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tbk CEO Shares Wisdom at Conestoga College

January 24, 2022

London, ON, January 24, 2022 – Melissa McInerney, CEO & Chief Creative Officer at tbk, recently spoke at Conestoga College to an engaged group of students graduating from the Public Relations (PR) program this spring. The hour-long group mentorship session was focused on career readiness, helping students position themselves for the right marketing role.

The session was well received by students and staff in Conestoga College’s interactive PR program. The two-year program teaches students strategic and creative communication strategies to build mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and the public—as a branding expert, this is what Melissa McInerney does best.

“Honestly, I can’t thank Melissa enough,” says Michele Feeser, Professor, Visual Communications, Conestoga College. “She made quite an impression! She reassured the students that there is life after graduation. We are so grateful for her well-earned nuggets of wisdom!” 

When asked about the top three lessons that students found useful and/or valuable from Melissa’s talk, Professor Feeser replied: “just three?” 

Top Takeaways
  • “The opposite of good marketing is boring. Don’t be boring—on your resume or in your profession.”
  • “You’re going to have a lot of wins and you’re going to have a ton of failures. Change your perspective on failure. You’re investing in yourself every single time you fail.”
  • “There should be no reason why you don’t hustle. It’s the people without a side hustle that scare me a little. Are you really passionate about leading your field if you’re not putting your skills to work now?”
  • “Your brain is your asset. Work hard, continuously invest in yourself, and it will pay off.”
  • “The hard skills are less important than the soft skills. Companies hire people knowing they’re going to retrain them for hard skills. Soft skills like handling stress, problem solving, confidence, and speaking in front of clients are much harder to train. Work on your soft skills.”
  • “My biggest piece of advice is ignoring everything on social media—because it’s crap. You’ll feel like you’ve got to do things a certain way, or that you have to look super successful all the time. But life is life. Go explore it. Go make mistakes. Go fail! Just do what makes you happy.”

It was a pleasure speaking to the students at Conestoga College. tbk wishes them success and happiness in their PR careers.

About tbk

tbk is an award-winning, full-service agency headquartered in London, Ontario that leads brands to better. For over a decade, our team of 40+ professionals have been helping brands successfully compete and grow. We drive results with entrepreneurial thinking, strategic leadership, accessible websites, memorable branding, performance-based digital marketing, and custom software solutions. It’s no wonder why so many of Canada’s most trusted brands count on tbk to deliver exceptional work.

For media requests, please contact:

Kylie Maisonneuve
Principal & Director of Accounts, tbk
519.657.1465 ex 40
1.888.515.4825 ex 40
[email protected]