Melissa Sanasie is a Toronto based marketing leader who built her career through steady work, curiosity, and a love for understanding how people connect with brands. She grew up in Scarborough in a close family and spent her teen years volunteering at the local library. That early exposure to public communication sparked her interest in digital content and storytelling.
She studied Marketing Management at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she joined student groups, ran small events, and learned how strategy, data, and design all shape audience behavior. These early lessons helped her step confidently into the marketing world.
Melissa started her career at Hudson’s Bay Company, where she learned the fast pace of retail and supported some of their first influencer campaigns. She moved to RBC and took on larger digital responsibilities, running paid media campaigns, building A/B testing systems, and helping launch new digital products. Her work there improved conversions, increased lead growth, and earned recognition inside the company.
At Shopify, Melissa expanded her impact even more. She leads SEO, content marketing, influencer partnerships, and multi channel paid campaigns across several countries. Her projects have boosted organic traffic, improved email retention, and expanded social reach through creative creator programs. She also earned a major internal award for her work.
Outside of work, Melissa speaks at events, mentors young marketers, and stays active in Toronto’s tech and marketing communities. Her success comes from combining data skill, creative thinking, and a constant drive to learn.
Q&A with Melissa Sanasie on the Meaning of Success
What did success look like for you growing up in Scarborough
For me, success was simple. It meant doing things well and not letting people down. My parents worked long hours. My mom ran a home daycare. My dad was a systems technician. They trusted me to help around the house, watch younger cousins, and handle small responsibilities. That built a mindset. If someone gives you something to do, you finish it. I carried that attitude into school and later into work. Volunteering at the Scarborough Civic Centre Library also shaped me. I was surrounded by books, community programs, and people who came in looking for answers. It made me curious about communication and how information moves.
How did your education change your view of success
At Wexford Collegiate, I learned that creativity could be practical. Media arts wasn’t just about design. It was about solving problems visually. When I went to Toronto Metropolitan University, I discovered how strategy and data sit behind every message. I joined women in leadership groups and helped run a student-led marketing symposium. We had to secure speakers, run promotions, and manage attendance. That was my first taste of building something real. Success started to mean creating experiences people valued.
What moment in your early career taught you the most
It was during my time at Hudson’s Bay Company. We were preparing for the “Holiday Windows 2015” rollout. There was a tight deadline, a large visual package, and coordinated digital elements. I was a Marketing Coordinator with limited experience, but I was responsible for managing a portion of the visual content distribution. A server incorrectly formatted several image files the night before. Instead of panicking, I stayed late, re-exported everything, checked each file manually, and worked with the web team to get things uploaded by morning. That night taught me that success often comes down to quiet, unglamorous problem solving.
How did your years at RBC shape your definition of success
RBC changed how I saw scale. I learned how small changes can improve results for millions of customers. For example, we ran multi-variant A/B tests on landing pages for credit card acquisition. One version with a rewritten headline lifted conversions by more than ten percent. It showed me that success doesn’t always come from big ideas. Sometimes it comes from patient testing and collaboration. Working with RBC Ventures on the WellSpent content hub also shifted my thinking. We weren’t selling anything directly. We were helping people understand their financial habits. Success became tied to usefulness.
What drives your approach at Shopify today
My focus at Shopify is on improving how merchants find information and stay engaged. Success means building systems that support people at different stages of their business. For example, when I redesigned retention workflows in Klaviyo, my goal was to create simple paths for merchants who felt overwhelmed by early decisions. When engagement rose by thirty five percent, it wasn’t the number that mattered most. It was the messages I received from small business owners saying the content made things less confusing. I also learned a lot from the #ShopLocalShopify holiday campaign. We saw a huge lift in organic traffic, but what stuck with me was how much people cared about supporting local businesses during a tough season.
What habits help you stay consistent
I track ideas in notebooks. I separate them by category. SEO patterns. Influencer concepts. Retention journeys. Even restaurant notes for my food blog. This habit started in high school when I kept a sketchbook for color studies. Writing things down helps me see connections faster. I also follow a routine that sounds small but works for me. Each week, I analyze one campaign I admire from outside my industry. It keeps my mind open. Sometimes the best idea comes from a place that has nothing to do with tech or banking.
What mistakes taught you the most
Early in my career, I rushed to finish everything fast. At RBC, this caused issues during a CRM integration. I moved too quickly on a setup inside Salesforce Marketing Cloud and missed a trigger. It caused a delay in a planned nurture sequence. The team fixed it, but it taught me to slow down and ask one extra question before finalizing anything. Now I teach younger marketers to double check assumptions, especially in automation work.
How do your personal interests shape your idea of success
Travel, food, and nature keep me grounded. When I hike in High Park or Rouge Park, I reset my mind. When I explore new restaurants for my blog, I pay attention to how people design experiences. Those real world insights end up in my campaign ideas. Success for me is not just about results. It is about staying curious, having a full life, and finding inspiration in the world outside screens.
How do you define success today
Success today is about clarity and impact. Did the work help someone reach their goal. Did it make a process easier. Did it teach me something new. Titles and metrics matter, but they aren’t the whole picture. The real win is knowing the work pushed me and supported someone else at the same time.