My Journey

Before starting the Executive MBA (EMBA) program, I had spent my career in IT consulting, product and project management for organizations like the Royal Mail, IBM, SAP, ICBC and Venzee. Shortly after I arrived at Venzee, where I had built and taken responsibility for a team, my COO recognized my abilities. After a couple of promotions, he encouraged me to take the EBMA program at SFU – where he had done his.

My Experience at SFU Beedie

I loved every day that I had school. Especially the interactions with classmates – we would often talk each other through problems we were having, both academic and professional. If we couldn't help each other solve them, then we'd connect each other with someone who could. I was very pleased that my cohort was a more mature crowd with similar experience levels. As a result, it was really easy to connect with classmates and learn from their experiences.

Highlights

One of the biggest revelations was learning that not everybody thinks like me and that there needs to be space for people with different personalities who think and work differently. I've become a better leader because of that. I'm more in tune with how people like to be approached.

Another highlight was figuring out that the world is so much bigger than my little IT world. There are so many intricacies and so many exciting industries that I would love to explore. Taking the program opened up the world for me - it's incredible.

Where I am today

I am now VP, Business Innovation at the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, where I’m responsible for providing services planning, direction, product development, and management of the activities related to increasing the value of REBGV’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) and I’m getting exposure to responsibilities that I never have had before. The EMBA program opened my eyes and allowed me to see the bigger picture. I’m well versed in areas that I previously knew nothing about, and I have the confidence to evaluate a situation and provide input at a level I never did before.