Cocktails With: Alana Couvrette

When I thought of the Idea of interviewing young millennial women in the new series Cocktails with: I wanted to showcase millennial women who are making waves in their respective fields, chasing their dreams, passions and actively working on making a name for themselves. These criterions were aptly met by Alana Couvrette, a 22-year-old student at the University of Ottawa and CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Alana recently won the competition to become the Canadian CEO for one month for Adecco Canada, a global staffing company. As one would imagine the journey to finding oneself shadowing the president of a global company was not exactly easy. After endless moments of doubt, applying to various other opportunities and hearing “No” several times  Alana pushed herself to give it one more try, hating to live with the “ what if” that would come from letting this opportunity go.

“I said, can I look back in a year and think I didn’t apply to this because I was tired of being told ‘No’? so, I just thought I would do this one last thing”

After sending her application and taking measures to stand out by not only showcasing her impressive CV  filled with extracurricular activities, academic achievements and diverse career achievements, she took it a step further by putting a creative spin on her application video and thinking outside of the box. Her hard work paid off when she got the call that she was in the Top 30 out of 2300 applicants.  

Ever determined and proactive, she took steps  to practice and improve her interviewing skills before the final interview that would ultimately land her the coveted spot of “CEO for one month”

As CEO, she was thrown into the thick of things learning the ins and outs of running a global company, learning about the industry, staffing processes, balancing her schedule and adapting to the new learning curves that were thrown her way.

Throughout this experience, Alana managed to not only keep up with the expectations that came along with her new role, she also went above and beyond by ensuring that she not only learned as much as possible but also learn to  prioritize, delegate, and take some time for herself with such a hectic work schedule.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWVXXzcFSFB/?taken-by=alana.couvrette

For Alana, proactiveness, and perseverance is key, especially as a university student  “You have to actively look for opportunities to improve yourself. University is a time for growth  so, if you see an opportunity you think you’re not good enough for just try it”

When she’s not dominating the boardroom, she is also an active member of several organizations in the local and university community such as Equal Voice Canada, the Bytown Museum Youth Council, United Way Student Association, The Young Professionals Network of Ontario among many others.

What impressed me about Alana was the fact that despite the challenges and roadblocks she encountered throughout her university career, She continued to persevere. I realized that her accomplishments weren’t handed to her she actively worked and continues to work for them.

Tweet: “You have to keep going. You can’t succeed unless you’ve failed like a hundred times” –  Alana Couvrette

As for what the future holds for Alana, she sees herself pursuing a master’s degree and hoping to achieve some personal goals such as traveling to several countries in Asia with her partner.

She is still competing for a spot at the Global Leadership Bootcamp, where she will have the chance to compete for the title of Global CEO for One Month of The Adecco Group. You can Follow her journey here: @alana_couvrette