Alumni Showcase: Melissa Chung

Melissa ChungAfter more than a dozen years working as a financial advisor at Assante, Melissa Chung jolted her career. She earned an MBA at Cornell, and came back to Toronto with fresh enthusiasm and a big new idea. Together with one of her Cornell classmates, she founded Krippit --- a startup that produces high-heel protectors via 3D printing. “We were trying to solve our own problems, to be honest,” she laughs. Melissa attended and completed a rigorous startup accelerator through the Founders Institute, and then enrolled in the GPLLM. All while managing her day job at Assante in Toronto.

“When I was in the accelerator we had to know so much about legal and IP. I was scrambling trying to read all the stuff myself and understand it,” she says. “Right now the program completely ties in to what we learned. So many of the topics are very relevant and make me so much more educated about making decisions.”

So far Melissa is thrilled. “The GPLLM helps me with my entrepreneurship but it also helps me with my financial clients,” she says. “A lot of them are business owners and startups too. Knowing the law makes me that much more ahead of the game.”