Melody Mui

This grad used her drama background to get over her fears and explore career opportunities all over the world

Melody works at Artsy, the largest global online marketplace for discovering, buying, and selling fine art by leading artists. She leads the Asia-Pacific team. Currently based in Hong Kong, and has previously worked in Canada and the United Kingdom. She has a Honours Arts and Business Co-op, Drama Major with aHuman Resources Minor and a specialization in Cultural Management BA, that she completed in 2013.

What are your main job responsibilities in your current position?

Artsy’s mission is to expand the art market to support more art and artists in the world. 

My main job responsibility is to expand Artsy in the Asia Pacific region. This includes leading the team, engaging with our partners in the region, working with our team to make purchasing art welcoming, transparent, and low-friction with industry-leading technology that connects supply and demand safely and securely at a global scale.

How has your degree influenced your career trajectory?

My Theatre and Performance degree helped me to get to know myself more. When I first joined the program, one of the professors told us, “If you want something that doesn’t fit into a specific degree, craft your own path and build your own degree!”. This idea stayed with me throughout my university journey and empowered me to go and build my degree. 

Theatre taught me ways to manage fear – whether it is the fear of heights, being on stage or public speaking. In one of the voice technique classes, I learned that even if I'm not good at something, if I practice more, I will improve and could gain that skill. Having acquired the growth mindset, I was able to step out of my comfort zone to explore new opportunities and work in multiple cities throughout my career. 

UWaterloo also emphasizes innovation, and is very supportive of entrepreneurship. I joined start-ups during my time at Waterloo, and it was a golden opportunity to learn more about the tech world, which led to me working at a tech company now. 

Why did you choose a Theatre degree at the University of Waterloo?

Art has always been an important part of my life. Growing up in the financial center - Hong Kong, I am also fascinated about the business world. The Arts and Business Co-op program at Waterloo was the perfect program for me!

What helped me decide to major in theatre was that every theatre course I took allowed me to get to know myself a bit more. When we created productions as a team, I learned that every single person is important; no job has a higher status than the other. Theatre allowed me to get to know myself in a way other majors couldn’t offer. Exploring cultural management through my co-op terms helped me realise I love working with cultural organizations and other art disciplines such as film and fine art. I eventually realised that what I love most is bringing art to people.

UWaterloo also provided a good safety net for me – in case I didn’t want to do theatre as a full time job,I took multiple business courses and minored in human resources. That gave me the potential to navigate my career in multiple directions. If you aren't sure about your career path, Waterloo encourages you to add different components to your degree that will build you up as a strong candidate for many careers in the future.

What is a key piece of advice you would like to share with current Theatre & Performance students?

Stay curious and stay open to opportunities. One thing I did a lot was to attend talks, lectures and networking events from multiple disciplines, such as biology and engineering. Waterloo is also a great school that provides extraordinary career resources – I would highly encourage students to go to the Career Centre, to talk to your academic advisors, the alumni network, and your peers. This is your time to make those connections.