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When Benjamin Che (BBA ’16) stepped into his first marketing class at SFU’s Beedie School of Business, he wasn’t thinking about brand strategy, Nike campaigns, or the LeBron James shoe line. But looking back now—nearly a decade into a marketing career that’s taken him from Vancouver to courtside photo shoots with global sports icons—Che credits SFU Beedie with more than just a business education. It gave him a sense of purpose, community, and the courage to chase a non-traditional path.

Che, who specialized in marketing and human resources and took several entrepreneurship and innovation courses, didn’t originally envision a business degree. Initially drawn to psychology, he found marketing and human resources offered a way to explore his fascination with human behaviour and communication.

“I was always drawn to the ‘why’ behind people’s choices—like how ads can make someone feel or act a certain way,” says Che. “Marketing, especially branding, taps into that. It’s about people, psychology, and storytelling.”

Raised by immigrant parents who ran a convenience store, Che grew up with an entrepreneurial mindset. The importance of translating classroom knowledge into real-world impact was instilled early—and shaped how he approached his university experience.

At SFU Beedie, Che immersed himself in a whirlwind of extracurriculars. From and to LAUNCH and a study term in Ireland at University College Dublin, he made the most of every opportunity.

“There’s something about the sense of community at SFU Beedie that really helped foster finding your passion,” he reflects. “Every time I joined something new, it fueled me to do more and unlock more of what I could achieve. By the end of my time at SFU Beedie, the extracurriculars meant more to me than the classroom.”

One course that left a lasting impact was BUS 446: Marketing Strategy with instructor Adam Mills. Che recalls dissecting brands and ad campaigns and the feelings they evoke in their audiences—an experience that reshaped his view of marketing.

“That was the class where I realized marketing was more than just social media or SEO,” says Che. “When you look at the entire spectrum of marketing, it’s so broad—it’s kind of the broadest industry. You can work in data, social, brand, content, storytelling, narrative. There’s so much to it.”

He also remembers the moment he realized that major brands often don’t create their own ads—advertising agencies do. That insight became a turning point. “Up till then, I thought companies like Nike or Apple did their own ads—but I realized that they’re the brands that drive their brand forward, and the people who do the ads and get creative and fun with them are the advertising agencies.”

After graduation, Che joined Central 1 Credit Union after connecting with a mentor in the BASS Beedie Mentorship program. He joined the financial institution in its marketing department, which operated like a mini-agency, offering hands-on experience in campaign development and client management. A brief role at a digital agency followed. However, Che was always hungry for more. “At the six-month mark, I was already thinking—what’s my next opportunity? Where can I really sink my teeth into things and push my career to the next level?”

Then came Victory.

A cold outreach for an informational interview turned into a two-hour meeting—and a same-day job offer. “I walked into their office not knowing what they did,” he says. “By the time I left, I knew I had found something different. It felt like home.”

Today, Che is Vice President and Partner at Victory, a creative agency working with major global brands like Nike, WNBA, NBA, Netflix, LEGO, and Taco Bell. His portfolio reads like a dream job: helping bring the LeBron brand to life in the marketplace, leading a commercial shoot with WNBA star Caitlin Clark, producing an annual elite high school basketball event called Mamba Invitational in honour of Kobe Bryant, creating and managing the Vancouver Host City Website for FIFA World Cup 2026, etc.

“When we tell a story, we visually bring things to life,” he explains. “We strive to push for operational and creative excellence every day and constantly reinvent ourselves so that we’re staying current and relevant. It’s also a massive responsibility to have discretion in the work we do as most of it is under strict NDA.”

Che typically leads projects in its entirety—from planning and creative exploration, to navigating stakeholders and executing the project.

“This isn’t a nine-to-five,” he says. “I travel quite a bit, whether it’s to be on ground for a brand activation, or a shoot for an athlete or for a brand, or just travelling to meet with clients and do work sessions and offsites and planning.”

Che is quick to note that his success wasn’t built overnight—or alone. “I’m here because of the people who believed in me early on,” he says. In fact, at one of Victory’s locations, there is a half-court basketball court etched with the names of those who have impacted the agency’s founders—including Che’s mentors and supporters. One of them is Rosanne Ng, an SFU Beedie staff member and Che’s first co-op supervisor whom he credits with helping propel him forward and finding his passion.

Looking back, Che says the most valuable lessons came not just from classes, but from community. “SFU Beedie gave me the chance to test myself, to fail safely, and to figure out what kind of leader I wanted to be. Every project, every late night, every team—those were the moments that shaped me.”

His advice to students? “Say yes to the things that scare you. Join the club. Enter the competition. Go abroad. Because you never know which moment will spark something big.”