RyePack

RYEPACK IS HIRING FOR 2021/2022🤩
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Meet Emily
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When I look back at my time with RyePack, they were some of the best memories for me in GCM. I was on the team for three years and joined RyePack as one of the founding team members in 2011.

I began my journey on RyePack as a Secretary and Fundraising Executive, and grew into the role as the Vice President, Events the following year. It was so fun being able to plan a range of events, from plant tours and workshops, but most prominently, RyePack’s first trip to GraphExpo in Chicago in 2012! It was definitely a learning experience safely bringing 20 students by bus and train to Chicago, but being able to immerse ourselves in a large-scale industry event was the first major trip at GCM, and a huge feat I am still proud of to this day.

In my last year, I had the opportunity to lead an incredibly talented executive team as the President, and we were able to achieve so much together. I am so happy to see how the team has grown to be today!

What I truly miss about RyePack is being hands-on with so many projects, and the people. I really loved participating in packaging competitions, and how it forced me to take a problem statement and convert it into a tangible solution to present. RyePack really supported and enabled me to have a platform to 'think outside the box’. Whether it was creatively brainstorming solutions as a team, or coming up with a design, or deciding which substrate to use, being able to creatively problem-solve, and manage multiple projects and people at once, has been instrumental to me with any project and product I have been a part of since RyePack.

The people that were part of the RyePack team will always have a special place in my heart, many which still remain close friends or stay in touch with. Although we haven’t had a reunion for several years, I know that if I was to pick up the phone or message them, they would get back to me with open arms because we will always be a RyePack family!
Today, I am the Digital Analytics Implementation Manager at Loblaw Digital for online groceries. I love my role because I receive a new problem to solve and can apply my technical and project management skills every day. Although I do not work directly with packaging, I am very happy to work at a Canadian company that is constantly striving to do better, to improve Canadian lives, and is taking steps towards reducing single-use packaging.

Thank you to the talented and creative students that made RyePack's second sticker event a success! It was so nice to see all of your faces at our live sticker-making virtual event and hope you all enjoy the beautiful stickers made by you and your peers!

Meet Alexandra,

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Hi everyone! My name is Alexandra Sandu and I am a 2020 graduate. I was one of the President's for RyePack in 2019-2020 with Justin Chan in my fourth year at GCM.

First of all, I miss GCM and RyePack so much!! Current students: Please enjoy what you have left of your University experience!!

Ever since I started at GCM and knew I wanted to specialize in Packaging, I made it a goal for myself to become involved with a group and to eventually become a leader within it.

I started off with being the VP of Competitions and Corporate Relations in 2018-2019, and I was so happy to have actually become part of the team. It was such an amazing opportunity, and it gave me the ability to do so many things like meet new people, go to events like Pack Expo, network with industry professionals, and most importantly make some good friendships!

Fast forward to 2019, I knew I wanted to step up and become a leader within RyePack so I applied for the President role and ended up getting it with Justin. We worked with so many amazing team members, and it really felt like a little family. We had so many plans that unfortunately got ruined by COVID.... but I am still so happy we got to do other events like the Egg Drop competition, plant tours, and design workshops.

RyePack gave me the opportunity to become friends with some amazing people whom I still have in my life to this day, and it also gave me the opportunity to attend so many events and network with many industry professionals. RyePack has also given me the ability to build leadership skills that have landed me my first job out of school as a Project Manager at St. Joseph Communications where I'm able to manage a team of designers, page layout artists and proofreaders. RyePack has made my passion for Packaging grow so much that now I just can't wait to eventually go back to school and get a Masters in it.

I am so excited to see where the Packaging industry goes, and I just know that many of the GCM students will be the ones to make big differences within this industry!

Meet Martyna!

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I currently live, work, and play in beautiful Whistler, British Columbia and have for the last five years. How I got to where I am has been a bit of a journey.

Upon graduating in 2014, I started a full-time job as a project coordinator at a large scale printing company in Mississauga and stayed in that role for a year. I was unhappy at the time and there were many factors that contributed to this. I decided I needed a big change so I applied for a job in Dubai, in a completely different industry. After a long interview process, I was unsuccessful. Regardless of the outcome, I was proud of myself and knew I had what I took to take more risks in order to find something that made me happy. I decided to start focusing on my mental health and a major lifestyle change. I was in my early twenties and my life was open and ahead of me. The only responsibility I had was paying off my student loan and I knew I could do that from anywhere. I also knew sitting in traffic for 2+ hours a day on the 401 was not the life for me. I started focusing on the next move which I had decided would be the west coast. British Columbia had always been a fantasy of mine and the decision felt right. I grew up camping, hiking, and exploring the outdoors as a kid and always had a special connection with nature. One could say I stood out like a sore thumb in Toronto and always felt out of place.

My goal was obtainable but I knew I had to save some money to make it a reality. I found a new job at another printing company in the Niagara Region, which specialized in direct mail marketing. I was coordinating projects again and ended up truly loving the company and people I was working with. It was hard leaving such a great company after a year but I came first. The day finally came, I packed my car, drove across the country and never looked back. I did not have a job lined up, I was truly winging it and it was so exciting.

A little bit about Whistler, it's located two hours north of Vancouver in the Coastal Mountains and is home to North America's largest ski resort, Whistler Blackcomb. It's a happening ski town with a local population of about 12,000. There is no large print production company here, only your local ma and pa one-stop print shop. Finding work in the industry was impossible and I was not interested in living in Vancouver, so I turned to other options in Whistler. I loved coordinating and knew I could do that in another industry. I saw a posting in the local paper for a customer service agent at Scandinave Spa and went for it. I had been to the Scandinave Spa in Blue Mountain, Ontario, in the past and thought it was the most amazing place ever. I had been so focused on my health and happiness I thought working in the health and wellness industry would be a good fit. When I got the job in Whistler I was thrilled. I quickly moved up into a supervisory role and eventually into the role of Sales & Marketing Coordinator, where I am today.

Aside from my current role, I am also an avid snowboarder, mountain biker, forager, and backcountry explorer. Within the last five years, I have submitted numerous peaks, dropped cliffs on the snowboard, and done things I would never have imagined living in Southern Ontario. Instead of a traffic-filled commute, I now ride my bike to work daily (yes, in the winter too). The risk I took when moving out west has been nothing but rewarding. I have accomplished more than I could have imagined all while growing with an amazing company.

My time as a part of the RyePack Exec team was unforgettable. I was the head of fundraising, which is fitting considering I work in sales now. I joined RyePack because I was very interested in print packaging and eventually working in that side of print. Everything comes in a package these days so I figured there would always be a demand for print in the growing packaging industry. My relationship with packaging today is very love-hate. As mentioned earlier, packaging is everywhere but I have grown to be very careful of what I purchase because of the package it comes in. I am for the environment first but also a sucker for good (environmentally-friendly) packaging and print to this day. I don't really work with packaging in my current role but the interest in the subject will always be there.

My part in the organization was crucial in getting funds for our group trip to the Graph Expo in Chicago, which was another amazing experience RyePack offered us. I made many good friends and grew very close with Nikita and Emily who I still am in contact with today. Being a part of RyePack was always a team effort and everyone contributed because they truly cared about the subject. The teamwork skills I developed as a part of RyePack and GCM in general, have been crucial for me. Every place I worked after graduating was in a team environment and I have always thrived despite working with many different personalities and work styles. I will always remain grateful for all the experiences and knowledge RyePack offered me.