Student Features

Kasmet Niyongabo, EMBA’20

Kasmet Niyongabo learned a few life-changing lessons during his Smith EMBA studies, but “if the horse is dead, dismount,” is one that’s really stuck.

The aphorism—thought to have originated among Dakota First Nations, and a favourite of management icon Peter Drucker—came up during an entrepreneurship class, as professor Elspeth Murray walked students through the value of knowing when to let an idea go. For Kasmet, it resonated like a gong. “I realized the importance of recognizing when it’s time to stop, take a beat, and come back once I have the mental clarity to make a good decision,” he says. “I’ve come to extrapolate that further and apply it to all sorts of things in my life.”

Kasmet came to the EMBA program to become a more effective agent of change. He’d leveraged two engineering degrees into a successful technical career in uranium and potash mining, and he was getting an itch to make things happen from a higher vantage point. Curious he started taking stock of what could help him bring his executive aspirations to life: a better grasp of business strategy, stronger financial acumen, a first-rate network—not to mention a bona fide credential that would allow him to walk into any room with confidence. “I wanted to learn what it really takes to make something that lasts and creates a huge amount of value and impact,” he recalls.

A program that would allow him to pick up all that, while continuing to work, seemed just the thing. And the timing was right: He and his wife, Jess, had recently wed and were planning children. “She was like, ‘Dude, if you’re gonna do it, now’s the time,’” Kasmet says with a laugh.

The program made for a packed schedule. A typical week involved four demanding 10-hour days at his day job at Nutrien—he was promoted three times during his EMBA studies—followed by Fridays and Saturdays in a Saskatoon boardroom hashing out coursework with a classmate. “It was intense,” Kasmet says, “but not in the way I thought it would be.” That’s because he quickly picked up the ability to ruthlessly prioritize—to dismount those metaphorical horses he’d been learning about—and operate far more efficiently. “The volume certainly doesn’t get lower, but your ability to process work increases faster than the workload itself,” he reasons. “You realize, ‘Wow, there’s another gear here.’ You find yourself in a kind of flow.”

This has proved useful for the busy life Kasmet has built since. He and Jess welcomed twin boys in 2020, just as he was wrapping up the program. (A third child—a daughter—joined the party in early 2025). A year after graduating, he pivoted into management consulting, a big career move aided by the input of what he calls “my de facto personal board of directors”—a group of EMBA classmates with whom he’d bonded over residency weeks, socials, and team projects. The family relocated to Calgary, where he now spends his days wrangling three young kids, running the occasional endurance relay in the mountains, and helping the leaders of some of the top companies in the world tackle the problems they can’t crack alone. “I may not be an expert in the specifics of every business, but I know what’s important, I know what questions to ask, and I know how to sit as peers and talk through the solution,” Kasmet says. “The EMBA thinking prepared me for that.”

Scott Ripko, EMBA’18

When Scott Ripko began his Smith EMBA, he didn’t expect one of the most transformative parts of the experience to come from group work.

From the first day of the program, he found himself on a working team of people with dramatically different professional backgrounds than his own, in energy: a lawyer, a golf professional, a bank executive, a mining professional, and a government relations expert. “At first, I wasn’t sure how we’d connect professionally,” Scott recalls. “But over time, I came to deeply value their perspectives. We developed into a high-performing team by learning to leverage each other’s strengths. That experience fundamentally changed how I approach collaboration and leadership.”

With extensive experience in engineering leadership roles at global energy firms, Scott had already built a deep foundation of technical expertise. But he recognized the value of broadening his business perspective. “I enrolled in the EMBA to gain new capabilities,” he says. “But I gained much more than I anticipated.”

One of the most significant benefits came in how Scott approaches problem-solving. He was accustomed to tackling challenges through a technical lens—efficient, practical, and solution-oriented. The EMBA experience fundamentally reshaped that mindset. “Before the program, I’d often jump straight into solving the problem, based on what I already knew,” he explains. “Now, I approach challenges from a much wider perspective.”

The EMBA gave him the ability to assess complex solutions through strategic, operational, financial, and human lenses—not just the technical perspective he was used to. “It’s given me the tools and knowledge to dissect problems from multiple angles and align solutions with broader business goals,” he says. “It’s not just about solving faster—it’s about solving smarter, with impact that extends beyond the immediate issue.”

Balancing work, school, and family life wasn’t always easy—Scott and his wife Alicia had three young children when he started the program—but even that became a learning opportunity: “Time management became a critical skill,” he says. “I developed the ability to assess priorities quickly and focus on where I could have the greatest impact. That alone has served me tremendously in both my career and personal life.”

Since completing the program, Scott has taken on increasingly strategic leadership roles, most recently in Shell’s global renewables business. “The EMBA gave me the confidence and capability to step into new, complex environments and add value from day one,” he says. “It fundamentally reshaped my view of what I can achieve.”

Ellen Watkins, EMBA’21

To say the Smith EMBA was a personal test for Ellen Watkins is an understatement.

She was drawn to the program for the same reason many are: Having worked in progressively senior operations roles for the better part of two decades (including an enviable early-career turn as a taste tester at a chocolate factory), she was looking for a challenge that would help her fill in some gaps in her business knowledge and boost her professional confidence.

But she couldn’t have known the degree to which the program would push her.

In February 2019, ten days after receiving the acceptance letter for the Smith EMBA program that would commence in late summer, Ellen experienced a stroke. Two days after that, she had another. Once she’d processed the shock and started the long recovery process, she briefly considered bailing on the program. “It could have been the best excuse to step away,” Ellen says. “But instead, I said to myself, ‘No, actually, this will be what you will do to get yourself back.’”

In fact, the looming start of classes became a motivator. She knew she’d need her brain and body to be in top form to take on the program—especially the intensive two-week residencies—so she doubled down on rehabilitating the cognitive function that the strokes had compromised. “The program pushed me to get better,” she says.

The early months of the program proved to be as demanding as she expected, but also invigorating, as she reclaimed old capabilities and unearthed new ones. Then, about six months in, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, bringing with it a host of new stressors. Ellen was working as a quality and process improvement manager at a regional health centre at the time, meaning she was now tackling newly virtual coursework after long days on the front lines of an unprecedented global medical crisis.

Making it work became a family effort. Ellen’s husband, Iaian, switched his job to allow him to run point on household and parenting duties during the week, and her kids—aged nine and 11 at the time—agreed to temporarily swap their usual quota of daily Mom-time for Saturday and Sunday hiking dates, after work and school responsibilities were done.

None of it was easy. In fact, everything about Ellen’s EMBA was an investment: Of time, of money, and of precious energy.

Thankfully, the returns have been abundant.

Ellen has gained a more holistic appreciation for how the broader ecosystem of business works: “I had pieces of the puzzle before, but the program helped me put them all together.” She’s gained an informal advisory board in her close network of classmates: “As we move into these senior roles, we’re connecting with one another to listen, to help each other, and to figure out how to handle blindsides.” And—thanks in large part to the program’s focus on high-performance teams—she’s gained a much better understanding of her own unique value proposition: “I am now confident in what I bring to a business arrangement, and the skill sets that I need others to contribute to ensure success.”

Indeed, the twists and turns of Ellen’s EMBA experience activated in her a new way of thinking, giving her far deeper professional confidence than she’d thought possible when she originally submitted her application. In early 2024, when the CEO position opened at the mental health agency she’d joined after graduation, she didn’t hesitate to raise her hand—and was honoured when she was named the successor.

“I now know that there’s no role, position, or opportunity that is not available to me if I choose to make it a goal, create a plan, and surround myself with supports to make it possible,” Ellen says. “There’s so much uncertainty in the world, but I very rarely feel uncertain, because if I have those three things in place, I know there’s nothing that can’t be accomplished.”