guard.meCARES Connections

It’s 8 a.m. on Vancouver Island, and 10-year-old Kush is getting ready to go to his Montessori school.

“He enjoys it there,” says his mother, Richa Chowdhary, who came to Canada in August 2018 to complete her MBA at Vancouver Island University (VIU). “Kush went to a Montessori school back in India, and it’s the least we can do to give him something familiar when we moved here. It has helped him settle in Canada over the last four years.”

Richa has lived and worked in large cities in her homeland of India and describes Vancouver Island as "the most beautiful and amazing place, surrounded by mountains, lakes, and the ocean. It doesn't even snow that much.”

After completing her finance degree in Uttar Pradesh, North India, Richa moved to Bengaluru in the south—known as the Silicon Valley of India—for a postgraduate degree in marketing. She lived there for 14 years and built a successful career providing her services to some of the biggest tech companies in the world. Along the way, Richa got married. She gave birth to Kush in 2012 and, after taking maternity leave, she decided to stay home to care for her son.

Fast forward to winter 2017, when Kush was five years old, and Richa was ready to explore going back to work. “In India, when you return to work after a long leave, you can't go back to where you left off. You have to start from scratch by working in a junior role, although things are changing. My husband, Tejash, suggested I study something new. So, we began considering international education as a path to a better life overseas, especially for our son.”

She began researching MBAs at colleges and universities in different countries. “I soon learned how Canada is a country where anyone can study at any age and start again on a new career path. Canada became top of my list.”

She spoke with international education consultants in India, who raised the concern that the gap in her work and education might hinder her chances of gaining a study visa. To address this, she decided to include all her previous studies and work experience in her MBA application to VIU, to increase her chances of acceptance. It worked.

“VIU has great MBA programs. I applied, got my offer letter and my visa, and started planning.”

The initial plan was for Richa to complete her studies, then Tejash and Kush would join her in Canada afterwards. But after just four months apart, the family united again just as Richa was finishing her first semester. After receiving his work permit, it took Tejash only a few months to find a job, and then just a short time more before he secured employment in his field.

“It has been incredible to learn the Canadian way of doing business and to study with a diverse group of students from all over the globe, including Nigeria, Indonesia, the Philippines, Germany, and Canada. You learn to work with people who have different backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs.”

She completed her MBA in January 2020, a few months before the pandemic brought online learning to campuses across Canada. Since it was a dual degree MBA program at VIU, in partnership with the University of Hertfordshire in England, Richa also earned an MSc in International Management at the same time via distance learning.   

To prepare for work in Canada while still a student, Richa volunteered as a guard.meCARES Ambassador for over a year.

“Volunteering is considered an asset on your resume here and being a guard.meCARES Ambassador helped me understand and acclimatize to work in Canada.”

Before joining guard.me as a full-time contracts and operations specialist in August 2022, Richa had worked at Home Depot for three years, starting as a part-time cashier while still studying. She did her MBA internship there and was promoted to department manager around the time her permanent residency came through in August 2021.

“People in Canada value and respect your work regardless of what job you do. Even though I had not worked in insurance before, I understand internal business processes from my former career and education, and can utilize this knowledge at guard.me.”

She works with several departments at guard.me and says she "helps to connect the dots."

She shares that, in many ways, her job at guard.me is like her former position as a strategic alliance manager with a multinational computer processor developer. In that role, she managed major accounts, pricing, upcoming products, and worked on RFPs.

“I’ve been able to apply my skill set with guard.me and intend to use my education and previous work experience everywhere I can.”

After four years, Richa and her family remain proud of their decision to move to Canada. They’re delighted with how things have turned out and look forward to learning more about their adopted country.