MEET THE BARISTA

Marc Zirka

An experienced strategist and entrepreneur in the business field focusing on technology and ICT as an enabler to any vertical. Marc has been running his own consulting firm Strategy Up, which he established in 2014. Strategy Up is 100% Canadian company based in Halifax (Nova Scotia), where he is advising and assisting Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) and startup companies to become successful.

Marc is an expert in Corporate Strategy, Commercial Operations, Marketing & Sales Strategy coupled with a solid understanding of Corporate Finance and Strategic Investment.

Prior to running his own business, Marc assumed several executive roles, sitting on management boards and committees of different companies in several parts of the world. To name a few, Marc worked with France Telecom, KPMG, Digicel, Bakcell and Cable & Wireless.

Marc has 21 years of experience where he started his career in Lebanon, then moved to Sub-Sahara Africa where he managed the operations in more than 6 countries, then to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, The Caribbean, and finally to Central Asia before deciding to settle in Canada.

As the founder of Strategy Up he is now assisting his clients by providing consulting services in Strategic Planning, Corporate and Commercial Strategy within the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) industry. Moreover, Marc is offering through his company a series of training programs in Leadership, Communication, Digital Marketing & Social Media Strategy, Strategic & Succession Planning and recently added Blockchain to the portfolio.

Through Strategy Up, Marc is trying to build digital solutions to help Small and Medium Enterprises improve their operational efficiency through technology. In this respect Strategy Up launched in Canada a Digital Coupon solution to help every business engage with its customer base in a new and more interactive way.  

Marc holds an MBA from Ecole Supérieure des Affaires (ESA – Beirut) and ESCP-EAP (Paris), a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the Lebanese American University. However, this doesn’t satisfy Marc’s ambition to keep on nurturing his knowledge. He is continuously complementing his degrees by attending executive education courses at Harvard Business School and HEC.

Marc has joined in 2020 the board of the Family Business Association (Atlantic Canada) and is chairing the Marketing Committee. He also joined the Chartered Institute of Marketing Management of Ontario as the Chief Strategy Officer.

Marc is an experienced trainer and educator where he is the lead trainer for Strategy Up Academy. He collaborates as well with the Department of Labour and Advanced Education and with the Association of Workplace Education in Nova Scotia (AWENS). Marc received certificates endorsed by the Minister of Labour and Advanced Education (Nova Scotia) in the areas of Literacy Issues in the WEI Classroom (2019) and Foundational Skills for WEI Instructors (2020).