Five Questions with… Student Ambassador Association VP Olivia Poulin

Olivia Poulin is the VP of Ambassadors for the Goodman Student Ambassador Association, and the Owner of Olivia's Pupadise.

1.       You’re the VP of Ambassadors for the Goodman Student Ambassador Association (SAA). What are your duties in this role?

My job as the Vice President of Ambassadors for the Goodman SAA is to connect students with our community. I work with ambassadors to reach out to high school students and teach them about opportunities at Goodman; with the St. Catharines Business Club to foster a professional relationship with Brock; and in various other community events – such as JumpStart programs and volunteer events.

This year I’m revamping the Ambassador Program. Rather than going out to do presentations at high schools (which are done by Recruitment and Liaison offices at Brock), we will be hosting a panel called “Real Talk”. This is a chance for high school students to ask their non-specific university life questions about lectures, friends, downtime, classes, professors, schedules, workloads, networking, getting involved etc. in a casual setting.

Students often turn to someone they know that is in university to ask these questions – we want to provide it all in one place with a clean format that offers lots of varying viewpoints to help students form their own conclusions.

2.       What made you decide to come to the Goodman School of Business?

Firstly, if we’re being completely honest – financial aid. I worked hard enough to earn many scholarships that would cover the cost of my tuition and I could still live at home in Niagara Falls. However, now that I’m here I can’t imagine choosing anything else.

The community at the GSB is unlike anything else – the competitions and events foster such a positive team and work environment, the professors are knowledgeable and helpful, the work load and assignments are challenging yet (mostly) practical… on top of that, the GSB is accredited and offers concentrations in various areas of business.

As an entrepreneur myself, BioLinc was also a program that I knew wanted to get involved with. And finally, when the business program here was transformed into the Goodman School of Business I knew it would grow into a successful and reputable program, and I wanted to be part of that!

3.       Congratulations on having your business, Olivia’s Pupadise, featured in the Niagara Falls Review Biz Beat column! Tell us how you got the idea to start Olivia’s Pupadise.

Thank you! It was very exciting for me to be on the front page of the paper and it was great advertising for my business too. I got so many inquiries and actually had to hire to keep up with demand!

It mostly started as favours for friends – watching their pets while they were away and staying in their homes to do it. Eventually I realized there was a market for this kind of care – where pets could stay in their own home, stick to their routines and homes would also be taken care of. Not every animal can go to a kennel – small animals, animals with medical conditions, animals with separation anxiety, animals that don’t like other animals, etc. need a different kind of care – care that Olivia’s Pupadise provides.

I launched with the help of the Ontario Summer Company Program in Niagara Falls where I had help from mentors to solidify my business plan and make tweaks along the way. Since I started in June of 2015 I have had over 30 clients and approximately 60 animals. I love my job more than anything!

4.       What’s the best part about owning your own business?

In terms of happiness factor – getting to love and care for animals of course. Animals are my passion – and I have a sweet spot for dogs and cats. Not many others can say they get paid to cuddle with dogs/cats, walk them, and spend time with them!

Aside from that, I think running my own business is the ultimate culmination of the things I’m learning at school. A degree is great, but what I really need is practical work experience and real life situations to apply the things that I’m learning. There is so much work that goes on behind the scenes that I would have never learned to do for myself had I not started Olivia’s Pupadise.

On top of that, it helps me with time management and helps me distinguish myself from other students in my program. Getting to make decisions about services, marketing, client relationships, pricing, administrative details etc. is amazing because everything I do has a direct impact on my business and I can see what works and what doesn’t.

5.       What advice do you have for other Goodman students thinking about starting their own business?

DO IT.

Yes I know it’s scary and you might doubt yourself at first… but you have so little to lose right now! At least TRY and even if it fails entirely you’ll at least walk away with some knowledge and experience. It will teach you so much and change the way you view yourself and your immediate environment.

I think every student should be involved in some sort of entrepreneurial venture (whether they own a business, help a friend with one, or learn the nitty gritty of a local small business) because it helps you apply all of the skills you’re learning in class and sets you apart from all the others in your program.

Everything worth doing is hard. There are so many resources and people that will help you and support you along the way – you just have to take the first step and start working towards it today!

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