McMasterAlumni

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 McMast...

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...

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 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 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 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 Yo...

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 a...

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 obse...

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 studen...

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...

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...

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...

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, writ...

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 sta...

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...

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 togeth...

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...

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 do...

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 t...