Meet Nancy Lahaie

For Nancy Lahaie, expert marketer, business and brand consultant, understanding her audience is at the heart of everything she does. A seasoned pro with over 20 years of marketing experience in creating and growing powerful brands with innovative strategies, Lahaie has worked in B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer) markets, and in both large multi-national organizations and small-medium enterprises (SMEs).

Her in-depth knowledge of the business realm has led her to become a successful consultant and seasoned instructor. By using design thinking, Lahaie has adopted an empathetic, human-centric approach to business and life that provides her with a deep sense of understanding of all that’s around her.

“For me, having a diversified knowledge base is the key to better understanding situations, points of view of your teammates, or different departments and functions within your company, and amongst customers or users. Having an open mind to learning new things is, in my view, the most important thing.” - Nancy Lahaie

This type of open-minded, multi-view point way of thinking is not only paving the way to a more inclusive future, but also serves as an excellent business and market predictor.

This is because when we choose to understand all of those around us, those with both like-minded and different ideals, we become more capable of predicting certain societal wants and needs, which is of course, essential to most business and marketing decisions.

It was this knowledge, and the need to share it, that led Lahaie to teaching. “Initially, [I became an instructor] to spread the word. I wanted everyone to know the impact that Design Thinking could have on their work. I love seeing students make connections and see how this could help innovate what they do.”

As a consultant, work during the pandemic picked up for Lahaie, as a multitude of businesses sought advice to adapt to online sales, a change in global market demands, and remote work. When asked about how she helped herself adjust to an increase in demands, and stress of the pandemic, Lahaie stated that light exercise, and oxygenating her brain became crucial.

“Just a 20 minute walk per day made a world of difference!” she explained.

In regards to inspiration and workflow, Lahaie loves feeding her curious appetite, and takes advantage of learning something new whenever possible. In her free time, she fuels this hunger with books, podcasts, and conversations with her favourite people.

During her workshops, Lahaie uses an applied approach, so students should expect lots of learning and discussions! She runs a series of inspiring workshops with us at Concordia Continuing Education.

Upcoming, on June 8, 2021 from 9 am - 12 pm is her workshop Leveraging the Power of Marketing Personas. We hope to see you there!