Abby thank you so much joining us today can you share a little bit about your profession before entering the MBA and JD program at shuck in Al good yeah for sure so before I entered U my MB and JD program I worked at Children's a society of Toronto initially where I got to support families to build their strength and resiliency and keeping their families together not long from there I joined the school board this is where I got to work as a mental health clinician so I provided mental health support to students to support their
well-being so they can thrive in their academics I also got the opportunity to advocate for their mental health needs and then connect worked with families to connect them to Community Resources so while I worked at the school board one of the Highlight there was starting the first black student Alliance at the elementary level to be able to create a safe and inclusive space to empower students and support staff to engage and disrupt anti-black racism so yeah yeah that's a great answer it seems like had an interesting way to get there what initially inspired or motivated
you to transition from your career to this duel so the way it happened for me I initially I was applying for law school MBA was not in the picture at the time but when it when it came to the interest in law it initially emerged um in my role as a mental health clinician uh while I was supporting these families so in the school board I saw how institutionalized racism within various policies and practices um negatively impacted the students trajectory so an example would be a student who wanted to pursue maybe Academic Program like they
had the different like a academics local applied level and so let's say they wanted to pursue academics but yet due to the different systems that are in place they're not able to for various reasons at Cas I also saw firsthand the effect poverty and lack of adequate culturally appropriate Services contributed to the frequent admission of black and racialized Children and Youth into foster care so I quickly realized that regardless of how many times I supported these families and advocated for them that it my current role limited my ability to affect change because it was more
of a macr level issue so that was what propelled me to want to pursue law and be able to shape policies but as I was working on my application I realized that the addition of an MBA would be an asset because it would provide me with the deeper understanding of the legal implications while I combined the business knowledge to be able to navigate the complex regulatory environment and be able to shape and be able to develop um a more Fe feble policy so that's how I got into the Dual program yeah it definitely seems as
if it's work well hand inand together obviously in the law background so with that how think that the two complement each other in today's landscape oh for sure so it it complements in different ways um so in today's professional landscape I see a seamless interplay between business and law so regardless of the industry their in their interconnection is evident in our daily work you can't do one without the other so let's take risk management for example because every company that you work with requires you to manage risk of of some sort so individuals with a
legal knowledge can be able to identify the potential legal risk and liabilities while the business side of it allows you to have a holistic understanding of the broader risk and the impact on organization's business or Financial Health so that's how I feel like they compliment each other yeah I definitely agree with that especially if you're entering the business world so can you highlight specific areas where the knowledge degrees intersect or enhance your understanding of some complex issues yeah for sure so I'm going to take the education sector for example because that's where I come from
in my background so in education there are some cases where um legal got involved and I saw how the legal experts ensured that the education system them complied with policies that were related making sure that they complied with policies related to academic Integrity student conduct diversity initiatives so from the business side now the business professionals will ensure that these policies Foster an inclusive and supporting learning environment to be able to reflect the institution's values and enhance the overall student experience so the business will ensure that it's able to be run in a way that least
a profit making sure that company is in a better profitable space to keep running while the legal side to ensure that they're adhering to the policiy the mission the values that they've created for themselves within that institution yeah that was great so in your opinion what are some of the advantages of pros and cons of having both illegal and business education so I'm biased I don't know if there's a con there is I feel like there's more of a pro and I want to speak on the pro because I think you can go wrong with
having both degrees and and they keep telling us that right so whether you're not sure where you want to go in regards to education I think it's best to have both why because it offers that unique and versatile skill that most employees are looking for now right so when you have that dual degree you're able to approach a decision making from a holistic view you consider the implications of both the legal and business objectives so you can make a well-informed decision right and this will provide you again it's it provides you with that edge right
and also another Pro I would say is the versatility in career path so you have that broader range of career options for example if you're not sure okay I don't know I want to be a lawyer but I'm not sure specifically where I want to practice you can seamlessly transition between legal and business roles right also the Proficiency in both legal and business domains so being able to effectively collaborate with legal and business teams because within a firm you're going to be working on a team right and with different sectors and so being able to
have that knowledge and strategically communicate in a way that builds trust and secures a mutually beneficial partnership another thing is you become prepared to be equipped for leadership gools right because you're making those decisions having those solving um problems and so you're able to leverage both degrees to be able to make decisions that um benefit benit the company another thing that I see even now at school is that you become adaptable to the changing professional environment so you're able to understand and respond to the evolving legal Regulatory and business landscape so you're able to think
very fast on your feet so yeah yeah that's great definitely a lot more Pros for sure So based on your background in education like the mental health space how have your experience es influence your perspective transition into the legal and business Realms oh yeah I think it's been really really pival like it's been amazing because initially when I was transitioning I thought okay coming from a mental health background how can I integrate that to law and business and I see that my experiences in mental health has enabl me to understand the importance of having a
human- centered approach because as a mental health you work from that approach work with individuals so you work from that human- centered approach and it's helped me to Foster client relationships to have effective teamwork and understand diverse perspective and that's something that's going to help me in that transition another thing too is that it's enable me to approach problem solving comprehensively so taking into account the psychological social and environment factors when addressing complex issues and devising effective solutions for clients so I'm not only looking at problem at hand I'm looking at the overall problem and
what other factors contributes to that problem it's also taught me to work from a client centered approach and that's different from a human centered approach in a way where as I transition into the legal and business Realms I have to be mindful of how to tailor my strategies My Business Solutions my legal strategies to align with the distinct needs and objectives of each client because one size does not fit all so I need to be able to get to know them what is it that this particular client or business is looking for and how can
I provide that solution or those um that advice to them that would enhance their organization another one which is really really big for me and last one is fostering an inclusive environment so having being in a mental health field having to advocate for people I think the importance of navigating diverse cultural landscapes is going to be very very beneficial because I'm able to then promote diversity and equity and inclusion within the space that I will be working in yeah definitely I think the part that you uh mentioned about just having that different perspective and not
the one siiz fits all is really resonating with I guess everything that's going on in the world today and as things evolve so thanks for that answer that was great in terms of connecting the past and the present any aspects of your previous career that you find valuable or applicable to your current studies and future career path yeah certainly again as I previously mentioned in my role as a mental health musician I had to advocate for clients right so it necessitated having strong advocacy and communication skills I believe these skills they hold significant value and
can be easily transferable to my current studies and future career path having effective communication skills is very very crucial in various scenarios actually such as presenting a case in court um participating in mood which you have to do when you're in law school negotiating on behalf of a client for example in my future career path or advocating for a business strategy you do need to have these skills so I think that's very important another transferable skill from my previous career is being trained to be cauly competent so in my current studies and my future career
path I will and I do interact with individuals from diverse backgrounds so possessing an awareness of diversity and the ability to collaborate with people from various educational professional back and personal backgrounds can foster that inclusive environment and be a valuable asset for me when I pursue my career in law yeah absolutely so since you had quite a change from the business in law they very different fields what are some of the challenges that you've encountered during your transition and how have you navigated them so I have encountered some challenges one example is not having a
business background I came from a Mental Health social work background and so this is something that has been really difficult because the program is very fast-paced and most times they work from that lens that if you're pursuing an MBA you must at least have some basic understanding and so what I've done to combat that is I seek assistance by reaching out to colleagues that are proficient in the courses where I have difficulties in I seek guidance from them to be my tutor and people are really really like helpful they will actually take time to help
and assist it's it's very collaborative especially the space asul I also dedicate extra time to practice in the areas where I face challenges and then also utilize my professors right for personalized oneon-one tutoring because they're there for that they offer their office hours and not every student uses it but I know that I'm at an disadvantage because I don't have that business background so I've been using it and it's been proven to be highly beneficial for me on the legal front there's a sheer volume of case laws and readings and it could be overwhelming right
and no one is truly prepared for extensive amount of readings and the challenge of having to manage your time to stay on top of them so how I have addressed this is that I've developed the skill of Distributing the workload among trusted peers um and that this collaborative approach has been very very beneficial because it's helped us to divvy up the work and be able to nav navigate through the extensive material so those are the challenges that I've I've definitely faced so far yeah so given the challenges that you listed are there any specific lessons
or insights that you've gained so far that you think it would be valuable for others to hear there's a lot to learn I would say manage your time now get into the habit of completing your assignments in tax ahead of time please don't procrastinate I know it's so easier said than done but the reason why I'm saying that is because the habits you create now you take it further into higher education or in your in further career goals right and so having to manage your time you're building that habit I would say also learn to
work with others it's very important because you'll find very quickly that in business school there's a lot of collaborative work and working with people you may not know from diverse backgrounds have different work ethics and this actually mirrors what you will see in the professional field so get better at working with diverse individuals and becoming a team player although it's not required possessing a fun mental understanding of business courses can be very very helpful for your MBA I would say that even though they tell you don't need it but I think having that basic is
very important because it allows you to just get that basic understanding so when you pursue your MBA you're not completely lost or having to start from Ground Zero but as for law over time you'll naturally discover what aligns with your learning style and what doesn't because there's no like path like you can take any course to to get into law school and so you'll figure it out as you go another thing I would say do not be afraid to speak up your voice matters be bold be confident and strive for a balance to prevent burnout
and this is I guess coming from that mental health lens right try to cultivate habits that bring you Joy and adhere to them because when like for example if you engage in sports continue to do it because it it would help to have a balanced lifestyle and it actually serves as a Catalyst for you striving and and excelling in your academics yeah it's really interesting how you're able to bring so much from your past experiences in the mental health space to both law and business when they don't really seem like the most alike spaces so
it's really interesting to me and with that it comes our last question for you today which is looking ahead what are your long-term career goals and how do you envision leveraging both your legal and business expertise okay so again I'm not sure about the specifics but I intend to operate my own real estate consulting firm in the future so I intend to leverage my legal skills to be able to negotiate and draft contracts for example for real estate transactions right so I can be able to secure favorable terms for my clients protecting their interest and
streamlining the transaction I would also want to use business Acumen to analyze market trends identify investment opportunities and help clients develop strategic plans to make informed decisions that will help strengthen and diversify the Investment Portfolio so this is how I will definitely Envision using both my legal and business expertise yeah that's awesome I love how all that tied in together but Abby thank you so much for joining us today
