Startups, Skiing and Sprott Competes with Michael Cacho

When Michael Cacho, BIB/16, was catching a flight in Calgary, he instantly recognized the logo on the hat of another passenger. It belonged to one of the first startups at Hatch, a student-run startup incubator for students at Carleton that Michael helped create in 2014.

“Many people say you feel happy when you’re able to give back, but I had no idea what that meant until I was counselling different startups at Hatch,” Michael shared. “I didn’t see much success that first year for both startups, and then fast forward two or three years to today and one of them has an alcohol brand carried in the LCBO and gaining national attention, and someone else has a clothing brand getting sold in the U.S. and Canada.”

While completing his Bachelor of International Business degree, he was also involved in Sprott’s case competition program Sprott Competes, the Carleton Entrepreneurship Association and the Sprott International Business Association. During his year abroad in France, he was the only international student chosen as a ski instructor for the Université Grenoble Alpes, where he was studying.

“It was me and 38 other French ski instructors who were born and raised in France,” Michael remembered. “I bought a book in French about how to teach skiing in French. Because they don’t teach you how to teach skiing in grade 12 French, nor in first or second year French…I studied and I overcame that challenge. Looking back at that and the fact that people in a different country trusted me to do that job was one of the most rewarding experiences.”

The year in France helped Michael realign his values. He said it reconnected him with “seeking out adventure both in career and in personal hobbies.” Michael has sustained this sense of adventure both in his spare time as a ski patroller and in his current job at TELUS.

After graduation, Michael worked in marketing for a year at ArjoHuntleigh, before starting in the TELUS Marketing Development Program. As a Marketing Specialist for Koodo Acquisition Pricing, Michael manages device pricing and the Koodo refer-a-friend program. He said what he enjoys most about the position is the opportunity to make an impact across millions of customers in the industry of connectivity in Canada.

His time at Sprott and participating in case competitions, including a first place win at NIBS Worldwide Case Competition in 2016, has helped him in his career. He said case competitions gave him experience in people management, collaboration and problem solving in different environments.

“Where I am today at TELUS in the marketing development program, it’s a team-centered environment. Work and projects are accomplished in teams, not by individuals,” explained Michael. “I think if I didn’t get that team experience at Sprott, through the case competition programs, I wouldn’t be able to stand out at TELUS in teamwork, collaboration and problem solving.”

His advice to young alumni is to start networking and speaking with people who are in positions you aspire to be in.

“I love talking to people and saying ‘I really admire where you are right now, but tell me about what you did to get there. What was your journey like?’” said Michael. “That’s where you get the value—understanding what mistakes they made and what great decisions they made.”