When I think back to how I got into marketing, it wasn’t a straight line. I still remember my very first marketing class at UBC Sauder. The professor asked us: “What’s the most important thing in marketing?” I hesitated, then guessed: “Value.” The next slide appeared, and in the middle of the screen was that single word: Value.
That moment stuck with me. It wasn’t just about selling products or services. It was about creating something another person sees as meaningful, useful, or worth their time.
I’ve always been the kind of person who notices small details and asks “why.” Why does one campaign go viral while another flops? Why do some people choose one brand over another, even when the product is nearly identical? That curiosity is what eventually led me to study marketing at the UBC Sauder School of Business and get hands-on with projects in food-tech, wellness, fashion, and various other areas of life.
How Curiosity Shaped My Journey
If “value” was the word that drew me into marketing, curiosity is the trait that has kept me exploring.
During university, my curiosity nudged me outside the classroom into new industries. It led me to volunteer at Vancouver Fashion Week, where I got to see how brands create experiences, not just clothing. Later, it pushed me into food-tech, where I led growth efforts at CaterDash. Each time, I wasn’t just chasing an opportunity - I was chasing the question of “How does marketing work here? What’s different, and what stays the same?”
Even today, I notice how curiosity shapes my personality in small ways. It’s what fuels my ability to spark small talk, to notice the details in a brand’s message, or to try and decode why one campaign feels authentic while another falls flat.
Why Curiosity Matters in Marketing Today
Marketing is about people, and people are complex. To connect with them, you need more than formulas or tactics. The one skill that cuts across everything, in my opinion, is curiosity.
Curiosity pushes you to learn and test new tools (like ChatGPT, Capcut, or analytics dashboards) instead of fearing them.
Curiosity helps you understand people, not just numbers - why they click, what they value, why they behave the way they do.
Curiosity keeps you adaptable, makes you step into industries you don’t fully know yet, whether it's a mental health wellness brand or the future of AI in hospitality.
Every time, the results followed not because I had the perfect answer from the start, but because curiosity led me to the right questions.
My Perspective Going Forward
As a recent graduate, I don’t claim to have it all figured out. But I do know that curiosity will continue to guide me. It’s what keeps me reading about LLM SEO late at night, testing ideas on my own portfolio site, or noticing small brand details that others might miss.
For me, curiosity isn’t just a trait - it’s a practice. It’s what makes me excited about contributing to startups and growth-stage companies, where asking the right questions can make the biggest difference.
That’s why I don’t just see marketing as a career choice. I see it as an extension of how I think, connect, and create value. My personality and my profession have found common ground.
Closing Thought
In a world where AI is rewriting how we search, shop, and interact, curiosity feels more important than ever. Platforms, algorithms, and tools will keep changing. But the ability to stay curious to ask better questions and chase what “value” really means to people - will always be at the heart of marketing.
And that’s the kind of marketer I strive to be.