Faculty Profile: Peggy Barnwell

Meet Faculty Member and Program Coordinator: 

Peggy Barnwell

Peggy Barnwell
Program Coordinator

Brief Bio

My background includes the leadership, planning and development of various campaigns for both private and not-for-profit clients within an agency environment.  I have also worked on the client side managing advertising and communication initiatives for large consumer clients.  I currently teach full time within the Advertising Programs at Sheridan College and co-ordinate the Post Graduate Advertising Account Management Certificate.  In addition to my teaching responsibilities, I work closely with faculty and agency partners to ensure our curriculum is relevant, and I sit on a variety of industry panels.

Which course(s) do you teach in the Post-Grad program, and why you are passionate about this course(s)?

I teach the strategic planning courses:  Advertising Planning & Development in the first semester and Advertising Planning Management in the second semester. These courses investigate the needs of the consumer and how campaign messages can be designed to meet these needs.  It matches the understanding of consumer behaviour with message design, and message delivery, to ensure the maximum impact of advertising messages.

How long have you been with Sheridan? 

I’ve been teaching at Sheridan since January 1995.  I began teaching evening Marketing courses while still working full-time in the Industry and fell in love with the classroom.  I joined the faculty full-time in April 2002.

What is your favourite part about Sheridan?

The passion for learning and engagement with our students - that’s my favourite part of what I do.  Thanks to social media, email and student activities, they let me stay connected with them well past graduation.  They share with me their career accomplishments, personal achievements and they are willing to act as Ambassadors, coming back to share their stories with students who are going to be entering the Industry.  It’s the connection that makes me love what I do.

Peggy and Post Grad Students

In your opinion, what is the greatest strength of the Post-Grad program?

The breadth of the Program is its greatest strength.  We introduce students to all aspects of the Advertising Industry.  So many times we hear students say they don’t know what they want to do exactly, but they know they want to work in advertising.  Our Program is designed to give them an idea of what all aspects of the business are like. Graduates can find work in advertising agencies in account management, media planning, social media content or digital marketing.  The opportunities are limitless and the Industry is growing rapidly. 

The strength of the faculty must also be recognized as the foundation of the Program.  Their passion, creative approaches to learning, and Industry experience brings it to life.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a post-grad education in Advertising?

If you want to work in Advertising, a Post Graduate education in Account Management is the place to start.  Our Co-op program provides opportunities for students to apply their knowledge and skills directly on the job.  Our graduates are well respected within the Industry. 

Grad Profile: Navjot Kaur

Navjot Kaur

When did you first discover an interest in Advertising?

It was when I took an advertising course as part of my Business Marketing program.

Why did you choose Sheridan?

There were a lot of positive reviews about the school. It was the most well-rounded post-graduate program available in the GTA.

What did you learn from Sheridan?

A lot. From building successful media plans, working with teams and different personalities to developing a positive work-life balance. Most importantly, since Sheridan provided helpful opportunities that were related to advertising. I gained confidence with working on real-life situations that helped me when I started my career.

What was the #1 thing you took away from your post-grad experience?

The best part of my post-grad experience was participating in different opportunities that were available to those in the program. I gained confidence by being the post-grad rep for the Sheridan Advertising Association and attending many media and social gatherings.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a post-grad program?

Go in with an open mind. Understand that the people you meet and work with in the post-grad program are people you might end up starting your career with.

Everyone is coming from all walks of life; I was one of three students (out of 32) with a Marketing background. Others were from law, finance, psychology, etc.

Although we were all fighting for the same job(s) at the end of the program, we all pursued different paths years later. There are so many different advertising positions out there - it's about trial and error. The industry is very fluid and it's okay to start off with the financial side, to planning digital media campaigns and end up working in ad ops or content building, etc. Regardless, every position is vital to a campaign and what you learn in this program will be important to any position, where it be directly or indirectly related.

How has the completion of the Program affected your career?

It validated my passion for the industry. You go through all this education to possibly like what you do as a career and Sheridan helped realistically prepare me for the real world. Although I had different positions throughout the past six years in Advertising, the program prepared me for all of them.

Simplified with Nav

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

Advertising Operations, Digital Media at Rogers Communications;
and entrepreneur - my fashion design and styling company: "Simplified with Nav."

What is your favourite part of the job?

Seeing the ads we set up come to life for consumers. It's cool to see your work from planning to execution, and how small changes can make a big difference to a user's journey online.