Taking a well-deserved vacation from the office this summer but hoping to return better and with more intel than ever before? Our alumni have got you covered with their most recent publications, showcasing the diverse talents and expertise of Rotman’s vast alumni community.
Whether you’re interested in the integral role marketing plays in a successful startup, looking to find and live a more authentic life, dealing with long COVID and wondering what comes next, or interested in establishing a meaningful legacy in your work, pack any of these books into your travel bag and you’re sure to emerge with insights that you can take to impact.
From stealth to success: a sharp transition for startups
With decades of experience as a marketing executive and advisor to startup companies across a range of industries, Chris Matthews’ (MBA ’05) book, Start Telling People: The Guide to Marketing Strategy and Brand Building for Future-Defining invites startups to think strategically about, and invest in, the sharp transition that is coming out of stealth.
As a strategist who has led early marketing efforts at B2C and B2B startups alike, Matthews urges readers to think of marketing as a discipline rather than just an activity. His book argues that integrating a marketing strategy into startup operations well before launch will result in substantial long-term benefits proven to accelerate growth and build a solid, lasting brand.
Professor Dilip Soman, Director of Behavioural Economics in Action Research Centre at Rotman (BEAR), described the book as “a perfect illustration of why we need to think about marketing more as a discipline, a way of thinking and a philosophy!”
Finding freedom through belonging
As a child, Ritu Bhasin (EMBA ’10) relied on books to guide her on how to live better and today is a DEI and empowerment expert, speaker and author.
Her latest book, We’ve Got This: Unlocking the Beauty of Belonging, tells Bhasin’s personal story with racism, bullying and oppression and how it led her to minimizing her true, authentic self before deciding to unapologetically embrace her uniqueness.
Serving as a how-to guide to heal, thrive and stand in your power in the face of hate and hardships, Bhasin weaves together empathy, humor and research with wisdom. She offers readers an escape to explore their most difficult relationship – the one they have with themselves – and explains how healing, hurting and belonging are all integral parts to self-realization and belonging.
How to deal with the enduring pandemic hangover
One of North America's leading medical experts, Dr. Elaine Chin (MBA ’94) returns with a third book, We Are Not Okay: The Pandemic and its Consequences, which argues that taking inventory of the many COVID-19 consequences is an indispensable first step to trauma recovery.
Chin alludes that even shocking numbers such as five million sick Canadians, hundreds of thousands hospitalized and over 500,000 lives claimed can’t begin to capture the enormity experienced by individuals, communities and countries throughout the pandemic.
Her book breaks down the ways never-ending and unmeasurable trauma perseveres in our lives today: a deteriorated healthcare system, abuse of alcohol, cannabis and opioids, heightened feelings of isolation and struggles with mental health, failed small-businesses and more, declaring that only by acknowledging this lingering pandemic hangover, can we learn from it and prepare for the next.
Creating a more inspired workplace, one defined reader at a time
Kalyna Miletic (BCom ’14) is a highly sought-after leadership coach, TEDx speaker, author and entrepreneur on a mission to help women build meaningful legacies.
As one of Business Insider’s “Most Innovative Career Coaches Around the World,” Miletic’s debut book, Memorable: Lessons to Leave a Legacy challenges readers to change the way they define the nature of work. Using insights from coaching clients in over 50 countries, Miletic invites readers to reflect on their career and life purpose by introducing 22 vital skills to feel more fulfilled personally and professionally.
Miletic suggests that creating a legacy you’re proud of is a three-part journey, starting with defining what a meaningful legacy means to you, then identifying your true vocation and what you would like to spend your, on average, 100,000 hours of work in your lifetime on, and ending with ways you can amplify the impact you and your work have on others and the area in which you’re hoping to leave a legacy.
In closing, Miletic drills the idea that you have had your answers to the above questions all along, and that only by trusting your response and staying curious, can you create a life full of meaningful moments.
Written by Cialyn Carson