Career Boosters: An MBA Podcast

Talking with Holly Johnson, 1st year MBA student, about the complexity around Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and how her core value of humanity helps her focus her foundational approach to EQ, and to all those she connects with. We talk about the power in understanding biases, the downsides of higher EQ scores (over indexing), and the value of an open and growth-oriented mindset.

Talking with Cori Fodeg, previous Director of Career Education at the Alberta School of Business (read, Paul’s boss!), current Lead, Corporate Learning for the GoA, and soon to be Manager, Experiential Learning at NAIT–about all things Public Sector. Her advice that “you’re only limited by your imagination for what you can do within the Government” is so true, and she is yet another shining exampl...

Talking with MBA/PharmD student Kush Patel about Strengths, more specifically his CliftonStrengths, and how they have supported him in the past, right now in his MBA, and as he plans for the future. His understanding of how they work together (along with his values) to support his growth, and how he’s able to serve others, is a brilliant example of the power behind truly understanding what makes h...

Talking with 1st year MBA student Arjun Atwal about his long history with reflecting on his core values that started as a young kid in hockey. It can be very hard to get clear on what values truly apply to you, and which are just great words with great meanings. But, as he explains - when you dig in and really reflect on what you value at your core, and what behaviors branch out from those values,...

Talking with Fast Track MBA student Shawn Song about the often tricky topic of stress and overwhelm. Stress isn’t unique to MBA students, it’s a shared human experience. And while it may not seem like it, we have the choice to either let stress take the driver's seat or to take control ourselves and utilize things like positive self talk, community, healthy lifestyle choices, etc. Because if we do...

Talking with combined MLIS/MBA student Aizle Nyn Bernardo about how she went from no experience (and lots of self-doubt) with case competitions, to owning what makes her memorable and effective as she preps to tackle even bigger case competitions this year. Adaptability, resilience, creativity, team work, problem solving, story telling - the list of skills she has grown and developed through case...

Talking with Brody Clarke, recent MBA grad (‘24) about playing professional basketball, the piano, Engineering, and in a variety of other ‘fields’ and how this play now supports his pivot into commercial real estate. From the court to the boardroom, Brody is supporting the most interesting career pivot with a myriad of skills that don’t come from a textbook. Not to mention he’s lived what many kid...

In this episode we had the chance to bring in Omar Youssef, Fast track MBA student to our conversation about our unspoken brand. This is most likely the first time students have started to think of the brand/impression others have on what they are presenting. Our unspoken brand is out there in the world for people to see. If we can start to focus our efforts on what others are seeing we get to lea...

Talking with dual-degree MBA student Harish Babu about the realities of not being able to “Hulk” your way through the MBA (and life in general) as it relates to time, energy, and boundary management. There’s rarely enough time in the day to tackle everything in front of us - so how do we know what to strategically neglect, what our own priorities should be, try and ignore FOMO, and ensure we keep...

Talking with 2nd year MBA student Harman Kaur as she bravely describes this last summer that didn’t go exactly as she had planned. There can be a lot of pressure in an MBA to secure a business internship, but as in life, things don’t always go as expected. And it’s up to us to lean into the unexpected to still create valuable learning and growth opportunities. And that’s exactly what Harman did. S...

Talking with 1st year MBA student Priyanka Singh about her exciting (and daunting) experience at our week-long MBA orientation last week. As the first student we’re chatting with from our new cohort, Priyanka sets the bar high with fantastic advice on how to approach large learning events where overwhelm is expected, but the growth opportunities are undeniable. Her tips and tricks will serve anyon...

Chatting with recent MBA graduate Lyndsay Stewart about what the transition out of the MBA feels like, how her life is now shifting and re-balancing, and how leaning into self awareness truly supports a successful transition. And if you’re a parent who is tackling something big like an MBA, she offers insights into the realities of balance - and how she worked to curb her perfectionism tendencies...

Talking with 2nd year MBA students Chuy Anaya Lupercio & Zeyana Ramji and myth busting some assumptions we all make about attending nerve-wracking events like MBA orientation. Spoiler-alert, if you think you’re the only person super nervous as you approach an orientation, or the first day of school/work, you’re not! Everyone is nervous! And Chuy & Zeyana would know - so listen in for some...

Talking with…. ourselves! We can’t urge everyone to harness the power of self-reflection without doing that ourselves on this, our last episode of our first season. We dig into moments that have made us nervous, where we think we succeeded, face-palming bloopers, and where we’re taking season 2. AND - for the first time ever, you can watch this episode on Youtube . Thanks for being with us this se...

Talking with Tim Buckland, MBA alumni (‘17) and Director with the Government of Alberta about the one skill set that has driven his career pivot, MBA journey, leadership growth, and life in general: his ability to ask powerful questions from a place of humility and curiosity. We’re not supposed to have favorite students/alumni, but we do, and Tim is one of them specifically because he is such a ta...

Talking with Vincent Lo (MBA ‘24) about his successful approach to fully integrating himself into Canadian culture, having arrived from Hong Kong less than 2 years ago. And we’re not talking just developing a taste for Tim Hortons. Through truly leaning into experience, relationship building, and openness, Vincent has found an intersection of business and indigenous culture that opened doors for a...

Talking with 3 of our very-own outstanding interns Avery, Emily, and Khadija about what it has been like to work with our Alberta School of Business CWIL team as a part of their undergraduate co-op program. They give us their take on why co-op/internships are important, what surprised them about working with ‘seasoned professionals’, how their generation is going to change the workforce (for the b...

Talking with our colleague Heather Rainey, Development Associate with the Alberta School of Business about her invigorating approach to her squiggly career (and what fascinating squiggles she has), how failure has brought valuable learning opportunities, and why optimism really is her superpower (among a few others). Heather kicks it up a notch by not just demonstrating comfort with the unknown, b...

Talking with Remal Elsheikh, recent MBA graduate and experienced risk management professional about the interesting intersection between risk, failure, and growth. His motto of ‘succeed wildly while learning to fail gently’ is just the start of many powerful truth bombs and wisdom he shares as he offers a road map to balancing risk, perspective, and new experiences that promotes failing fast, forw...

Talking with Jolene, a combined MD/MBA student who courageously shares with us how failing to be accepted into a residency program on her first attempt turned out to be an unexpected opportunity to cultivate resilience, self-trust, and a growth mindset. By leaning into failure, Jolene is now making powerful ripples that will have impacts in the field of medicine for years to come. Ripples that mig...

Talking with 1st year student KP about the rollercoaster that is the first year of the MBA program, and how leaning into self-reflection has truly super-sized his learnings and growth this year. He also talks about a surprise secret weapon that self-reflection offers. Something that some understand, but few truly master - you’ll have to listen to find out what it is and how you can access the same...

Talking with Ashok Ibrahim Syed, 1st year MBA student, about the true boost that comes from understanding, owning, and celebrating what truly makes you stand out. He, along with 2 other MBA students are leading the MBA Inclusion & Diversity club next year, and they have great ideas on how to continue to foster a culture of belonging. As a self-labeled ‘odd one out’, he shares how this is actua...

Talking with MBA alumni (‘22) Sary Abulmona - who was also one of our Teaching Assistants, AND is now our colleague at the School of Business - on how being open to experience, connection, and even failure has led to his belief that taking his MBA changed his entire life. We say that this experience is life-changing, but don’t take our words for it - take Sary’s!

Talking with Mike Maier, Associate Dean, Masters & Executive Education Programs at the Alberta School of Business about what it really means to have a global business perspective and why it matters. Did you know that you should never give a green hat as a gift in China? Or that Alberta’s provincial flower, the wild rose, is actually now largely imported? Mike talks about why these learnings ar...

Talking with 2nd year student Harry Singh, who we would consider a super-connector, about how it is that he’s able to build relationships with everyone from security guards to VPs of large corporations - and everyone in between. There’s a reason he’s beat out experienced sales professionals for top sales as someone brand new to the role - and it’s not because he’s a sales expert. But rather, becau...