CAROLINE DRURY (She/her)

What brought you to KPU and your program of study?

I went to KPU to start my music studies in a smaller setting than a larger university.

Can you briefly describe your current position and your main day to day responsibilities?

I'm the founder and owner-operator of three businesses in the health and wellness space. The first is Beyond Before & After, a fitness app designed specifically for women over 40. The second is MacroPath, an AI-powered nutrition app that builds personalized macro-based meal plans. The third is AllergySpeak, an AI tool that translates food allergy information into over 20 languages.

Day to day, I run all three — which means I wear every hat. I handle marketing strategy, content creation, customer experience, product development, and operations. My only support is a part-time Virtual Assistant who helps with social media. I also work as a fitness coach, and I'm currently in full training for The Great World Race in November 2026 — 7 marathons, 7 continents, 7 days.

Which skills, knowledge, or experiences from KPU have been most valuable in your career so far?

The skills I use every day as an entrepreneur aren't the ones you'd expect from a music diploma, but looking back, they make complete sense.

Voice performance taught me how to perform under pressure and how to take direction. You stand alone in front of a room, you're critiqued in real time, and you have to come back the next day and do it again. That repetition of putting your work out, receiving feedback, and iterating without ego is exactly how I run my businesses. Launching an app is a lot like a recital, you've prepared as much as you can, and then you let it go.

The discipline was the other big one. A music program doesn't work if you only show up when you feel like it. You practice whether or not you're inspired, you meet your commitments to your ensemble, and you develop a standard for yourself that becomes non-negotiable. That same muscle is what gets me out the door for a training run at 6am and keeps three companies moving at the same time.

And honestly, communication. Studying voice gave me an unusual level of awareness about how I present myself, how I hold a room, and how to connect with an audience. That shows up constantly in content creation, coaching, and pitching my products.

What advice would you give current KPU students who want to build a successful career after graduation?

Don't wait until you feel ready. Readiness is a myth. You build confidence by doing things before you're confident, not after.

The biggest thing I wish someone had told me earlier is that your degree is a starting point, not a destination. The credential opens a door, but what you do in the first few years after graduation, the risks you take, the things you try, the failures you rack up, that's where your actual career gets built.

Say yes to things that scare you a little. I went from working out in a Toronto condo with pillows and a mop handle to launching three companies and training to run 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. None of that happened because I had a perfect plan. It happened because I kept moving and adjusted as I went.

Also: get comfortable being the least experienced person in the room. That's where the fastest learning happens. Find people who are doing what you want to do and find a way to be useful to them, before you need anything from them.

And don't underestimate what your KPU training actually gave you. The discipline, the craft, the ability to be critiqued and come back stronger, those are rare. Most people never develop them. Be the outlier!