A path shaped over time

My name is Naïma and I am the new Marketing Assistant at Middle. Those who know me might tell you they always knew I would end up in Marketing, but for me, the path to get there wasn’t always so clear.

A beginning full of trial and error

When I graduated high school, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. I like anything creative and I’m good at math, so I decided to do a college degree in administration. I said to myself “We’ll see what happens.”

Fast forward two years and a degree in hand, I still had no idea what I wanted to do. I enrolled in the Bachelor of Commerce at McGill University. I thought that among the administration disciplines, I would eventually find one that I’d like. Again, I said to myself “we’ll see.”

After one year in the program, it was clear: I absolutely did not like this field. I understood the more I get away from accounting and economics, the better off I am. I decided to specialize in sustainable development, without really knowing where it would take me. My future still seemedd as uncertain then as it did when I left high school.

Graphic design: a ray of hope

In the winter of 2020, I realize don’t like my sustainable development courses anymore. I need a change. And then, almost by chance, the coronavirus comes and changes everyone’s plans. When the semester ends, I have no job and I am confined to my home. I decide to learn something new. As someone who has always loved art, I took a chance, installed Illustrator on my computer and started creating. I instantly fell in love with graphic design and discovered a passion that could turn into a profession. For the first time in my life, creativity and work began to rhyme.

Just before the beginning of the school year, I have a flash: in the choices of specialization for my bachelor’s degree in business, marketing seemed to have a natural connexion to graphic design. I began my specialization in September and hoped I would like it. The result? I loved my classes! I was learning about marketing strategy and how to integrate graphic design into my projects. Little by little, the path became clearer in my head.

Marketing: the perfect mix

I started an internship in marketing in the summer of 2021 which confirmed my interest in the field. One of my tasks during this internship was to list the marketing agencies in Montreal. Amongst the ones I analyzed, it was Middle that caught my attention the most. I don’t know if it was the unicorn on the logo or the smile on the girls’ faces, but I was hooked from the start.

Here I am, a few months later, starting my adventure at Middle as a Marketing Assistant. And I can say I was totally right: the smiles displayed on the team presentation page were not fake; it’s indeed a smiling, hard-working and united team that welcomed me. I finally feel like I belong and my path is much clearer now. My job is a sweet mix of marketing and graphic design, everything I was looking for.

The 16-year-old Naïma would be proud. I don’t have to say “we’ll see” anymore.