Aubrey Kelly knows there are so many things that you can’t control – but you can set the direction that you’re heading. That is the philosophy he has used for his role as CEO of UBC Properties Trust, which handles real estate portfolios of the University of British Columbia. You don’t have to be an expert – you simply have to figure out where you’re headed and have others around you buy into your plan.

Dr. Aziz Ghaharya’s business is in research – and it really is like running a business, from idea development to funding to reaching the finish line. And the competition is tough. He didn’t start out as a burn unit researcher; by using other studies as stepping stones, he was able to become a full professor and one of Canada’s foremost experts in burn and wound health.

As a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, Adam Pankratz’s job is to communicate the challenges of business to his students, which range from undergraduates to masters-level students – and make it interesting. This was nowhere near what he envisioned for his career when he graduated with a linguistics degree and worked in the hotel industry. As with all careers, it is never a straight line. But his difficulties with finding a job that matched his skills led him to the world of business and an entirely new path.