Maureen Winata
Pilon School of Business
Degree: Project Management
Year of graduation: 2014
Purposeful Planning
For Maureen Winata, mini-putt is far more than a game. Mini-putt is a rewarding conclusion in a life spent searching for a perfect career.
A woman of many skills, Maureen worked as an accountant, teacher and a principal, moving from Indonesia to Canada for a job in finance. Yet, throughout this journey, she felt she could do so much more. “I knew I had more potential. So I examined my character, knowledge and skills looking a path that would lead to the perfect-fit career for me,” says Maureen whose husband Albert Winata encouraged her to enroll in the Project Management course.
She found her answer in Sheridan’s project management graduate certificate program. Maureen thrived there, graduating with high honours in 2014. Her Sheridan training convinced Maureen to forge her own way by starting a business. “With the skills and experience I had gained, why was I looking for a job? I should create one for myself, and for others as well.”
She ultimately chose a business that kept her closest to her family. “Our family enjoyed playing mini-putt,” says Maureen, “especially my three-year-old son who could complete 18 holes of mini-putt.” Maureen put an interesting spin on the game, creating a mobile, rental mini-putt course to bring to clients.
While initially “overwhelmed” with the prospect of starting her own company together with Albert, Maureen used her experience in project management. “I was able to see the big picture, she says “and broke it down into all the detailed steps.”
Maureen and her husband eventually got Ace2Putt, their innovative portable mini-putt service off the ground to great fanfare in fall 2015. One of the most memorable moments of her life was delivering her business launch speech to a crowd including her local city councillor in Georgetown, Ontario and the friends and family that had helped her reach her dreams. “It was an incredible feeling for me,” she recalls, “Instead of saying ‘I wish’; I said ‘I've done it.’”
Maureen continues to use the skills she learned at Sheridan in the operation of her business and her family life. She is able to balance her career and the desire to be close to the family that inspired her, says Maureen, who homeschools both of her children while managing ace2putt.ca. “I apply the concept of project management to organize myself to achieve my goal, to live a meaningful life.”
By Andrew Ursel, Corporate Communications and Public Relations, 2016
Learn more about Sheridan’s Project Management program
For Maureen Winata, mini-putt is far more than a game. Mini-putt is a rewarding conclusion in a life spent searching for a perfect career.
A woman of many skills, Maureen worked as an accountant, teacher and a principal, moving from Indonesia to Canada for a job in finance. Yet, throughout this journey, she felt she could do so much more. “I knew I had more potential. So I examined my character, knowledge and skills looking a path that would lead to the perfect-fit career for me,” says Maureen whose husband Albert Winata encouraged her to enroll in the Project Management course.
She found her answer in Sheridan’s project management graduate certificate program. Maureen thrived there, graduating with high honours in 2014. Her Sheridan training convinced Maureen to forge her own way by starting a business. “With the skills and experience I had gained, why was I looking for a job? I should create one for myself, and for others as well.”
She ultimately chose a business that kept her closest to her family. “Our family enjoyed playing mini-putt,” says Maureen, “especially my three-year-old son who could complete 18 holes of mini-putt.” Maureen put an interesting spin on the game, creating a mobile, rental mini-putt course to bring to clients.
While initially “overwhelmed” with the prospect of starting her own company together with Albert, Maureen used her experience in project management. “I was able to see the big picture, she says “and broke it down into all the detailed steps.”
Maureen and her husband eventually got Ace2Putt, their innovative portable mini-putt service off the ground to great fanfare in fall 2015. One of the most memorable moments of her life was delivering her business launch speech to a crowd including her local city councillor in Georgetown, Ontario and the friends and family that had helped her reach her dreams. “It was an incredible feeling for me,” she recalls, “Instead of saying ‘I wish’; I said ‘I've done it.’”
Maureen continues to use the skills she learned at Sheridan in the operation of her business and her family life. She is able to balance her career and the desire to be close to the family that inspired her, says Maureen, who homeschools both of her children while managing ace2putt.ca. “I apply the concept of project management to organize myself to achieve my goal, to live a meaningful life.”
By Andrew Ursel, Corporate Communications and Public Relations, 2016
Learn more about Sheridan’s Project Management program