Joey Pomerleau

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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: It's Calgary's Podcast on the Canada's Podcast Network.
[00:16] SPEAKER_00: Hello, this is Mario Tonigüzi coming to you today with Calgary's Podcast, a member
[00:21] SPEAKER_00: of Canada's Podcast Network, where we talk to the entrepreneurs who are making it happen
[00:26] SPEAKER_00: in Calgary, Alberta, so you can listen, discover and engage.
[00:32] SPEAKER_00: Today's guest is Joey Palmer-Low, who is founder and CEO of Wednesday Co. Welcome to the
[00:38] SPEAKER_00: show, Joey, and thanks for taking the time today to be here for our listeners.
[00:42] SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me today, Mario.
[00:45] SPEAKER_00: Tell us a little bit about Wednesday Co. What it is and what it does.
[00:50] SPEAKER_01: So, the purposes, we're trying to kind of change the rhetoric around the conversation
[00:55] SPEAKER_01: of sex and the conversation around condoms up until kind of where we've started to come
[01:02] SPEAKER_01: in.
[01:02] SPEAKER_01: Condoms have only been marketed to young, straight white males, and there hasn't really
[01:07] SPEAKER_01: been a brand that's pushed the envelope to include all of these other people, whether it's
[01:14] SPEAKER_01: people who are a little bit older, people who have a different body type, people of a different
[01:19] SPEAKER_01: skin color, and definitely people of a different sexuality, other than straight, whether it
[01:24] SPEAKER_01: that's gay, lesbian, queer, the whole LGBTQ plus spectra.
[01:30] SPEAKER_01: So tell me how Wednesday Co works.
[01:32] SPEAKER_01: So Wednesday Co, you come into our site, pick a plan that kind of fits your lifestyle,
[01:37] SPEAKER_01: we have three, six or 12 monthly condoms that you can get delivered to your house.
[01:41] SPEAKER_01: So you simply just come in, make a profile, pick your plan and you set it and forget it,
[01:46] SPEAKER_01: and then they're there when you need them.
[01:49] SPEAKER_00: Tell me as an entrepreneur, what are the benefits of doing business in Calgary?
[01:55] SPEAKER_01: You know, I have found, growing up in Calgary, that although a very conservative place, it
[02:00] SPEAKER_01: seems to be very open to new ideas and open to fostering new young talent.
[02:09] SPEAKER_01: I think I kind of coming up here and kind of starting out have felt that my community
[02:16] SPEAKER_01: is behind me and you know, with having support from people like you and Canada's podcast,
[02:21] SPEAKER_01: I think there's lots of places where I wouldn't have that opportunity.
[02:25] SPEAKER_00: What are the challenges of doing business in Calgary?
[02:29] SPEAKER_01: I have not personally come across too many challenges specifically here in Calgary.
[02:35] SPEAKER_01: My business is online based so I don't have a lot of the barriers that some other brick
[02:41] SPEAKER_01: and mortar stores might have.
[02:43] SPEAKER_00: Why would you recommend Calgary to entrepreneurs who are starting up a business?
[02:48] SPEAKER_01: I think Calgary isn't a place right now where it's really looking to expand their horizons.
[02:55] SPEAKER_01: I think we've been in oil and gas for so long and I'm, you know, a big supporter of oil
[02:59] SPEAKER_01: and gas still.
[03:00] SPEAKER_01: But I think we're looking to find a new voice and to bring in some new revenue streams
[03:07] SPEAKER_01: and I think that's a kind of great place for people to start out and get their word out there.
[03:14] SPEAKER_00: For yourself personally, you know, we all need to take a break from our jobs and our work, right?
[03:21] SPEAKER_00: What do you do to disconnect and recharge or where do you go?
[03:25] SPEAKER_01: My biggest kind of disconnect in moment is usually in a spin class or some sort of workout environment
[03:34] SPEAKER_01: where I can really focus on that moment and focus on the loud music or the intense workout or whatever.
[03:45] SPEAKER_01: And I have found that for me is better than a kind of counseling or self-help book.
[03:52] SPEAKER_01: It's really my go-to.
[03:54] SPEAKER_00: What are you most excited about, you know, as you look at your business these days?
[04:00] SPEAKER_01: I'm most excited about the future. I'm really excited about kind of younger generations and how
[04:08] SPEAKER_01: they're already changing the rhetoric. I think they're a lot more open and as they get older,
[04:15] SPEAKER_01: start moving into university, etc. I'm excited to see how they react to my business and how they
[04:23] SPEAKER_00: continue our message forward. Okay. And when you look at that vision for the company going
[04:29] SPEAKER_00: down the road, where do you see the company being in two, three, five years?
[04:34] SPEAKER_01: You know, two years I would really like to expand our product offerings and, you know,
[04:41] SPEAKER_01: bring in more things under that sexual health umbrella, sexual wellness umbrella.
[04:47] SPEAKER_01: Five years, I mean, I would hope to be expanding into new markets globally,
[04:51] SPEAKER_01: potentially into the UK, Australia, different markets that align with our values and I think
[04:57] SPEAKER_00: would be very accepting of our message. Now, what, when you, you know, obviously starting up a new
[05:03] SPEAKER_00: business, what has been your greatest challenge that you've had to overcome? I think personally,
[05:10] SPEAKER_01: my biggest challenge has been my own mind. I am a perfectionist at heart and I like things to go
[05:19] SPEAKER_01: my own way and I have really found and learned over the last year and a half that that's never going
[05:25] SPEAKER_01: to be the case or very rarely will be the case. And that's aside from any kind of regulatory issues
[05:31] SPEAKER_01: and logistical issues that I've had, that's been the biggest one. You know, when you look back,
[05:38] SPEAKER_00: you know, knowing what you know right now, what do you wish you would have known at the beginning
[05:44] SPEAKER_01: when you first started this? Looking back now, I would tell myself to just take a breath and sit
[05:54] SPEAKER_01: down and look at all the options that I have on the table, like many entrepreneurs, I kind of want
[06:00] SPEAKER_01: things quickly and I want things now. And I think I would tell myself just to take a step back,
[06:08] SPEAKER_01: look at it from a different perspective and really weigh out some options before kind of jumping
[06:14] SPEAKER_01: to conclusions. What's the best piece of advice as an entrepreneur you've received? The best
[06:21] SPEAKER_01: piece of advice that I've ever received and actually kind of found on Google was to kind of set
[06:25] SPEAKER_01: some unrealistic expectations and kind of strive to achieve those, you know, whether it's getting
[06:31] SPEAKER_01: shorter deadline completed, whether it's getting a product done in a certain way that someone told
[06:36] SPEAKER_01: you it might not be possible, kind of setting those expectations for yourself and then trying to
[06:42] SPEAKER_01: bring everybody else along with you. So, you know, really push for what you want and tell people
[06:48] SPEAKER_01: what you want and usually if you ask for what you want, you can get it. I'm going to switch gears
[06:54] SPEAKER_00: and ask you a couple of more personal questions. Everybody's got a bucket list these days. Do you have
[07:00] SPEAKER_01: some bucket list and what's on top? I have always had a fear of heights. So doing something that would
[07:06] SPEAKER_01: maybe help push me out of that fear. So maybe skydiving, some kind of paragliding. I'm in the same
[07:15] SPEAKER_00: boat. I have the same thing. Something like that. Okay. If you weren't doing what you're doing now
[07:20] SPEAKER_00: in terms of a career or a professional or whatever, what do you think you would be doing instead?
[07:29] SPEAKER_01: Being still in university myself, I definitely think what I'm doing right now is the career for me,
[07:35] SPEAKER_01: whether it's this company, but generally being an entrepreneur. If I wasn't doing this, the other
[07:40] SPEAKER_01: options I had kind of tossed around were maybe law school, potentially med school, something in those
[07:49] SPEAKER_01: categories. What book are you currently reading? It's actually been a little while since I've read a
[07:54] SPEAKER_01: book just starting my company a couple months ago. It's been mostly emails that I've been reading.
[08:01] SPEAKER_01: But the last one I read was it's called the quest for the best or might be quest for the best
[08:09] SPEAKER_01: by one of the founders of Neiman Marcus and it kind of outlines him traveling around the world
[08:15] SPEAKER_01: and talking about the best things out there, whether it's like the best learning shirt, the best
[08:19] SPEAKER_01: restaurant kind of and what makes those things the best. If you could pick one word to describe
[08:26] SPEAKER_00: yourself, what would it be and why? That's a tough one. One word, probably resilient.
[08:35] SPEAKER_01: Over this last year and a half when I kind of started this journey of starting up Wednesday
[08:40] SPEAKER_01: Co, there has been quite a few roadblocks and things and a lot of people have told me no numerous times
[08:47] SPEAKER_01: and I think I, as I said with my kind of best piece of advice, I've really had to push back
[08:54] SPEAKER_01: and stand up for what I want, stand up for my vision and it's finally come to fruition.
[09:02] SPEAKER_00: Now outside of Calgary, is there any place that you'd love to go to and spend time?
[09:09] SPEAKER_01: My favorite place I've been lucky enough to do quite a bit of traveling. One of my most favorite
[09:16] SPEAKER_01: cities is London. I still have some family there and I've always loved kind of the general vibe
[09:21] SPEAKER_01: and atmosphere around that city and I've also spent some time in Vancouver in school and I found
[09:28] SPEAKER_01: that city to have a similar kind of metropolitan overcast vibe and I have really enjoyed, you know,
[09:37] SPEAKER_01: spending some time there with family, a family and white rock so. Okay, super. We're creatures of
[09:43] SPEAKER_00: habit. Do you have a daily routine that you don't deviate from? Not really. I usually wake up at
[09:50] SPEAKER_01: the same time around eight o'clock, right, kind of out the gate. I am answering emails and I like to
[09:57] SPEAKER_01: get a lot of stuff done early in the morning and get out of the way and kind of try to have a
[10:01] SPEAKER_01: lighter afternoon so I think that's a constant but every day it's a new struggle new, something new
[10:08] SPEAKER_00: to tackle and okay. I've got to present you with a scenario with an oddball question. Okay, so
[10:15] SPEAKER_00: imagine a beautiful tropical island in the middle of the ocean with only one phone booth and no
[10:21] SPEAKER_00: internet. Okay, we're going to drop you off there with no technology at all. Anytime you can use
[10:27] SPEAKER_00: the phone booth to call us and we'll come with a boat and pick you up and take your home. How long
[10:32] SPEAKER_00: do you think you'll last before making that phone call and what do you think you do spend your time
[10:38] SPEAKER_01: with there? I would probably spend my time one figuring out some sort of water source or food source
[10:46] SPEAKER_01: to make sure that I stayed alive to probably laying on the beach getting some sun. I love the sun.
[10:54] SPEAKER_01: Something like that. I mean, think about how long before I made that phone call, I think I'm not
[10:59] SPEAKER_01: a big technology theme. I actually like more traditional ways of communication. Other, you know,
[11:06] SPEAKER_01: simple phone calls or face-to-face meetings I've always really liked. So I could probably last
[11:13] SPEAKER_01: quite a while up until say the food or water or whatever was standing me ran out. Okay, is there
[11:20] SPEAKER_01: anything you'd like to add Joey before you leave us today? I think it's been interesting. I
[11:28] SPEAKER_01: thought Dad who's an entrepreneur and a mom who was also quite business savvy. And you know, I have
[11:34] SPEAKER_01: learned that it's a lot different than what I thought. I always knew the rhetoric. I always knew
[11:40] SPEAKER_01: about, you know, business dealings and how that's done and lots of the key words that were used and
[11:47] SPEAKER_01: you know, finding my own footing and I tried really hard to make sure that I did this all on my own
[11:54] SPEAKER_01: without too much support in that kind of family way. It's really changed my perspective on what
[12:02] SPEAKER_01: my parents do and did and has kind of humbled me in a way. Okay, great. Thanks for being our
[12:09] SPEAKER_00: guest today, Joey. Hey there. Thanks for taking the time today to listen to Calgary's podcast
[12:15] SPEAKER_00: on Canada's podcast network. We hope you enjoyed the show today. Make sure you sign up for our
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[12:36] SPEAKER_00: doing across the country. See you next time.