“I love coming back to Concordia speaking with MBA students as a guest.”
Andrea Limbardi began the Executive MBA at the John Molson School of Business feeling already fulfilled and successful in her role as vice-president for Eastern Canada at Indigo Books and Music.
“My team was driving record breaking sales, and I managed a few thousand employees at a job that I loved and was meaningful, so the experience of studying was really for myself as a lifelong learner,” she says.
Unexpectedly, the program sparked an interest that set her career on an exciting new trajectory into the digital realm, placing her in a crucial role at Indigo the moment the pandemic first shuttered stores.
First day in this role
“I became chief digital officer at Indigo on the day we closed our stores. Our business went from being primarily in-store with a great online experience to being a solely digital business literally overnight. My role was to make that experience as incredible as possible for both our employees and our customers.
“There are statistics that say the future of e-commerce jumped 10 years in a three-month span. I lived that firsthand.”
Future of the industry
“I think one of the things that I’m most excited about is how digital democratizes communication.
“The foundation of our business is giving customers access to the best books in the world and part of that is having authors come to our stores for signing events and speaking events.
“We set up a digital-event series on Instagram Live, where we have hosted more than 100 authors for audiences of thousands of Canadians.”
How Concordia helped
“Moving my career into this whole new world of digital which before Concordia, I would never have considered for a moment.”
Keeping the connection
“I’ve stayed in touch with some of the professors, the program leadership, as well as members in my cohort. I love coming back to Concordia speaking with MBA students as a guest.”