In search of Inspiration in my marketing career.

Pursuing Digital Media Marketing as a student at George Brown College has taught me a lot and amidst this pandemic, George Brown College gave us an opportunity to network with industry professionals through their course of Digital Marketing Seminar. In this course, I was fortunate enough to meet Elle Marie Dhanani ( Elle M. ), who was a former George Brown College Student. Her insights into the marketing world and managing clients were invaluable but more importantly, the way she fought through her adversities was the most inspiring for me.

Elle started off by saying that she was a sports person and due to an unfortunate illness, her sports career was cut short. She mentioned she had to start over all again from scratch and had no direction in her career. This really resonated with me as I myself was a sports person, having represented my state West Bengal, India in cricket and also in Karate but had to quit sports due to the pressure of higher education. Also, I am changing careers and starting from scratch as I was a former engineer and stepping into the marketing world with no prior solid work experience in the industry is really intimidating, so her words really gave me hope and courage to move forward on my new path.

Elle also mentioned that she studied photography and videography before pursuing marketing. She had a great opportunity to work in a marketing agency for a music band and handle their marketing and events operations. Although she had some trouble coping with the work as it was totally new to her, her willingness to work and learn on the job is what made her successful. She was responsible for bringing this band from the 1980s back to life in the current age. This was also the time where she fell in love with music which motivated her to work harder to achieve her goal. Now Ellie has started her own business as a marketing consultant and helps artists such as musicians, tattoo artists, small businesses and clients from OnlyFans, to improve their online presence and create awareness on various social media platforms. This not only helps her clients reach out to the target market but also generates streams of monetizing their work.

Lastly, Elle concluded her session by saying it is important to find a work-life balance and take out time for us to pursue our passion and interests and put that into work. This way one can really appreciate the work they are doing making “work” not feel like a burden rather the individual would enjoy the process which will eventually bring out the best in us.

I really look up to people like Elle and if given the opportunity, I would love to have her as my mentor as I believe I can somewhat relate to her story, seeing a part of my journey in hers really takes away the fear of starting from scratch and enlists a sense of self-belief and looking at her success really empowers me to move forward in my journey.