had completed her first co-op with Dash Hudson, she had already taken the initiative to develop a new co-op position with the Sales Division and become that team’s first intern. According to Olivia, the company culture helped encourage her to pursue this possibility. In her words, “Dash Hudson is a company that not only supports, but also encourages you to constantly grow and develop your own ways to contribute to the overall company growth.”

On her second and final co-op with Dash Hudson she was able to gain a lot of hands-on experience and a greater understanding of their customer process.

Olivia didn’t approach her final co-op with the intention of securing post-grad employment, but rather she focused her efforts on learning as much as she could in her new role and also on better realizing her own strengths and weaknesses. While her post-grad plans were unclear at the end of last summer when she wrapped-up her work term, it was ultimately her proven dedication to her work, and to the organization, along with the strong relationships she had built with the team’s senior leadership, that would open the door to creating a self-developed full-time opportunity.

“When I heard through my old boss at the company that they were opening a UK Office in January 2019 with one employee, I knew I absolutely NEEDED to be the second [employee]. I reached out to the CEO and my old boss (who, by this time, I had known for over a year and a half) and they agreed to let me pitch my new position to them. Fast-forward to roughly three months later: we’ve created a job description together and I am set to move [to the UK] in July!”

Olivia’s new role will allow her to draw on and apply the skills and experience she earned over her two work terms with the organization.

“My new job title is UK Brand Strategist, so I will be mainly working on all things necessary to grow Dash Hudson’s UK brand presence. This includes everything from marketing and events in the UK to leading generation and sales development. Basically, anything that needs to be done to get Dash Hudson’s name out there in the UK!”

While her new role will come with a significant amount of responsibility compared to her co-op experience, Olivia feels confident in her ability to fulfill the role.

“I think they ultimately chose me for this role because they’ve seen me put in work from the start. As someone who has been with the company since it’s relatively early days, my enthusiasm to go after this role on my own really proved to them that I was ready to take it on. It’s a big responsibility and I think I’m most excited about the fact that they’ve trusted me with this opportunity to really take ownership of this role.”

Although it clearly took an abundance of different attributes and skills to accomplish everything that she has thus far, Olivia has identified the key trait that has defined her success – hard work.

“Be the co-op student that is willing to go beyond what is asked of you and take on more responsibility. Also, don’t be afraid to take initiative. Employers recognize that and it will open doors for you in the future.”

Are you looking to take control of your grad job search and optimize the outcomes? Check out the variety of full-time and grad job opportunities posted under the Career Services section of myCareer and book an appointment with your Career and Recruitment Specialist to receive one-on-one advice and support.

Student Spotlight – Lauren Zvaniga

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Lauren ZvanigaFor this week’s edition of our Student Spotlight, Lauren Zvaniga, a 2nd-year Corporate Residency MBA student from Mississauga, Ontario, shares her experience on the Toronto Connects Tour that took place last month and also offers some advice to current students about networking and meeting with employers.

Lauren’s focus for her CRMBA has been in marketing, with a keen interest in the creative aspect of the profession, due to her undergraduate degree in Theatre. Lauren completed her residency with BMO Financial Group in Toronto as a Marketing Coordinator in their Credit Card Lifecycle division. During her time there, she realized that a career in Marketing was the right fit for her.

In Lauren’s words, “I fell in love with the job – one that challenged my MBA-critical-thinking side and one that tickled my artsy-creative side. The biggest thing I learned about myself at BMO is that marketing is, in fact, my dream career.”

Looking ahead to post-grad employment, she has accepted an offer to return to BMO as a full-time employee, beginning in June. Nonetheless, Lauren still wants to continue learning about other career options, which is where the Toronto Connects Tour came in.

The Toronto Connects Tour is a career development event for 2nd-year CRMBA students that includes a networking luncheon with the MBA program’s Board of Advisors, an alumni discussion panel, and a networking reception with MBA alumni and employers. In addition, the students on the Tour are required to coordinate at least 3 one-on-one informational interviews that align with their career goals and do a reflective practice on their experience afterward.

Lauren decided to book informational interviews that would help her understand what it’s like to work in procurement as well as what it’s like to work at an advertising agency. She met with the Director of Procurement at HelloFresh, the Director of Planning at Jungle Media (“I told her about my dream to work in marketing at IKEA and as it turns out, IKEA has been her client for many years!”), and a former colleague from Loyalty One, a Client Marketing Specialist. These meetings were made possible by tapping into both her personal and professional network.

“For many people, I think the idea of networking seems like an artificial way to meet someone when in reality it is an awesome opportunity to learn. My networking philosophy is that if you approach every meeting and networking event trying to learn, you won’t come across as that desperate, ‘give me a job!!!’ person, because that’s not your goal. Networking is an ongoing, lifelong activity you do to grow your network and your understanding.”

The biggest challenge that she faced in arranging the meetings was trying to get to each one on time since they were so spread out across the city.

Lauren recalls that “this was one of those ‘easier said than done’ lessons I learned the hard way. By the time 5 p.m. rolled around, I was completely exhausted… having spent 8 hours running around the city, drinking coffee at every meeting, actively listening and asking meaningful questions.”

Regardless of her scheduling challenges, Lauren found each meeting to be incredibly valuable and informative about the career paths she was most curious about.

“I love meeting new people and learning about their career paths and aspirations. I learned that many of the things I like about marketing apply to procurement: strategy, relationship management, problem-solving, etc., and that agency work requires long hours but it is an extremely collaborative and creative field to work in. Most importantly, I learned that there are opportunities for me to explore outside of marketing, and I am never stuck in one role.”

When asked to sum up the advice she would give to students who have yet to organize their own informal interviews, Lauren shared the following:

  • Planning out a calendar is important, but also draw it out on a map!
  • Wear a watch – you won’t want to take out your phone to check the time because it can be rude.
  • Think of what you really want to learn from this person before you meet with them – you’ll ask better questions and get better answers.
  • Even if you have a job lined up, take advantage of an opportunity to grow your network!
  • Remember that you’re not “just a student right now”, you are an ambitious, curious, passionate young professional and everyone that agreed to meet with you wants to meet with you.

Regardless of your short and long term career goals, arranging informational interviews can provide key insights to help you achieve them. Don’t wait for the next networking opportunity to present itself – create the opportunity for yourself like Lauren did. Ask your Career and Recruitment Specialist for tips on how to incorporate informational interviews into your job search or career development strategy.

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