The MacCast Unconventional — Lesleanne & Rose
For this alum, the joy of the journey is about taking the road less travelled
Lesleanne (’12, ’14) found her dream career by doing something completely different
Lesleanne landed her first job after graduation because she happened to follow a small health related start up called Shift Health on Twitter.
“I had actually been looking at some of the bigger, larger companies…and following some of the conversations that were happening and followed Shift Health as a result” she says. “They were doing something really cool in healthcare.”
After following their account for a bit, she reached out and asked to meet them for coffee. That casual conversation led to a career changing opportunity. Now, she’s an expert in customer experience and has worked for several big names in the tech industry including Slack and, most recently, WealthSimple.
Lesleanne says that one lesson she’s learned, especially working in start-ups, is that success takes some skill and a certain amount of agility.
“Knowing that things are probably going to change along the way,” she says. “It really encourages you to be in that type of dynamic — constantly changing mindsets.”
“You are your own lottery,” is a guiding philosophy for this alum
Rose Marie Gage (’86) has blazed a path for the future of women in business
Rose Marie had several interests when she started at Mac and wasn’t sure which one would lead put her on a rewarding career path. Having tried computer science, and then accounting, she finally had the a-ha moment she’d been waiting for in her final semester and graduated in commerce with a focus on strategy and marketing.
“Mac gave me the flexibility to be able to choose,” she says. “To be able to get that appreciation to have that additional learning and the paths that I may have open to me.”
Since graduation, Rose Marie has held positions in multi-national enterprises, such as Westinghouse, GE, and Schneider Electric. She has earned her Chartered Director designation, Lean Six Sigma Quality leader certification, and executive education from the Rotman School of Business and the Harvard School of Business.
Where her journey makes an unconventional turn, is taking on the role of Chief Executive Officer at a company in an industry she knew very little about. It was a risky move in many ways, but one she met head on. Since then, she’s helped develop meaningful environmental policy, member relationships, and fostered a positive impact on the Ag industry.
“I’m a firm believer in taking calculated risks,” she says. “The best investment in terms of anything in terms of payback is really yourself. So take the time, figure it out, and give it a try.”
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.
