Do you have any industry-related initiatives, projects, or hobbies outside your current role at IBD? If yes, please tell me about them!

Doug: I've been known to help friends out from time to time with projects. Sometimes those are music videos or fun little videos that people put together. I've got a lot of love for theatre. Occasionally, I will record my friend's choir performances and shows. 

James: My background is in theatre and in music. Sometimes there are music projects or theatre projects and sometimes there are musical theatre projects. The last one I did was back in February of this year, I did a production of the musical version of Bridges of Madison County.  

Jessica: I am a content creator for a sports tape brand. 

Laurie-Anne: I am an event organizer. I used to be in festival organizing. 

Nilu:  I am part of the Program Advisory Committee at Centennial College where myself and the staff of Centennial College, in the program that I graduated from, come together and discuss the gaps between the education of UX and the industry needs.  I've also mentored about three students from Centennial College. 

Do you have a background related to your hobby, or are you self-taught?

Doug:  I went to Ryerson University [Toronto Metropolitan University] and received my Bachelor of Fine Arts and Film Studies. 

James: I went to theatre school for three years and was very involved in music and theatre but I did visual arts in high school as well. 

Jessica:  I did my undergrad in Political Science and diploma in Business Marketing but I taught myself everything I could about Marketing half way through my undergrad.  

Laurie-Anne: One of my first unofficial work experiences in communication and marketing was for a music festival when I was 16. I volunteered for the logistics side of the event, and I loved it!

Nilu: I did my bachelor's degree in Legal Studies and then went on to get a formal education at Centennial College in UX because I realized that prior to that, I was teaching myself all about it. 

Why did you get involved or begin this initiative or hobby in the first place? What sparked your interest?

Doug: I have had a passion for movies and videos since I was really young. It was a lot harder for my friends and I because we didn't have phones, we didn't have digital editing on computers and stuff like that. I literally would make videos by taking two VHS tapes, pressing record on one and play on the other, and then pausing for all that rudimentary analog editing. 

James: When I was a kid, after our big family Sunday dinners we would wash and dry the dishes, and somebody would put on a show tunes record on, Broadway cast and movie soundtrack recordings like My Fair Lady or Oklahoma!. We would put on the music and sing at the top of our lungs while cleaning up. It was almost inevitable that I would become a theatre person.

Jessica: I’ve always loved the overall concept of marketing and how it has the ability to evoke feelings and influence things like behaviour and attitudes. It’s a very creative space, and I have found it fascinating that it is a constantly evolving realm of ideas and concepts. 

Laurie-Anne: It was a festival that takes place in my hometown every year and brings in thousands of people. I went to that festival so many times, and it was really cool. I walked into the festival office one day, and I was like, “Hey, do you need any help?” and there was a lady who was the logistics director, and she said, “Of course! Do you like to be busy?". 

Nilu: Growing up. I was always a visual person. I’ve been drawing since I was a kid, and I am very visual.  I was always naturally someone who liked to visually organize things and then, growing up, I realized, this is just something that I'm naturally good at so let me make sure my career and my hobbies aligned with that. It was just my natural tendency. 

What have you learned that has been able to help you with your current role at IBD? What are some specific examples of how these initiatives or hobbies have had a positive impact on your career or professional development? 

Doug:  From a nuts and bolts perspective, there's a lot that goes into making a video. It's not just doing it and the video magically happens. You have to plan a lot of things. You have to figure out how you're going to accomplish stuff. Planning and logistical work very much connects with my work as associate director of content and video producer at Innovate By Day. 

James: As you get older, the work that you do is informed by everything that you've done. I can point to the theatre and say it gave me a lot of insight into marketing, film, and TV but so many other things in my life have influenced how I approach the work that we do.

Jessica: This extracurricular was once my full-time job and it was really the role that I felt I learned the most in. Because it was a remote job, I felt like I gained a lot of personal development, especially in terms of things like time management, being able to work alone, and making decisions. I think a lot of this has translated into my role at IBD in terms of how I take on tasks. 

Laurie-Anne: I think being a part of the logistics department showed me all the kinds of things that need to be done before wanting success. And right now, as a bilingual project manager, I have to work with every department  just to make sure that the objectives of the project are met. Working in event organizing is always a ‘figure it out’ kind of mindset. You have to react on the spot and it really helped me to be able to concentrate on the solution and always finding a way to work around whatever things are thrown at me. It gave me the ability of being able to deal with different things at once. 

Nilu: The importance of completing something and pushing myself. When it comes to my digital drawings, seeing that final product go from a blank canvas to something that I really like and having that feeling of accomplishing something is nice. So, pushing myself to finish things is something I transfer to my role at IBD. Sometimes, a wireframe isn't going as planned, or I’m not happy with it and it's very easy for me to be like “I just don't want to do this anymore,” but knowing that I have that practice of finishing a drawing and just pushing myself a little bit to see that end result is what helps me. I've used that actually multiple times to push me a little bit to finish a wireframe, for example.

Are there any notable achievements or milestones you’ve reached within your hobby that you are particularly proud of?

Doug: My work has been seen across the world, which is really cool. I've edited some projects that have screened in Asia,  Europe, and all over North America. Having people outside of my immediate bubble get to see some of the stuff that I've done is really cool. Many years ago I got to go down to LA and watch the film that I had at a film festival there. I think we won best short comedy at that festival in LA back in 2008. 

James: I was an Elvis [tribute] backup singer for a few years and a couple of the gigs were really high profile, big theatres and casinos. I did a couple of tours with these folks in the Midwest and they were in these big old theatres in Chicago and Cleveland, and it was an excuse to go on the road and sing with three of my friends from the theatre and theatre school.

Jessica: I used to run the social media accounts for this brand and last year, I was able to be a part of their feature on Dragons’ Den. Running their socials during that significant time for them was a big learning experience and a lot of fun. 

Laurie-Anne: The opening and closing ceremonies of the Quebec Games was a big challenge because there were 4000 people attending to watch each show. We only had access to the venue three weeks before because it was a brand-new building. We lit a huge cauldron with fire in a multimillion-dollar building while 1000 of athletes walked through the entrance. We had actors and a really cool band from Quebec that came.

Nilu: Being a mentor. As a woman and specifically a woman of color, imposter syndrome is a real thing and no matter how old I am or young, I am, I will always feel like I'm incompetent. It really feels good that's so far three people have come up to me and asked me to be their mentor. And for me to move past that imposter syndrome and be like, “Maybe there is something that they might take away from my experience.” That's something I'm proud of.

What advice do you have for individuals considering participating in similar extracurricular activities?

Doug: Do it because you like it and it's fun. Don’t do it just to make money off of it. Don't worry about trying to get fame or worry about people seeing it, just share it. If you want to send your film to a festival, great, do whatever you want to do with it. Don't put the pressure of needing to monetize your joy in the way of you actually achieving it, because it's so easy to think that you have to have a hustle when really you should be finding joy in any moment that you can. If you find joy in telling stories, by making videos with your friends,  just revel in the joy in the process. Don't think that the joy will come from a particular outcome. 

James: Find what brings you joy and do lots of it. Don't let the hard days get you down and focus on what's positive, what you can bring to it, and what you can learn from it—never stop learning.

Jessica: It’s really easy to stay within your comfort zone, but I am a firm believer that there is no growth in comfort so make the effort to constantly be learning. Challenge yourself and don’t be afraid to ask questions. 

Laurie-Anne: Start somewhere. Don't be afraid of not knowing anything. Volunteering for events in the beginning is really good because I was pretty young and there's no expectation of you. So, you can be there and touch a lot of departments while learning a lot. People in event organizing are so friendly and they just want you to be part of their work family. My supervisors became really good mentors for me. 

Nilu: Create the time for your hobbies and extracurriculars, if you can't find the time naturally. You may need to resort to scheduling in "hobby time" but that doesn't make it any less fun.