Sheila Campbell was waiting for a flight at the airport when she happened to notice another traveller reading a biology textbook. "It's my daughter's," the man said. "She's studying biology," he smirked. "She'll never get a job." "Is that so?" said Campbell (BSc '78). "Well, I studied biology, and let me tell you where it's taken me."

    Fortunately, their flight was delayed, because Campbell had a great deal to tell.

    Campbell is co-owner of a thriving wellness consulting company. Her business helps corporations put together programs that keep employees healthy and alert. But the path to success wasn't straightforward. Campbell took some jogs along the way.

    When she first graduated, Campbell joined the kidney transplant team at McMaster University as a researcher. It was a great job, she recalls, but the laboratory was not where she wanted to be. So she traded on her degree to land a sales position with a health sciences company. That marked the beginning of what she calls her "high-flying" years.

    Campbell criss-crossed North America, putting on presentations and running marketing and educational campaigns. After a stint as director of development for the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, she began designing marketing and patient education programs for health practitioners. That business eventually metamorphosed into her current company that markets wellness programs to North America businesses.

    Campbell, who is also executive director of the Canadian Academy of Homeopathy, is dedicated to making the workplace a better place to be, she says. It means recommending programs that would have had her laughed out of the boardroom 20 years ago.

    Surprisingly, Campbell says few companies balk at the idea of nurturing staff. She sells them on the measurable benefits, like reduced turn-over, and fewer sick and injury days. And hooks them on improving their corporate culture and community.

    Did all this make her fellow traveller change his mind about a BSc? "I'm afraid," says Campbell, "he didn't get a chance to say much."