¶ Community Events and Social Enterprise
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 .
Indeed , I did .
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 .
Is that correct ? Yeah , I have a book coming out at the end of this month I'm super excited about .
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 .
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 .
And we're at Garrison Brewing . I just wanted to say , yeah , real quick , so we're back here .
The Oxford Tap Room .
Yeah .
And what are we all drinking today ? Sour to the people . Sour to the people .
The sourest of sour beers .
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 .
I went in a totally different direction and probably got the sweetest thing , the Georgia Peach .
Oh yeah , that's my partner , that's her favorite beer , so I should have a couple Georgia peach in there .
It's a good one , though . I like that on a summer day . No , it's nice , it's not too sweet .
It's just that nice little like after finish Just a touch .
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 ?
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 .
So what did you do there ?
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 .
Okay .
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 .
We did every little bit of everything those paint nights are like they're huge they were .
They were so much fun .
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 .
Yeah , they're still doing that , they're getting back into it .
I think the pandemic kind of like slowed that it probably .
Yeah , you couldn't gather and stuff like that . I was , I get it , but at one point , like I swear every week .
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 .
Everybody can paint .
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 .
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 ?
In theory that sounds great , but logistically there's some issues .
Yeah , yeah .
So , yeah , yeah , yeah , so anyway , but yeah , so you had this .
So studio , art studio , art studio , pandemic killed . It is that what happened .
Actually , we were thriving I was tired , I was so burnt out .
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 .
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 .
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 .
Oh , there you go , there you go . Good , that's so cheesy yeah that , there you go , good , good .
That's so cheesy .
Yeah , that's cheesy , but that's good .
I like cheese . I like cheese , we like puns around here , would you ?
like a little bit of cheese for that hamburger .
Oh , that's awesome . So , yeah , so , and now you're working on a book , and I think that's why you approached us .
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 .
We can come up with a new name right now .
Yeah , we'll just come up with a new name . Give me a bit of air . Oh my God .
Jacqueline of all trades .
I think it's because I only came up . The title was a last minute . That's normal , though you think it is .
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 .
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 .
What are the norms versus some of the nitty gritty ?
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 .
You know that's true , and you know how things can shift with your social circle .
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 .
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 ?
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 .
Right .
Sure .
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 ?
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 ?
General lack of understanding .
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 .
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 .
Oh god , it's a little heartbreaking right , and you're like , devoted to this exact subject .
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 ?
Yeah , and you don't want to ask . It's the same thing here , but it's free .
I mean you know , I know you watched it .
Yeah the clip and I'm like you're gonna hit the light button squad , that's yeah that's a whole chapter about .
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 .
No , that's pretty accurate .
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 ?
You start to feel that way yeah , even with Instagram .
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 .
You will starve .
You will starve . You will starve .
Because there's a lot that will say we'll come out and support you , but then you don't right .
Yeah .
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 ?
Exactly .
You know at least going like , like and , in fairness though , in retrospect .
How many things popped up on your wall that you didn't like .
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 .
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 .
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 .
A hundred percent , that's true .
And we have some fans that neither one of us know , and that's always the most endearing .
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 .
You know what , While we're on the friends and family thing , I should actually mention we're almost family .
We are yeah . Yeah , we discovered this after she reached out Right , I had no idea .
Yeah , we had no idea .
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 .
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 .
That's Puma . Where's Timon Kunimatata ?
Oh wow , Very cool . Shout out to Garrison .
Shout out to Garrison sorry , and you know where's .
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 .
Yeah .
Right , I hope you all like it yeah .
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 .
Right .
But I think if you can persevere and go , okay . I don't care if anyone likes this , I do .
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 ?
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 .
Well , kind of like looking at that for us .
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 .
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 .
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 .
Yeah .
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 .
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 .
Oh yeah , and who better than the people you trust ?
Yes , absolutely that natural comfortability and that charisma that flows .
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 .
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 .
He gave me a few bucks too .
Hey , why not Exactly ? Yeah , so win-win , so that's the thing .
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 .
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 .
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 .
Well , it's great for networking , because people that you may never have interacted with or had the opportunity oh for sure .
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 .
I think most of us have become like that . I'm not Matt's a total extrovert .
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 .
I run out of fuel . I have a tank . I'm more like you .
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 .
Oh yeah , I was just in .
Vegas and like I had to call Uber and hey man , what are you doing here ?
And if I was the Uber driver I would have said get in the back . Some people like it , some people don't right .
Yeah , that's , true you usually tell pretty quickly if they're being receptive to your friendliness .
No , he was good . Yeah , we had a whole good chat on the way to the airport .
That's how you live , though that's good . That's a real positive thing .
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 ?
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 .
How did you do ?
Yeah , that's it , so I'm doing it through Amazon Cool .
So it's sort of like a self-publishing thing , ah , yes . I've been looking at that , yes .
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 .
Yeah , you designed the cover .
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 .
That's true , sure .
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 .
So you created that yourself . Eh yeah , it's artsy , it's artsy .
Sharp and smart . Yeah , looks cool .
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 ?
that looks great . It's supposed to attract artsy people . And when does the book come out ? The 30th ?
The 30th end of the month .
Awesome , so not too long from now .
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 .
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 .
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 ?
Bank robbing .
I probably took the most untraditional route you could take .
And .
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 .
Sure .
So it was a lot of followers that supported me .
And I think it's important to ask , like your social following . I mean , these things take time and effort .
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 .
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 .
So I think society also , society likes a rising star . Yeah , they don't necessarily like it once you make it .
But they love a rising star .
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 .
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 .
Wonderful .
That's awesome .
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 ?
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 .
That's fantastic , which was amazing .
We've been doing it for five years . What's ? The event called Super Nova Market .
Super Nova Market Awesome .
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 .
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 ?
name there . Well , it was a yacht that was owned by JK Rowling .
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 .
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 .
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 .
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 .
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 .
They got better they got better .
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 .
Yeah .
I can't comment because I've only watched about half of the first movie and fell asleep .
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 .
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 .
Do you ? I like a good long movie Like Lord of the .
Rings .
A good one . Yeah , yeah , I love Lord of the Rings . Did you watch ?
Oppenheimer , yet I haven't watched it yet .
Dude , that was a good movie . I mean , it's old now .
Not old a year old now , but I love that movie . It was long , my gosh it was oh yeah , end game .
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 .
Really , yeah , he pees right in the popcorn , he doesn't even get up .
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 .
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 ?
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 .
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 .
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 .
We're almost never drunk .
We're never drunk .
We just like to drink .
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 ?
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 .
When's this ?
This is on November 23rd .
And we're invited .
You are more than welcome to come . It's going to be fun .
Cool .
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 .
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 .
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 .
You are more than welcome . Yeah , that'd be fun . We'll do that That'd be awesome . Yeah , and there's beer there .
No beer , unfortunately , I know , is that like we can bring non-alcoholic beers ?
Yeah , that way , there's not . If we smuggle our own beer in , we'll be in trouble .
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 .
Yeah , that's fun , I know .
Hey , what you have in your flask is on you . That's right , exactly .
So you American , what else ? I think you said there was one . I was on your website .
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 .
Nothing wrong with that . That's how that's . That's the best kind .
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 .
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% .
All right , cheers . We'll end that on a cheers Awesome thank you , that was great . Thanks you , that was great .