Nadia Barbosa helps to make “date night” easier

Experiencing her own stress and frustration with planning “date night,” Ted Rogers MBA graduate Nadia Barbosa (MBA, 2022) wanted to help couples spend more quality time together and try new experiences. That is why she got involved in Tandem Experiences, a discovery platform which builds uniquely curated date itineraries.

Barbosa worked as a Business Development Consultant at Tandem while pursuing her MBA, and joined the company full-time after graduating, becoming a Co-Founder. She says her learnings in the MBA program have been critical to the success and growth of the business.

Here is what Barbosa had to say about Tandem Experiences and how her Ted Rogers MBA helped her on her entrepreneurial journey:

Tell us about your organization and work.

Tandem Experiences (external link, opens in new window)  is rethinking event discovery by putting relationships at the heart of it. We are a discovery platform for couples, building uniquely curated date itineraries to solve the problem "what should we do tonight?"

How does Tandem work? It’s simple. Members join Tandem, they get instant access to curated date experiences, then book and go. We pair the best food, events and photo opportunities the city has to offer, with a custom map and itinerary, taking care of all of the planning so couples can focus on what really matters — spending quality time together. 

What differentiates Tandem from other discovery platforms is all of our experiences are curated by experts in the arts and culture space. We also bundle multiple components for a date complete experience. Tandem is also driven by data – our underlying recommender technology captures our user’s unique needs and preferences and matches them with experiences that matter most to them. Think Spotify, but for date night.

Why did you pursue your MBA and why did you choose the Ted Rogers MBA program?

At the start of the pandemic, I reflected on my career trajectory and decided to upskill and round out my prior experience in marketing, business strategy and project management. During that time, I was also considering a career pivot into a different industry and wanted to use the MBA as an opportunity to see where my strengths and interests aligned. 

I specifically chose the Ted Rogers School of Management to pursue my MBA because of the strong sense of community. I was also attracted by the newly developed curriculum focusing on relevant business trends, such as emerging technologies and wellness in the workplace. 

How did the Ted Rogers MBA program help you on your entrepreneurial journey?

The MBA was instrumental for my entrepreneurial journey. If I had not done the MBA at the Ted Rogers School, I wouldn’t be working as a founder of Tandem. I had the opportunity to work with my colleague Owais Lightwala in a business strategy group project, as well as in internal and external case competitions (most notably the 2021 MBA Games). 

Owais is an advisor at Tandem Experiences and recognized my marketing background as an opportunity to work with founder Mariel Marshall, so he put us in touch. While completing my MBA, I conducted market research and advised on business strategy. Mariel and I have a great working relationship and my fervor for solving the problem of date night only intensified that time, so I joined the team full-time after graduating. 

What’s more, I took both startup electives with Professor Martin Croteau where we followed the 100 Steps to Start Up approach and learned first-hand how to build a business from the ground up. The biggest learning was “get out of the building and speak with prospective customers” and “set hypotheses and test them.” These learnings have been critical to the success and growth of Tandem.

What inspired your involvement with Tandem Experiences?

I was inspired to become involved with Tandem for three key reasons: 

1) My business partner, Mariel Marshall, and I are passionate about making local arts and culture more accessible. The performing arts and restaurant sectors have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re motivated to shine a spotlight on small-to-medium sized restaurants and performing arts organizations to help them thrive.

2) On a personal level, my husband and I enjoy going on regular date nights in the city, but as busy working professionals we don’t always have the time to plan something, reverting to staying in and watching The Office on Netflix for the tenth time. I wanted to build a solution that took the stress and frustration out of date planning so that couples could spend more quality time together and try new experiences.

3) Finally, I’m inspired everyday by the people who are part of developing Tandem Experiences. We have a truly incredible team of employees, partners and advisors that are just as enthusiastic as I am about our impact-oriented company.