Schulich MBA Grad Turns YouTube Star

Certain careers are common for MBA grads: consultant, product manager, entrepreneur, finance director, etc. But YouTube star? It’s not a job you’d normally consider after getting your MBA, but that’s exactly what Shereen Ladha did after she graduated from York University’s Schulich School of Business in 2015. Ladha had been dancing since she was in diapers but it was only after completing her MBA that she decided to combine her knowledge of business and dancing into a career.

In 2012, Shereen Ladha gained national recognition as a finalist in the first Canada’s Got Talent television show. But, at that point, her passion for business and dancing remained separate pursuits. It wasn’t until she started learning about how to create her personal brand during her MBA program at Schulich that she realized she could do more.

“Through my MBA I learned how to create a personal brand and was able to position what made me different,” Ladha wrote on a Schulich blog. “I took a lot away from the Social Media Marketing class with Professor Rob Kozinets and Customer Experience Design class with Professor Markus Giesler where I felt confident developing and creating an experience around my YouTube channel and website.”

And it was from those skills that Ladha was able to design and promote her YouTube channel, dancewithSL, which is a Bollywood-inspired dance channel. Her channel, which now has over 35,000 subscribers and 7,000,000 views, was recently named to YouTube Canada’s NextUp list recognizing the nation’s top 15 up and coming YouTube celebrities.

And Ladha’s YouTube channel isn’t all that she offers. She also offers services as a brand partner, a choreographer, a judge, and master class teacher. There’s no doubt that Ladha’s success wasn’t something that happened overnight, but it was something that was only made possible thanks to her time as a Schulich MBA.

regions: Toronto

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