Working at Deluxe paid well, and my e-commerce team was thriving. However, the teams around me were struggling with layoffs and downsizing. Sensing it might be time for a change, I started looking for my next opportunity and almost immediately, I got a call from BlackBerry with an offer to relocate me back to Canada.
This was BlackBerry before the iPhone era—a company at its peak and an incredible place to work. The pace was fast, and the pressure was high, but it was exhilarating. I was brought on to lead digital analytics, focusing on measuring website performance and evaluating the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns.
I started as an individual contributor but quickly grew into a management role, building and training a team while overseeing three different agency partnerships simultaneously. The role gave me access to cutting-edge reporting and analytics tools, and I worked closely with some of the best analytics agency partners in the industry.
During my time at BlackBerry, I developed innovative measurement techniques and scalable global analytics strategies. Interestingly, friends who later moved into management consulting have told me that the methodologies I created are now being applied at multiple companies worldwide.
I also had the privilege of sharing BlackBerry’s analytics journey at various conferences, speaking about the work we were doing in digital analytics, paid media analytics, and social media analytics. It was an exciting, high-impact role where I learned, contributed, and grew immensely.