Meet Mike

Congratulations on earning your law degree. Can you share a little background on how you got where you are today?

Sure! I was born and raised in Toronto apart from the three years I spent in Windsor for law school. I went to Ryerson for my undergrad. While I started college thinking I would end up in a creative field, after taking my first business law class, I knew I wanted to focus on law. I loved how it combined both creativity and logic. My law program, which I just finished, is unique in that it allows me to practice law in both Canada and the US. I’m currently studying for the Ontario bar exam, and after that, I’ll start my first position as an attorney. It’s been quite a journey.

Can you tell us about your role in the Student Law Society?

The Student Law Society is the student council that governs and oversees all activities at the law school. I was elected to serve as the Vice President of Finance for two years. School alone is a big commitment, so I knew I was going to need a convenient and transparent way to collect funds, especially with the large budget I was overseeing. Right as I was coming onboard, my predecessor had discovered Cheddar Up, and she recommended I look into it. I haven’t looked back since.

Our Student Law Society oversees anywhere between 60-70 different clubs and committees. These clubs and committees hold events and initiatives, oftentimes requiring an admission fee. Cheddar Up was used for these types of activities.

We also used Cheddar Up to sell merchandise. Prior to Cheddar Up, this was all done manually with cash, order forms and data entry. Setting up what was essentially an online store on Cheddar Up was easy. And it provided a great online shopping experience for our members. I was able to add items with pictures along with the colors and sizes available. Our online Cheddar Up store helped us make more sales because it was so easily accessible. We would add our Cheddar Up store to our Facebook page, and it would catch the eye of so many law students who probably would not have normally purchased something.

How did your clubs and members respond to the use of Cheddar Up?

Honestly, they loved it. My predecessor was primarily relying on cash, so the simpler, online way of paying was welcomed. And the individuals running the events loved the transparency and always-there reporting. The reporting is available in just a few clicks—with zero manual effort. In fact, by the end of my first year in the VP of Finance role, we amended our bylaws to make the use of Cheddar Up mandatory for any club that wanted to hold events or collect money.

You mentioned the importance of Cheddar Up’s transparency. Could you talk more about that?

Sure. I think most folks just learning about Cheddar Up might initially focus on its ease of payment for their community, and I understand why, because that is crucial. It’s amazing that Cheddar Up provides this easy way to collect funds. But the experience for the organizer is also a huge value, because it makes record keeping so much easier, particularly around the way it generates automatic reports.

It also creates transparency around the refund process. For example, if someone claimed they had purchased a ticket for an event and wanted a refund, all I had to do was verify that the purchase was made via Cheddar Up and initiate a refund. Prior to Cheddar Up, validating a purchase to know whether someone could receive a refund was not as straightforward. On Cheddar Up, once the refund is made, the organizer and the payer know the refund is in motion through automatic refund confirmation emails sent to each party. Everyone is in the know.

Outside of reporting and refunds, how has Cheddar Up made your life easier?

Cheddar Up has saved me loads of time and helped our law society collect more. For a student balancing a full-time course load while overseeing the activities of every single club, it was tough to find time to make deposits at the bank. Cheddar Up allowed me to avoid that almost entirely. Because our collections were gathered in one place, they could be deposited into our bank account with the click of a button. In my second year in the role, when Cheddar Up was made mandatory for every club and committee, it changed my entire job. I’ve already introduced my successor to my contact on the Cheddar Up Support team, who is incredible. Since day one on the platform, my contact there was a huge help. She understood our organization and its goals.

In addition, Cheddar Up definitely helped our law society earn more revenue. This was simply because of Cheddar Up’s online nature. It allowed us to publicize events and merchandise sales more broadly, expanding our reach both on and off campus. And the simpler way to pay—online with a credit card—also brought in more sales. This was huge for us. Even though we’re a non-profit, maximizing revenues is a big goal of the organization, because our revenues are what we used to cover our expenses and fund events.

Do you have any favorite Cheddar Up moments you would like to share?

Is there anything else you would like to share about your use of the platform or interaction with the Cheddar Up team?