McMasterAlumni: Recent Episodes
McMasterAlumni
When the master plan falls apart, the world can feel quite small. But as Celine Ling quickly discovered, if you take some time to rethink the plan, new opportunities will present themselves. For her, that involved working in the medical device industry, becoming an entrepreneur, starting a renowned food vlog, and moving to Singapore.
Even though Khaled (’14) always loved tinkering with computers, he never thought a career in software engineering would require him to think about people and their needs as much as he does. As a senior product manager for Amazon Web Services, he’s found a lot of joy in balancing the digital with the human.
When legislative changes meant that Dan Banko (’96) lost easy access to raw materials for his final arts thesis, which focused on sculpting with welded materials, he had to think fast and switch his focus. Since then, he has developed an approach to photography and storytelling that pairs his classical training with marketing to help elevate any brand.
Heading into university with a clear idea of what you want your future career to look like can lead to some amazing opportunities. But if you’re willing to follow your heart, you may find yourself taking on roles that never felt possible. In this week’s episode of Unconventional, Maria (‘14) tells the story about how her dream to be a psychotherapist didn’t always include being an entrepreneur – and how she wouldn’t change a thing now that it does.
Since graduating in 2007, Ryan has found his groove selling bespoke timepieces, developing marketing strategy for clients, and cultivating supportive spaces for new business ventures. Yes, he’s busy; and yes, it is (seemingly) a far cry from his political science/theatre and film degree. But, as Ryan outlines in this week’s episode of Unconventional, it’s all led to the experience and skills needed to build a deeply meaningful career.
Gabriel ’17 is determined live a life of adventure. Since graduating, he’s tended bar in Germany, backpacked through India, and ran a 400-kiometre multi-marathon in Tajikistan. Armed with an anthropology degree, a lot of grit, and a joy for trying new things Gabe has followed a career journey that would be a thrilling documentary (but he’s already been there, done that). In this week’s episode of Unconventional, Gabe tells his incredible story of how he found himself running around the world as Director of Midnight Runners, an organization that plans loud, colourful, and exciting running events in major cities across the globe.
For Kirsten, graduating high school without a master plan caused a lot of stress. But when she followed a journey of what seemed interesting to her, she discovered a world full of possibilities she never considered. Now she adds a creative edge to her communications degree as an interior designer, specializing in both residential and commercial spaces.
Devin chose to go to McMaster because it was close to his home in Toronto but had a very community-based feel to it. But after a difficult first-year experience, Devin had to re-think how he approached university life. The result is a lifelong career journey that would see him travel the world and discover entirely unexpected opportunities he never thought possible.
Parm ’17, started his educational journey thinking he would find his dream career in computer science, but nothing in the program seemed to click for him. It wasn’t until he started working that he discovered the possibilities of a career in PR and communications. After graduating with a Masters in Communication Management from Mac, Parm launched a career that would bring him insurmountable joy.
For Sandra (’18), starting a nursing career at McMaster was the beginning of a long educational career that would see her refine her journey bit-by-bit. Now, armed with a BEd from York University and a certificate in Health Informatics from the University of Windsor, Sandra has found a way to cultivate a career that balances a joy for nursing practice, a passion for teaching, and dedication to providing care to individuals across Ontario.
Alvin, ’09, knows there is value in understanding yourself, but it took him a lot of work to get to this point. It’s a process he started while he was still a student at Mac and was looking to face his social anxiety head on. While trying a wide variety of classes at the athletics centre, Alvin stumbled into salsa dancing where he learned more than just some fancy footwork. Since then, he has fostered a career that no longer relies on his engineering skills but instead celebrates relationship building in the workplace.
When he moved from Eastern Canada to Ontario to attend McMaster, Andrew Edwards (BEng, ’07) thought that’s where he would build his career. But a needed move home saw him staying longer than planned and put him on the path of working in marine technology. Now he’s a senior engineer for a company leading the pack on sustainable seabed mining.
For Peter, the master plan was to help change the world. But after graduating with a combined honours in political science and classics, figuring out how to change the world felt a bit vague. After landing a life changing career opportunity with the Salvation Army, Peter and wife found a passion for helping people all around the world. Now, as Executive Director at BethanyKids International, he’s helping paediatric doctors in Africa through specialized training programs.
Frank Scremin is the Chief Executive Officer of LaGuardia Gateway Partners New York and was part of the team involved with the overhaul of the infamous Terminal B at one of America’s busiest airports while it was still in operation. Join us to hear more about this Mac grad’s journey to the Big Apple; transforming LaGuardia into a gateway befitting New York; and taking full advantage of opportunities when they arrive.
Maggie’s younger self was convinced she wanted to be a doctor – it was the ‘family business,’ so-to-speak. But after a panic attack drove her to take some time off school, it dawned on her that medicine was not the future she actually wanted. Now, after years of working in the hospitality industry, she’s found a great balance between her passions and her education in biotech.
As a student, Sarah loved working towards her chemical engineering degree. But when she graduated, she quickly learned that what she loved about it wasn’t exactly what the job market was offering. Not willing to give up, she used the extra downtime during pandemic to refocus and develop new skills that would allow her to pivot into a totally new industry. Now, she’s thriving in the world of AI.
While she may have been headed towards a career in the sciences, Amanda’s career journey has taken her through many twists and turns. She’s an In Game Host for the Toronto Marlies, has been a presenter on the Weather Network, and still dreams of being a morning show host at some point in her career. Listen to her incredible story in this first episode of the fifth season of McMaster Alumni’s Podcast, Unconventional.
When starting his undergrad at Carleton University, Charnjot was on the path to becoming a lawyer. But after taking a communications course as an elective, everything changed. Getting his MA at McMaster was the step needed to solidify a journey towards a completely rewarding career.
Fatima Babakura is the creative director and Founder of Timabee Inc.,a premium women’s accessories brand. Fatima started Timabee at the age of 19 and it has since grown to become a global brand with customers all over the world. Fatima holds an Honors Commerce Degree from McMaster and she is an award-winning entrepreneur who has been listed in Forbes Africa 30 under 30 Class of 2022 edition. Join me to hear about Fatima’s journey and learn why she now “goes where the fish are…”
Sometimes joining the circus is an option worth pursuing. At least, that’s what Christa Wilson (’06) did after earning her Engineering Physics and Society degree. Combining her skills as a competitive figure skater with a love of performing, Christa is now an accomplished acrobat and aerial artist, performing for audiences around the world.
While his dissertation examined the history of black bear hunting and management, Mike’s career journey looks a little different. Listen to Mike’s unique story about changing lanes and learning to balancing a job he loves – Director of Applied Research & Innovation at Cambrian College – and his passion for hockey as a writer and author of Hockey 365 and the soon to be released follow-up, Leafs 365.
Currently working towards a PhD in Health Care Administration at Mac, Nicole is happy to have figured out how to combine her passion for meaningful health care with a keen interest in business. But if it wasn’t for a terrible accident, she may not have ended up where she is today. Listen to Nicole’s tell her amazing story of facing trauma head on in the first episode of the fourth season of McMaster Alumni’s Podcast, Unconventional.
Troy grew up in one of Hamilton’s roughest neighbourhoods, focusing on survival rather than getting good grades in school. Now, three degrees later, he is an educator on his reserve of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, a member of and certified instructor for the violent threat and risk assessment team, has written several educational policies and curricula, and is the current President of the McMaster Alumni Association.
Lesleanne always wanted to work in healthcare in some capacity. But when a casual coffee meeting turned into a job opportunity, she quickly discovered that healthcare isn’t just about working with patients. Now, she’s a powerhouse in the tech industry with expertise in customer experience and helping start-ups find the spaces they can thrive in.
Rose Marie was in her final semester at McMaster when she finally figured out what she wanted to do with her life – business strategy and development. Since then, she’s had several executive and director positions for high profile companies, , blazing a path for the future of women in business.
When Rachel started at McMaster, she had a master plan – graduate, go to medical school, get a house in the suburbs, and live a quiet life. But that’s not how it all played out. After teaching English in Quebec and some international travel, she ended up in medical school in England, where she’s now a foundation doctor at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in London.
When an injury sidelined Keegan’s blooming basketball career, he figured out how to pivot and put his energy into coaching. After his son was diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome, he was inspired to pivot yet again. In this episode, Keegan describes how success can happen when you rise to the challenges life throws at you with a positive attitude and a whole lot of grit.
When Ramneek first started at McMaster, she was equal parts excited and nervous to be there. With no real game plan for her future, she wasn’t quite sure how it all worked. Now, she’s a Senior Regulatory Affairs and Compliance Analyst for Seattle City Light and loves her job. But after work, she heads home and does something she is truly passionate about: mentoring students.
Ramneek creates fun YouTube videos that provide useful tips, tricks and insights to both current students and new graduates trying to land their first job. In this episode of Unconventional, Ramneek shares her story and explains why she’s dedicated to helping students find their way.
While Laura always knew that she wanted to be a biologist, working outside in nature, she didn’t necessarily know what that would look like until she started her graduate work at McMaster.
“The program set me on the right career path to do the kind of applied conservation related biology that I wanted to be in,” she says. “So I never had a master plan, I just knew that I wanted to be a biologist and knew that there might be side roads that would eventually get me there.”
After a brief stint working in small town Quebec to enhance her French skills, Laura has developed a career in wildlife toxicology that allows her to blend her skills with her interests on a daily basis.
In this first episode of season 3 of Unconventional, Laura shares the story of how a career journey can take roads less travelled and still take you to where you want to be.
Sometimes when we think we have it all planned out, we suddenly come to the realization that there is good in the unexpected. And that is exactly what these Mac grads can attest to! MacCast: Unconventional, our new podcast series which aims to highlight how McMaster graduates paved their way into the world, and found themselves in their current positions.
Sometimes when we think we have it all planned out, we suddenly come to the realization that there is good in the unexpected. And that is exactly what these Mac grads can attest to! MacCast: Unconventional, our new podcast series which aims to highlight how McMaster graduates paved their way into the world, and found themselves in their current positions.
Sometimes when we think we have it all planned out, we suddenly come to the realization that there is good in the unexpected. And that is exactly what these Mac grads can attest to! MacCast: Unconventional, our new podcast series which aims to highlight how McMaster graduates paved their way into the world, and found themselves in their current positions.
In this episode of Unconventional, Siobhan tells the story of how she found a love for understanding herself and the people around as an undergrad at Mac and turned it into a meaningful career as a freelance writer, blogger for the Huffington Post, author, motivational speaker, a community activist, and a proud mother-of-three. Her first book, The Treasure You Seek, weaves her own wisdoms and observations together with famous tales of failure, growth, and change to remind readers that we have all we need to be the change we wish to see.
Dilshan has deeply seeded love for art, poetry, and music, which led him to participate in student clubs that used art to engage vulnerable populations and foster wellness. But it wasn’t until his fourth year that Dilshan discovered the Health Science Education program, sparking new interests that led to a leap of faith that would put him on a career path he never dreamed of. Now, a medical student at U of T, Dilshan has also kept his art going and has published two books of poetry, continues to write music, and has a podcast of his own, Shoot the Ship.
In this episode of the Mac Alumni podcast Unconventional, Dilshan describes how he managed to carve out a successful a career journey that to him often felt like a black box. While it may not have been linked to an overall masterplan, he’s managed to grow a career that will combine his dedication to medicine, wellness, and art.
When Shari tells people she is a veterinarian with a computer engineering degree, she sometimes gets funny looks and a few raised eyebrows. But for her, the seemingly odd educational pairing has helped her cultivate a career in what she calls smart agriculture. After taking some incredible turns along the journey, Shari is proud to be the owner of CATTLEytics, a company focused on providing dairy and feedlot clients with the hardware and software they need to manage their business.
In this episode of our Unconventional podcast series, Shari tells the story about how she found herself leaving a decade-long career in software development to start making choices that were focused on what she wanted and not what every expected her to do.
A degree in Life Sciences often conjures images of a career in health care, or maybe working in a laboratory, or even working in health policy development – not necessarily a career in the beauty industry. For Belicia, making the move away from what she thought she wanted was about making a choice that would blend her passion for fashion and skin care with the knowledge she gained from her time at Mac. Ultimately, taking that leap would put her on the path towards a dream career in PR that seeks to amplify storytelling through media and influencer relations.
In this first episode of season 2 of Unconventional, Belicia talks about how the five-year plan she came up with as a teenager adapted and changed while she was in University. And rather than panicking, she learned to roll with it, follow her heart, and, with a little creativity, carve out a career path that was uniquely hers.
As one of a handful of black billionaires around the world, it’s safe to say that Michael Lee-Chin has had a successful career. But the path from landscaper to world renowned business leader has been far from straightforward.
Having arrived in Hamilton from Jamaica to attend McMaster in 1970, he found himself feeling a bit disorientated – things were very different from the life he had been living in a small rural community on the Caribbean island. But it was the nurturing and supportive environment McMaster provided that helped him strengthen his confidence and achieve his goals. It’s an experience he is grateful to have had and one he speaks of fondly.
In this episode of Unconventional, Michael discusses his purpose-driven approach to cultivating success and reflects on the ups and downs of an amazing, and often humbling, career journey.
Like many students when they start university, Lavan had no clear plan for his future and was there because he felt it was expected of him. But it was going to university that helped him discover a sense of curiosity and by the end of his fourth year he knew he had developed three broad interests: how history influences current events; an interest regarding refugee and war stories; and third, writing. Figuring out how to bring all three together would take a little while. A unique volunteering experience led him to a Master’s in International Development and eventually, to working with the UN in Africa.
This episode features Lavan’s unique and interesting journey from not knowing what to do with his life to finding something completely fulfilling.
Chris has always had the entrepreneurial spirit. From wowing audiences with his own magic show as a teen to launching his own digital marketing business while trying to earn a business degree at McMaster. The business degree, didn’t quite work out and Chris switched gears, finishing university with a degree in Sociology. He eventually fell out of love with digital marketing and the business he started closed its doors. But that entrepreneurial spirit wasn’t about to burn out. Now, he and his business partner own and run Obie, a digital platform that enables businesses to quickly find and capture knowledge at work.
In this episode, we hear how Chris has taken risks, turns and welcomed unexpected opportunities to take a career journey that is far from conventional.
Jaclyn is a self-professed super fan of the movie Twister, a weather enthusiast and has always been interested in the inner and outer workings of the planet. While at Mac, she was exposed to several career paths and even a post-graduate research opportunity that would allow her to continue work done for an undergraduate thesis without leaving the country. But something just didn’t feel quite right. Taking a leap of faith, Jaclyn moved across the ocean to take a MSc Applied Meteorology and Climatology at the University of Birmingham in England. Now, she’s a meteorologist for the Weather Network where she gets to apply her knowledge while chasing storms just like they do in the movies.
In this episode of our podcast, Jaclyn shares stories about cultivating success by taking risks, pushing your own boundaries, and following your heart, wherever it may lead you.
Leaving McMaster wasn’t easy for Tuba, mostly because of what he calls the “post-university abyss of having to find a career.” But on a whim, he tapped into his natural entrepreneurial spirit and submitted a video application to a founder development style program called Next36. It was the kind of program that helped Tuba realize that all of his passions and his experiences actually did fit together and suddenly, that abyss didn’t seem so dark. Now, he’s the co-founder of Crescendo, a technology platform that helps equip businesses and professionals with the diversity education training to help make workplaces thrive.
In this episode, Tuba walks us through the series of cross-country moves, 90 degree turns, and unexpected wins that took him on a journey unlike anything he’d expected when he graduated. He’ll even tell us where the nickname Tuba came from, much to his mother’s chagrin.
Music and IT don’t seem like an obvious pairing, but for Avery they are a harmonious match. Having developed a love for creating music at a young age, she followed her passion through to university thinking that she would make it a full-time career. But, for several reasons, that wasn’t entirely in the cards. Best known for playing the medieval recorder, an instrument not regularly in demand, and a specialization in baroque music, also not commonly requested, she found she was working hard to make ends meet. The stress and pressure were starting to turn the thing she loved the most into a burden.
In our première episode, Avery tells the story of her career journey and the multiple zigzags that took her from the orchestra pit to becoming the Director of Research IT at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. It’s a journey, she says, that meant looking at other interests more closely, relying on a sense of determination, and a few McMaster connections along the way.
Angela never had a master plan in mind when she started university and, as she is quick to point out, she still doesn’t have one. Yet, more than a decade after graduation, she has managed to carve out an impressive career in education. Following a passion for helping non-Indigenous educators reflect on their responsibilities towards teaching Indigenous content, Angela found that being a teacher doesn’t mean you have to be confined to a classroom. So, in 2016, she launched a coaching practice to help individuals cultivate meaningful transformations in their lives.
This episode features Angela sharing her story and all of the ups and downs of pushing personal boundaries, taking chances, and finding some amazing life lessons in the most unexpected places.
As far as Collins is concerned, he’s still navigating his way through the journey. Since graduating from Mac in 2013, he’s received a joint Doctor of Medicine & Master of Surgery with Masters of Business Administration (MD-MBA) degree from McGill University; started and built a cult classic menswear fashion brand in Montreal (Maison Leporem); and has performed global health research on access to tuberculosis diagnostics and worked on a UN-operated project in Geneva – just to name a few of his accomplishments. Recently, he has found himself back home in Africa working as a member of a global management consultancy, McKinsey & Company, advising local governments and NGOs on public health and infrastructure across the continent.
In this episode, Collins explains to listeners that the journey isn’t always going to be obvious at first, but if you follow your heart and do the things you love to do, you’ll find your way.