Q&A with Jade Wong, Design Supervisor at Critical Mass
PHOTO: JADE WONG
Reflecting on last year, a year that was difficult for most, I think of my friend Jade Wong and how she inspired me by overcoming so much. Early on in the pandemic - like many others, she lost her job, which would be a hard hit at any time. But this year it wasn’t just a job loss it was also a lockdown of most things that can keep you active and in good mental health. I wanted to talk to Jade about how she managed the highs and lows and what eventually lead her to her current role with Critical Mass. I wanted to discuss this topic with Jade, not just because she is my friend but because I found her ability to push through, set routines and overcome the challenges inspiring and thought that it would be helpful to reflect on some of the instances in life that make us resilient as we head into a brand new year.
Tell me a bit about your background?
My career path has been a bit all over the place, I spent over a decade in high-end retail which eventually led me back to school to complete my Bachelor of Communications. From there I landed an internship at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) where I spent over seven years working in a variety of roles including community relations, public relations, internal communications, event management, and human resources. From there I moved to a small marketing agency called Brandsmith where I was a brand manager for a year and a half. Then Covid-19 hit and I was laid off like many others at the end of March 2020. And now I’m working at Critical Mass, a global digital marketing agency in Calgary.
What lead you to work at CP, where we met?
I decided to go back to school for a third time in my late 20’s. Juggling a full-time job and a full roster of classes was quite the challenge! During my second year, I was lucky enough to meet Mark Seland, who was the GM of communications at CP at the time. One of my instructors knew Mark very well and organized a lecture on one of the train cars. I remember leaving that lecture very impressed with his background, charisma, and professionalism. I was so impressed that I was determined to find a way to work with him and for an iconic company where I saw an opportunity to grow and develop. I ended up connecting with Mark not too long after the lecture and secured my first internship within the communications team at CP. Mark has been a mentor to me ever since and I’m grateful for his support, guidance, and friendship.
Tell me about your path from CP to your next role? What did you like about both?
One of the benefits of working for a large organization like CP is that that you can move around and get a sense of how the business works from different perspectives. I was lucky enough to have a few different roles within the communications team and to have had the opportunity to diversify my skill set by moving to the talent acquisition team. It was quite the career shift, but most definitely welcomed!
Moving from CP to Brandsmith probably posed the most change for me. Going from a corporate setting with over 13,000 employees to a shared workspace with six people was certainly an adjustment. With any new role comes new challenges and I can certainly appreciate the adaptability and resilient mindset you have to embrace to be able to move forward. In both places, I was very lucky to be surrounded by great people that were kind, competent, and professional, which helped me develop throughout the years, but most importantly also allowed me to have tons of fun along the way.
Reflecting on the last year, what were the worst parts and what were the best?
2020 has been interesting to say the least, these past 10 months have felt like a rollercoaster of emotions and hurdles that have challenged me in ways that I could have never expected, and I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way. The toughest part was the uncertainty. When the pandemic hit and I lost my job, I wasn’t sure when I would find work again. It was sad to think of how many others were in the same position. Waking up every day and not going to work is a strange feeling and as time went on it got tougher because you start feeling a lack of purpose. I would also say that quarantining alone was testing, I spent a lot of time in my head and sat in some pretty uncomfortable spaces.
I’m a big believer in always finding the silverling in any difficult situation, so as hard as it was to be alone during that first lockdown, I was extremely grateful for the time I had to realign my values, goals, and aspirations. I got the chance to learn some new skills, find some clarity and perspective on a few different facets of my life, as well as practicing gratitude which I think we could all benefit from.
How did the pandemic affect your mental health and what helped you get through the lows?
Losing my job was a shock in itself, now pair that with a pandemic… I knew that my days to come wouldn’t be easy. I’ve always been someone who thrives on routine, so I allowed myself to grieve for what felt like a huge loss at the time, and then I got after it.
One of the most important elements of my routine was and still is fitness. It’s one of the most transformative things you can do for your brain. Not only does it boost your mood and memory; it also protects your brain from depression and other diseases. Every day in my living room for what felt like a year, I would crush a workout, which I’m sure my neighbors below me still hate me for haha.
I would then spend a few hours searching the job market, working on my personal branding strategy, as well as connecting with people who worked at companies I wanted to work for. The second half of my day was spent completing online courses to help sharpen my skills in marketing, communications, or learning completely new things like Google Analytics, how to master a LinkedIn profile, and guitar. I found LinkedIn to be a great tool for job searches and I took advantage of creating a job profile during this time called “Pandemic Pause” listing out all the things I was working on to show that I motivated and ready for my next move.
Although not easy, having the discipline to break my day down into 2-3-hour buckets proved to be extremely helpful and made me feel like I still had some structure in my life. This is what a typical day looked like:
7 am – 9 am strength training
9 am – 10 am breakfast/get ready for the day
10 am – 12 pm job search
12 pm – 1 pm break/outdoor time/run
1 pm – 4 pm online courses
4 pm – 5 pm read something for pleasure
Some days I would take advantage of the fact that a break like this may never present itself again, so I would spend full days hiking in the mountains and being in nature which helped keep me grounded and present.
How did you get hired on at Critical Mass? How long did it take?
I took this time off as an opportunity to reassess where I wanted to take my career. I decided my next job would be for a company that I admired. I wanted to land at a place that was progressive, fast-paced, supportive, and FUN. I picked my top three companies and reached out to my connections who worked there. Having these preliminary chats allowed me to dig a bit deeper into company culture and values. This was time well spent and proved to be extremely valuable as it helped me shape my approach and ultimately gave me a better idea of how I would fit into the mix.
I initially interviewed for a position at Critical Mass (CM) that I didn’t get hired for. However, CM does an incredible job of finding other positions that could potentially be a better fit for you. Having a solid pitch is a necessity when you’re interviewing, once people know what you’re after and that you’re motivated you make it easy for them to set you up for other opportunities. My pitch was based off of these three questions:
What can I bring to the table?
What have learned along the way?
What am I passionate about?
What was it like to start with a new company virtually?
Very challenging!! I’m someone that needs to be around other people which made it tough. My position was also brand new, so I didn’t have much to go off of, but I managed to help build a team from the ground up that’s now running pretty efficiently with 14 people. And believe it or not, I feel very connected to my team. I think the trick is that I always make an effort to be on video, you lose so much without being able to see body language and facial expressions.
What are the best parts of working from home/worst parts?
Best:
- Being able to make whatever I want for lunch
- Doing laundry in between meetings
- Wearing sweatpants multiple days of the week
- The commute
Worst:
- No one to have banter with
- Less moving around during the day
- It feels like I’ve been wearing the same outfit for 6 months
- I look better in person than I do on video
- Snacks on demand
What are some of the best lessons you’ve learned so far?
Don’t stress over things you can’t control, be kind to yourself, and there’s always another path.
What books are on your nightstand/albums on your Spotify that are on repeat?
I haven’t gotten into any good books lately, but I love a great western so if you have some recommendations send them my way!
I’m all over Spotify, there really isn’t a time when I don’t have music on. I love making playlists for everything. Lately, I’ve been curating playlists for my good friend Amanda Hamilton who owns an interior design firm here in Calgary. I’ll put together a playlist every few months that coincide with the type of project she’s working on, here’s a few you can check out: -https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qJs0pdbsKH6D0Fd1SLtZu?si=Z4mE207pTkuPSTwqppEOdw
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6QMwot9BOZSVidueaA3Xff?si=BE3Psz3nRySgmJGQLe3V1g
What are you most looking forward to? Post pandemic.
Bumping shoulders on a crowded dance floor, that and traveling to see live music. Maybe a few hugs here and there too : )
Learn more about Jade on LinkedIn.