Jacquelyn Miccolis - Blending Art, Community, and Resilience in Entrepreneurship (Founder of Sparkles and Sawdust & Supernova Events, author) - podcast episode cover

Jacquelyn Miccolis - Blending Art, Community, and Resilience in Entrepreneurship (Founder of Sparkles and Sawdust & Supernova Events, author)

Aug 27, 202436 minSeason 2Ep. 67
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Episode description

Ever wondered what it truly means to run a business with a heart? Jacquelyn Miccolis joins us to share her inspiring journey from founding Sparkles and Sawdust, a vibrant art studio, to running her new business Supernova Events while preparing for her eagerly anticipated book launch. Listen as we explore the essence of social enterprises—businesses that blend community impact with profitability. Jacquelyn recounts the highs and lows of managing her arts and events studio, the burnout that led to its closure during the pandemic, and the importance of genuine community connections for sustaining entrepreneurial spirit. Along the way, we share some laughs about our favourite brews at Garrison Brewing.

Entrepreneurship is not all glitter and gold; it comes with its share of mental health challenges. In this episode, we tackle the stress and loneliness that often accompany the entrepreneurial journey. Social media can be a double-edged sword—offering visibility but also contributing to feelings of isolation. Through personal stories, we discuss how small gestures on these platforms can make a big difference. The unexpected support from strangers and the often unmet expectations from close circles underscore the necessity for authentic engagement and community support in navigating the entrepreneurial landscape.

Balancing personal relationships with business pursuits is no easy feat. Jacquelyn, Mike and Matt open up about the importance of spending time with friends and making these moments both enjoyable and productive. We also touch on self-publishing through Amazon, designing your own book cover and using social media for business funding. Hear about the success of a recent community event at the central library and our shared excitement for upcoming projects. This episode is a celebration of community collaboration, personal resilience, and the heart of entrepreneurship. Tune in for insights, inspiration, and a few hearty laughs.

Jacquelyn's new book titled "Unfiltered Wisdom: A How-to Guide for Modern Creative Entrepreneurs," is available August 30th by going to her website. supernovaeventshfx.com

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Kimia Nejat of Kimia Nejat Realty
 

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Transcript

Community Events and Social Enterprise

Speaker 1

Cheers , cheers . Welcome to the Afternoon Plank . I'm Mike Tobin , I am Matt Conrad , and who do we have with us today ? Jacqueline Michaelis , jacqueline Michaelis , jacqueline , so I think you reached out to me on LinkedIn .

Speaker 2

Indeed , I did .

Speaker 1

Yeah , and you were looking not to hang out with me and just have a drink casually , which I was like oh you know , I don't know if my partner will approve of this but you are reaching out because you have a book that you're working on .

Speaker 2

Is that correct ? Yeah , I have a book coming out at the end of this month I'm super excited about .

Speaker 3

Awesome . We were talking earlier and you were saying you have a social enterprise . Explain to somebody who may not know what a social enterprise is .

Speaker 2

Basically the way I think of it is business with heart , so giving back to the community , it's obviously like a social enterprise . The difference between that and a registered charity , I guess , is obviously the legalities of it . But it's still for profit . But it's not just for profit . The main purpose is to give back and to do something for the greater good .

Yeah . So I guess it's essentially the short , the very short definition .

Speaker 1

And we're at Garrison Brewing . I just wanted to say , yeah , real quick , so we're back here .

Speaker 3

The Oxford Tap Room .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 3

And what are we all drinking today ? Sour to the people . Sour to the people .

Speaker 1

The sourest of sour beers .

Speaker 3

One of the most sourest . One of the most sourest . I just got back from vacation . I think I might have had a beer that's actually more sour than that , but that is still one of the most sourest beers I've ever had . I'm on the hold fast . Yeah , that's great .

Speaker 2

I went in a totally different direction and probably got the sweetest thing , the Georgia Peach .

Speaker 1

Oh yeah , that's my partner , that's her favorite beer , so I should have a couple Georgia peach in there .

Speaker 3

It's a good one , though . I like that on a summer day . No , it's nice , it's not too sweet .

Speaker 2

It's just that nice little like after finish Just a touch .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , so , so sorry . So , social enterprise . So let's go back before . What made you create a social enterprise ? How did you come about this ?

Speaker 2

Sure , so it depends how far back we want to go . I had a brick and mortar location three years prior to the pandemic I opened , so you know perfect timing right before the pandemic hit . On Argo Street I had a little studio and shop and I ran that for three and a half years through the pandemic .

Speaker 3

So what did you do there ?

Speaker 2

So it was called Sparkles and Sawdust and we were an art studio , we held events , Um it was really . It became really well known because we kind of blew up , because we did a ton of charity work .

Speaker 3

Okay .

Speaker 2

So , um , we had a whole bunch of different instructors that did art classes for adults . Uh , recreational , we did gosh . We did everything from forest therapy to herbalism to , um , you know , paint nights .

Speaker 3

We did every little bit of everything those paint nights are like they're huge they were .

Speaker 2

They were so much fun .

Speaker 3

Yeah , I don't know if they're still going on , but I know at some point in time my like facebook was blown they're still everywhere .

Speaker 1

Yeah , they're still doing that , they're getting back into it .

Speaker 2

I think the pandemic kind of like slowed that it probably .

Speaker 3

Yeah , you couldn't gather and stuff like that . I was , I get it , but at one point , like I swear every week .

Speaker 1

Did you ever do one ? No , never done it . No me , neither I can't paint for shit . Andrea came home with some cool stuff Paint for shit . Yeah .

Speaker 2

Everybody can paint .

Speaker 1

I think it's just like the level of quality , maybe this I can't paint a wall . I think I did do it once . Now I think about I had to paint black trees with a red backdrop .

Speaker 3

Oh for something I say that I've painted many walls in in my house but I don't like it and I'm not and I'm not really great at it . So fair .

If the joy's not there , then I guess you know that's the whole purpose yeah , if you want to suck the joy at a painting , paint a wall or a ceiling , yeah yeah , I painted our studio during the pandemic and I have to say I love painting paintings but walls new , my um my son's really into marvel , okay , and uh , my wife sent me this thing on instagram

where it was like this thing , where this mother , for her son , like , did up , like , took paint and all this stuff right , and and tape and whatever and paint it basically a comic book how on the wall right .

It was the coolest , coolest video and it was really , really cool and she did an amazing and tape and whatever and paint it basically a comic book on the wall Right . It was the coolest , coolest video and it was really , really cool and she did an amazing , amazing job . And my wife was like , oh , lp would love this .

And I'm like , and who is going to do that in this house ?

Speaker 2

In theory that sounds great , but logistically there's some issues .

Speaker 3

Yeah , yeah .

Speaker 1

So , yeah , yeah , yeah , so anyway , but yeah , so you had this .

Speaker 2

So studio , art studio , art studio , pandemic killed . It is that what happened .

Speaker 1

Actually , we were thriving I was tired , I was so burnt out .

Speaker 2

Okay , it's just we had to open , close , open , close because all the restrictions we were in a vent business that's fair the whole world saying stay home and we're like please come out like so it was like a push pull , we had it was just you know , cancel , cancel , cancel , and I'm like I can't do this anymore .

So I'm like , okay , let's just shut her down , and I took a little bit of time off and then I'm like , okay , well , I still want to do something , that's you know , in the community . I'm a people , I'm a people person , it's just in my nature .

So I'm that event side , without the pressure and the stress of commercial rent because , let's be honest , commercial rent skyrocketed in the last like couple years yeah , that's true . So I still had my client base and my social media following was still huge .

So I'm like , okay , if I don't wait too long and I get back into this , let's just find a way , just kind of hope they'd follow you to the next adventure . And they did , and it was great so now I just do big , large community events versus small little studio events , which I love so much more Really , that's cool .

Speaker 1

So it actually worked out great . So you'd come to a place like here and organize an event for somebody that was trying to raise money for an organization , or something like that .

Speaker 2

A little bit of everything Like literally I do it all . I'll do like networking events . I've helped people with their events . I've done virtual events for some nonprofit organizations . I did paint night for the hemophilia association . I've done you name it . I've done conferences . I've done literally everything like under the moon and the stars .

Uh , pretty much I've done . Um , I like to think I'm a Jack of many trades or Jacqueline of many trades .

Speaker 1

Oh , there you go , there you go . Good , that's so cheesy yeah that , there you go , good , good .

Speaker 2

That's so cheesy .

Speaker 3

Yeah , that's cheesy , but that's good .

Speaker 1

I like cheese . I like cheese , we like puns around here , would you ?

Speaker 3

like a little bit of cheese for that hamburger .

Speaker 1

Oh , that's awesome . So , yeah , so , and now you're working on a book , and I think that's why you approached us .

Speaker 2

You just wanted to let us know a little bit about it , yeah so I started this book during the time that I had my studio and , as you can imagine , that went definitely to the shelf , because I'm trying to run a business through a pandemic , so I'm like there's not exactly a ton of free time to write a book , so it's sort of just like a side project .

And then the last you know year or so I've had some time to actually sit and okay , let's revisit this project and really put my heart and soul into it . And yeah , I finally finished the book and I'm really excited about it . So it's called I'm having a brain fart One minute .

Speaker 3

We can come up with a new name right now .

Speaker 2

Yeah , we'll just come up with a new name . Give me a bit of air . Oh my God .

Speaker 3

Jacqueline of all trades .

Speaker 2

I think it's because I only came up . The title was a last minute . That's normal , though you think it is .

Speaker 3

No , I think that's normal actually because here's the thing People generally start with a message . That's what I meant and they start with a thought and a topic or a message or whatever , and then they get through it and then all of a sudden they name it after that .

Stand-up comedians do it , they come up with their bits and then they go boom and they take a line from , you know , the an hour-long special , and that's what they call their special and it's no different than movies , right , like some movies have working titles .

Speaker 2

Well , it's gone through like 50 different titles . I swear . So it's um . It's called unfiltered wisdom unfiltered wisdom . Okay , and it definitely was not that originally . It's kind of like , like you said , I sort of wrote it and then looked at it .

I'm like what suits this the best and then I kind of it stayed within , I guess , the borders of what I was expecting . But the book kind of just like grew with me , I guess , over a series of time . The whole purpose of my book is to share literally unfiltered wisdom about business , running a business or running a social enterprise in a creative field .

There's a ton of business books . I've read them all pretty much . And it's all the same information over and over , but no one's telling you the nitty gritty .

Speaker 1

What are the norms versus some of the nitty gritty ?

Speaker 2

I should be clear it's not just for people who run social enterprises , but anyone in a creative field . So I've talked about , you know , not even just like the technicalities of you know the everyday stuff and the finances , but talk about the emotional side .

You know the just literally every aspect of mostly the things that people don't talk about , like the loneliness of being an entrepreneur and your circle of friends who aren't entrepreneurs . Don't get it .

Speaker 3

You know that's true , and you know how things can shift with your social circle .

Speaker 2

So just all the different things that I thought . I've talked to a lot of entrepreneurs and it's funny because we all share the same struggles but people don't talk about it . Yeah , and . I keep hearing oh man , thank you for talking about this with me , because I feel so alone with it .

Speaker 1

So . So I guess what's some of the main struggles that we deal with in the book ? Maybe what's what's one of your main struggles ?

Speaker 2

Gosh , there's so many different things but I touch upon a lot about , like , mental health . That's something that I kind of dive into because mental health among entrepreneurs is a serious issue and it's funny because not a lot of people think that but a lot of people find entrepreneurship because of mental health struggles and vice versa .

They struggle with mental health because it's so much pressure . So it's not something I sort of wanted to bring aware or draw awareness to , so it's a slight topic , it's not like the whole book , but it's something that I thought was really important . So the emotional side .

And then obviously I go into the more technical stuff about you know , raising money to start your venture and and you know all those . You know more technical stuff that some of it you might find in other books , but I touch upon , um , I think , some stuff that , like , people just expect you to know acronyms , business acronyms and just like this .

Speaker 3

Right .

Speaker 2

Sure .

Speaker 1

Yeah , all this stuff that people just don't tell you , when you start a business , I think you really struck a chord with the mental health element

Entrepreneurial Challenges and Growth

. Um , how do you think that entrepreneurs you sit like ? You feel like they struggle with mental health a little more than the average person ? Oh , definitely . And why is that ?

Speaker 2

I think it's because without the standard nine to five you don't have that consistent financial stability . So , right off the bat , that puts a lot of stress , that's a huge stress . And then there's the sense of , like I said , loneliness , because you don't have that nine to five . So friends don't necessarily get it that you don't have that structured , you know .

So there's often don't understand if you say , well , I need to go do this or I need to go do that , or people are like , oh , are you ever not working ?

Speaker 1

General lack of understanding .

Speaker 2

General lack of understanding and I think among other entrepreneurs we generally have this understanding . But I don't know . It's just . I think anxiety is definitely something that we struggle with as entrepreneurs .

Speaker 1

How about , like growth and the struggles of growth , because I mean for us and for everyone else out there , I mean that has to be the major thing . Like , sometimes you're one of the first things I learned ? I learned this a long time ago . Tell me if it resonates with you .

Is I was doing a play and you know you want all your friends to care right , and , like you know , play , directing and producing and doing all this stuff and you're working your butt off trying to get it off the ground . I think I was putting 40 weeks into that , aside from a full-time job , right , so 80 hours a week , and you know play comes in .

One or two people that I knew showed up , right , you know , but or maybe a few more than that , but it wasn't a , you know .

Speaker 2

Oh god , it's a little heartbreaking right , and you're like , devoted to this exact subject .

Speaker 1

And I mean that's something that we don't talk about enough , it's true . And friends and family , right ? I mean , sometimes you just want to hit , hey , you want to hit the like button for me ?

Speaker 3

Yeah , and you don't want to ask . It's the same thing here , but it's free .

Speaker 1

I mean you know , I know you watched it .

Speaker 2

Yeah the clip and I'm like you're gonna hit the light button squad , that's yeah that's a whole chapter about .

Speaker 1

So I mean , that's something I always want to talk about and I'd love to and it's kind of happy that you're here just so I can talk a little bit in the open about that , because it's something that means a lot to me , and not just me , but like so many good artists that I hear , like songs that I hear , um , local musicians , right , the algorithms now and

I was talking with matt about this today and socials like we're . We want our socials to be strong right and the way that social media is working . Now it's like there's a chance you might not see anything oh yeah on social media you can get lost in the abyss , especially on x , like we have our stuff on x .

Yeah , we don't have a lot of followers on on former twitter , right , because we started that account in 2024 . No one's really logging on and jumping in . It's a lot of old , that's right . You know old dogs will say on Twitter that's my opinion , right .

Speaker 2

No , that's pretty accurate .

Speaker 1

And I think , because of that , like I can see the view count , it's like 17 people saw that tweet . Oh gosh , why would you even put it out there , right yeah ?

Speaker 2

You start to feel that way yeah , even with Instagram .

Speaker 3

You know , this is the thing , though it's the unfortunate thing that I've realized this over a decade ago , when I got into what I would call real sales , and when you get into that hunter mentality , sales .

The wisdom I took from it and I pass on to people who I work with now because I'm in a management position is you can't rely on your friends and family , right .

Speaker 2

You will starve .

Speaker 1

You will starve . You will starve .

Speaker 3

Because there's a lot that will say we'll come out and support you , but then you don't right .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 3

And it's the same thing like even for , like you know , things like this . It's like I sit there and I think I have 2,000 friends on Facebook . Yeah , why am I not getting at least 1,000 likes when I share something ?

Speaker 2

Exactly .

Speaker 1

You know at least going like , like and , in fairness though , in retrospect .

Speaker 2

How many things popped up on your wall that you didn't like .

Speaker 1

Yeah , that might have deserved a little thumbs up or a heart that you just skipped over , yeah , and you didn't even know .

Maybe it's personal , may have nothing to do with business , but yeah , you know , maybe we're all in this social uh foobar together right like because I realize that , though like I actively uh , I actively try now that if I truly like something , I will like it .

Speaker 3

If it gets a reaction like a laugh and sometimes it has nothing to do with friends I used to like people go through reels and they're just numb . I actually even stop and think about that now I'm like you know what ? No , that made me laugh . You're getting my like Because that has power now we know that it costs me laugh .

Speaker 2

You're getting my like , yeah . Right Because that has power . Now we know that it costs me nothing , but if they get 10,000 people to do that , it gives them a living Right , it's true , and it boosts the algorithm , all it takes sometimes is that I've noticed , especially on Facebook one like and the next one will come .

The next one will support your business like that one stranger that you've never met on the internet .

Speaker 3

A hundred percent , that's true .

Speaker 1

And we have some fans that neither one of us know , and that's always the most endearing .

Speaker 2

It's like I love your show and I'm like , oh man , that's cool , thank you . There's only friends and family felt this way too , right , yeah , yeah , yeah me wrong , for sure , yeah .

Speaker 3

You know what , While we're on the friends and family thing , I should actually mention we're almost family .

Speaker 2

We are yeah . Yeah , we discovered this after she reached out Right , I had no idea .

Speaker 3

Yeah , we had no idea .

Speaker 2

I reached out and she was like oh , by the way , I married your cousin , my second cousin , technically , but still like , I'm pretty sure we're related .

Speaker 1

Let me get out the family tree , basically Because there's so many , you've got a huge family Off-subject , but I've never noticed this wild boar on the wall until today .

Speaker 3

That's Puma . Where's Timon Kunimatata ?

Speaker 1

Oh wow , Very cool . Shout out to Garrison .

Speaker 3

Shout out to Garrison sorry , and you know where's .

Speaker 1

Timon , so yeah , so emotion is a part of your book , yeah , yeah , and I think you know what Matt said honestly is something that really resonates . You know , depend on your friends and you'll starve , and it's something I go by too and I really do believe that , and it's tough right , it is . It's a to get out there and say , hey , I'm trying this thing .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

Right , I hope you all like it yeah .

Speaker 2

Well , you have to have a bit of confidence too , especially if you're not feeling that support , initially from your family and friends , and a lot of people that's where they sort of just throw in the towel .

Speaker 1

Right .

Speaker 2

But I think if you can persevere and go , okay . I don't care if anyone likes this , I do .

Speaker 1

I believe in myself to keep going and the rest will follow . If you can get past that little like hump , that's where that like , that's where that beauty . So now for you , does everything you do predominantly , just live on social media . Are you picking up the phone , are you calling people ? Or how are you getting um , how are you getting clients ?

Speaker 2

fair um . So I think mostly for me it's because I had a brick and mortar and I was on the news about 25 times throughout the time . I was in every magazine , every newspaper um on every news station . So that helped um throughout the pandemic . Um , I got a lot of news coverage . I don't know why I I guess cause I was willing and I was there .

So people were like let's , let's , you know , let's call Jacqueline Um , so I grew a mailing list that was huge . Um . Social media Um , I don't make phone calls , I don't do sales pitches , I don't do send out emails . Um , it's pretty much word of mouth to be honest , do you do newsletter ? I do Um no , not a deuce .

Speaker 1

Well , kind of like looking at that for us .

Speaker 2

Yeah , once a month I send out a's not a lot going on . That's for the community , Because if I do private events , no one wants to hear about those . Right , right , but yeah whenever I have community events coming up , I let everybody know and I send out usually coupons if I have events where it's ticketed .

So there are some incentives to joining my mailing list . Yeah .

Speaker 1

So the emotions of the entrepreneur that's , that's super huge man . I think it's something that you're right and they don't talk about it .

Speaker 3

It's , it's a it's a huge disconnect , I mean for people . I mean , you know , even for us we have to work , we work in full-time jobs , cause this is obviously not a full-time job for us , but this is extra time .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 3

And you know , we both want to spend time with our family . So what happens is like we don't see our friends that much . Good thing , like you know , he's obviously one of my best friends , so it's a good thing that we get to do this together and hang out and see each other all the time .

Speaker 1

But you know , the rest of our friendship it's like but there's , there's something funny that I want to add about that is I was always the friend that wanted to , and I was watching something about Jerry Seinfeld , right . I mean , I love Jerry Seinfeld , a great comedian . He's hilarious .

And the comedian Sankara's getting coffee thing it was the same idea in his head . He's like I want to just enjoy all these people that I really care about . Yeah , and I also . My time is money and I want to get paid . Yeah , he seems to have . That's not how .

I'm not quoting you directly on this , but I read something about that , that show , and I love that show and and it's a really genuine conversations that they have on that , on that program , right , and so I thought that was kind of a cool perspective

Personal Connections and Entrepreneurial Endeavors

too . It's like you know it's fun to . Yeah , sometimes Matt and I might just just hang out and just have a beer and do nothing , but you know it's nice to be reduced on something while you're at it .

Speaker 2

Oh yeah , and who better than the people you trust ?

Speaker 1

Yes , absolutely that natural comfortability and that charisma that flows .

Speaker 3

We get a chance to be ourselves and keep getting braver , but you have to also at the same time , it's a thing that you have to think about , now that we're working and working . We have to think about now that we're like working and working . You , you know , we have to think . It's like you know what .

I haven't seen this person who's important to me and I haven't seen them in a while . I have to think about reaching out to them and like trying to do something or like hanging out or whatever .

I mean you know my other , like at this point , the two closest people outside of like my wife and kid right , yeah , uh are probably tobin and and my cousin tim and you knowin and my cousin Tim . We loop my cousin Tim in here and there , which is kind of cool to be able to loop them in .

Speaker 1

And Mark , our good friend . He's our first guest on the show . I was there last weekend to help at the Antigonish Music Festival and help him serve coffee for his coffee business . It was fun to do and gets us out of the house .

Speaker 3

He gave me a few bucks too .

Speaker 1

Hey , why not Exactly ? Yeah , so win-win , so that's the thing .

Speaker 3

You try to loop it in . You try to do that same thing that Jerry Sarnoff was doing , but these are all things that people don't really realize when you're an entrepreneur or when you're trying and you have to put in those extra hours .

Speaker 1

It's true Time management , but it's fun and it's rewarding , I'm not complaining . No , because you're just creating something , and it's so cool to create shit .

Speaker 3

Yeah , this last year has been one of the best , because we get to leave this mark and talk to a bunch of interesting people .

Speaker 2

Well , it's great for networking , because people that you may never have interacted with or had the opportunity oh for sure .

Speaker 1

And I'm actually not that much of an extrovert . I'm friendly with the people I know , but I go home and I like to stay there .

Speaker 2

I think most of us have become like that . I'm not Matt's a total extrovert .

Speaker 3

I am the extreme extrovert Really . I actually get fueled by meeting and talking to other people . Like , honestly , I could sit here and probably do six .

Speaker 1

I run out of fuel . I have a tank . I'm more like you .

Speaker 3

I'll make a best friend in an elevator Like stick me in an elevator with somebody I'm going to have a conversation with them and probably know what their child's name is .

Speaker 2

Oh yeah , I was just in .

Speaker 3

Vegas and like I had to call Uber and hey man , what are you doing here ?

Speaker 1

And if I was the Uber driver I would have said get in the back . Some people like it , some people don't right .

Speaker 2

Yeah , that's , true you usually tell pretty quickly if they're being receptive to your friendliness .

Speaker 3

No , he was good . Yeah , we had a whole good chat on the way to the airport .

Speaker 1

That's how you live , though that's good . That's a real positive thing .

Speaker 2

I feel like it thing too . Sure yes , because you go other places and if you start talking to a person , they're going to give you a look like they're thinking what's wrong with you , yeah , or ? What's your motive ? Are you going to pickpocket me Like what's happening ?

Speaker 3

here . I think I liked it because you know , this guy wasn't from the United States and it was great to be able to talk metric , not imperial , I want to ask you about publishing .

Speaker 1

How did you do ?

Speaker 2

Yeah , that's it , so I'm doing it through Amazon Cool .

Speaker 1

So it's sort of like a self-publishing thing , ah , yes . I've been looking at that , yes .

Speaker 2

So what I like about it is you don't have to put money up front

Unconventional Entrepreneurship and Social Influence

. When someone gets your book , they print it for you , right ? So you obviously have to have design skills , like I designed all of it myself .

Speaker 1

Yeah , you designed the cover .

Speaker 2

Oh , it's funny because it's the one thing . People keep complimenting me on the cover and I think it does . They say don't judge a book by its cover . But let's be honest , Everybody does .

Speaker 3

That's true , sure .

Speaker 2

I wouldn't pick up a book and buy it if it looked boring . I'd be like , eh , probably not for me . Alright , bear with me here I gotta . I got to get a new phone . This thing has just seen better days . It's hit the floor one too many times , I think . Cool , there it is , oh yeah , that's good .

Speaker 3

So you created that yourself . Eh yeah , it's artsy , it's artsy .

Speaker 1

Sharp and smart . Yeah , looks cool .

Speaker 3

Untilted wisdom . It's not too For the modern , creative entrepreneur . You don't want anything too detailed because it gets lost , right ? I mean ?

Speaker 2

that looks great . It's supposed to attract artsy people . And when does the book come out ? The 30th ?

Speaker 1

The 30th end of the month .

Speaker 2

Awesome , so not too long from now .

Speaker 1

So yeah , so this episode will come out on the 27th , I think . Oh , that's perfect . So just a few days before , yeah , so that's awesome .

Speaker 2

So I mean I don't want you to give your whole book away , but we got the emotional part down . I think I talked about getting started with funding angel investors or different various routes you can take .

So , not everybody has natural connections , so I talk about different methods , from the people who naturally start out with funding can get a bank loan , and then the people like myself who couldn't get a bank loan and different avenues you can take to raise money , whether that be .

Speaker 1

That's a good story there . So you couldn't get a bank loan . So so what happened ? Like , how did ? How did you make it ? Go make a goal without any money ?

Speaker 3

Bank robbing .

Speaker 2

I probably took the most untraditional route you could take .

Speaker 1

And .

Speaker 2

I did go fund me OK . Ok did GoFundMe and it wasn't family and friends that were GoFunding me , it was strangers . Right , I already had a pretty decent social following .

Speaker 1

Sure .

Speaker 2

So it was a lot of followers that supported me .

Speaker 1

And I think it's important to ask , like your social following . I mean , these things take time and effort .

Speaker 2

They do , I know right . It does take a while following . How did you develop that ? honestly , I started doing social media I feel like almost before it was a big thing , like before it was super popular , I was just doing it just for fun , like I didn't take it too serious .

Now , over time I got really good at it and my following just kind of naturally grew and I think that's what people liked about it was the authenticity . I wasn't trying to grow a following , I was just . I was just being me and showing parts of my life and the struggles and you know tribulations of starting a business .

I I showed the things that people weren't showing back then , like the behind the curtain view I was showing me making my sign for my , my shop , because I couldn't afford a fancy one .

You know the first thing I put on my door right and like showing all those like little things that people didn't show , and people liked that because it gave them , I think , uh , inspiration but also ideas for their own yeah , and a lot of businesses .

Speaker 1

It paints a picture about that . I mean , you know you want to develop a connection with whoever you is , you know , essentially going to use your services .

Speaker 3

So I think society also , society likes a rising star . Yeah , they don't necessarily like it once you make it .

Speaker 1

But they love a rising star .

Speaker 3

Well , I was the underdog . That's what I kept getting told and I kept people . People are like rising star . Yeah , they don't necessarily like it once you make it , but they love a rising star , well I was the underdog .

Speaker 2

That's what I kept getting told and I kept people . People are like you , are underestimated consistently because you were out there killing it , but everyone thinks you're like the underdog . Now I've definitely come a long way from that underdog mentality . People don't call me that anymore . But , when I started off I didn't have the fancy business degree .

I didn't have the fancy you know income to start off my business . Everything was DIY . Literally every aspect of my business was handmade , pretty much . That's cool and I think I had like at least five businesses locally reach out and say you inspired me , like I had a bookstore that had no money to start out .

and they reached out to me and said I started my bookstore cause I followed you on Instagram and you inspired me and they even have been a part of some of my events and became a client of mine and a few other businesses too locally .

That like there's a little coffee cafe and there was a husband and wife that recently started it and they reached out and said , like I'm really inspired by how you started from nothing and they're thriving and we kind of support each other . It's sort of like an unspoken community of underdogs rooting for each other .

Speaker 3

Wonderful .

Speaker 1

That's awesome .

Speaker 3

That's a great answer yeah , it is , and so you keep saying the events that you're doing . Yeah , I know you had one . What was it like a month and a half , two months ago or something ? Yeah , you just had . What was that about ?

Speaker 2

So we do it a yearly event . I do it a yearly event . It's a nonprofit event , so it's a lot of work because I don't make a cent off of it , but it brings joy to the community . We do , uh , like I call it , a festival . Uh , it's down at the waterfront .

We've got a bunch of local businesses come together sell their creations or their wares and their services . I've got local musicians that I hire to perform on the stage that's down there . It's free to the community and this year I think we had about 6,000 people attend 6,000 .

Speaker 1

That's fantastic , which was amazing .

Speaker 2

We've been doing it for five years . What's ? The event called Super Nova Market .

Speaker 1

Super Nova Market Awesome .

Speaker 2

And I think the reason we got such a great turnout is we did a Canada Day weekend . They had that humongous ship that was down at the waterfront , the one that was supposed to be the Harry Potter ship , or whatever .

Speaker 1

Don't know if you heard about that , so we had all of those people flocking down to see that For our listeners that want context on the Harry Potter ship , it wasn't Harry Potter . It wasn't Harry Potter . What's her ?

Speaker 3

name there . Well , it was a yacht that was owned by JK Rowling .

Speaker 2

Here's a funny story though .

I don't know if it was owned , it was rented out the guy that was down there that was doing security for the ship was telling everybody that it was hers , but then at the end of the day he comes up to me and goes I just got word that it's not actually from my boss and I've been telling people all day that this is , this is her ship .

It's not even she sold it Really , yeah .

Speaker 1

So all day I watched people stop and ask him . I heard a rumor that she was renting the ship . I heard a whole totally different story , so I asked him .

Speaker 3

So what I heard was that it is her ship . She rents it out . Oh , so she wasn't actually here . I heard it was her ship . But she rents it out Like it's an income thing , a business that she operates . You pay , like like you know , twenty thousand dollars a week to whatever to rent this .

Speaker 1

I have no harry potter material , I don't like harry potter , I don't come for me , come for me , come for me . I don't care , I don't want to triple down , but I'm not against his I read .

Speaker 3

I read gracie , the first book uh , my stepdaughter and the second book when she was little , yeah watch the movies because my wife is when she was little Watch the movies Because my wife is a huge fan , so I watched the movies back in like 2013 , 2014 . She was like , hey , you should watch Harry Potter .

I was like I don't know , I don't like that , whatever right , and I'm a big Star Wars fan . I was like tell you what we'll trade off , I'll watch Star Wars , you watch Star Wars , all of them , and I'll watch all the eight movies , whatever . I watched them all I hate the first three movies last three movies were okay .

Speaker 2

They got better they got better .

Speaker 3

But then I was sitting there at the end of it I was just , I remember , I said to my wife I was like , yeah , you know what , like I like villains , just for some context I find villains the most interesting . And I was just like I said , yeah , you know , I was involved , it's actually not that bad of a villain .

I said kind of wanted him to win at the end , I kind of wanted him to beat Harry Potter . And my wife just said , looks at me and goes and let the divorce start . Oh geez . But I was like Harry Potter does nothing , nothing . It's the Weasley kid and Hermione that do all the work .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

I can't comment because I've only watched about half of the first movie and fell asleep .

Speaker 1

Yeah , I watched the first one . I don't think I ever watched another one after that . Some people are really into it . They love it . It's a thing , people love it , and that's cool .

Speaker 3

Yeah , To each their own right , yeah , oh , I don't care if other people like it , just don't make me watch it . They're long movies .

Speaker 2

Do you ? I like a good long movie Like Lord of the .

Speaker 3

Rings .

Speaker 1

A good one . Yeah , yeah , I love Lord of the Rings . Did you watch ?

Speaker 3

Oppenheimer , yet I haven't watched it yet .

Speaker 1

Dude , that was a good movie . I mean , it's old now .

Speaker 2

Not old a year old now , but I love that movie . It was long , my gosh it was oh yeah , end game .

Speaker 3

I usually fall asleep , I fall asleep , I watch TV 2019 , when , at end game , I'll sit in the theaters for three hours and , honestly , that movie could have been six hours . I would have sat there and watched .

Speaker 1

Really , yeah , he pees right in the popcorn , he doesn't even get up .

Speaker 3

Oh perfect , no , I drink the drink and then I pee in that . Okay , okay , little , just a little , just a smidge yeah , I kind of want to make a peewee herman joke . Oh my gosh .

Speaker 1

No , please don't we can take that part out . No , no , let's please leave that in , um , but uh , yeah . So I mean I I think this book actually sounds quite interesting it does really matt and I hope . Uh , we'll . We'll check it out . We'll put a link in our episode description so hopefully you can check it out , the listener .

Thank you for listening and I just wanted to say , like for us , for two meatheads here trying to run a podcast , what's the number one piece of advice you'd give for us that are creatively going in our own lane here ?

Speaker 2

I think , just to stay true to yourselves and not try to mimic anybody else , because there's so much pressures out there and people tend to , if they feel like they're not keeping up , to jump on the bandwagon of what other people are doing .

And I see that over and over again with every business and what I've noticed for myself personally what's helped me thrive is doing things completely my own way , doing it different Because how are ? you going to stand out if you're doing the same thing as everybody else ? Right , and people notice that , even though they think , oh , no one will know .

But that lack of authenticity , people pick up on that . People want you to stay true to what you're doing and what feels right for you , and if you start to just jump on the bandwagons of trends , they'll notice and they'll back away .

Speaker 1

That's fantastic advice . It's good advice . Yeah , so you're three for three , and I'm sure there's a lot more in your book . Exactly , yeah .

Speaker 3

So we'll talk about future events like what's coming up here , but if you happen to need two drunk guys to host an event , maybe think of us .

Speaker 1

We're almost never drunk .

Speaker 3

We're never drunk .

Speaker 1

We just like to drink .

Speaker 3

We have developed what's called an intolerance . Oh perfect , but you do have a couple events that are coming up , so why don't you walk us through some of those ?

Speaker 2

Sure . So I have a Christmas market that I'm running down at the St Mary's Shore Club or Boat Club or whatever you call it . It's literally like a hop , skip and jump . From here we're going to have live music . There's a beautiful stage there , right on the water Cool .

Speaker 1

When's this ?

Speaker 2

This is on November 23rd .

Speaker 1

And we're invited .

Speaker 2

You are more than welcome to come . It's going to be fun .

Speaker 1

Cool .

Speaker 2

There's going to be all kinds of local businesses there . I think of it almost like a networking event in a way , because I invite all my LinkedIn usually comes .

Speaker 1

Okay , there's going to be music . We have a folk indie singer who's going to bring her guitar and perform on the stage .

Speaker 3

Matt and I go around with the microphones and talk to people . Yeah , we should do that . Yeah , we'll go around and talk to people .

Speaker 2

You are more than welcome . Yeah , that'd be fun . We'll do that That'd be awesome . Yeah , and there's beer there .

Speaker 3

No beer , unfortunately , I know , is that like we can bring non-alcoholic beers ?

Speaker 1

Yeah , that way , there's not . If we smuggle our own beer in , we'll be in trouble .

Speaker 2

I mean , I won't tell if you don't know . Okay , I don't want to get her in trouble , but we could take non-alcoholic beers .

Speaker 3

Yeah , that's fun , I know .

Speaker 2

Hey , what you have in your flask is on you . That's right , exactly .

Speaker 3

So you American , what else ? I think you said there was one . I was on your website .

Speaker 2

I think I saw a second event so the other thing um is uh , it's not going to be till the new year is I run a conference every year , so it's a creative conference . Um , you guys should definitely be , we should talk about that . But anyways , yeah part of it . I get a lot of guest speakers , uh , vendors , uh networking

Community Collaboration and Connection

. Last year was cool . We did it at the big central library and it was awesome usually a theme um , so there's like theme decor and everything and it was fun . We had people from all walks of life . I was actually kind of like shocked it was our first year doing it and I wasn't sure what to expect . Turn it was decent .

We had like a good amount of people and we stayed connected . It was more like quality versus quantity , you know right .

Speaker 1

Nothing wrong with that . That's how that's . That's the best kind .

Speaker 2

Yeah , it was a little community we formed and we've kind of all kept in touch and like been collaborating on projects and stuff . So , yeah , awesome , very cool . More about this , for sure , yeah yeah , no , this was lovely uh , so thank you so much for reaching out .

Speaker 1

We do appreciate it . Uh , if you're listening still and and you want to reach us , hey , I got this thing I want to talk to you guys about . Please message us afternoonpoint atgmailcom . You can message us on LinkedIn .

That's how you found us and yeah , I mean , we totally appreciate that and we're all about support community , so let us know and keep an eye out for book and events . Book and events . Yeah , 100% .

Speaker 3

All right , cheers . We'll end that on a cheers Awesome thank you , that was great . Thanks you , that was great .

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