Elias Zeekeh
Program / Grad Year: Laurier MBA CMA 2008
Previous Education: Honors Economics with Psychology, University of Western Ontario
Employment prior to the Laurier MBA: Assistant Branch Rental Manager, Enterprise Rent-a-Car
Current Employment: Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis, Grand & Toy
“I think that most people have way more potential than they are truly aware of. We can achieve anything beyond our wildest imaginations. The greatest challenge in life is not thinking that we can achieve our dreams, but knowing that we can without a doubt. That’s when results happen!”
What did you choose Laurier for your MBA degree?
Laurier has a fantastic reputation. I was looking for an MBA experience with a personal touch. The professors at Laurier are extremely helpful and always went the extra mile to ensure that our questions were answered.
How did the Laurier MBA help your career?
The interactive nature of the program gave me much needed experience, and not just in helping to develop my thoughts but also the ability to better communicate them.
Upon joining the MBA CMA program, I was also to make a career transition from the Operations side to the Finance group at my current employer at the time, which was Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The program definitely opened up new career opportunities for me within the various departments.
What did you like most about your Laurier experience?
The program was well organized and the format of the program was ideal. Since classes were on alternating weekends and we had the summers off this allowed me to balance the workload with my personal life and other commitments. The curriculum emphasized group work and this left me much better prepared to work within cross functional teams improving my ability to be promoted.
What are your future career goals?
I definitely would like to more up the ranks of corporate leadership. That being said, I am happy with where I am currently and feel that I have been very blessed. My long term goal is to build a real estate investment business.