Andrew Newton

Ivey Business School at Western University

“Andrew is vibrant, creative, energetic, kind, supportive, hard-working, a team player, forward-thinking, strong communicator, relationship-builder, driven, compassionate, and focused.”

Hometown: Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am an ordained minister. One of my best friends asked me to officiate her and her now husband’s wedding in June 2018. It’s a pretty unique fact that usually takes people by surprise, but having the honour of taking part in my friends’ special day like that was truly an incredible experience.

Undergraduate School and Major: Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Communication Studies with a double minor in Entrepreneurship and Business.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: TouchBistro, Customer Marketing Manager

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: It comes down to my time at TouchBistro or making the decision to come to Ivey. When I first landed at TouchBistro, it was still a pure start-up. Over the years I saw it transform into one of Canada’s fastest-growing start-ups, reaching 400 employees and growing into this incredible tech powerhouse. Being a part of that growth is an accomplishment in itself, and my own personal and professional growth throughout this process was transformative.

I also think that choosing to do an MBA – at Ivey especially – constitutes a major accomplishment for my career. It’s not like undergrad or regular grad school, I don’t think. Doing an MBA, you come to class and learn new concepts that you can immediately see how they would apply to the real world. Many people call it “going back to school” when they leave work for graduate school, which I think is a misnomer. You’re not taking a step back; you’re taking a massive leap forward for your career. It’s a quasi-promotion that is giving me the tools and experience that will accelerate my career moving forward.

Describe your biggest accomplishment at Ivey so far: Being elected as the Ivey MBA Pride President, as well as the connections that I’ve made. I’ve met lifelong friends and this has made the experience even more incredible. Because of the people, every day feels fun and enjoyable…even on the days with the most work and pressure.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? It would be “community.” Community is something that is incredibly important to me, and we have that in the 2020 Ivey Cohort. It gives us a sense of belonging, purpose, and togetherness.

I also think community describes the other amazing qualities that we see in the 2020 cohort: drive, fun, and familial. We are each other’s friends, family, support group, and we all push each other to be and do our best. It’s a good level of competition: we push each other, but we celebrate each other’s successes and help each other through the other times. We’re never competing against each other, so it’s a truly supportive and high-performing environment that is also fun. It’s truly incredible.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The case-based learning: it’s amazing that every day we are learning new theories and applying them directly to real-world situations that we will likely one day face. It makes the learning immediate and way more fun because we can see how it’s directly applicable to our futures after Ivey. The learning is sticky, engaging, fun, and makes you want to come to class every day and do the work because it is enjoyable.

What club or activity have you enjoyed the most at Ivey so far? My favourite experience to date has been our 24-hour reports. This will probably sound weird to anyone reading this as the reports are quite intense and worth a substantial part of our final grades. While they are stressful and intense, it’s invigorating to apply what we’ve learned to-date, come together as a team, and produce exceptional work while pushing ourselves and each other to new limits. Plus, the celebrations and team bonding afterward with the class are quite memorable!

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? An MBA is something I’ve known I would always do. When one of my best friends took a leap of faith and accepted a promotion and moved out to Vancouver, I think I realized that there’s never a perfect opportunity to make these life changes; no matter the approach you take, everything will work out in the end. As a result, I bought my GMAT study books, started researching schools, and fell in love with the idea of being a student again and pursuing my MBA. I was invigorated by the chance that would soon come to stretch myself and push myself to new limits, learn and grow, and set myself up to transition into my dream career in environmental sustainability.

In summary, seeing others in my life take a leap of faith reinforced that now is the time for me to do the same, especially since I had been considering doing an MBA for so long. There’s no time like the present to make a positive change in your life.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management and The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I considered several factors when deciding on my fit at the various schools:

• The learning and teaching method
• Online research and reviews
• Reaching out to me network and speaking to my peers
• Connecting with existing students
• I read several major journals and publications

I researched culture by speaking to students and participating in class visits to get a real and personal sense of the culture. I think it’s important to reach out to more than the admissions faculty for the schools you are seriously considering. It’s important to hear varied experiences and perspectives. No school has it 100%, so you need all of the information to pick the best fit for you. It’s okay if the school isn’t a good fit for you; my initial “top choice” changed three times until I eventually landed on Ivey.

I knew Ivey would fit my career goals for a few reasons: (1) It is one-year long right through, so I can get back to the workforce with a new set of tools to help me make an impact; (2) The teaching style matched my learning style and goals: it’s amazing that Ivey uses the case method so that every concept we learn has a clear application so we know how useful it will be in our future; and (3) the warmth I experienced from every person with whom I spoke. I was never treated as a number or a potential tuition-payer. I think that’s the Ivey difference: we’re treated as partners, future contributors, and potential candidates. It’s clear that Ivey cares about its students, event before they join, and that culture transcends into the cohort making for a true community. I think those qualities are important to look for considering you are about to enter one of the most intense and transformative milestones in your life to date.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? My defining moment was developing my love for the sport of running. I decided to sign up and train for a full marathon. The journey to get ready for the marathon – the effort you put into it – is truly transformational. You learn a lot about yourself: you learn how far you can push yourself and then somehow push yourself a little further. It’s both mentally and physically challenging and even more so rewarding. Crossing the finish line is exhilarating, but just getting to the point where you can even toe the start line is a unique feeling.

I think this is a great metaphor for work and school and any other endeavor you take or goal you set: you get out of it what you put into it. The journey to get to your goal is the best part, and your capacity is only limited by your own perception of it. So push yourself and get at it. If you don’t hit your goal, the base off of which you start the next time is much for advanced than when you first started.

Where do you see yourself in five years? In five years, I hope I see myself working in a role that is making a genuine and positive impact on our planet. I want to work in environmental sustainability. Since I was a kid, my parents instilled in us the important values of sustainability, taking care of our environment, and treating the planet and its inhabitants with respect. There are a lot of businesses that are not operating sustainably. They are at the center of every country around the world. Instead of shutting businesses down, I want to help them make their operations more sustainable to set an example and precedent for all businesses to operate more sustainably. Not only is this the right decision for our planet and its people, it’s a smart business decision. If we run out of resources or destroy the planet, there won’t be any more money to make, people to employ, or consumers to buy. This makes sustainability a crucially important business decision for long-term growth.