Maria Shriokov
Tell me about what stood out to you about the McGill MMR when you first came across it, and what was sort of the driving force behind you applying and deciding to attend?
I graduated from the retail management program at Ryerson in 2020, so I've always been really interested in retail. I heard about this program while I was in my third or fourth year of university, so just when the program and the school was in the process of being built and I was really interested at that point. The main thing that really attracted me to the program was, first of all, that it was retail focused and also that it was a non-thesis program. I'm not particularly a research person, I like more of an experiential aspect, so that really stood out to me. Later on, I'd like to pursue a global career. I know that McGill is a highly international university, so that was also really important to me and something that definitely stood out to me when choosing a retail program.
Also, the small class sizes, the fact that there's only 32 of us was an important factor, knowing that in every class the professors get to know you and you get to know the students and everyone that you're in the program with.Our MMR program approaches retail management from an integrated perspective. We have built the curriculum on the concept of customer journey to understand, attract and satisfy retail customers and manage for sustainability. The program will train students on the skillsets needed to fulfil each step of the retail journey, drawing from the relevant business disciplines.
Now that you've completed your first semester, how are you feeling about the program and the curriculum?
I think it's a really good balance of both qualitative and quantitative skills. Last semester we had a course about R (a programming language), and we used Python in another course, however I didn't have any experience in coding before. It’s also balanced out with qualitative courses. I think that the professors are also really great with tons of experience, and they really care about their students. Particularly, because it's a small size, you really get to know them, and they get to know you. I’ve been really fond of the curriculum, and I'm enjoying it presently.
Part of the second half of the program is the experiential component, where you get to work with a company on a major project. What are some of the things that you're most looking forward to about this opportunity?
I'm really looking forward to that, working in small groups and also working on a particular project. I've had industry experience in my undergrad working with retailers, and I really enjoyed it. I think it's a really applicable project that you can put on your resume but is also applicable to working life [once you land a role].
The Bensadoun School of Retail Management has done a really excellent job of lining up guest speakers for your cohort. What does it mean to you to be able to have this opportunity to learn from experts who are in the industry?
I think it's a great opportunity. It's not every day that you get to listen to these very successful retail leaders, and just having the opportunity to listen to their experience and their career path and what they've done is very motivating, knowing that you're in the program and this is the path that you want to take. It's been great to gain knowledge and insight and advice for the industry later on. I actually had the opportunity to interview the first guest speaker, the CEO of IKEA Canada [Michael Ward]. That was a really special experience and definitely something that doesn't happen if you're not in a program like this.
What has been your favourite part about the program up to this point?
'd say the people in the program. Since it's a very international program with lots of international students, it’s been really great learning about people's backgrounds and their different perspectives. I think that makes the class discussions that much more interesting. Everyone comes from a different perspective. It’s great learning about all my friends in the program and because it's such a small class size, you get to work with different people and really get to know them and build a relationship. That’s really important, especially in a business program and is something I really cherish.
"It's not every day that you get to listen to these very successful retail leaders, and just having the opportunity to listen to their experience"
Coming out of one retail program into this one, has your definition of the scope of retail or what the industry looks like has changed or shifted at all?
From my experience at Ryerson, the retail industry in general is even hard to explain to people that aren't in the program because retail is basically everything that's everywhere. I wouldn't say my view has changed so much as the more I learn about it, the more that I can see. There are so many opportunities, and there's so much that you can learn in this industry, but it’s definitely growing, and especially with the changes in the pandemic. It's a very interesting industry to be in right now.
Did you come into the program with a specific career goal in mind?
I'd like to work in corporate retail, particularly in the beauty industry. I know that McGill has connections with lots of employers in Montreal in Canada, especially through alumni. I’d like to work at L'Oreal one day, and they have their office in Montreal. It’s been good to talk to people that have worked there previously and past alumni, to get advice on how to really get into this industry and pursue my career goals.
And how do you see what you’re learning here in the program being applicable to that career, or to any career in the field of retail?
Everything that we've been learning so far in the program is definitely going to be applicable in the retail industry, for sure. Even last semester, in one of our classes for coding, at the end of the semester [the professor] went through LinkedIn posts of jobs that are looking for specific skills in data analytics. Knowing that the professors are doing their own research on the side to prepare us is nice, and it’s good to know that when we come out of the program will be prepared and have the skills that employers are currently looking for.
Sam Keltz
Tell me a little bit about what stood out to about the McGill MMR program. What was the driving force behind you ultimately applying and then accepting an offer?
I knew that I was interested in retail, I've always been interested in kind of the fashion and beauty sectors and really want to explore that deeper. I'm also not a creative type, I'm definitely more business and management focused. I was looking at business degrees and happened to come across the MMR program and realized that I could get a degree in management that really focused on what my actual interests were. Instead of taking general classes, I could really hone in on those skills that would be important for the industry that I knew that I wanted to go into. That was really the driving factor in me starting to research the program. What really drew me in was the overall definition of retail that was presented. It really
resonated with me how broadly retail was being discussed. I really wanted to go somewhere that would expand my view of retail and expand my knowledge of the industry. Getting to hear Dr. Yu Ma, as well as the other people involved in the program talk about how broad retail is and how it really touches every sector of the economy, as well as the transformations in retail, and how much the program was going to focus on retail in the future and not just traditional brick and mortar retail - that's what really pushed me to choose this program.
Now that you've completed this first semester, what are your feelings about the program and the curriculum so far?
It's been really interesting! I think what I really like is that there is both a qualitative and quantitative side to the program. I came in very much qualitative, I'm not necessarily a numbers guy but learning these kinds of analytics is so crucial, especially in retail. It's necessary to, even if I'm not doing the coding, understand what the people doing the coding are doing. I really appreciated the fact that the curriculum gives that focus to both sides - the things that I'm interested in and what I want my career to look like, as well as the things I'm going to need to understand in order to actually advance my career.
In the second half of the semester there will be more of an experiential component, but what are some of the ways you’ve been able to apply what’s been taught in the classroom so far?
One of the great things about the program is having access to the entire Desautels community and this past semester I participated in a consulting project with Thinkr, McGill’s nonprofit consulting group, along with a group of MBAs. We looked at marketing for local Montreal Museum and it was a really great way to explore consulting, which is something that I'm interested in, integrate with the rest of the school community, as well as kind of get that hands on experience working with clients. It was a really exciting opportunity.
Part of the next experiential component is a retail innovation project in collaboration with a corporate partner. What are you most looking forward to with respect to that?
I’m really excited to get into an actual retail project. I personally don't have retail work experience - I have a two-month internship, but I don't really have a retail background. I'm looking forward to applying the curriculum that I've learned to a real-world scenario, but I'm also just excited to explore a retail firm, especially in an industry that I might not go into for a career. Gaining that insight from other aspects of retail is something that's really cool. Then, just getting to see what those jobs look like and what people actually do and talk about, that's something that's just going to be super valuable.
The Bensadoun School of Retail Management has done a really excellent job of lining up guest speakers for your cohort. What does it mean to you to be able to have this opportunity to learn from experts who are in the industry?
It's amazing. The guest speakers are truly wonderful. First of all, most of them are very willing to help out and answer questions even beyond the actual talk itself, which has been super helpful to help build my personal network. It's also amazing to hear what these people have done and what they're currently doing—so, seeing what kind of a traditional or even nontraditional career path within retail might look like, across a wide array of sectors and industries, as well as seeing what
"Getting a sneak peek behind the curtain at some of these top companies has been absolutely amazing to understand where retail is really going"
innovations are actually being put into place. Getting a sneak peek behind the curtain at some of these top companies has been absolutely amazing to understand where retail is really going. To understand where retail is going in the future, and really getting to hear that from a first-person perspective from the people who are not only implementing, but also coming up with these ideas is really exciting. I know it's been difficult with COVID and of course, there's technical technological issues that might arise but overall, it's been going very smoothly and the quality of speakers even in this crazy time, has been amazing.
What has been your favourite part of the program so far?
It may sound cliché, but definitely the people. What I really like about the program is that it's a small group of individuals. I know that that was something very deliberately done and so we've really had the opportunity to integrate as a class and really get to know each other well, which has been very helpful. It's a management program so of course, there's a lot of hands-on group project work going on and really creating those close relationships with my classmates, it's been a wonderful time now and I also know that it's going to be helpful in the long term, because these are going to be the leaders in retail.
On a forward-looking basis, how was the program sort of shaped your vision for your career and how do you think it's going to help launch you into that space?
I think [my view of retail] has broadened. As I said, coming in I was very much into fashion and beauty and those are still definitely my interest areas. But, going through some of these classes, especially our foundation class where we got to explore a bunch of different industries, really opened me up to the other opportunities within retail, and really allowed me to understand that there's a lot of really cool work being done across different types of retail. I think that that's been a really great thing for me, really going into this program and allowing myself to go off course a little bit and talk to the career services people. They’ve been
introducing so many different types of companies to us and so have the professor's coming from their different backgrounds and bringing in their own guest speakers who they have relationships with. In terms of launching, I think the program has so much support in terms of career services and in general, everyone wants to help us gain those connections, help us gain those relationships and help us apply the skills that we're learning to these actual businesses and these actual companies in the future. I think the program really is doing a wonderful job in supporting us that way. In terms of the skills that I'm learning, both hard and soft skills throughout the program are going to be helpful regardless of what I end up going into.