Come for the strategy, stay for the perogies
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When Janice Krissa, Master of Business Administration alum, returned to her alma mater for a weekend visit from her home in Edmonton, she didn’t come empty-handed. She arrived with dozens of handmade Ukrainian perogies.
Together with her daughter, Jorgia Lindquist, Krissa founded DON’YA Ukraine’s Kitchen in 2022, back when she was still a student at RRU.
“It was very much a response to the war in Ukraine,” she says. “It hit me really, really hard. I was always curious about my heritage and it’s been part of my life forever. I can’t remember a time I didn’t care about my roots, so when the war happened, it was so hard to focus on my studies here.”
What began as a donation centre is now a for-profit social enterprise. The business, which includes cafés, catering and a line of freezer goods sold in stores, continues to grow without losing sight of its roots — even making a recent appearance on Dragon’s Den.
Enter RRU and a class of eager (and hungry) MBA students.
Over the course of their recent on-campus residency, the students were tasked with presenting their answer to one of two challenges — how and where the business can expand into different provinces, and how it can keep its social enterprise ethos as a for-profit organization.
And they didn’t disappoint.
“As a start up, you don’t have time to do the research,” Krissa says. “So to have the think power of 20 to 30 students, that’s invaluable to us.”
Associate faculty member Sandy Walker says the leadership challenge takes place during each residency as part of the Strategic Leadership course.
“Strategic leadership isn’t about managing people — it’s not about hierarchy or HR,” she says. “It’s about your ability to be influential and to think strategically and just be a leader regardless of title and position.”
And the students really understood the assignment, Walker says.
“They recognized that DON’YA doesn’t need to be fixed. No company in the leadership challenge is a client that needs to be fixed,” she says. “They’re all awesome and they have the confidence to come in and say, ‘yeah, we have a challenge we haven’t figured out yet.’ It’s a gift when clients do that. It was really about helping them get to the next level.”
Kristen Megyesi, MBA student and director of clinical operations for Vernon Jubilee Hospital says the residency pushed her in ways she didn’t expect.
“It not only challenged my knowledge that I didn’t have, but also my own leadership skills and my sense of working with a team,” she says. “I’m going to take away a ton from the experience.”
Following the presentations, the students were treated to a surprise lunch, featuring caramelized onion and potato perogies, complete with bacon bits, more onions and of course, sour cream.
"Doing my MBA at Royal Roads was an amazing experience, and I've applied pretty much everything I learned in the program directly to my business. This leadership challenge was especially meaningful as we gained valuable insights to help our business grow while also giving back to students."
- Janice Krissa
“They were out of this world,” Megyesi says. “They were amazing.” And a tantalizing end to a week thinking a lot about the traditional Ukrainian meal.
And the students weren’t the only ones left feeling full.
Krissa says she gained a lot of food for thought.
“We’re going to take what the students have taught us about our own company and do some planning,” she says. “What happened here today is going to have a big impact on our company and we can’t wait to share the results.
Learn more about the Master of Business Administration program.