COMMS PORTFOLIO
Helping Canadian SMEs grow — with marketing that actually works
The client: The Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) was a federal initiative to help small and medium-sized businesses across Canada strengthen their online presence and digital operations. As a bilingual advisor through this program in 2024, I worked directly with 40+ businesses across Toronto and beyond.
The challenge: Many local entrepreneurs knew they needed to “go digital” but didn’t know where to start or had already built websites and social media accounts that weren’t driving growth. They needed practical, accessible advice that spoke their language — not generic tech jargon or marketing buzzwords — and clear, measurable ways to improve their online presence.
My work: I met business owners where they were, sitting down with them to learn their goals, challenges, and customer base. Then, I developed tailored marketing and communications strategies, improving everything from website copy and visuals to social media content calendars and e-commerce setups. I also guided them through analytics, branding, and messaging to attract the right audience.
The results: Dozens of businesses launched new websites, refreshed their branding, and grew their customer engagement. For some, that meant doubling online traffic or converting one-time buyers into loyal customers. For others, it meant finally understanding how to use marketing tools like Mailchimp, Google Business, or Shopify to support real business goals. Above all, I helped turn digital transformation into something approachable, practical, and rewarding. Here’s one client’s testimonial.
2. Telling the story of how Torontonians use their parks
The client: 8 80 Cities is a non-profit that explores how public spaces can be made more accessible and inclusive. I collaborated with them and the City of Toronto on a research project that was later featured in The Globe and Mail.
The challenge: The project aimed to understand how people actually use Toronto’s parks: what draws them in, what makes them stay, and what could be improved. I did the research but felt more could be done to translate hours of on-the-ground research and community conversations into a story that felt alive and human, not like an academic report.
My work: I spent days in the park observing, sketching, and speaking with park-goers about how they used the space: families, seniors, teens, newcomers, everyone. I then combined field notes, research, and drawings into a narrative essay and visual piece that captured both the data and the emotion of public life in Toronto’s green spaces.
The results: The work brought visibility to how design and policy decisions shape everyday experiences in public space. My essay and drawings were highlighted in The Globe and Mail in a feature on public life and city spaces, opening conversations about how to make parks more welcoming and equitable — and showing that art and storytelling can be powerful tools for civic engagement.
3. Rejuvenating an arts and culture non-profit
The client: Alliance française de Karachi is part of a global network of French language and cultural centers that promote French language classes and host intercultural events and workshops. I was hired as a one-woman marketing and communications team for the non-profit from 2018 to 2021.
The challenge: The non-profit had never had a marketing team and it showed. Their 90’s-era website was broken, social media accounts were barely updated, visuals were all over the place, and they weren’t telling the story of a cultural center that was genuinely thriving and interesting. Registration for French classes was still a manual process!
My work: I designed and launched a new website from scratch as well as an online shop, a newsletter, blog, and social media content in a major brand refresh.
The results: It led to 5x email growth, 2x social media growth, sold-out classes and events, and a program grant from the Franco-German Cultural Fund. My interview was published in The News and I made sure our French professors and visiting musicians and performers got radio, social media, and press coverage.
Top tools used: Squarespace, Canva, Mailchimp and e-commerce
4. Copy for a tech giant that doesn’t sound like robots wrote it
The client: IgniteTech is a US-based tech firm selling business software. As a contract Marketing Manager during 2022, I led email marketing, blog production, and website management.
The challenge: While the goal was to pitch the company’s enterprise-level software, their digital content was boring and technical, not producing any leads or focused on stories about digital transformation and the future of work like it needed to be. The challenge was to talk about tech in a conversational way that felt less sales-y.
My work: I studied client calls, sales pitches, and product use patterns to figure out how clients actually spoke about the tech problems they needed software to solve, and why it mattered to them. Then, I researched relevant blog topics and wrote first drafts before handing them off to a team of writers whose final work I was responsible for editing. I also single-handedly redesigned and rewrote email marketing copy, prioritising case studies, graphics, and colloquial language.
The results: The work doubled email engagement, improved digital experiences, and increased leads and retention from blue-chip clients worldwide. See blogs I produced here and here.