Claire Connop completed her BBA with a concentration in marketing as well as the Charles Chang Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She also completed two co-op terms, including one eCoop term where she was able to launch her own non-profit, the Glow Within Foundation. Glow Within is a Vancouver-based organization that aims to empower feminine-identifying high school students through conducting educational workshops on women’s physical, mental and emotional health. Glow Within has worked with over 10 schools, educated over 600 students and conducted over 100 workshops.

My experience at SFU Beedie

SFU Beedie does a great job of giving students the opportunity to explore all the concentrations within the first couple of years, so I was able to see what classes I really enjoyed and was interested in. For me, learning about the psychology and strategy behind marketing was extremely intriguing.

My favourite class within my first two years was BUS 238: Intro to Entrepreneurship & Innovation, which I took as an elective. It influenced me to choose a concentration in marketing and complete the certificate on entrepreneurship and innovation.

My Journey

Originally from Edmonton, A.B., I was intrigued by the business world since a young age, as my dad’s profession is in business. Growing up, I created many small “businesses” to make extra spending money and was always asking questions on how businesses function, excel and why they can fail. My natural interest in business, along with my personal traits that often thrive in business, made it a quick and easy decision to pursue a BBA. My concentration in marketing and my certificate in entrepreneurship came later in my degree.

During my degree I did two co-ops: one was an internship with Colliers International and the other was an eCoop where I was paid to work full-time on my own non-profit Glow Within. Both co-ops strengthened my existing skills while helping me gain new skills and experiences that will be easily transferrable to future jobs. My eCoop was an extraordinary experience for which I was very grateful. Being able to dedicate my entire summer to Glow Within allowed my team to make big strides in our early stages. The eCoop program also connected me with a mentor who helped me navigate the process of creating a non-profit from the bottom up and taught me a ton about strategy and networking.

There were many memorable moments during my time at SFU Beedie, including meeting some of my closest friends, participating in different projects and school groups, as well as navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. However, meeting my Glow Within co-founders in BUS 477 was a highlight of my degree. Glow Within helped give me a purpose and fueled me in the last two years of university. I wouldn’t have been able to push through without my co-founders who shared the same passion.

My BBA major comprised of:

Education

Marketing

Charles Chang Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Student Engagement

Co-op and eCoop student

Where I am today

Currently, I am working as the marketing manager for two small beauty businesses since August 2021 and have been able to learn and experiment so much within this position. I will continue to work for these two businesses remotely until end of July before heading off to Europe to travel.

As for Glow Within, we will be hiring more volunteer facilitators for fall 2022 and will be running our workshops in our partnering schools plus expanding to more Vancouver area school districts. My goal is to have Glow expand to Edmonton by spring 2023.

Eventually, I’d like to work in the marketing department at a large company that ideally focuses on health and wellness or fitness or beauty. I also want to continue driving Glow Within to success as it is my passion and I know how important it is for young girls to receive the education and message we aim to provide.