WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.940 Hey everyone, welcome back to Buzzworthy. I'm 00:00:02.940 --> 00:00:06.860 your host, Shalicia Harris. I dive into the rare 00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:10.119 stories entrepreneurs tell about building their 00:00:10.119 --> 00:00:13.039 businesses, but most importantly, themselves. 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:17.280 Let's get into it. Hello everyone, welcome back 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:19.600 to Buzzworthy. I'm your host, Shalicia Harris. 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:23.800 And today in our Buzzworthy studio, we have... 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:29.920 Tej Sandhu from Merritt Brewing. Such a good 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:33.179 Hamilton staple, especially if you've been here 00:00:33.179 --> 00:00:37.219 in the past, let's say just around seven, eight 00:00:37.219 --> 00:00:42.479 years. You could not have not heard of Merritt 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:44.920 Brewing and you hopefully would have been there 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:49.100 through an art crawl. through networking events, 00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:53.740 and just to have fun and have a good local craft 00:00:53.740 --> 00:00:59.920 beer in the city. Tej, so happy to have you here. 00:01:00.700 --> 00:01:05.260 Met you at a networking event for, you know, 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.379 international entrepreneurs. And that was fantastic. 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:11.019 And I heard your story for the very first time. 00:01:11.079 --> 00:01:13.799 And to come from you, I think, is even more special 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:17.540 to hear that. And so I'm even more elated to 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:19.920 dive into that a little bit here because that 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:22.680 was just like a 10 minute powwow. And now we 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:25.760 get to like go into the real story and talk about 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:28.299 your journey. Yeah, that's great. No, thank you 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:30.079 so much. First of all, for for having me here. 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:33.000 This is, you know, really special to be have 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.200 to be having, you know, conversations like this. 00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:37.439 This is, you know, an important thing that you're 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:39.140 doing here. I love what you're doing with the 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:41.659 buzzworthy podcast and now grateful to be here 00:01:41.659 --> 00:01:44.599 for the chat. I'm so happy. I'm so happy. You're 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:48.319 happy to be here. And you're so open and warm. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.659 And so I look forward to like such a good, rich 00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:55.879 conversation. And so many of the positive things 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:58.170 that you've said. said and just like words of 00:01:58.170 --> 00:02:01.310 wisdom people will get coming out of you because 00:02:01.310 --> 00:02:04.049 your story took like wines through different 00:02:04.049 --> 00:02:07.409 industries and I think anyone that's thinking 00:02:07.409 --> 00:02:10.210 about entrepreneurship shouldn't be fearful that 00:02:10.210 --> 00:02:13.389 they don't know about something but your approach 00:02:13.389 --> 00:02:17.689 has been fantastic and I think that is what really 00:02:17.689 --> 00:02:21.310 stands out to me about you and it ultimately 00:02:21.310 --> 00:02:23.509 led to so many of the successes that you've had 00:02:23.509 --> 00:02:26.689 so far but before we get into that we got to 00:02:26.689 --> 00:02:31.030 go way way back way back um what do you think 00:02:31.030 --> 00:02:36.349 set you up in your life so far to be an entrepreneur 00:02:36.349 --> 00:02:43.530 so i was very lucky to be almost blissfully ignorant 00:02:43.530 --> 00:02:46.949 about entrepreneurship from a very young age. 00:02:48.810 --> 00:02:51.530 Entrepreneurship is in my family's DNA at the 00:02:51.530 --> 00:02:54.310 end of the day. So my grandfather, he immigrated 00:02:54.310 --> 00:02:59.030 here to Canada when he was very young. had some 00:02:59.030 --> 00:03:03.129 jobs in steel mills and in kitchens and in places 00:03:03.129 --> 00:03:06.330 that he didn't necessarily love the work, but 00:03:06.330 --> 00:03:10.409 were places that he was able to land as an immigrant 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:13.150 and as a young person coming to Canada in the 00:03:13.150 --> 00:03:19.460 early 1900s. What he found out about himself 00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:22.360 was that he loved talking to people. He loved 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:26.419 finding something that people needed and filling 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:30.099 that need. So he was a natural salesperson. So 00:03:30.099 --> 00:03:34.219 he decided one day to start knocking doors, selling 00:03:34.219 --> 00:03:37.180 blue jeans. Blue jeans were all the rage. They 00:03:37.180 --> 00:03:40.139 were new. They weren't slacks. They were this 00:03:40.139 --> 00:03:43.819 amazing casual thing that folks could buy apparently 00:03:43.819 --> 00:03:46.139 from the door. Yeah, he basically helped start 00:03:46.139 --> 00:03:49.020 the... you know. What is it called? The Canadian 00:03:49.020 --> 00:03:51.539 Tuxedo? The Canadian Tuxedo. Yeah, he might have 00:03:51.539 --> 00:03:55.219 been wearing one himself. So he started selling 00:03:55.219 --> 00:03:57.500 things door -to -door. First jeans, then his 00:03:57.500 --> 00:03:59.979 cousin in the UK said, hey, pantyhose are all 00:03:59.979 --> 00:04:01.840 the rage. You've got to start selling pantyhose 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:03.800 for the women that you're meeting door -to -door 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:06.539 as well. He started doing that. Then he moved 00:04:06.539 --> 00:04:10.439 into electronics. So the television became popularized 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:13.020 and more accessible to more households. He started 00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:16.339 selling TVs. He had a brilliant approach to selling 00:04:16.339 --> 00:04:20.279 TVs. he would. offer to set up the satellite 00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:23.459 dish and the TV in someone's house for free. 00:04:23.620 --> 00:04:25.180 And hey, I'll come back in a week. If you don't 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:27.560 like it, I'll take it away for you. And once 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:30.139 it was in the house, families, kids especially, 00:04:30.420 --> 00:04:32.879 didn't want that TV to go. And people saw how 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:34.519 much effort it was to put that satellite on the 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:36.519 roof that they didn't want to have him have to 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:38.459 go through that effort again. So he sold a lot 00:04:38.459 --> 00:04:41.579 of TVs. And at one point, there was a contest 00:04:41.579 --> 00:04:46.160 nationwide. One of the suppliers said, who can 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.740 sell the most TV? And he ended up winning. And 00:04:48.740 --> 00:04:51.319 the prize for that was a Cadillac. So you've 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:54.560 got this young immigrant kid all of a sudden 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:59.699 with a brand new Caddy, really realizing what 00:04:59.699 --> 00:05:02.800 opportunity entrepreneurship can provide. And 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.360 so he took that as an opportunity to open up 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:09.319 a shop. And so he sold electronics and he sold 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:14.300 furniture. And over the years, He built a company 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:17.339 called Merritt Furniture that at one point had 00:05:17.339 --> 00:05:19.939 22 stores across British Columbia, small towns 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:27.279 mostly. My dad and his family hopped from small 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:29.339 town to small town, Prince Rupert to Prince George 00:05:29.339 --> 00:05:33.319 to the Okanagan and everywhere around the province. 00:05:34.329 --> 00:05:37.509 What they were really doing, the real purpose 00:05:37.509 --> 00:05:41.410 for them growing these stores was so that they 00:05:41.410 --> 00:05:43.550 could actually bring folks from our village in 00:05:43.550 --> 00:05:47.569 India to Canada. My grandparents had that opportunity 00:05:47.569 --> 00:05:50.269 very early on. They were grateful for that opportunity. 00:05:50.529 --> 00:05:53.870 They were able to use some of the money they 00:05:53.870 --> 00:05:56.189 were earning very early on in their time in Canada 00:05:56.189 --> 00:05:58.149 to send it back to the village to make sure that 00:05:58.149 --> 00:06:00.310 the rest of their family and the rest of the 00:06:00.310 --> 00:06:02.910 village had some support and felt some support 00:06:02.910 --> 00:06:04.550 from them. even though they weren't there anymore. 00:06:05.029 --> 00:06:06.810 But they realized they could really multiply 00:06:06.810 --> 00:06:08.769 that effect if they brought more folks over to 00:06:08.769 --> 00:06:11.029 Canada, housed them, clothed them, employed them, 00:06:11.170 --> 00:06:14.769 fed them, made sure that they had the same opportunity 00:06:14.769 --> 00:06:17.389 that they did, and they could also send money 00:06:17.389 --> 00:06:19.310 back to the village. So really kind of ensuring 00:06:19.310 --> 00:06:23.569 financial security and a financial future for 00:06:23.569 --> 00:06:26.269 the people that either weren't or didn't want 00:06:26.269 --> 00:06:28.850 to necessarily come to Canada. So it really became 00:06:28.850 --> 00:06:33.480 this purpose -driven venture for my grandparents. 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:36.959 They were good at selling furniture and electronics. 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:38.839 They didn't care that much about furniture and 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:41.279 electronics, though. That wasn't the point. The 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:43.360 point was community impact. And at the end of 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:45.379 the day, what they did was build a community 00:06:45.379 --> 00:06:51.069 across BC of Punjabi folks. That are, you know, 00:06:51.069 --> 00:06:53.269 now multiplied, you know, with multiple generations 00:06:53.269 --> 00:06:56.730 since then. And that really is their legacy. 00:06:56.870 --> 00:06:59.449 So I grew up seeing that and I grew up understanding 00:06:59.449 --> 00:07:01.810 that. I, you know, love the summers that I flew 00:07:01.810 --> 00:07:05.569 to B .C. to help deliver furniture in vans and, 00:07:05.629 --> 00:07:08.810 you know, take trips with my uncles, air quotes, 00:07:09.009 --> 00:07:12.149 you know, to get furniture into people's house 00:07:12.149 --> 00:07:15.410 and see that firsthand. And so, you know, really 00:07:15.410 --> 00:07:18.269 when it came to, you know, being an entrepreneur. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:22.579 There was almost a sense of, well, a poor immigrant 00:07:22.579 --> 00:07:28.560 kid from India in the 1920s could do this. Why 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:32.939 can't I? I have an idea. I have the will. I have 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:37.939 the work ethic that I've learned. I want to earn 00:07:37.939 --> 00:07:41.139 money. So this is what I'm going to do. Yeah. 00:07:42.739 --> 00:07:45.139 absolutely love that story and I love that you 00:07:45.139 --> 00:07:47.879 told it in so much detail because one of the 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:49.660 very first things you started the story with 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:53.500 was he did something that he did not necessarily 00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:57.399 like and I think today a lot of people struggle 00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:00.819 and they really look at what is my purpose right 00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:06.920 now and I think that becomes that becomes like 00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:11.750 a barrier for them to actually just taken action 00:08:11.750 --> 00:08:15.990 and doing something because he started with jeans, 00:08:16.250 --> 00:08:20.829 then pantyhose, then TVs and then a furniture 00:08:20.829 --> 00:08:24.730 store. But the real purpose of his entire life 00:08:24.730 --> 00:08:27.850 and his story that he probably wanted was to 00:08:27.850 --> 00:08:31.449 ensure that his community, his people, the people 00:08:31.449 --> 00:08:33.750 he cared about the most were actually taken care 00:08:33.750 --> 00:08:37.700 of. while delivering exceptional value to other 00:08:37.700 --> 00:08:40.759 people. So it's not necessarily about the direct 00:08:40.759 --> 00:08:43.620 thing in front of him, but it's really about 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:46.820 the bigger picture for him. And that's what he 00:08:46.820 --> 00:08:49.500 was really chasing. And I think that could be 00:08:49.500 --> 00:08:52.269 such a good lesson for people that are. that 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:56.149 are stuck and it sort of takes me back to when 00:08:56.149 --> 00:08:59.289 i first graduated university it was just like 00:08:59.289 --> 00:09:02.070 go get a corporate gig climb the corporate ladder 00:09:02.070 --> 00:09:04.289 and that was it but that didn't actually happen 00:09:04.289 --> 00:09:07.129 for me i ended up working at a small sign shop 00:09:07.129 --> 00:09:11.120 which i had no idea where this would go. But 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:13.240 I was just like, let's take it. Let's start. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:15.480 We're going to build some skills here and we're 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:17.259 going to eventually get to where we are. And 00:09:17.259 --> 00:09:20.539 I think that approach definitely very similar 00:09:20.539 --> 00:09:22.399 to your grandfather has gotten me to where I 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:25.360 am today and allowed me to get to a place where 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:27.820 I can sit, have conversations with people that 00:09:27.820 --> 00:09:30.539 I like and talk about their great businesses 00:09:30.539 --> 00:09:34.399 and what inspires them. And, you know, it's just 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.019 like, just start somewhere, start somewhere, 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:40.909 do something. and keep an open mind. And I think 00:09:40.909 --> 00:09:45.129 your grandfather like exemplified that very, 00:09:45.269 --> 00:09:48.490 very much in that story. And and you saw it your 00:09:48.490 --> 00:09:51.549 whole life growing up. You even got to participate 00:09:51.549 --> 00:09:56.850 in it. And I think that that really builds, you 00:09:56.850 --> 00:10:00.429 know, confidence and grit and risk taking sort 00:10:00.429 --> 00:10:03.690 of, like you said, right into your DNA. Yeah. 00:10:03.809 --> 00:10:08.809 Yeah. No, he he. evolved his, his business. Um, 00:10:09.250 --> 00:10:12.870 you know, as, as it grew, as a, you know, as 00:10:12.870 --> 00:10:15.529 he saw what people needed, um, you know, he went 00:10:15.529 --> 00:10:17.289 through the, you know, the same stages that any 00:10:17.289 --> 00:10:19.309 entrepreneur that very strategically thinks about, 00:10:19.370 --> 00:10:22.110 you know, what they need to do and want to do 00:10:22.110 --> 00:10:24.750 to grow their business. Um, he did that without, 00:10:24.789 --> 00:10:27.149 you know, a grand, you know, a grand plan without, 00:10:27.190 --> 00:10:30.570 you know, literally any education. He, when he 00:10:30.570 --> 00:10:34.389 came, he was, um, He should have been in a grade 00:10:34.389 --> 00:10:36.149 six or seven classroom. He was put into a kindergarten 00:10:36.149 --> 00:10:40.750 classroom because of his language and was basically 00:10:40.750 --> 00:10:43.710 ridiculed out of school. So he didn't have the 00:10:43.710 --> 00:10:45.830 opportunity like we did to go to business school 00:10:45.830 --> 00:10:48.370 and have this background that taught him what 00:10:48.370 --> 00:10:51.789 the prescribed kind of steps to building a business 00:10:51.789 --> 00:10:54.269 were. But he was able to figure it out. And again, 00:10:54.309 --> 00:10:56.830 that kind of led to this blissful ignorance of 00:10:56.830 --> 00:10:58.759 like. okay i want to do something i'm going to 00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:01.980 go get it and hey i was only 16 at the time um 00:11:01.980 --> 00:11:04.200 i hadn't yet you know gone to business school 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:08.740 but um let's go yeah yeah that's incredible and 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:11.320 i mean you sort of started your own ventures 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:15.720 um very early as well you know um starting with 00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:18.429 sort of And maybe you did something before this, 00:11:18.490 --> 00:11:21.129 but like your music career. Right. So tell us 00:11:21.129 --> 00:11:23.850 tell us about that and how that sort of built 00:11:23.850 --> 00:11:26.309 you from, you know, that industry, because you 00:11:26.309 --> 00:11:28.169 were in university at the time when it sort of 00:11:28.169 --> 00:11:30.509 started. Take us through that story. Sure. Yeah. 00:11:30.570 --> 00:11:33.149 I mean, from a from a pretty young age, I actually 00:11:33.149 --> 00:11:35.850 love to work. You know, I really liked participating 00:11:35.850 --> 00:11:38.970 in a business, whether it was my first job was 00:11:38.970 --> 00:11:41.970 Quiznos. And I loved going to Quiznos and making 00:11:41.970 --> 00:11:44.889 subs. But I also knew that. you know, going to 00:11:44.889 --> 00:11:46.549 Quiznos and making subs wasn't the only thing 00:11:46.549 --> 00:11:48.710 that I, you know, wanted to do. So, you know, 00:11:48.730 --> 00:11:51.610 very quickly I kind of turned my attention to, 00:11:51.730 --> 00:11:54.110 you know, what do I love to do and can I turn 00:11:54.110 --> 00:11:56.230 that into something that I, you know, at the 00:11:56.230 --> 00:11:58.129 time, you know, want to do for the rest of my 00:11:58.129 --> 00:12:02.549 life as a career. I was making music as a hobby, 00:12:02.669 --> 00:12:05.009 so producing music, specifically kind of in the 00:12:05.009 --> 00:12:09.850 hip -hop and R &B genre in Toronto. And, you 00:12:09.850 --> 00:12:12.509 know, I enjoyed making music. I, you know, really 00:12:12.509 --> 00:12:15.840 loved the... kind of connection with artists 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:17.740 and the creative process of working with artists 00:12:17.740 --> 00:12:22.340 in a studio. I had a great knack for meeting 00:12:22.340 --> 00:12:24.220 the right people, getting into the right rooms. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:27.200 I was pretty good at making music, but I was 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:30.399 pretty great at that other side of it. My network, 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:34.539 my music went farther than it probably should 00:12:34.539 --> 00:12:40.200 have. So that basically made me realize, hey, 00:12:40.259 --> 00:12:42.000 I'm really good at this one thing and I'm okay. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:45.039 know at this other there are people that are 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:48.779 great at making music that maybe aren't so great 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:52.820 at connecting and you know having that um having 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:55.220 that network that i did so i approached a few 00:12:55.220 --> 00:12:58.480 producers uh in toronto that i knew and you know 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.620 really loved their music but i kind of thought 00:13:00.620 --> 00:13:03.279 it was you know under recognized and under uh 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:06.299 you know distributed um said hey i wanna i wanna 00:13:06.299 --> 00:13:08.519 kind of manage your careers i wanna see if i 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:11.679 can tap into what i've been doing but but put 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:13.679 you in these rooms and because i think it can 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:16.940 go farther Yeah. And, you know, with their trust, 00:13:17.019 --> 00:13:20.019 you know, and we were all 16. So this wasn't 00:13:20.019 --> 00:13:22.179 something where, you know, we were I was having 00:13:22.179 --> 00:13:24.100 to approach, you know, folks that were a decade 00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:27.600 older than me yet. But, you know, we as, you 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:29.980 know, a group of young folks, you know, approach 00:13:29.980 --> 00:13:32.340 this kind of shared goal of building something 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:34.639 together. And I had all these producers working 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:38.350 together. in studios not necessarily you know 00:13:38.350 --> 00:13:40.269 this producer works on project a this producer 00:13:40.269 --> 00:13:44.309 works on project b we built um the organization 00:13:44.309 --> 00:13:47.539 around you know, the shared goal for everybody. 00:13:47.820 --> 00:13:50.740 Um, so that, uh, spun off into, you know, from 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:53.600 two producers to four and then in Canada and 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:55.440 then eventually four producers and an artist 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:58.879 in, uh, the, uh, Europe, um, that we, that we 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:01.000 met through, through a network. And, um, this 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:03.139 group was, you know, working together on some 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:05.620 amazing projects. We were lucky enough to kind 00:14:05.620 --> 00:14:08.899 of catch the early Drake wave, um, and, uh, work 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:11.279 on some stuff, uh, his early projects, a lot 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:13.320 of, yeah, a lot of large artists in the U S that 00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:15.730 we got to spend time in studio. in New York and 00:14:15.730 --> 00:14:20.090 Miami and LA. It started to become this dream 00:14:20.090 --> 00:14:25.019 realized as a pretty young kid. I went to McMaster 00:14:25.019 --> 00:14:27.120 University a couple of years after I started 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.240 doing this. And, you know, with the goal of, 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:32.860 you know, having a bit of a baseline or, you 00:14:32.860 --> 00:14:34.399 know, set of skills that I could learn at business 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.000 school that would help me grow that business. 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:40.919 I took a few less courses every semester so I 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:43.639 could kind of manage the business as well. I 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.580 took some time away from school to go work in 00:14:46.580 --> 00:14:49.980 Miami and New York on like larger projects that 00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:52.899 we were involved in. And yeah, it was really 00:14:52.899 --> 00:14:55.850 kind of back. balanced this goal and vision that 00:14:55.850 --> 00:14:59.830 I had for working in the music industry while 00:14:59.830 --> 00:15:02.470 kind of trying to get this little baseline going 00:15:02.470 --> 00:15:05.210 as well. And it was really cool. You know, again, 00:15:05.370 --> 00:15:08.169 we had some great experiences. It certainly went 00:15:08.169 --> 00:15:10.649 farther than it would have had I kind of pursued 00:15:10.649 --> 00:15:14.580 a creative career myself. But at the end of the 00:15:14.580 --> 00:15:17.240 day, I also knew that I was pretty limited as 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:19.960 an entrepreneur as well. I was really having 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:24.379 to make this up as I was going along, which is 00:15:24.379 --> 00:15:26.480 OK. You know, that's a way to that's a really 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:28.659 important way to learn it. I was making a lot 00:15:28.659 --> 00:15:31.799 of mistakes. I was, you know, really, you know, 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:34.440 realizing where I needed to, you know, increase 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:39.340 my experience and knowledge base and what that 00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:41.980 kind of ended up shifting. You know, my mindset, 00:15:42.019 --> 00:15:45.039 too, was, OK, you know, now coming up to the 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:47.860 end of university, I've been building this business 00:15:47.860 --> 00:15:53.440 for five years without, you know, bringing either 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:56.460 more folks on or, you know, basically where I'm 00:15:56.460 --> 00:15:58.659 at with. my experience i don't know how much 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:00.820 i how much bigger i can build this okay i think 00:16:00.820 --> 00:16:03.100 i need to learn from someone else yeah um so 00:16:03.100 --> 00:16:06.120 i ended up making sure that the producers and 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:08.000 artists that i was representing had you know 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:12.039 good homes to go to with other agencies and decided 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:15.429 to kind of pivot my experience in the music industry 00:16:15.429 --> 00:16:19.370 towards the live side of the industry. So I got 00:16:19.370 --> 00:16:23.070 a job as an agent in Toronto. So booking tours 00:16:23.070 --> 00:16:25.950 and, you know, the strategy around an artist's 00:16:25.950 --> 00:16:29.629 live career. Big change and a big, you know, 00:16:29.629 --> 00:16:32.830 big pivot for me. But that was that was that 00:16:32.830 --> 00:16:35.009 was the brief pause in the entrepreneurial ventures 00:16:35.009 --> 00:16:37.620 before before I continued on. But I think that's 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:41.399 so necessary, right? Because sometimes when I 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:43.379 had someone say this to me the other day, when 00:16:43.379 --> 00:16:45.279 you're too close to a tree, you can't actually 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:50.740 see the forest. So I think recognizing that you 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:55.159 do need that pause in order to, you know. go 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:57.840 to that bigger thing that you have. And something 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.320 we talked about once upon a time was a North 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:04.940 Star. Like, how did your North Star develop as 00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:08.460 you went through all of these experiences? Because 00:17:08.460 --> 00:17:10.099 first of all, I didn't realize you started at 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:13.799 16. Most 16 year olds are just hanging out in 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:17.039 the parks, you know, riding bikes. You're building 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:19.890 a home. I was probably doing that too. You're 00:17:19.890 --> 00:17:22.769 building a whole business and to have people 00:17:22.769 --> 00:17:26.529 trust you at such a pivotal age. What do you 00:17:26.529 --> 00:17:32.579 think that actually was? You know, I think. for 00:17:32.579 --> 00:17:34.740 the artists i think there was a lot of trust 00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:37.500 because i had you know come from that creative 00:17:37.500 --> 00:17:40.339 background as well i i i really understood their 00:17:40.339 --> 00:17:43.960 world and i understood their role um but i also 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:46.119 had a set of you know skills and experiences 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:48.319 that were different enough for them that they 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:50.240 knew they didn't have and i think that you know 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.319 we were very complimentary yeah um you know even 00:17:53.319 --> 00:17:55.200 with the the producers and the artists you know 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:57.319 i was still contributing to the creative process 00:17:57.319 --> 00:17:59.519 we were you know with the artists in europe we 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:02.109 were still on the time it was skype We were still 00:18:02.109 --> 00:18:04.670 on Skype calls, you know, making music together, 00:18:04.849 --> 00:18:08.349 you know. So, you know, being able to kind of 00:18:08.349 --> 00:18:09.950 earn their trust through the creative process 00:18:09.950 --> 00:18:12.829 was a big part of that for sure. And that's just 00:18:12.829 --> 00:18:16.079 a way to simply even showcase your skills. Right. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:18.920 Yeah. Yeah. And for me to, you know, still scratch 00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:20.759 that creative itch every once in a while as well, 00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:23.119 too, because I, you know, it was it was kind 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:25.180 of difficult stepping away from that, you know, 00:18:25.180 --> 00:18:27.339 more fully. And, you know, sometimes still is, 00:18:27.420 --> 00:18:30.779 you know, I miss that sometimes. But that was 00:18:30.779 --> 00:18:33.460 able that was it kind of enabled me to, you know, 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:35.579 stay connected to that a little bit, too. Is 00:18:35.579 --> 00:18:37.619 your creative itch being fulfilled in another 00:18:37.619 --> 00:18:43.910 way now? I think so, yeah. I think that's a bit 00:18:43.910 --> 00:18:46.769 of a constant work in progress. I actually think 00:18:46.769 --> 00:18:51.759 I've always tried to have... creativity at the 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:53.279 root of any business that I've been involved 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:58.019 in. So naturally through the course of business 00:18:58.019 --> 00:19:00.299 operations, there's the opportunity to be creative. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.039 Beer is very creative, for example. So when we 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:07.000 went into opening the brewery, I knew that I 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:09.799 wanted to root that business in its creativity. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:14.160 Everything from being able to design the space 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:18.130 myself to... guide the branding and be the creative 00:19:18.130 --> 00:19:21.890 director for any, you know, visual part of the 00:19:21.890 --> 00:19:24.769 brewery to, you know, designing and creating 00:19:24.769 --> 00:19:26.930 beers to, you know, all of those things are creative 00:19:26.930 --> 00:19:29.849 pieces of the business that, you know, still 00:19:29.849 --> 00:19:34.230 still scratch that. Yeah. So would you say creativity 00:19:34.230 --> 00:19:40.980 to some degree is your North Star? I wouldn't 00:19:40.980 --> 00:19:44.940 say it's the North Star. Okay. I think it's certainly 00:19:44.940 --> 00:19:49.289 something that, you know, I root. my interests 00:19:49.289 --> 00:19:52.410 in, but I don't think it's the thing that I drive 00:19:52.410 --> 00:19:57.089 towards in every decision. I think that goes 00:19:57.089 --> 00:19:59.309 further back and back to my grandparents' story, 00:19:59.390 --> 00:20:02.690 really. They built their business with purpose. 00:20:03.029 --> 00:20:09.190 And to me, that led to a really strong, resilient... 00:20:10.490 --> 00:20:12.470 you know business operation for them because 00:20:12.470 --> 00:20:15.329 they had that that route and you know every tough 00:20:15.329 --> 00:20:18.549 decision going through you know recessions you 00:20:18.549 --> 00:20:21.650 know that were you know depressions right like 00:20:21.650 --> 00:20:24.430 they had to go through some of those times but 00:20:24.430 --> 00:20:27.170 you know they we're able to navigate that a little 00:20:27.170 --> 00:20:30.109 bit easier because of that North Star. You know, 00:20:30.109 --> 00:20:32.910 so for me, you know, understanding that a business 00:20:32.910 --> 00:20:35.849 can have a purpose and what that purpose looks 00:20:35.849 --> 00:20:38.529 like for me, which is, you know, impacting community. 00:20:39.170 --> 00:20:41.809 And while, you know, I haven't been able to bring 00:20:41.809 --> 00:20:43.609 thousands of people over from, you know, India 00:20:43.609 --> 00:20:46.730 to Canada, I've always looked at what difference 00:20:46.730 --> 00:20:50.230 can I make in my community as an individual first, 00:20:50.369 --> 00:20:52.289 but also, you know, as a business, you know, 00:20:52.289 --> 00:20:54.940 with our voice, with our dollars, you know. with 00:20:54.940 --> 00:20:57.980 our space with our products how can we use that 00:20:57.980 --> 00:21:01.599 for you know for for something greater than just 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:03.400 the idea of making something and telling something 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:06.339 yeah and I love that you mentioned your space 00:21:06.339 --> 00:21:10.259 because if you've never been to Merritt Brewing 00:21:10.259 --> 00:21:13.740 I'm sure their photos online as well too it really 00:21:13.740 --> 00:21:16.839 is open concept with picnic table type structure 00:21:16.839 --> 00:21:22.859 and that in itself says Because if two people 00:21:22.859 --> 00:21:25.299 go in, then another two people can go and share 00:21:25.299 --> 00:21:28.359 the same table. And there's no real separation. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:31.920 And it just makes it so much easier to build 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:34.079 that bridge with someone else. And that truly 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:37.940 is community building. So I absolutely see like 00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:40.200 community, you know, very similar to your grandparents 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:45.140 being your North Star and really being able to 00:21:45.140 --> 00:21:48.039 pull people together, even at a super young age 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:51.640 at 16. pulling the team together, that's still 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:55.039 a community in itself that has different skills, 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:59.140 that has different talents and can achieve something 00:21:59.140 --> 00:22:04.339 together and have fun at the same time. No, all 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:07.259 of that with Merit, that communal space and those 00:22:07.259 --> 00:22:09.640 tables were so purposeful from the beginning. 00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:13.240 That was really reflective of what we wanted 00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:16.900 people's experience to be with Merit. beer to 00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:19.240 people is fizzy yellow water. It is not that 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:22.720 for us at all. It is an opportunity to be creative 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:26.079 with the flavors. That is obviously different 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:28.779 than fizzy yellow water. But really for us, what 00:22:28.779 --> 00:22:30.960 beer is about is the experience you have with 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:33.900 beer at the end of the day. Beer is a great facilitator 00:22:33.900 --> 00:22:36.519 of experience. It is a great opportunity to sit 00:22:36.519 --> 00:22:38.680 down with a friend and have a chat. It is a great 00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:40.539 opportunity to sit down at one of our tables 00:22:40.539 --> 00:22:42.940 and meet someone brand new. And if you sit down 00:22:42.940 --> 00:22:46.019 at that table and someone's next to you, you 00:22:46.019 --> 00:22:48.099 probably have a couple things in common. First 00:22:48.099 --> 00:22:50.319 and foremost, you're at Merritt, so you must 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:53.059 like beer, you must like food. You're in Hamilton. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:57.640 Hey, it's really easy to say, have you been here 00:22:57.640 --> 00:22:59.900 before? What are you drinking? Are you from Hamilton? 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.680 There's so many kind of jumping off points that 00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:06.259 conversation can have around a table and the 00:23:06.259 --> 00:23:08.900 type of table that we set at Merritt that is 00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:11.640 really the experience we want people to have 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:16.750 while they're there. I wonder when you look back 00:23:16.750 --> 00:23:22.690 at the really early beginnings of Merritt, what 00:23:22.690 --> 00:23:26.990 made you think there was space in a city like 00:23:26.990 --> 00:23:32.730 Hamilton, southern Ontario, for... I don't want 00:23:32.730 --> 00:23:36.289 to say another brewing company, but there are 00:23:36.289 --> 00:23:39.089 quite a few that people know already. But what 00:23:39.089 --> 00:23:42.589 did you see that was just like, I fit right into 00:23:42.589 --> 00:23:47.269 this fabric while being an extension of this 00:23:47.269 --> 00:23:51.349 bigger community? Yeah, so we opened in 2017 00:23:51.349 --> 00:23:54.930 and planning started about three years earlier. 00:23:55.190 --> 00:23:59.690 So in 2014, the industry was quite small. There 00:23:59.690 --> 00:24:03.690 were probably 130, 140 breweries in the province, 00:24:03.789 --> 00:24:08.809 which might sound big, but we got up to 420 rather 00:24:08.809 --> 00:24:12.150 recently before there has been, unfortunately, 00:24:12.309 --> 00:24:15.529 some retraction. But at the time, we weren't 00:24:15.529 --> 00:24:17.890 saturated breweries. We had Collective Arts in 00:24:17.890 --> 00:24:20.529 Hamilton, had opened up a few years prior, and 00:24:20.529 --> 00:24:23.750 they were embodying this great creative spirit 00:24:23.750 --> 00:24:26.450 that existed around beer, especially with their 00:24:26.450 --> 00:24:29.319 focus on music. It was pretty incredible. see 00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:33.359 them kind of reigniting the craft beer scene 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:36.140 in Hamilton. But otherwise, no one had opened 00:24:36.140 --> 00:24:39.779 up. So strictly from a numbers perspective, we 00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:41.579 saw, okay, there's opportunity in Hamilton for 00:24:41.579 --> 00:24:45.539 sure. But more than anything, we saw the type 00:24:45.539 --> 00:24:49.529 of brewery that we wanted to open. only working 00:24:49.529 --> 00:24:52.329 in Hamilton. We knew we wanted to root it in 00:24:52.329 --> 00:24:57.230 Hamilton. I mentioned I went to McMaster. I'd 00:24:57.230 --> 00:25:00.970 been in the US and in Toronto for about five 00:25:00.970 --> 00:25:03.950 years. between that time. But, you know, coming 00:25:03.950 --> 00:25:05.849 back to Hamilton, visit friends and, you know, 00:25:05.849 --> 00:25:08.849 visit the university, you know, I saw, you know, 00:25:08.849 --> 00:25:11.890 how creativity was really driving this, you know, 00:25:11.890 --> 00:25:14.569 renaissance of the downtown core, which, you 00:25:14.569 --> 00:25:16.150 know, just a few years prior when I was in school, 00:25:16.210 --> 00:25:18.789 we didn't really go to. And I, you know, loved 00:25:18.789 --> 00:25:21.769 seeing the city come alive around these creative 00:25:21.769 --> 00:25:24.430 businesses. There, you know, were, you know, 00:25:24.430 --> 00:25:27.130 storefront after storefront of entrepreneurs, 00:25:27.450 --> 00:25:29.849 you know, with the proverbial dollar and a dream. 00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:33.200 You know, folks that were making something, creating 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:35.940 something in our city and offering it to the 00:25:35.940 --> 00:25:38.180 public. And, you know, such a special thing about 00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:40.660 Hamilton is people love something that is made 00:25:40.660 --> 00:25:43.839 here. That's, you know, that is, you know, owned 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:48.099 by a person that they're seeing behind the counter. 00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:51.220 They can talk to. They love that connection and 00:25:51.220 --> 00:25:53.819 appreciate, you know, why that's so special. 00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:56.779 It's a small enough city that that you can actually 00:25:56.779 --> 00:25:59.269 have that that real connection with. whether 00:25:59.269 --> 00:26:01.289 you're the owner with the customer or with the 00:26:01.289 --> 00:26:05.490 customer to the owner. And we knew that we wanted 00:26:05.490 --> 00:26:09.589 our entire business model to really revolve around 00:26:09.589 --> 00:26:12.549 that kind of connection and community connectivity. 00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:17.240 as the core of it, not just, you know, at our 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:19.960 tables, but with like what merit and, you know, 00:26:20.019 --> 00:26:22.740 what we as a group of, you know, team members 00:26:22.740 --> 00:26:25.099 that merit were able to do to participate in 00:26:25.099 --> 00:26:29.180 the city, too. So we also knew that we really 00:26:29.180 --> 00:26:31.480 wanted to, you know, wave the flag for Hamilton 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:35.299 and be really proud of being in Hamilton. It 00:26:35.299 --> 00:26:38.400 has, you know, historically and maybe still does, 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.099 you know, doesn't always have the shiniest reputation 00:26:41.099 --> 00:26:46.089 with everyone. But, hey, one of the things that, 00:26:46.089 --> 00:26:50.869 you know, we find connectivity to in the in the 00:26:50.869 --> 00:26:54.049 name merit for Hamilton is that we know what's 00:26:54.049 --> 00:26:55.990 great about it. We know that it is, you know, 00:26:56.009 --> 00:26:59.009 a place that is worthy. We know that this is 00:26:59.009 --> 00:27:02.829 a good place to be. And we actually care about. 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:06.000 our perception of the city more than what other 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:09.119 people's perceptions of the city is. And I really 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:12.859 like that. I really like the way that this city 00:27:12.859 --> 00:27:16.539 lifts itself up and doesn't rely on others to 00:27:16.539 --> 00:27:20.000 lift it up. So we thought our brewery and our 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.460 values really fit well with what people were 00:27:24.460 --> 00:27:28.839 supporting and what people could... build a relationship 00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:30.759 with when it comes to a business, because more 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:32.519 than, you know, just creating something and selling 00:27:32.519 --> 00:27:35.019 it, we wanted to have a business that was rooted 00:27:35.019 --> 00:27:37.079 in relationship with its with with the city. 00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:41.640 Yeah. And exactly what you said is one of the 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:45.680 biggest reasons for this podcast even coming 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:49.359 together was. i i went to high school here in 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:53.440 hamilton and then i left for university went 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:56.059 to the bigger cities um for job opportunities 00:27:56.059 --> 00:27:58.940 and things like that but once i came back and 00:27:58.940 --> 00:28:04.200 started to look at what was happening in hamilton 00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:06.880 with the entrepreneurs and like the creativity 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:12.319 the quality the ambition um the grit um that 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:14.519 actually existed in the city i was just like 00:28:14.519 --> 00:28:20.789 why don't we know more successful entrepreneurs. 00:28:21.210 --> 00:28:24.390 And I like one of my goals for this podcast is 00:28:24.390 --> 00:28:28.549 that Hamilton households have Hamilton household 00:28:28.549 --> 00:28:33.710 names within them. Like, you know, Merritt is 00:28:33.710 --> 00:28:36.690 one collective arts is one. You talk about, you 00:28:36.690 --> 00:28:39.470 know, both breweries that exist here in Hamilton. 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:43.619 And people know them and they are household names. 00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:47.960 And so why aren't the entrepreneurs also sort 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:50.640 of these household names of like inspiration? 00:28:50.660 --> 00:28:53.539 So like kids know that they don't necessarily 00:28:53.539 --> 00:28:58.119 have to go to like the big shiny cities like 00:28:58.119 --> 00:29:02.259 New York or even Toronto to get the inspiration 00:29:02.259 --> 00:29:04.859 that they need, because that actually exists 00:29:04.859 --> 00:29:07.599 right here. And I think storytelling has always 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:10.490 been such an important part of life. community 00:29:10.490 --> 00:29:15.369 building and um just like historical and just 00:29:15.369 --> 00:29:18.869 stories carry and they permeate right and so 00:29:18.869 --> 00:29:21.650 that's that's one of the big reasons exactly 00:29:21.650 --> 00:29:25.029 why i started this podcast because i think a 00:29:25.029 --> 00:29:28.710 high schooler should know your story from being 00:29:28.710 --> 00:29:32.490 someone in hamilton and know that they can build 00:29:32.490 --> 00:29:36.509 a big life here they can dream big here and they 00:29:36.509 --> 00:29:39.809 can do whatever they want with whatever goals 00:29:39.809 --> 00:29:41.869 they have. Yeah, no, I think that's, you know, 00:29:41.890 --> 00:29:46.329 a real, you know, missing, you know, piece of 00:29:46.329 --> 00:29:50.069 the entrepreneurship ecosystem, you know, here 00:29:50.069 --> 00:29:52.930 in Hamilton a little bit where, and I think it's 00:29:52.930 --> 00:29:55.089 actually rooted in the fact that so many entrepreneurs 00:29:55.089 --> 00:29:57.970 in our city are so busy doing the work. Yeah. 00:29:58.049 --> 00:30:02.380 You know, we are, you know. generally you know 00:30:02.380 --> 00:30:05.240 so hands -on with our work we um you know again 00:30:05.240 --> 00:30:07.259 the folks behind the counter you know might be 00:30:07.259 --> 00:30:09.240 the you know the owner of that coffee shop of 00:30:09.240 --> 00:30:12.420 that brewery of it you know etc etc does you 00:30:12.420 --> 00:30:15.319 know not even just uh limited to you know retail 00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:18.299 and physical storefronts necessarily um and you 00:30:18.299 --> 00:30:21.339 know i know for myself you know i'd i'd almost 00:30:21.339 --> 00:30:24.509 you know rather be you know going and doing the 00:30:24.509 --> 00:30:27.789 work than going out and waving my own flag. I 00:30:27.789 --> 00:30:31.710 have other flags to wave, and I enjoy doing those. 00:30:31.890 --> 00:30:34.970 This conversation is obviously so amazing to 00:30:34.970 --> 00:30:39.690 have, but I wouldn't be going out otherwise and 00:30:39.690 --> 00:30:42.410 saying, look at me, look what I'm doing, without 00:30:42.410 --> 00:30:47.470 the invitation and opportunity that folks like 00:30:47.470 --> 00:30:51.250 yourself provide. I think it's well needed, and 00:30:51.250 --> 00:30:53.809 sometimes we need to be pulled out. out, you 00:30:53.809 --> 00:30:56.890 know, to tell our stories. Yeah. And you know 00:30:56.890 --> 00:30:59.930 what? I actually appreciate that more than anything 00:30:59.930 --> 00:31:03.970 because someone that's, you know, there is something 00:31:03.970 --> 00:31:06.109 about waving your own flag and knowing that you're 00:31:06.109 --> 00:31:09.710 good at what you're doing. But it's really the 00:31:09.710 --> 00:31:13.390 untold stories that have so much, I think, depth 00:31:13.390 --> 00:31:16.950 and root and real purpose because you're so driven 00:31:16.950 --> 00:31:20.089 by what you're driven by that you don't have 00:31:20.089 --> 00:31:23.599 time to go and like, shout it from the rooftop 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:26.579 over here and over here, because that takes away 00:31:26.579 --> 00:31:31.279 from doing the real work. And that's where that's 00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:34.059 where meaning comes from for you as an entrepreneur. 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:36.839 That's where you get your fulfillment at the 00:31:36.839 --> 00:31:39.440 end of the day. So I absolutely understand that. 00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:41.420 And even on our website, we're just like, we 00:31:41.420 --> 00:31:43.859 want to hear the stories that nobody, nobody's 00:31:43.859 --> 00:31:46.279 telling, you know, like, let's let's dig those 00:31:46.279 --> 00:31:49.380 types of entrepreneurs out. For sure. Well, thank 00:31:49.380 --> 00:31:52.559 you for pulling us out. Yeah, yeah. And I want 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:56.920 to go back to sort of, we talked about your North 00:31:56.920 --> 00:32:02.519 Star being the community and creativity sort 00:32:02.519 --> 00:32:05.339 of, you know, like adjacent to that and still 00:32:05.339 --> 00:32:09.599 a core driver. As you went through from business 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:15.880 to university, then working in... you know, live 00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:20.019 entertainment and now the brewery. How did like 00:32:20.019 --> 00:32:29.380 Taj evolve himself through this? Because you 00:32:29.380 --> 00:32:31.960 have to overcome a lot of fears as an entrepreneur 00:32:31.960 --> 00:32:35.740 and as someone going from like one industry to 00:32:35.740 --> 00:32:39.450 the next industry and Having that confidence 00:32:39.450 --> 00:32:42.509 to say that I'm relevant here and my opinion 00:32:42.509 --> 00:32:46.829 and my thoughts and my vision for this is... 00:32:47.339 --> 00:32:49.720 it does matter and it is important like how did 00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:53.880 you like manage yourself as an individual going 00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:55.779 through because you have the business north star 00:32:55.779 --> 00:32:59.400 um and your personal north star which could be 00:32:59.400 --> 00:33:02.759 the same thing um but how did you eventually 00:33:02.759 --> 00:33:06.059 manage yourself through that and what north start 00:33:06.059 --> 00:33:08.559 were you working towards personally as well yeah 00:33:08.559 --> 00:33:12.420 no so i think My transition out of the music 00:33:12.420 --> 00:33:16.380 industry into the beer industry, first of all, 00:33:16.380 --> 00:33:19.279 it certainly was a surprise to a lot of people, 00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:23.559 especially colleagues in the music industry that 00:33:23.559 --> 00:33:28.359 at the time had gotten to a point that 16 -year 00:33:28.359 --> 00:33:30.839 -old Paige dreamed about being at, working with 00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:34.079 the biggest artists in the world. and it was 00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:38.039 yeah it was certainly a surprise that hey i think 00:33:38.039 --> 00:33:41.250 i want to try something else but It wasn't a 00:33:41.250 --> 00:33:43.869 spur of the moment decision. It was something 00:33:43.869 --> 00:33:47.210 that actually helped me align more with that 00:33:47.210 --> 00:33:50.109 North Star of community. At the end of the day, 00:33:50.150 --> 00:33:52.950 where I was able to get to and land in the music 00:33:52.950 --> 00:33:55.769 industry, it was fulfilling a lot of things. 00:33:56.470 --> 00:33:58.410 Financially, it was fulfilling a lot of things 00:33:58.410 --> 00:34:00.950 from a personal goal standpoint in terms of the 00:34:00.950 --> 00:34:03.190 artists that I was working with and that kind 00:34:03.190 --> 00:34:05.910 of thing. But I actually felt like I was removing 00:34:05.910 --> 00:34:09.659 myself more. away from that, you know, North 00:34:09.659 --> 00:34:11.460 Star and, you know, from that community, from 00:34:11.460 --> 00:34:14.719 even from the end user, you know, of this creative 00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:16.820 thing that was supposed to be kind of rooting 00:34:16.820 --> 00:34:19.579 my interest and excitement and really, you know, 00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:24.059 my beginning in the music industry. So I, you 00:34:24.059 --> 00:34:26.159 know, had the opportunity to start spending a 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:29.139 lot more time with my grandparents again as their 00:34:29.139 --> 00:34:31.260 health wasn't doing very well. And so I, you 00:34:31.260 --> 00:34:32.659 know, being pretty flexible with where I could 00:34:32.659 --> 00:34:35.059 work from. started spending a lot more time in 00:34:35.059 --> 00:34:38.460 BC again. And it was a really important kind 00:34:38.460 --> 00:34:43.320 of reminder to me about their venture and their 00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:46.139 lives, the way they spent it. And that kind of 00:34:46.139 --> 00:34:49.139 kicked off this real reflective process for me 00:34:49.139 --> 00:34:51.639 to kind of understand, hey, am I actually an 00:34:51.639 --> 00:34:54.639 entrepreneur like they were entrepreneurs? And 00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:57.159 the answer was no at the end of the day. And 00:34:57.159 --> 00:35:01.019 so for me, it really became this opportunity 00:35:01.019 --> 00:35:04.630 to look at how do I get closer to that you know 00:35:04.630 --> 00:35:08.010 um and you know i'm i'm someone who's you know 00:35:08.010 --> 00:35:11.489 pretty easily excited uh around you know opportunity 00:35:11.489 --> 00:35:14.809 around something new around you know um especially 00:35:14.809 --> 00:35:17.909 something that is you know creative um and you 00:35:17.909 --> 00:35:20.309 know what i saw happening in the craft beer industry 00:35:20.309 --> 00:35:22.190 especially in the states spending a lot more 00:35:22.190 --> 00:35:26.260 time there at that point um you know, looked 00:35:26.260 --> 00:35:30.480 like this like incredible, you know, platform 00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:35.300 for creativity and connectivity. And so I started 00:35:35.300 --> 00:35:37.739 to have this little seed in my head that said, 00:35:37.900 --> 00:35:41.260 you know, okay, can we grow something that... 00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:44.500 hits a little bit closer towards, you know, that 00:35:44.500 --> 00:35:48.380 North Star. And, you know, the answer in my experience 00:35:48.380 --> 00:35:51.059 has started to be yes. And so I really started 00:35:51.059 --> 00:35:54.699 to plot out every aspect of what I wanted a brewery 00:35:54.699 --> 00:35:57.960 to look like around around that direction. Yeah. 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:05.860 Yeah. I think that's really important that you 00:36:05.860 --> 00:36:09.179 you took a pause and took inventory of like, 00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:14.030 where am I? are the dreams yes some of the dreams 00:36:14.030 --> 00:36:18.090 for myself have been sort of checked off but 00:36:18.090 --> 00:36:23.269 is that deeper purpose actually there and am 00:36:23.269 --> 00:36:26.909 i living that on a regular basis and one of the 00:36:26.909 --> 00:36:29.250 one of the stories i remember you telling at 00:36:29.250 --> 00:36:33.030 this networking event was you would sort of just 00:36:33.030 --> 00:36:37.230 go to like bars and drink beer and talk to strangers 00:36:37.230 --> 00:36:41.190 as sort of part of this process as you started 00:36:41.190 --> 00:36:46.110 to cultivate this idea of jumping into this new 00:36:46.110 --> 00:36:51.269 industry. What is it that you think someone should 00:36:51.269 --> 00:36:54.389 do when they're looking to make a change that's 00:36:54.389 --> 00:36:57.969 closer to where they think they might be, you 00:36:57.969 --> 00:37:03.409 know? more connected to. Yeah, no, I think immersing 00:37:03.409 --> 00:37:07.329 yourself in the worlds in which you want to participate 00:37:07.329 --> 00:37:11.510 is so important. For me, I was very cognizant 00:37:11.510 --> 00:37:13.909 of the fact that the craft beer industry is very 00:37:13.909 --> 00:37:17.929 small. It's very close and a very tight -knit 00:37:17.929 --> 00:37:22.650 community. Coming in as an outsider, saying, 00:37:23.150 --> 00:37:26.570 hey, I've got this magic you should trust me 00:37:26.570 --> 00:37:29.949 with. this new venture, you know, I knew that 00:37:29.949 --> 00:37:31.750 that wasn't going to be something that was that 00:37:31.750 --> 00:37:33.989 was well received. So before I did anything, 00:37:34.130 --> 00:37:37.289 you know, publicly, you know, in terms of launching 00:37:37.289 --> 00:37:39.269 Merritt Brewing, I knew I needed to, you know, 00:37:39.269 --> 00:37:41.809 participate, you know, first and foremost. And, 00:37:41.869 --> 00:37:43.369 you know, the nice thing about craft beers, you 00:37:43.369 --> 00:37:45.230 participate as a customer first, you know, you 00:37:45.230 --> 00:37:48.230 head to places that you see really exciting things 00:37:48.230 --> 00:37:50.989 happening. And participation means having a beer 00:37:50.989 --> 00:37:52.829 in your hand and, you know, a friendly conversation 00:37:52.829 --> 00:37:54.650 with, you know, whether it's the staff there 00:37:54.650 --> 00:37:57.400 or, you know, another customer. And there are 00:37:57.400 --> 00:38:02.639 a few places that really, you know, hit home 00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:05.340 with me that, you know, this is something different. 00:38:05.380 --> 00:38:08.119 This is something really special. A brewery in 00:38:08.119 --> 00:38:09.980 New York City that's now, you know, one of the 00:38:09.980 --> 00:38:11.599 most highly regarded breweries in the world called 00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:17.119 Other Half. Their brewery in Brooklyn is like 00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:21.079 under a bridge. It's tiny. It's not that much 00:38:21.079 --> 00:38:24.679 bigger than this podcast studio. But I could 00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:28.869 walk in. you know, in this gigantic city, this 00:38:28.869 --> 00:38:31.449 anonymous city, I could walk into this tavern 00:38:31.449 --> 00:38:34.630 by myself and end up having a conversation with 00:38:34.630 --> 00:38:37.170 someone that was meaningful and interesting and, 00:38:37.190 --> 00:38:41.190 you know, brought ideas out. And that ability 00:38:41.190 --> 00:38:43.349 to connect with someone, especially in a city 00:38:43.349 --> 00:38:45.809 as anonymous as New York, was really special 00:38:45.809 --> 00:38:50.059 and clicked with me. Another one, Leftfield Brewery 00:38:50.059 --> 00:38:52.340 in Toronto, you know, they're in an alleyway 00:38:52.340 --> 00:38:56.860 in the east end of Toronto in Leslieville. And 00:38:56.860 --> 00:38:59.280 my wife and I were living in the beaches at the 00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:01.679 time and being able to walk over to this brewery 00:39:01.679 --> 00:39:04.800 that was, you know, tucked away and, you know, 00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:07.739 was truly rooted in like bringing this small, 00:39:07.780 --> 00:39:11.039 you know, part of the city together, you know, 00:39:11.039 --> 00:39:15.050 just felt. incredibly special and um you know 00:39:15.050 --> 00:39:17.409 to the point where i asked like hey can i just 00:39:17.409 --> 00:39:19.010 work for you guys i want to learn this you know 00:39:19.010 --> 00:39:21.289 crappy industry i want to you know full disclosure 00:39:21.289 --> 00:39:23.050 i want to open up my own thing one day but like 00:39:23.050 --> 00:39:24.590 i love what you're doing i want to participate 00:39:24.590 --> 00:39:27.630 in helping you grow your business how can i you 00:39:27.630 --> 00:39:29.590 know contribute to that and you know can i hang 00:39:29.590 --> 00:39:31.809 around here a little bit more yeah um so being 00:39:31.809 --> 00:39:37.010 um you know open to you know those kinds of experiences 00:39:37.010 --> 00:39:39.250 and putting yourself out there a little bit like 00:39:39.250 --> 00:39:41.230 that, I think is so important and, you know, 00:39:41.250 --> 00:39:43.730 really gives you so much value, but also allows 00:39:43.730 --> 00:39:45.909 you to provide value to someone else that may 00:39:45.909 --> 00:39:47.889 not have your experiences or your perspective, 00:39:48.289 --> 00:39:51.889 especially if you're, you know, pivoting industries. 00:39:53.559 --> 00:39:55.800 I think that was, like, really interesting for 00:39:55.800 --> 00:39:57.980 Mark and Mandy from Leftfield to, you know, have 00:39:57.980 --> 00:40:00.679 someone who had not been in beer for a decade 00:40:00.679 --> 00:40:03.039 to come in and, you know, talk to them about 00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:04.760 their business and, you know, participate with 00:40:04.760 --> 00:40:08.179 their, you know, staff and their customers. Yeah. 00:40:08.539 --> 00:40:12.639 I think what you said just now, I think, is so 00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:15.659 critical. And you make it sound really easy. 00:40:15.699 --> 00:40:18.840 And I think for most folks it's not. It's, like, 00:40:18.940 --> 00:40:23.980 just asking. just simply asking to be part of 00:40:23.980 --> 00:40:27.099 something when it's just like what do i have 00:40:27.099 --> 00:40:29.659 to contribute but like all of your past skills 00:40:29.659 --> 00:40:32.840 are still relevant like skills are highly transferable 00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:35.139 totally and so even though you didn't know about 00:40:35.139 --> 00:40:37.599 the industry you had so many skills and insights 00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:42.559 that cross over but the ability to ask for an 00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:46.139 opportunity like that is often scary for people 00:40:46.139 --> 00:40:50.590 and What is it that you think like over time 00:40:50.590 --> 00:40:55.050 that made it easy for you to ask? I think it's 00:40:55.050 --> 00:40:57.690 understanding that, you know, especially entrepreneurs, 00:40:57.909 --> 00:41:03.130 they need help and they crave, you know, having, 00:41:03.130 --> 00:41:07.329 you know, another perspective and another, you 00:41:07.329 --> 00:41:11.369 know, another person to whether it's, you know, 00:41:11.389 --> 00:41:12.929 go through the machinations of their of their 00:41:12.929 --> 00:41:14.989 business operations with or, you know, simply 00:41:14.989 --> 00:41:17.690 be a part of the team. You know, I think. we 00:41:17.690 --> 00:41:20.849 need that oftentimes. Um, and while it might 00:41:20.849 --> 00:41:23.170 seem like we're, you know, so busy, so why would 00:41:23.170 --> 00:41:25.690 they have time for me? Maybe we're so busy and 00:41:25.690 --> 00:41:27.849 we actually need you to help us, you know, free 00:41:27.849 --> 00:41:29.329 up some time, right? You know, there's actually 00:41:29.329 --> 00:41:33.510 opportunity in us being so busy. Um, so yeah, 00:41:33.590 --> 00:41:35.150 I know. I think that's kind of often like a bit 00:41:35.150 --> 00:41:37.469 of a common misper or, you know, misconception 00:41:37.469 --> 00:41:41.070 that, uh, you know, it just kind of, it just 00:41:41.070 --> 00:41:42.889 takes getting over that hurdle, which I know 00:41:42.889 --> 00:41:48.329 is easier said than done. Um, but Small businesses, 00:41:48.530 --> 00:41:52.550 entrepreneurs, startups, they want help. Yeah. 00:41:52.670 --> 00:41:57.550 Yeah, absolutely. And that's something that I 00:41:57.550 --> 00:41:59.989 think hopefully people take away from this is 00:41:59.989 --> 00:42:02.230 just like asking. If you don't ask, you'll never 00:42:02.230 --> 00:42:04.289 know. Absolutely. Like no one's standing on the 00:42:04.289 --> 00:42:06.670 street corner trying to hand out opportunities. 00:42:07.769 --> 00:42:10.670 You got to just ask for them. And sometimes it's 00:42:10.670 --> 00:42:14.130 not necessarily a chase. It's as simple as asking 00:42:14.130 --> 00:42:17.989 a question. That's as simple as this podcast 00:42:17.989 --> 00:42:19.889 started. I just started asking random people. 00:42:19.889 --> 00:42:22.590 I said, want to be on podcast? Come tell your 00:42:22.590 --> 00:42:27.690 story. And they're like, okay. So, so yeah, now 00:42:27.690 --> 00:42:32.650 we're three seasons in. Yeah. Yeah. One of the 00:42:32.650 --> 00:42:35.949 things I really wanted to sort of, you know, 00:42:35.969 --> 00:42:38.090 talk to you about, but also congratulate you 00:42:38.090 --> 00:42:40.570 on, cause this just happened a few months ago 00:42:40.570 --> 00:42:45.650 is. You're recently acquired, which is such a 00:42:45.650 --> 00:42:48.769 big deal for an entrepreneur because some entrepreneurs 00:42:48.769 --> 00:42:51.789 build and they want to hold on to it forever. 00:42:51.949 --> 00:42:55.150 This is my thing. But there's always that opportunity 00:42:55.150 --> 00:42:59.250 to sell and give it that opportunity to take 00:42:59.250 --> 00:43:02.150 a deeper breath so it can get even bigger than 00:43:02.150 --> 00:43:05.829 it is. So with your recent acquisition, first 00:43:05.829 --> 00:43:08.909 of all, very much congratulations on that. Thanks. 00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:15.960 What made you say yes to it? And how did that 00:43:15.960 --> 00:43:22.480 allow you to dream bigger for merit or even realize 00:43:22.480 --> 00:43:25.719 that bigger dream? Yeah. So, you know, the funny 00:43:25.719 --> 00:43:30.039 thing is, is that when I started merit, I absolutely. 00:43:30.940 --> 00:43:32.780 had in my head that this is what i'll be doing 00:43:32.780 --> 00:43:34.539 for the rest of my life you know this was the 00:43:34.539 --> 00:43:36.440 business that i was going to spend i was 29 when 00:43:36.440 --> 00:43:38.780 we opened up i will you know work here for the 00:43:38.780 --> 00:43:41.920 next 30 years growing this business and you know 00:43:41.920 --> 00:43:43.760 just like my grandparents you know spent their 00:43:43.760 --> 00:43:47.380 life uh you know running their business and you 00:43:47.380 --> 00:43:54.590 know that you know intention is amazing It didn't 00:43:54.590 --> 00:43:56.510 necessarily mean right from the beginning that 00:43:56.510 --> 00:43:58.489 if someone said, hey, we love what you built, 00:43:58.530 --> 00:44:00.309 we want to help you grow it even bigger, that 00:44:00.309 --> 00:44:05.840 I was going to say no either, though. confluences 00:44:05.840 --> 00:44:10.159 of events that led to this acquisition were really 00:44:10.159 --> 00:44:12.179 interesting because first and foremost, the craft 00:44:12.179 --> 00:44:14.320 beer industry is going through significant change 00:44:14.320 --> 00:44:17.719 right now. Coming out of the pandemic, there 00:44:17.719 --> 00:44:20.239 was both opportunity and challenge in the pandemic 00:44:20.239 --> 00:44:23.039 for breweries. Opportunity, people were drinking 00:44:23.039 --> 00:44:25.019 more. For better or worse, people were drinking 00:44:25.019 --> 00:44:29.820 more. And so we were able to continue to produce 00:44:29.820 --> 00:44:33.599 quite a lot of beer. In the pandemic, we were 00:44:33.599 --> 00:44:35.940 able to distribute beer in ways that we were 00:44:35.940 --> 00:44:39.019 never able to before or never had as part of 00:44:39.019 --> 00:44:41.500 our plan. To just take it back a little bit, 00:44:41.579 --> 00:44:44.440 the whole business plan around Merritt was making 00:44:44.440 --> 00:44:46.940 it on James Street, selling it on James Street. 00:44:47.019 --> 00:44:51.269 Our Merritt... beer is the totality of the experience 00:44:51.269 --> 00:44:53.750 you have at Merritt Brewing. It is our food. 00:44:53.769 --> 00:44:55.909 It is our people. It's our tables. It's seeing 00:44:55.909 --> 00:44:57.670 the brewery. It's talking to our staff, you know, 00:44:57.670 --> 00:45:00.510 those kinds of things. But when the pandemic 00:45:00.510 --> 00:45:03.389 comes and says you can't operate this space that 00:45:03.389 --> 00:45:08.050 your entire business was evolving around, we 00:45:08.050 --> 00:45:10.329 had to think very differently about our business. 00:45:10.449 --> 00:45:11.949 First and foremost, we had to make sure that 00:45:11.949 --> 00:45:14.780 the brewery. uh was producing you know that is 00:45:14.780 --> 00:45:17.239 the machine that is the heart of what merit is 00:45:17.239 --> 00:45:19.840 at the end of the day so we found you know a 00:45:19.840 --> 00:45:22.559 lot of ways to get a lot of beer out um and completely 00:45:22.559 --> 00:45:24.480 you know throughout our business plan and had 00:45:24.480 --> 00:45:26.820 to figure it out from scratch but what that did 00:45:26.820 --> 00:45:30.739 was enable us to add to our business you know 00:45:30.739 --> 00:45:34.039 in my you know kind of directive to our team 00:45:34.039 --> 00:45:37.099 which at one point at first it was three of us 00:45:37.099 --> 00:45:39.539 you know we went from 25 to three because we 00:45:39.539 --> 00:45:41.400 didn't know what was happening and that was you 00:45:41.400 --> 00:45:45.179 know one of the worst um days of my life having 00:45:45.179 --> 00:45:48.039 to you know talk to staff about um the fact that 00:45:48.039 --> 00:45:49.840 we don't know what's happening and you know temporarily 00:45:49.840 --> 00:45:53.119 everyone's gonna be laid off but um you know 00:45:53.119 --> 00:45:55.960 our directive from the beginning was we're gonna 00:45:55.960 --> 00:45:57.699 we're gonna have to try new things we're gonna 00:45:57.699 --> 00:45:59.860 have to build new components to our business 00:45:59.860 --> 00:46:04.130 um if we can and make sure that the things that 00:46:04.130 --> 00:46:06.550 we are building are actually sustainable, that 00:46:06.550 --> 00:46:08.349 is the most successful thing we can do for right 00:46:08.349 --> 00:46:10.630 now. We can try things that we know are only 00:46:10.630 --> 00:46:12.369 going to be around for a month or, you know, 00:46:12.389 --> 00:46:15.349 however long this is happening. But most importantly, 00:46:15.489 --> 00:46:17.670 let's try to build something that can last. And 00:46:17.670 --> 00:46:19.710 so we built distribution. We built, you know, 00:46:19.730 --> 00:46:23.210 our e -commerce platform to, you know, get beer 00:46:23.210 --> 00:46:24.809 directly to people's homes, you know, sometimes 00:46:24.809 --> 00:46:27.489 300 or 400 deliveries a week going out in a cargo 00:46:27.489 --> 00:46:30.130 van that we had to buy because... we didn't have 00:46:30.130 --> 00:46:32.309 a cargo van before and we had needed a way to 00:46:32.309 --> 00:46:35.969 get a beard of people's doorsteps. That wasn't 00:46:35.969 --> 00:46:42.320 my mom's 2004 mini. So, um, We used that really 00:46:42.320 --> 00:46:45.059 difficult, challenging time to grow our business, 00:46:45.139 --> 00:46:46.860 but at the same time, so many breweries, and 00:46:46.860 --> 00:46:49.420 we weren't immune to this either, were taking 00:46:49.420 --> 00:46:52.820 on additional debt to finance some of those activities. 00:46:53.460 --> 00:46:58.500 The industry was not as profitable in terms of 00:46:58.500 --> 00:47:01.320 where their margin was at, selling a pint directly 00:47:01.320 --> 00:47:05.820 to you. is a lot more profitable to me than putting 00:47:05.820 --> 00:47:08.139 it in a can, getting it into a delivery van, 00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:11.179 and sending it to Ottawa. That's a whole different 00:47:11.179 --> 00:47:12.659 ballgame, and there's a whole different scale 00:47:12.659 --> 00:47:16.639 necessary to make that effort profitable. But 00:47:16.639 --> 00:47:18.820 at the end of the day, we did, a couple years 00:47:18.820 --> 00:47:22.139 later, return to having our core business, being 00:47:22.139 --> 00:47:25.590 in the taproom, operable. but we'd also then 00:47:25.590 --> 00:47:28.809 built this new channel we had you know home deliveries 00:47:28.809 --> 00:47:30.730 which you know did kind of fall off after people 00:47:30.730 --> 00:47:32.389 realized they can go out in the world and go 00:47:32.389 --> 00:47:35.130 to stores again but we but we had that we also 00:47:35.130 --> 00:47:38.329 had a network of restaurants and bars across 00:47:38.329 --> 00:47:42.210 the province um around 200 of them that i built 00:47:42.210 --> 00:47:44.610 relationships with as a you know i had to turn 00:47:44.610 --> 00:47:47.050 myself into a salesperson and you know we got 00:47:47.050 --> 00:47:49.449 to distribute beer to them so And we had that 00:47:49.449 --> 00:47:51.809 kind of brand new component to the brewery too. 00:47:51.929 --> 00:47:54.289 So what was interesting about Merritt and maybe 00:47:54.289 --> 00:47:57.949 a little bit different than a lot of folks in 00:47:57.949 --> 00:48:00.329 our industry at the time is that we were kind 00:48:00.329 --> 00:48:03.010 of expanding our offerings and growing into new 00:48:03.010 --> 00:48:07.150 areas while having this really solid base. That 00:48:07.150 --> 00:48:09.670 was really interesting. And we still had areas 00:48:09.670 --> 00:48:12.489 that were untapped as well, namely the LCBO. 00:48:13.230 --> 00:48:15.489 Because we hadn't participated in that yet. That 00:48:15.489 --> 00:48:18.539 was kind of the final frontier for us. But we 00:48:18.539 --> 00:48:24.199 knew that that effort would necessitate a much 00:48:24.199 --> 00:48:27.900 bigger staff, a different approach to production 00:48:27.900 --> 00:48:30.760 at our brewery as well, and different resources 00:48:30.760 --> 00:48:36.539 in many ways. So the conversations with Lake 00:48:36.539 --> 00:48:38.260 of Bays, which is another brewery in Muskoka, 00:48:38.440 --> 00:48:44.079 around an acquisition or a merger started. That 00:48:44.079 --> 00:48:49.599 would have been fall of 2023, where, you know, 00:48:49.639 --> 00:48:51.239 so Lake of Bays is a company, they've been around 00:48:51.239 --> 00:48:55.300 for 15 years now. Okay. They've got a great big 00:48:55.300 --> 00:48:58.960 production space in Muskoka. They are, they run. 00:48:59.789 --> 00:49:01.829 two brew pubs up there as well. So they're in 00:49:01.829 --> 00:49:05.090 the kind of hospitality game. They have a retail 00:49:05.090 --> 00:49:08.190 space in their large production brewery and they 00:49:08.190 --> 00:49:10.690 have an arena that they have the food and beverage 00:49:10.690 --> 00:49:14.710 contract for in Muskoka too. So in some ways 00:49:14.710 --> 00:49:16.730 they operate similar businesses to us with the 00:49:16.730 --> 00:49:19.750 pubs. But in their main model, that production 00:49:19.750 --> 00:49:22.969 brewery, where they make beer to distribute primarily 00:49:22.969 --> 00:49:26.909 to the LCBO, that's their real bread and butter, 00:49:26.989 --> 00:49:29.449 and that's the game that they've been incredibly 00:49:29.449 --> 00:49:32.920 successful at. They saw that that was an untapped 00:49:32.920 --> 00:49:37.099 part of our business. And while the LCBO has 00:49:37.099 --> 00:49:41.059 been cutting craft beer SKUs pretty significantly 00:49:41.059 --> 00:49:44.019 and pretty consistently over the last four or 00:49:44.019 --> 00:49:46.860 five years, we knew that Merritt had a strong 00:49:46.860 --> 00:49:50.260 enough reputation and a strong enough relationship 00:49:50.260 --> 00:49:53.820 with the main stakeholders in the LCBO craft 00:49:53.820 --> 00:49:56.639 beer department that there was an opportunity 00:49:56.639 --> 00:49:59.840 for us to grow in that way. So Lake of Bays knew 00:49:59.840 --> 00:50:02.710 that they could kind of take our brand and put 00:50:02.710 --> 00:50:04.650 it into their, you know, into their bread and 00:50:04.650 --> 00:50:07.090 butter system. And they knew what that was going 00:50:07.090 --> 00:50:09.750 to look like in terms of, you know, first and 00:50:09.750 --> 00:50:12.210 foremost, financial growth, then brand growth 00:50:12.210 --> 00:50:14.130 for merit. And, you know, at the end of the day, 00:50:14.130 --> 00:50:15.750 that was, you know, really interesting and really 00:50:15.750 --> 00:50:18.429 attractive to them. And for me, you know, that 00:50:18.429 --> 00:50:22.230 was an area in, you know, the LCBO where it's 00:50:22.230 --> 00:50:25.650 such a monster that the, you know, the resources 00:50:25.650 --> 00:50:31.460 and the ability to tackle that on. Our own? would 00:50:31.460 --> 00:50:34.380 never have been able to be at the scale that 00:50:34.380 --> 00:50:38.699 Lake of Bays would. So in terms of why from a 00:50:38.699 --> 00:50:40.960 personal and a business standpoint, from a business 00:50:40.960 --> 00:50:44.480 standpoint, what they can do and the team and 00:50:44.480 --> 00:50:46.139 the infrastructure and resources that they have 00:50:46.139 --> 00:50:49.079 around being able to get merit out even more 00:50:49.079 --> 00:50:54.119 is pretty incredible. We ran so lean and so efficiently 00:50:54.119 --> 00:50:56.800 getting as much beer out through our taproom 00:50:56.800 --> 00:51:01.480 and into bars and restaurants as possible. multiplier 00:51:01.480 --> 00:51:04.239 that comes with having you know dedicated sales 00:51:04.239 --> 00:51:07.420 team internal and external sales team and marketing 00:51:07.420 --> 00:51:10.039 efforts to support that you know insane channel 00:51:10.039 --> 00:51:15.000 that is the LCBO you know really it became apparent 00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:18.179 that that was going to be an opportunity that 00:51:18.179 --> 00:51:20.139 was going to take merit farther than that I could 00:51:20.139 --> 00:51:22.199 have myself which at the end of the day you know 00:51:22.199 --> 00:51:27.550 for me merit the brewery You know, the most important 00:51:27.550 --> 00:51:29.329 thing for me is that Merit the brewery stays 00:51:29.329 --> 00:51:32.130 around forever. Yeah. Right. And what is going 00:51:32.130 --> 00:51:35.250 to give it the best chance at, you know, financial 00:51:35.250 --> 00:51:39.010 success at, you know, brand growth. That is, 00:51:39.030 --> 00:51:41.190 you know, a partnership with with the brewery 00:51:41.190 --> 00:51:43.929 that really has complementary skills to to what 00:51:43.929 --> 00:51:46.409 we built and the strong, you know, brand and 00:51:46.409 --> 00:51:49.510 identity and and focus that we've had here. And 00:51:49.510 --> 00:51:52.309 the synergies, I think, like you talk about, 00:51:52.449 --> 00:51:56.590 were absolutely there, which. I think works great 00:51:56.590 --> 00:51:58.869 for you as well, too. It works great for them. 00:51:59.030 --> 00:52:01.789 But also you have this strong sense of community. 00:52:01.989 --> 00:52:05.309 They have these pubs that they already exist 00:52:05.309 --> 00:52:08.969 in. And you could even take, you know, conceptually, 00:52:08.969 --> 00:52:11.949 because now you're partners in this, and lend 00:52:11.949 --> 00:52:14.690 some of that expertise in those areas depending 00:52:14.690 --> 00:52:17.130 on how well they're doing. So there's such good 00:52:17.130 --> 00:52:21.289 cross -pollination and such a good, a great match. 00:52:21.449 --> 00:52:23.909 And I'm really happy to hear that, you know, 00:52:23.909 --> 00:52:27.280 it's... It's worked out in such a way that you're 00:52:27.280 --> 00:52:30.500 really happy with the opportunity that's there 00:52:30.500 --> 00:52:35.139 to take your dream bigger than you might have 00:52:35.139 --> 00:52:38.900 even imagined. Because taking on the LCBO is... 00:52:39.659 --> 00:52:43.440 huge like going into retail with such high distribution 00:52:43.440 --> 00:52:46.699 that's a lot of planning a lot of pipeline stuff 00:52:46.699 --> 00:52:49.099 i come from the food and beverage world so i 00:52:49.099 --> 00:52:52.260 definitely understand that um and what it would 00:52:52.260 --> 00:52:57.300 take for your team to deliver that well in store 00:52:57.300 --> 00:52:59.280 because you want like execution is everything 00:52:59.280 --> 00:53:02.159 and if you're executing poorly in store then 00:53:02.889 --> 00:53:05.389 you're not going to do as well as as you need 00:53:05.389 --> 00:53:08.130 to. And you might unfortunately be a skew that 00:53:08.130 --> 00:53:11.730 that gets removed. So that that's amazing that 00:53:11.730 --> 00:53:14.829 you took that chance because sometimes it's scary 00:53:14.829 --> 00:53:17.750 as an entrepreneur to let other people come into 00:53:17.750 --> 00:53:21.550 your world because you have to like relinquish 00:53:21.550 --> 00:53:24.849 some level of control. Right. Because that's 00:53:24.849 --> 00:53:27.250 what a partnership means. For sure. Yeah. And 00:53:27.250 --> 00:53:30.809 that, you know, the process of evaluating, you 00:53:30.809 --> 00:53:34.400 know, the partnership was, uh, was lengthy, was 00:53:34.400 --> 00:53:36.539 significant, was, was deep. You know, we really, 00:53:36.599 --> 00:53:41.480 uh, you know, I needed to know that, uh, these 00:53:41.480 --> 00:53:43.440 folks are going to be, you know, great shepherds 00:53:43.440 --> 00:53:45.760 of, you know, what we built. And, you know, for 00:53:45.760 --> 00:53:48.320 me, so much of the conversations that we had, 00:53:48.440 --> 00:53:50.900 uh, over, you know, the year that we were talking 00:53:50.900 --> 00:53:52.840 before we announced it was really getting to 00:53:52.840 --> 00:53:55.099 know the people and really getting to know, you 00:53:55.099 --> 00:53:57.199 know, where their, where their values were, where 00:53:57.199 --> 00:53:58.599 they, you know, of course, where they thought 00:53:58.599 --> 00:54:01.190 the opportunity was, but what are you going to 00:54:01.190 --> 00:54:02.750 do with that opportunity? How are you going to 00:54:02.750 --> 00:54:05.210 approach that opportunity? From a communication 00:54:05.210 --> 00:54:08.329 standpoint, from a relationship standpoint, here's 00:54:08.329 --> 00:54:11.530 what we've built with Merit. Is this aligned 00:54:11.530 --> 00:54:15.210 with how you've built a base? And the answer 00:54:15.210 --> 00:54:17.449 is yes, which is really nice. Getting to know 00:54:17.449 --> 00:54:20.849 where they stood in terms of care for employees 00:54:20.849 --> 00:54:27.469 was so important. And while the change is certainly... 00:54:27.719 --> 00:54:29.840 you know a surprise and really big for our employees 00:54:29.840 --> 00:54:32.360 at the end of the day i know that so many things 00:54:32.360 --> 00:54:36.500 that you know are a result of this change are 00:54:36.500 --> 00:54:37.880 actually going to, you know, very positively 00:54:37.880 --> 00:54:41.679 impact them as well. Yeah. Because now potentially 00:54:41.679 --> 00:54:44.880 our listeners around the world can have some 00:54:44.880 --> 00:54:47.340 Merit beer in their household. At least across 00:54:47.340 --> 00:54:51.420 Ontario for now. But yeah, hopefully even farther 00:54:51.420 --> 00:54:53.679 one day. But you never know. People travel. They 00:54:53.679 --> 00:54:56.800 bring gifts. Buy a gift. Buy a Merit brewing 00:54:56.800 --> 00:54:58.960 packet. That's right. Take it for your friends. 00:54:58.980 --> 00:55:00.920 Send me a picture of a Merit can in Osaka or 00:55:00.920 --> 00:55:04.079 something. That's a challenge. Yes, that's a 00:55:04.079 --> 00:55:09.599 challenge. I absolutely really love that. And 00:55:09.599 --> 00:55:12.420 like, that's obviously such a big thing for you. 00:55:12.480 --> 00:55:14.579 And, you know, going into such a big partnership, 00:55:14.840 --> 00:55:18.860 there's a lot changing. You know, there's a lot 00:55:18.860 --> 00:55:22.260 of good things happening there, you know. things 00:55:22.260 --> 00:55:25.019 happen along the way and that's just part of 00:55:25.019 --> 00:55:28.400 any kind of acquisition but you're you're smiling 00:55:28.400 --> 00:55:31.760 through it all um i wish you guys could see his 00:55:31.760 --> 00:55:34.760 face we're gonna go to video hopefully soon um 00:55:34.760 --> 00:55:38.420 but i'm i'm absolutely so happy for you because 00:55:38.420 --> 00:55:43.900 i see your entire journey has just been you know 00:55:43.900 --> 00:55:48.719 following what interests you and before that 00:55:48.719 --> 00:55:53.809 interest dies completely you decide to move on 00:55:53.809 --> 00:55:57.769 to something else. um that really allows you 00:55:57.769 --> 00:56:00.750 to hold so much integrity in every space that 00:56:00.750 --> 00:56:04.269 you've been in and i think that's something that 00:56:04.269 --> 00:56:07.909 people can learn from that you know the bridges 00:56:07.909 --> 00:56:10.469 you build in one place may not directly lead 00:56:10.469 --> 00:56:13.889 to another place but it allows you to you know 00:56:13.889 --> 00:56:17.269 remain confident in yourself be able to speak 00:56:17.269 --> 00:56:20.300 you know very openly and truthfully about you 00:56:20.300 --> 00:56:23.679 know, things that have happened and move on to 00:56:23.679 --> 00:56:26.199 something new. And I think you've done that really, 00:56:26.300 --> 00:56:31.239 really well. And I feel like I have such a good 00:56:31.239 --> 00:56:34.400 pleasure of like hearing your story so personally, 00:56:34.599 --> 00:56:38.300 one -on -one and as we help tell the audience. 00:56:38.559 --> 00:56:41.659 But before we wrap up, there are three questions 00:56:41.659 --> 00:56:45.369 we're asking all of our entrepreneurs. So the 00:56:45.369 --> 00:56:48.869 first one is, what is one thing you are leaving 00:56:48.869 --> 00:56:52.750 behind in your entrepreneurial journey? And you 00:56:52.750 --> 00:56:55.110 can answer however you feel, however you take 00:56:55.110 --> 00:56:59.610 that question. You know, I think one thing that 00:56:59.610 --> 00:57:03.400 I think with every... chapter that, that I've 00:57:03.400 --> 00:57:05.320 gone to. And I really look at, you know, life 00:57:05.320 --> 00:57:07.699 as having chapters and, you know, in a good book, 00:57:07.760 --> 00:57:10.159 every chapter builds upon itself. You know, I 00:57:10.159 --> 00:57:12.880 had a chapter where, you know, as a very young 00:57:12.880 --> 00:57:16.139 person, you know, navigating the music industry 00:57:16.139 --> 00:57:19.460 and my career through there, you know, in my 00:57:19.460 --> 00:57:21.300 twenties and in my thirties, you know, building 00:57:21.300 --> 00:57:23.300 a business in the craft beer industry and, you 00:57:23.300 --> 00:57:26.599 know, going forward, you know, what's next, you 00:57:26.599 --> 00:57:29.099 know, through all of that, I've really, you know, 00:57:29.099 --> 00:57:32.960 just been taking steps that navigate me even 00:57:32.960 --> 00:57:35.119 closer towards my North Star at the end of the 00:57:35.119 --> 00:57:40.750 day. What I'm leaving behind is the opposite 00:57:40.750 --> 00:57:42.389 of the North Star. It's the South Star. It's 00:57:42.389 --> 00:57:44.550 the stuff that doesn't matter. At the end of 00:57:44.550 --> 00:57:48.309 the day, there's so much noise in the world. 00:57:48.409 --> 00:57:50.469 There's so much noise. As an entrepreneur, it 00:57:50.469 --> 00:57:53.849 can be very hard to focus sometimes. And sometimes 00:57:53.849 --> 00:57:58.650 you get distracted by what your competition is 00:57:58.650 --> 00:58:02.110 doing. You get distracted by what people think 00:58:02.110 --> 00:58:04.590 you should be doing. But I think if you have 00:58:04.590 --> 00:58:08.239 a strong enough... enough pull from your North 00:58:08.239 --> 00:58:11.780 Star, you don't need to look backwards. You don't 00:58:11.780 --> 00:58:19.179 need to buy into the noise. So for me, it's increasing 00:58:19.179 --> 00:58:23.579 my clarity and increasing my focus on that North 00:58:23.579 --> 00:58:25.360 Star so that I can kind of forget about the rest 00:58:25.360 --> 00:58:28.440 of it. That's a really good answer to come up 00:58:28.440 --> 00:58:32.239 with on the fly. We're leaving the South Star 00:58:32.239 --> 00:58:37.980 behind. I like that. We're going to have to memorialize 00:58:37.980 --> 00:58:43.400 that in some way. And so our second question 00:58:43.400 --> 00:58:46.199 is, what's the biggest thing you've learned? 00:58:47.880 --> 00:58:55.639 So I think connectivity is so important. And 00:58:55.639 --> 00:58:57.460 that's not just connectivity to your customers. 00:58:57.539 --> 00:58:59.739 I think relationship with customers is so important. 00:59:01.199 --> 00:59:03.320 One very special thing about the craft beer industry 00:59:03.320 --> 00:59:06.199 that from, you know, talking to other entrepreneurs 00:59:06.199 --> 00:59:08.639 and other industries doesn't always exist is 00:59:08.639 --> 00:59:11.679 the way that that we connect with each other 00:59:11.679 --> 00:59:13.800 within the craft beer industry as entrepreneurs. 00:59:14.280 --> 00:59:16.760 There's this incredible, you know, closeness 00:59:16.760 --> 00:59:19.940 and shared, you know, vision and shared, you 00:59:19.940 --> 00:59:23.460 know, drive to build up the entire industry in 00:59:23.460 --> 00:59:25.659 craft beer. That's truly incredible. You know, 00:59:25.699 --> 00:59:29.639 that if Fairweather is out of a certain type 00:59:29.639 --> 00:59:31.329 of hop and they didn't realize it and they don't 00:59:31.329 --> 00:59:33.250 that inventory is not coming till tomorrow but 00:59:33.250 --> 00:59:35.269 they were in today they call us and we drive 00:59:35.269 --> 00:59:38.110 that hop over you know if collective arts has 00:59:38.110 --> 00:59:41.369 a lab that no one else in the city has because 00:59:41.369 --> 00:59:44.769 they're you know a larger organization that they 00:59:44.769 --> 00:59:48.269 offer that lab to us uh to use if we need to 00:59:48.269 --> 00:59:50.449 do some testing that we can't do ourselves you 00:59:50.449 --> 00:59:52.449 know that that exists in in the city which is 00:59:52.449 --> 00:59:54.650 pretty special and that exists you know in the 00:59:54.650 --> 00:59:57.670 broader ontario craft beer community too um so 00:59:57.670 --> 01:00:01.710 um you know understanding the value of that is 01:00:01.710 --> 01:00:03.849 is so huge and you know no matter what industry 01:00:03.849 --> 01:00:06.849 you're in you know i know you know everyone is 01:00:07.610 --> 01:00:10.269 competition on some level, but everyone can also 01:00:10.269 --> 01:00:15.269 add so much value and so much, you know, positive 01:00:15.269 --> 01:00:17.449 impact to your business if you work together. 01:00:17.610 --> 01:00:20.750 And, you know, yeah, I never like hearing stories 01:00:20.750 --> 01:00:23.050 about how, you know, cutthroat some industries 01:00:23.050 --> 01:00:25.789 are that, you know, you'd never see two CEOs 01:00:25.789 --> 01:00:30.309 from XYZ industry having lunch together. yeah 01:00:30.309 --> 01:00:32.190 that's been that's been a really special experience 01:00:32.190 --> 01:00:36.429 uh to see and to learn in beer i think that is 01:00:36.429 --> 01:00:39.710 actually that's quite special because in essence 01:00:39.710 --> 01:00:43.449 like you really just have sort of unlimited partners 01:00:43.449 --> 01:00:48.090 unofficially in so many ways and because you're 01:00:48.090 --> 01:00:51.510 all just really good at what you do and how you 01:00:51.510 --> 01:00:55.139 differentiate yourselves like I truly think that 01:00:55.139 --> 01:00:59.400 is real competition versus just copying what 01:00:59.400 --> 01:01:02.000 the quote unquote competition is doing, because 01:01:02.000 --> 01:01:04.300 then you're really just getting the same products 01:01:04.300 --> 01:01:06.599 to consumers. So like when you focus on yourself, 01:01:06.739 --> 01:01:08.760 you really go deep and differentiate yourself. 01:01:08.820 --> 01:01:12.929 And that allows you to build. some loose partnerships 01:01:12.929 --> 01:01:15.869 within your industry. And I think that's exactly 01:01:15.869 --> 01:01:18.030 what you're saying. Yeah, that's right. And these 01:01:18.030 --> 01:01:21.949 folks are in the same shoes that we're in. And 01:01:21.949 --> 01:01:26.710 as entrepreneurs, your role is often misunderstood 01:01:26.710 --> 01:01:30.550 or it's often lonely. There's connection that 01:01:30.550 --> 01:01:34.710 even put aside the making of beer that just as 01:01:34.710 --> 01:01:39.510 human beings that you can have that really benefit. 01:01:40.400 --> 01:01:42.599 folks mutually you know if you have those relationships 01:01:42.599 --> 01:01:45.119 with the folks that are supposed to be your competition 01:01:45.119 --> 01:01:48.920 yeah yeah that's amazing and the last one is 01:01:48.920 --> 01:01:51.159 what is one thing you're taking into the future 01:01:51.159 --> 01:01:56.920 with you yeah i am uh i'm really looking for 01:01:56.920 --> 01:02:01.079 the opportunity that commerce and community can 01:02:01.079 --> 01:02:04.260 have together more than ever. I think businesses 01:02:04.260 --> 01:02:08.079 can have such a positive impact on their communities. 01:02:09.079 --> 01:02:11.880 Again, that's me driving closer to that North 01:02:11.880 --> 01:02:16.760 Star where I see, especially in a city like Hamilton, 01:02:17.079 --> 01:02:21.440 where it's such a unique set of circumstances 01:02:21.440 --> 01:02:23.440 that either bring people to the city or that 01:02:23.440 --> 01:02:27.659 have people building a business in the city that 01:02:27.659 --> 01:02:33.000 I think there is so much opportunity to have 01:02:33.000 --> 01:02:36.920 your business so integrated with the community. 01:02:37.679 --> 01:02:40.739 And so for me, that's going to continue to be 01:02:40.739 --> 01:02:42.400 my North Star. That's going to continue to be 01:02:42.400 --> 01:02:44.059 the thing that I'm always going to bring into 01:02:44.059 --> 01:02:49.039 the future. Yeah. What a phenomenal conversation. 01:02:49.519 --> 01:02:53.710 Thank you. I've learned. A lot about craft beer. 01:02:54.829 --> 01:02:59.010 I've learned about your strategies on how you, 01:02:59.090 --> 01:03:03.610 your approach is quite unique and I do like it. 01:03:03.690 --> 01:03:07.130 I like how you chose to immerse yourself slowly 01:03:07.130 --> 01:03:11.659 versus. just diving off a cliff into something 01:03:11.659 --> 01:03:15.340 else and i think that's something we can all 01:03:15.340 --> 01:03:18.039 do because we don't all have to be in the same 01:03:18.039 --> 01:03:20.099 industries forever like the world has changed 01:03:20.099 --> 01:03:22.539 our parents are no longer doing the exact same 01:03:22.539 --> 01:03:27.119 jobs um forever and so even if you're not looking 01:03:27.119 --> 01:03:30.619 to be an entrepreneur the way that you've approached 01:03:30.619 --> 01:03:32.940 like your life and your entrepreneurial journey, 01:03:33.119 --> 01:03:36.139 I think is applicable to so many other facets 01:03:36.139 --> 01:03:40.480 of life. And I think it's such a good life lesson 01:03:40.480 --> 01:03:43.920 that, you know, I'll take away and hopefully 01:03:43.920 --> 01:03:46.659 our listeners can take away as well. But it's 01:03:46.659 --> 01:03:50.119 such a pleasure having this conversation with 01:03:50.119 --> 01:03:52.340 you. Absolutely. Likewise. Thank you. Yeah, you're 01:03:52.340 --> 01:03:55.340 absolutely welcome. Tej does not do a humble 01:03:55.340 --> 01:03:59.380 brag, so I will do a humble brag for you. tage 01:03:59.380 --> 01:04:02.059 and merit brewing find your way down to james 01:04:02.059 --> 01:04:05.280 street um and have yourself a nice cold beer 01:04:05.280 --> 01:04:08.599 especially on a day as hot as we are recording 01:04:08.599 --> 01:04:12.219 right now record break in and if you see merit 01:04:12.219 --> 01:04:16.260 brewing anywhere in your lcbo have a beer buy 01:04:16.260 --> 01:04:20.219 one for a friend buy one for a stranger and have 01:04:20.219 --> 01:04:24.639 a good conversation and maybe maybe i'm just 01:04:24.639 --> 01:04:28.300 gonna throw this out there Maybe Merritt Brewing 01:04:28.300 --> 01:04:34.280 should have an event where everyone comes alone 01:04:34.280 --> 01:04:41.280 without a friend. And there is no purpose other 01:04:41.280 --> 01:04:44.340 than to have a beer with a stranger. I like that. 01:04:44.440 --> 01:04:47.039 Beer with a stranger. Beer with a stranger. Make 01:04:47.039 --> 01:04:50.300 it happen. I love it. Thank you. Alrighty. Thanks 01:04:50.300 --> 01:04:53.039 so much, Tej. And we will see you next week for 01:04:53.039 --> 01:04:55.300 our next Buzzworthy story. Thank you so much. 01:04:55.840 --> 01:04:58.739 Thanks for tuning in, everyone. We're so glad 01:04:58.739 --> 01:05:00.980 to have you as part of our Buzzworthy community 01:05:00.980 --> 01:05:04.679 as we grow our network of Buzzworthy businesses. 01:05:05.480 --> 01:05:07.840 Continue to follow us on all the social media 01:05:07.840 --> 01:05:11.909 platforms at buzzworthy underscore pod. And follow 01:05:11.909 --> 01:05:15.449 us on whatever platform you're listening to so 01:05:15.449 --> 01:05:18.710 that you can get the new episodes as soon as 01:05:18.710 --> 01:05:21.809 they're out. This Buzzworthy podcast could not 01:05:21.809 --> 01:05:24.789 be done without our incredible team, starting 01:05:24.789 --> 01:05:28.849 with our music by Khaled Imam, our video and 01:05:28.849 --> 01:05:33.730 sound engineer, James Clark, Yvette Robichaux, 01:05:33.929 --> 01:05:38.809 our social media manager, Cesar Cardania, our 01:05:38.809 --> 01:05:42.760 brand and creative leader, And finally, your 01:05:42.760 --> 01:05:45.940 host and executive producer, Shalaisi Harris. 01:05:46.260 --> 01:05:47.500 We'll see you next week.