The MacCast Unconventional — Alvin & Sandra
For Alvin, ’09, a love for salsa dancing helped shape his career journey
His business, Mindspace Impact, helps engineering and tech leaders grow stronger, more connected teams
When Alvin graduated in 2009, he had honed a special interest in wastewater management. But he had no master plan to guide his next steps and with the economy in a recession, he knew that finding a job wouldn’t be easy. So, he set out to attend as many industry conferences as he could to network and make the connections needed to build his career. It was an effort that would require a lot of confidence, something Alvin didn’t always have.
“In my first and second years at McMaster, I was going through a lot of social anxiety…so I decided in my third year that I was going to do something that was really challenging and scary.”
After trying several classes at the athletic centre, he stumbled into salsa dancing and found it was the scariest one of them all. But he stuck with it, and eventually was given opportunities to lead a few classes. In the end, it was through facing his fear in such a direct way that helped him feel confident enough to network and grow relationships that would lead to a meaningful career. Now, he runs his own leadership development and coaching agency called Mindspace Impact, helping people find and cultivate their own professional journey.
In this first episode of season five of Mac Alumni’s Unconventional Podcast, you’ll hear Alvin share his story about overcoming fears, understanding the value of spending energy appropriately, and finding yourself along the way.
A degree from McMaster sparked a journey of life-long journey of learning and practice in health care
Sandra Mina, ’18, went on to earn a BEd from York University and certificate in Health Informatics from the University of Windsor
When Sandra was younger, she was convinced she would eventually become a teacher. But by the time she entered university that particular plan had shifted, and her sights were focused on a career in nursing. It wasn’t until she entered started working for a teaching hospital that she realized there was an opportunity to do both. So she went back to school and earned her BEd from York University, and later a post-graduate certificate in Health Informatics from the University of Windsor. Ultimately, what she was able to build is a career that blends a passion for teaching with the joy of practice in nursing.
Now she works as both a clinical advisor for Ontario’s 811 telehealth program, where she can provide on-call care to individuals across Ontario, and as RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for Trillium Health, a position that gives her the opportunity to work alongside nursing students.
“They go hand-in-hand,” she says. “And there’s teaching, there’s advising, and there’s hands-on work.”
Listen to this week’s episode of Mac Alumni’s podcast, Unconventional to learn how opportunities don’t always come in a one-size-fits-all kind of package and how a meaningful career can be pieced together with a little bit of determination and patience.
McMaster has more than 210,000 alumni living in 140 countries around the world, and they are some of the most amazing people you would ever want to meet. The Unconventional podcast will introduce some of our alumni who are working — in the arts, as cutting-edge entrepreneurs, leading the way in health, education, technology and more — to make our world a brighter place in their own unique way. Download the latest episode, or catch up if you’ve missed one, on Apple, Spotify, or Soundcloud.
