From capstone to client contract: Jane Pham’s Riipen journey at Bow Valley College.

When Jane Pham began her Post-Diploma Certificate in Digital Marketing at Bow Valley College, she brought experience, curiosity, and a clear vision for the career she wanted to build in Canada.

Having previously worked in marketing in Vietnam, primarily in EdTech and FinTech, Jane saw her time at Bow Valley College as an opportunity to build on what she already knew while gaining experience in the Canadian professional environment.

As part of the Digital Marketing Capstone, Bow Valley College instructor Laurie Wright used Riipen to connect students with employer projects that brought course learning into a real business context. For Jane, that project was with OnLocation Ltd., a Calgary-based in-home beauty and wellness brand.

Over three months, Jane and her team applied their marketing skills to OnLocation’s business challenge, contributing to a real organization while building confidence in a Canadian client setting. What began as a course project quickly became a meaningful step in Jane’s career journey, eventually leading her to secure a paid part-time client contract with OnLocation.

“Riipen gave me the opportunity to work with real employers and apply my marketing skills beyond the classroom. As an international student in Canada, it helped me build confidence, industry experience, and meaningful professional connections before graduation.”

How real employer projects help students build career confidence.

For many students, the transition from learning to employment can be challenging to navigate. They may understand the concepts, complete the assignments, and have a clear sense of where they want to go. But without real experience, it can be hard to know how those skills will translate in front of an employer.

For Jane, that question carried added meaning. As an international student preparing for the next step in her marketing career, Riipen gave her a way to move beyond a traditional classroom assignment and work with real client expectations, timelines, feedback, and decision-making.

The project helped Jane see that learning does not only happen in the classroom. It also happens in client meetings, in feedback conversations, in moments of uncertainty, and in the process of turning a broad business challenge into a focused, useful strategy.

By working directly with OnLocation, Jane began to see how her previous marketing experience and her education at Bow Valley College could come together in a professional setting. As she put it, Riipen “helped bridge classroom learning with real Canadian business experience.”

When a capstone project becomes real client work.

Jane and her team worked closely with OnLocation to shape content direction, campaign ideas, brand positioning, and customer engagement strategies.

Jane contributed through marketing strategy, content ideas, branding, social media planning, and creative direction. The work allowed her to apply what she had been studying at Bow Valley College, including audience research, digital marketing strategy, content creation, and the customer journey.

The project also gave Jane the chance to strengthen the teamwork skills that real client work often requires. Collaborating with others meant learning to communicate clearly, divide responsibilities, stay aligned, and keep the project moving even when challenges arose.

As the project progressed, it quickly became more than an academic exercise. Jane and her team had to understand OnLocation’s audience, goals, and practical needs. They had to balance creative thinking with what the business could realistically execute, turning their ideas into recommendations that could support the brand beyond the classroom.

How mentorship transforms feedback into confidence.

Jane’s experience was shaped not only by the project itself, but by the support around it. As the capstone instructor, Laurie Wright provided the structure, guidance, encouragement, and honest feedback that helped Jane and her team approach the work with focus and care. Jane later shared that Laurie’s support “throughout the entire process, and even after, made a massive difference.”

That guidance mattered as the project moved from early ideas into professional deliverables. Laurie helped the team stay grounded in research and strategy, while encouraging them to treat the experience with the same care and accountability they would bring to professional work.

OnLocation also played an important role in the learning process. Jessica Patton, President and Co-owner at OnLocation, provided support, responsiveness, and valuable feedback throughout the project. Her collaboration helped Jane and her team better understand the business and develop more practical marketing recommendations.

Together, that mentorship helped turn feedback into confidence. Jane and her team were not just completing a deliverable. They were learning how to listen, adapt, and build recommendations with a client’s goals in mind.

How one project became a paid opportunity.

The turning point came when OnLocation responded positively to the final proposal. For Jane, that moment changed the meaning of the project. What started as a capstone deliverable transitioned into work that the employer valued and wanted to continue.

After the project ended, OnLocation offered two paid part-time contract opportunities, including one to Jane. The opportunity grew from more than a strong final proposal. During the presentation, Jane demonstrated not only the value of the strategy her team had developed, but also how she could successfully implement it. Jane outlined the workload required to successfully achieve the KPIs outlined in the content calendar. She showed that she understood both the vision and the execution behind the work.

The outcome was significant on several levels. It provided paid professional experience while also reinforcing an equally important point: Jane's ideas had value, and she had the skills to turn them into meaningful results for an organization. 

What began as a classroom project became proof that she could contribute, lead, and create impact in a professional setting.

“Seeing our ideas evolve beyond the classroom and into a longer-term collaboration honestly felt surreal,” Jane shared. The contract gave her more than a line on her resume. It gave her a stronger professional story, portfolio-ready experience, and early results she could point to, including improvements in engagement and open rates. It also gave her a clearer sense of how her previous marketing background and Canadian education could work together.

Jane’s advice for students getting started.

Jane’s advice is to treat the experience like a real opportunity, not just a school project. That means listening carefully to the employer, understanding the business problem before proposing ideas, and staying open to feedback along the way.

That mindset can also take some pressure off. Students do not need to have everything figured out before they begin. For Jane, the experience was about learning through the process, asking questions, communicating clearly, and improving the work as it evolved.

That approach helped Jane transform a capstone project into portfolio-ready work, a stronger local network, and paid experience. It also gave her more confidence to continue building her marketing career in Canada.

How Riipen helps students move from learning to opportunity.

Jane’s journey shows what can happen when students have the chance to apply their skills in a real-world setting before graduation. Through Riipen, she connected classroom learning to employer expectations, gained practical Canadian work experience, and helped turn a capstone project into a paid client contract.

Her story is also a reminder that employability is built through more than one moment. It grows through practice, feedback, mentorship, connection, and the chance to do meaningful work with real organizations.

For Jane, the experience helped confirm something important: the skills she brought with her, the education she was building, and the future she was working toward could all come together in Canada.

And sometimes the first step toward that future begins with a class project.

Start your student journey with Riipen.

Jane’s experience is one example of how real employer projects can help students build skills, gain confidence, and create portfolio-ready work before graduation.

Through Riipen’s student journey, you can turn your education into experience by working on projects with real organizations, helping you graduate with practical experience and a competitive edge. Get started today.

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About the author:

Jennifer Lussier is a Content Marketing Specialist at Riipen with a multidisciplinary background. Wishing to accomplish more for the benefit of society, she joined Riipen in 2019, and is committed to ensuring that postsecondary students gain relevant industry experience through their studies in order to be better prepared for the future of work.

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