Brady Heslip

Smith School of Business, Queen’s University

“Highly motivated, intellectually curious individual with a fervid attitude towards goal setting and helping others.”

Hometown: Burlington, Ontario

Fun Fact About Yourself:  I have a substantial shoe collection.

Undergraduate School and Major:  Baylor University, Bachelor of Arts.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Istanbul BBSK – Professional Basketball Player/Oxford Properties, Office leasing

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Representing Team Canada playing the sport I love.

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? I chose the Smith School because of its prestigious reputation as a world-renowned MBA program and because of its partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee. Also, from the beginning of my application process, the administration was absolutely first-class in helping me navigate a process that was foreign to me at the time. This led me to accomplish one of my goals of being accepted into the program.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am looking forward to hopefully founding and representing the Real Estate Club. Additionally, I am looking forward to working collaboratively with my classmates and learning from them as they learn from me.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? “What do you want to do after your MBA?”

This was the most difficult question asked during the admissions process. However, after acceptance into the program, I was fortunate to get an opportunity to work at Oxford properties, which solidified my intuition that I was interested in the real estate industry. I know many of my classmates are uncertain about which industry or profession they want to work in; I encourage them to learn about and experiment with different industries in order to find out where they are truly passionate.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I decided to pursue my MBA because it was an audacious goal and a challenge that I wanted to embark on to grow more as an individual. Coming from professional sport, I was aware that I needed to rebrand myself in order to be taken seriously when entering the business world. An MBA was the perfect transition from my previous career in the next chapter of my life.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Only Queen’s, the best program in Canada.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? The duration of the program at Smith was an attractive factor. Also, it doesn’t take much research to find it among the top business schools in Canada annually. Every individual that I was in correspondence with at the Smith School went above and beyond to help me feel comfortable and understand what was expected of me. All of this and more solidified that the Smith School was a perfect fit for me.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I am convinced that we are constantly evolving, so I cannot pinpoint a specific moment. I believe that all of the experiences that I have had during my career as a professional athlete; living in a vast array of countries and being exposed to different cultures have helped shape my perspective on the world. Being accepted into this program meant a great deal to me and I am of the belief that it is a pivotal moment in my career moving forward.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? I see myself leading a real estate asset management company and having started a foundation that has a major impact on underprivileged youth. All children deserve an opportunity to play sports regardless of their economic or social status. Sport has provided many opportunities for me and I believe that no child should be denied the chance to experience it. I see myself returning to Kingston every year for homecoming, having a family and living in the GTA. But life is unpredictable!