I’m a second generation Canadian and came from a family of entrepreneurs. My family ran a small business, and at the beginning, really had to struggle to survive. I think it was an incredible story of a small community coming together in a way that most Canadians don’t have access to for a variety of reasons: cultural, social, financial.
My career has primarily been in tech. but not in what I studied. I graduated from Carleton with a Bachelor’s in Commerce in 2011. I went into business for myself, helping small local businesses grapple with social media and the new methods of marketing.
I joined Shopify in 2012, advising small businesses and then running the Analytics and Workforce Management teams. After hitting a glass ceiling (“anvil”), I pivoted to being a senior Data Scientist, and advising on 8-9 figure decisions.
I recently left Shopify to more deeply think and work on the problems that I think matter. I think that small businesses are important, but there won’t be a world for them to matter if we don’t tackle environmental issues, wealth inequality, racism, and nationalism. These problems are all very intricately related to me. I think that it’s imperative to learn more and to support organizations that work on prying the fingers of that ugly hand from the stranglehold it has upon our planet.
I’m going back to school in September. In the meantime, I’m volunteering with a few community organizations, study economics and mathematics on my own, and read as much as possible.