CANADIAN SUCCESS STORIES, ONE STUDENT AT A TIME

By SHAGORIKA EASWAR

Sanchari Sen-Rai, who led an organization that began with next to no financial investment and turned it into one with a $3 million annual turnover, says that they were able to do that through sustained quality and integrity.

“We were a bootstrapping, organically-growing company with no investors. That helped us maintain quality and conduct business the way we saw fit. A business that fills a need. One can earn money, it takes a lot more to earn a reputation and goodwill.”

More so in a field that is often viewed with skepticism and caution.

Recognized as one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 and with a slew of industry and business awards including RBC Small Business of the Year to her name, Sen-Rai tackles the issue head on.

“With stories of the difficulties international students face making headlines, people tend to tag all consultants as fraud,” says. “But there are many genuine consultants. We are guided by what our son will think of us, what students who place their trust in us will think of us.”

Student testimonials on ECC Hive’s site speak to the truth of this.

Sen-Rai applied lessons learned in her journey as a new immigrant to building her business.

She was in India, working in the insurance industry while her husband Abhay was pursuing his PhD in Canada. A long-distance relationship has its challenges, she says, and the couple found a common goal while discussing the questions he fielded from other prospective students.

From that sprang the idea of turning it into a project they could both work on.

She designed a website for their fledgeling business.

“When I look at it today, it was so basic, so naive,” she admits with a laugh.

This was in the early 2000s and people questioned everything from the name they chose – Education Consultants Canada (ECC) – to the need for an online presence. Print brochures, they were told.

“Now with AI and search engine optimization, etc., we see how we were ahead of the times, our name describes our business.”

She moved to Canada in 2010 and “obviously, didn’t get a job”. It was the typical immigrant story, she says. Finding employment in the insurance industry required going back to school, but with her husband already studying, they lacked the resources to do so.

She faced rejection and disappointment. “Unlike now, when there are so many resources for international students and newcomers, students updating info on LinkedIn, immigrant networks, there was not much then. It took me a whole year to understand that my resumé was not ‘Canadian standard’.”

While looking for employment, and later, while working in the hotel industry, she decided to focus on their business idea. Abhay said they wouldn’t follow the usual path of finding students and going through a larger organization as a sub agent. But getting an educational institution to give them a contract was not easy.

The universities they approached were polite, and said they’d get back to them. Repeatedly. Sanchari and Abhay made a spread sheet of 30 to 35 colleges and universities that they had approached and went about the follow-up in a planned and methodical manner. In 2012, Laurentian offered them a contract for a year. ECC committed to bringing them four or five students, not the hundreds and thousands other agents promise. They’d bring students whose primary goal was a Canadian education, not enrolment in a Canadian institution as a means to PR.

They were very particular about not working with private colleges, only community colleges, public universities and designated learning institutions or DLIs. They stayed away from the saturated markets of Gujarat, Punjab and Delhi in India, focusing on Jamshedpur where she and Abhay are both from, and on smaller cities like Ranchi and Dhanbad.

Their first success – three students at one academic institution – is now 40,000-plus students at 70 institutions. They moved from their basement office to a small office space to the new 3000-sq foot space in Mississauga along the way. With offices/branches in five countries.

SSR Immigration Service was born when Sen-Rai went back to school in 2016 to enable her to procure visas for the students.

“Many students are disillusioned with the process when they fail to get student visas,” she says. “We wanted to help in that area. Also, only as immigration consultants could we give immigration advice.”

The main focus was students wishing to study in Canada, but they recently expanded to include destinations in Germany, Australia, the UK and Georgia, rebranding as ECC Hive, to reflect broadened services.

International students form the counselling team. They talk about their own experience, share the reality of what international students can expect and what they will experience.

“We provide internship opportunities to enable them to gain Canadian experience,” says Sen-Rai. “Back-end processing takes place in India with staff there working two shifts – students there are working for a Canadian organization. The best of the lot are absorbed in the company.”

She cites the example of a student who went from being a part-time counsellor to a full-time position, then to team lead and is now Manager Strategic Partnerships. Another girl who has been with ECC Hive for five years took on e a leadership role at a seminar in Berlin, says Sen-Rai with pride.

“She was talking to students, negotiating with educational institutions... it was so wonderful to see her growth. I get emotional talking about her, it’s like seeing your child succeed.”

They have helped students get their study visas, postgraduate work permits (PGWP), then PR and gone on to get the spouse’s visas too, a few years down the road as well as visas for parents who wish to visit them in Canada.

They also help newcomers gain Canadian experience, highly skilled people who may require a little help in negotiating Canadian work culture. Like the woman with 20 years of experience in HR who was willing to start at the lowest rung in admin. Sen-Rai helped her get a job in HR.

“There are many good samaritans who are willing to mentor and guide newcomers and provide opportunities, I tap into that network.”

She mentors newcomer high school students, international students, entrepreneurs and also through TRIEC and ACCES Employment.

They help students post-landing, too, with counselling forming a big part of the service they provide.

Sen-Rai mentions a call from a college about the low attendance of a student they had placed. An ECC Hive counsellor called her and learnt that the girl was terribly homesick. The counsellor connected her with the dabbawali (South Asian food delivery service) she herself had used and also put her in touch with other students.

She draws attention to another aspect of the students’ story – one that hasn’t received much coverage. “It sounds harsh, but some kids want to play the victim. All the info was available to them, they knew what they were signing up for, but they claim they have to drive an uber or work long hours instead of attending class. Or they don’t want to move out of Brampton or Scarborough. It’s difficult to help those.”

Recalling her struggle with a resumé that was not up to spec, Sen-Rai shows others how to tailor theirs, even those who approach her for a job

“Young people working in retail outlets or restaurants, Uber drivers, I ask all of them if they are international students. I didn’t realize how ingrained this has become until my six-year-old son Ahir also began asking Uber drivers, ‘Are you an international student?’! I feel it is my responsibility to help, to point them in the right direction”

Sen-Rai stresses the importance of continuous learning –at any age, in any field.

“Learn beyond, grow beyond your own circle. Not just academically or professionally, but also personally. Grow beyond your comfort zone.”

ECC Hive is a woman-led, women-run enterprise. Whenever she gets a platform, Sen-Rai emphasises that every immigrant story has the potential to be successful if one persists.

“Women face unique challenges as they navigate home and motherhood and careers – I speak from personal experience. I was studying to be an immigration consultant while running a business and while pregnant. I tell women that the situations may vary but the core is the same. Develop a bring it on, I can do this, attitude. There will be disappointments and failures, people will misuse your trust, how you rise above those will determine your success.

Sen-rai contributes to this success by nominating women for awards like Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women.

“Recognizing their achievement – sometimes when they don’t even see themselves as achievers – builds a community of strong, successful women. It gives me goosebumps and is immensely gratifying. I firmly believe that doing things for others comes back to you. And as I say to the students I mentor, one can pay it forward even as a teenager. It’s not always about writing a cheque. Sharing experiences, telling your story, that’s invaluable.

“In our culture, there’s a double whammy. We don’t acknowledge success. Like my mother might say, let others talk about your success, you don’t need to blow your own trumpet. And then we also hide our failures. A miscarriage or mental health issues, talking about these is likened to washing our dirty linen in public. But we need to share our journey in all its truth, the success and the failure. You don’t have to cash in on the hardships you faced, but acknowledge them.

“Otherwise people only see the pinnacle of success, not the rocks below the surface. Talk about your path to success.”

• Grant’s is proud to present this series about people who are making a difference in the community. Represented by PMA Canada (www.pmacanada.com).