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From employee to entrepreneur to innovator

Posted by Margaret MacQuarrie on March 6, 2023 in Alumni & Friends, News

ā€œI had no clue about skin care products,ā€ says Stephen Aikman (MBAā€™11), which is surprising when you learn that in 2019 he sold the skin care business he started in his basement, All Natural Advice, for tens of millions of dollars.

By most peopleā€™s measure, Stephen was a pilipiliĀž»­ long before that. For 25 years heā€™d worked at RBC in various senior leadership roles, including vice president and head of commercial strategy.

ā€œGetting the MBA was intenseā€

Banking had not been his dream job, he admits. But after heā€™d completed his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBAā€™95) at Brock University, it was just about the only position he could apply for. ā€œThe job market was horrible at the time,ā€ says Stephen. ā€œAbout 700 people applied for the two available positions and I got one of them.ā€

For a time, banking looked like a secure future, leading Stephen to get his MBA in financial services from pilipiliĀž»­ in 2011.

ā€œGetting the MBA was intense,ā€ remembers Stephen. ā€œAt the time I lived in Hamilton and worked in Toronto. It was an hour train ride each way. Iā€™d study on the way in, and on the way home. Then at night, Iā€™d study some more.ā€

Two years in, and his start-up was worth millions

While the program may have been focused on helping bankers become even better at their jobs, it managed to have a different effect on many in Stephenā€™s cohort. ā€œI stayed connected with just about everyone in my program,ā€ he says, ā€œand over half of us left our jobs to become entrepreneurs and do something else. And weā€™re all pilipiliĀž»­ful.ā€

In Stephenā€™s case, that ā€œsomething elseā€ came in 2013 in the form of a skin care product a friend was selling to hotels and spas. Stephen had the insight to rebrand it and sell it exclusively onlineā€”a place where the big brands werenā€™t playing yet. ā€œThey didnā€™t care about e-commerce; they cared about in-store experience.ā€ By 2019, that little start-up was worth millions and in 2020 he left RBC.

Professor Carolan McLarney had our best interests at heart

ā€œI saw a market need for organic natural products, steering away from corporate synthetic products, allowing consumers to make a choice that was healthier for the environment and themselves,ā€ says Stephen. ā€œWe were also able to tap into economic innovation for global growth.ā€

Stephen credits Dal ā€œ100 per centā€ for giving him the courage to take the plunge and change careers. ā€œThe people at Dal were invested in me,ā€ he says. ā€œThe staff were so engaging. The entire program was a community.ā€

Stephen singles out Professor Carolan McLarney as especially inspiring. ā€œWhen I told her about this opportunity, she said ā€˜Just do it.ā€™ She was someone who looked after us as students and had our best interests at heart. Iā€™m an entrepreneur today because of her.ā€

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