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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's Podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_00: Hello, I'm Mario Tonigus, managing editor of Canada's Podcast.
[00:10] SPEAKER_00: Joining me today on Calgary's Podcast is Kathy Ewan, who is president of Bayes One
[00:16] SPEAKER_00: Design with offices in Calgary and Vancouver.
[00:19] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us today, Kathy.
[00:21] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me, Mario.
[00:23] SPEAKER_00: All right.
[00:24] SPEAKER_00: Let's chat first of all about your business.
[00:28] SPEAKER_00: What do you do?
[00:29] SPEAKER_01: I own Bayes One Design.
[00:31] SPEAKER_01: We are an architectural and interior design firm, and specialized in designing home owners
[00:36] SPEAKER_01: great homes.
[00:37] SPEAKER_01: So whether it's a new build or a major renovation, that's what we did.
[00:41] SPEAKER_01: We helped our homeowners get there.
[00:43] SPEAKER_00: Tell me a little bit of the history about Bayes One.
[00:46] SPEAKER_00: How did you start it and more the why?
[00:50] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sure.
[00:50] SPEAKER_01: So we've been around for 17 years.
[00:53] SPEAKER_01: I feel really old when I say, uh, uh, uh,
[00:55] SPEAKER_01: cool.
[00:58] SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
[00:59] SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, so, uh, why?
[01:02] SPEAKER_01: So I, um, my background is actually construction project management.
[01:06] SPEAKER_01: So one of the big why's of why the company got started, why is, uh, on the project management
[01:10] SPEAKER_01: side, I saw a lot of disconnect between design and, you know, what I'll call the more practical
[01:16] SPEAKER_01: side of the business, which is essentially having projects on budget, on time, as well
[01:22] SPEAKER_01: as, you know, just being buildable, like from a construction standpoint.
[01:25] SPEAKER_01: So, um, you know, of course, like a lot of entrepreneurs, uh, um, founding stories.
[01:31] SPEAKER_01: Uh, I thought we could do it better.
[01:33] SPEAKER_01: We're like, oh, wait, we can come up with, um, you know, a business that maybe can address
[01:36] SPEAKER_01: these issues that I saw at this time in the industry.
[01:40] SPEAKER_01: So, uh, that was part of the reason why Bayes One design was born.
[01:43] SPEAKER_01: So we wanted to be the design firm that was able to not only deliver a beautiful design,
[01:48] SPEAKER_01: but do it within the construction budget, do it, um, within the context of being on time,
[01:53] SPEAKER_01: like the overall, um, time frame of the project, as well as buildable.
[01:59] SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
[02:00] SPEAKER_00: So, you're interested in, in homes, in architecture, where, where'd that come from?
[02:06] SPEAKER_00: And, uh, did you always have this as a kid or the, the development over time, somehow?
[02:12] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like, I mean, I think I was always really interested in homes and like, home design,
[02:17] SPEAKER_01: um, I think one of the, the big, you know, kind of going back to the wise, though, was
[02:22] SPEAKER_01: really for me, it was, um, leaving a legacy, you know, I really want to, and I, since
[02:27] SPEAKER_01: I was like a kid, I always wanted to impact other people's lives and really, you know, um,
[02:33] SPEAKER_01: mid, like, on a small level and also, like, on a large scale, right?
[02:36] SPEAKER_01: So always, I was talking about leaving legacy.
[02:38] SPEAKER_01: So like, what are people gonna say, like, long after I'm gone?
[02:40] SPEAKER_01: I know that sounds really morbid.
[02:42] SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, like, just making a positive impact in other people's lives.
[02:46] SPEAKER_01: So, in terms of like, being able to be a part of a dream home project and a home design
[02:52] SPEAKER_01: project, in my opinion, we are making an impact in people's lives.
[02:56] SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
[02:57] SPEAKER_00: What's a favorite, uh, one of the favorite types of homes you've got with design?
[03:02] SPEAKER_01: Oh, my God.
[03:02] SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's a true question.
[03:05] SPEAKER_01: That was, that was really hard to answer.
[03:07] SPEAKER_01: Um, my favorite, oh my God.
[03:10] SPEAKER_01: They're all, I love them all for different reasons, but I know you're looking for like, an
[03:14] SPEAKER_01: answer.
[03:15] SPEAKER_01: So, um, like a specific answer, right?
[03:18] SPEAKER_00: No, it's okay.
[03:19] SPEAKER_00: You know, I just thought, you know, what if it was one that popped in your head?
[03:23] SPEAKER_01: Uh, I think a home, what I love, and to be honest, my, my style and what my preferences
[03:29] SPEAKER_01: change all the time, because I see so much in yourself out there.
[03:32] SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think that the home, like, when my favorite type of design is when you walk
[03:36] SPEAKER_01: in, and it just feels like really good.
[03:39] SPEAKER_01: Like, you just feel like you just want to hang out there in that space and spend a lot
[03:42] SPEAKER_01: of time and entertain, have family friends over and yeah, just somewhere you want to,
[03:48] SPEAKER_01: a space that you want to be in and just makes you feel good.
[03:52] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[03:52] SPEAKER_00: I guess in this field, uh, right, uh, a lot of creativity, obviously involved, right?
[03:58] SPEAKER_00: And where does that come from?
[03:59] SPEAKER_00: Like, where do you get inspiration?
[04:03] SPEAKER_01: Well, I think, uh, most of our designs are inspired more so by our clients, because everything
[04:09] SPEAKER_01: we do is custom.
[04:11] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[04:11] SPEAKER_01: Um, so a client would come to us and, you know, they have their vision, which is for
[04:15] SPEAKER_01: me that it's, it's really exciting just to see somebody else get excited about, you
[04:19] SPEAKER_01: know, what they want.
[04:20] SPEAKER_01: Um, and then in terms of like the creative side of things, I think I mean, I know this
[04:25] SPEAKER_01: sounds kind of cheesy, but like the world is an inspiration, right?
[04:27] SPEAKER_01: Like you can walk down the street and, I don't know, see, see like a cool shape, even
[04:32] SPEAKER_01: in like nature, let's say, I think what's your, your, your, your like walking through
[04:35] SPEAKER_01: the park, you see something cool and you're like, oh, maybe you can pull that into
[04:39] SPEAKER_01: design.
[04:39] SPEAKER_01: Or like a color scheme or even like other architectural buildings, you know, like there's
[04:46] SPEAKER_01: so many examples of great design out there.
[04:49] SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't have to be like just actual like architectural buildings.
[04:51] SPEAKER_01: It can be anything really that you see out there in nature.
[04:55] SPEAKER_00: Mm hmm.
[04:56] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[04:56] SPEAKER_01: Or anywhere.
[04:58] SPEAKER_00: So, okay.
[04:59] SPEAKER_00: Not to get into the age thing, but you know, you, you, you brought it up.
[05:05] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[05:06] SPEAKER_00: I'm just thinking going back in time, like you obviously were fairly young when you,
[05:12] SPEAKER_00: when you started the business.
[05:13] SPEAKER_00: What were some of the key challenges you faced starting a business?
[05:19] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[05:20] SPEAKER_01: So, I was 26 years old when I started the business.
[05:22] SPEAKER_01: And of course, you know, like a lot of people in their 20s, you know, you think you know
[05:26] SPEAKER_01: everything.
[05:26] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[05:28] SPEAKER_01: Which is good.
[05:29] SPEAKER_01: I think it's really good that you're naive, right?
[05:30] SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh, yeah.
[05:31] SPEAKER_01: And I actually remember thinking to myself, when I officially put my job my full time,
[05:36] SPEAKER_01: my really, really good full time job slash career at the time.
[05:40] SPEAKER_01: I remember thinking to myself and saying out loud, it's like, yeah, you know, how hard
[05:43] SPEAKER_01: could it possibly be to run a business?
[05:45] SPEAKER_01: And of course, you're like in for a crazy surprise, right?
[05:48] SPEAKER_01: Like I thought I was going to work like way less hours and make all this money and it
[05:51] SPEAKER_01: was going to be super easy.
[05:52] SPEAKER_01: But yeah, some of the key challenges I would say is like really just not knowing what
[05:55] SPEAKER_01: you don't know.
[05:58] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I think if you've ever, if you're familiar with a book, email, they talk
[06:03] SPEAKER_01: about working in your business versus on your business and, and yeah.
[06:07] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I think a lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners, when you first
[06:11] SPEAKER_01: start, that's all you do.
[06:12] SPEAKER_01: You're working in your business and you, you, you, a don't even understand the concept
[06:17] SPEAKER_01: of working on your business.
[06:19] SPEAKER_01: And even if you did, you would even know how to do that.
[06:22] SPEAKER_01: So you don't have the business smart, so the business skill set.
[06:25] SPEAKER_01: So you know how to do day to day, but not the business side.
[06:28] SPEAKER_01: So for me, I would say that was our largest challenge.
[06:32] SPEAKER_01: And even something as basic as like, oh, I need to do a source deduction submission
[06:37] SPEAKER_01: to the C or hey, as part of payroll, like, what is that?
[06:41] SPEAKER_01: What's the source deduction?
[06:42] SPEAKER_01: Just like simple, well now, now to, it's, it's simple, but back then it wasn't right.
[06:48] SPEAKER_01: So I literally read every single business book I could get my hands on, what little money
[06:53] SPEAKER_01: I had, I spent them all on books like that, and it was like hard, hard, happy books.
[06:57] Speaker UNKNOWN:
[06:57] SPEAKER_01: The good life from like chapters, you know, like, so I spent a lot of time in chapters.
[07:01] SPEAKER_01: And just consuming as much information as you, I could possibly get.
[07:05] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[07:05] SPEAKER_00: What do you think, you know, when, when you look back, you know, on starting, being an
[07:11] SPEAKER_00: entrepreneur, a lot of people start this out of necessity, right?
[07:17] SPEAKER_00: And of course, too, because maybe they're late off or whatever, right?
[07:20] SPEAKER_00: And, but you know, it was a choice for you, right?
[07:24] SPEAKER_00: To do this and was it scary to leave something that was, I guess, secure for lack of
[07:32] SPEAKER_00: better word, right?
[07:33] SPEAKER_00: That for something that, you know, you don't know where this is going.
[07:38] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a great question.
[07:40] SPEAKER_01: So I would say at first, I was kind of like, too naive to like be scared.
[07:46] SPEAKER_01: Like I actually thought it was going to be this like, really cool invention.
[07:48] SPEAKER_01: Which it is.
[07:49] SPEAKER_01: Don't get me wrong.
[07:50] SPEAKER_01: So, but yes, I felt about like, I think terrified would be a good word to describe how I
[07:57] SPEAKER_01: felt, but I don't think it like really hit me until about, you know, six months to a year
[08:01] SPEAKER_01: into the business.
[08:02] SPEAKER_01: So I was like, whoa, like, I have to like really start figuring out how to do this properly.
[08:07] SPEAKER_01: Like I need to figure out how to make sales and revenue and like generate business.
[08:12] SPEAKER_01: Because you know, when you're, when you're working as an employee for someone, like, you
[08:16] SPEAKER_01: don't have to think about stuff like that.
[08:17] SPEAKER_01: You just kind of, and it's all there for you.
[08:19] SPEAKER_01: But then, you know, if you have your own business, like you do, you're like, where's my next
[08:23] SPEAKER_01: page I come from?
[08:24] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, how to page that coming, right?
[08:26] SPEAKER_01: So.
[08:26] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
[08:28] Speaker UNKNOWN: So, yeah.
[08:29] SPEAKER_00: So, when, you know, along the way, along the journey, you know, being a woman in a, I
[08:37] SPEAKER_00: guess in the industry that most people associate with man, yo, with the whole building, etc.
[08:43] SPEAKER_00: That, what were some of the, were there issues that you had to deal with there?
[08:47] SPEAKER_00: Right.
[08:48] SPEAKER_00: Our challenges that you had to overcome there.
[08:51] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think, I mean, like the reality is you can't really see how tall I am right now,
[08:55] SPEAKER_01: but I'm like, it's five feet.
[08:57] SPEAKER_01: Five feet, you know, just why I always wear heels.
[09:00] SPEAKER_01: And I'm tiny, right?
[09:01] SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, I'm like, this tiny, like, about that I was in my 20s, 20-year-old, like, coming
[09:05] SPEAKER_01: in trying to sell architectural contracts, right?
[09:08] SPEAKER_01: And be like, oh, hey, let me design your house.
[09:09] SPEAKER_01: I know everything about construction because I actually, like, like I said, I was in
[09:13] SPEAKER_01: projie management.
[09:14] SPEAKER_01: So, I actually used to like, rent rates work on site day to day.
[09:16] SPEAKER_01: So, I actually did have a knowledge.
[09:18] SPEAKER_01: But yeah, walking into a lot of the rooms, everyone was like, well, who are you?
[09:22] SPEAKER_01: You're just like a designer and, you know, I'm telling them my background.
[09:25] SPEAKER_01: And I think, I think the fact that I did have that background, I know it's able to talk
[09:28] SPEAKER_01: about it and really, like, you know, talk of the technical construction side, you know,
[09:33] SPEAKER_01: once we started having those conversations, I think that some people started to take
[09:37] SPEAKER_01: me seriously.
[09:37] SPEAKER_01: But yeah, 100% I mean, I think just, yeah, being a woman and being tiny, tiny, sometimes
[09:45] SPEAKER_01: you're like, whoa, do you actually know what you're talking about?
[09:48] SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
[09:49] SPEAKER_00: So along the way too, you mentioned a lot of books and stuff that you would look at.
[09:56] SPEAKER_00: Was there anything in particular that struck you, you know, from a business standpoint,
[10:01] SPEAKER_00: about learning and education that helped you like any particular books or any particular
[10:09] SPEAKER_00: authors or, you know, people out there that you considered very helpful in your journey?
[10:16] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
[10:17] SPEAKER_01: There's definitely some key ones.
[10:19] SPEAKER_01: There was one, in particular, and actually we still use it.
[10:22] SPEAKER_01: I think if there's a lot of entrepreneurs that are familiar with them out there, also
[10:26] SPEAKER_01: Gina with an attraction.
[10:29] SPEAKER_01: And we actually do, like, he talks about it in the US entrepreneurial operating system.
[10:33] SPEAKER_01: And we, as a phase one, we still run on that.
[10:36] SPEAKER_01: We actually have somebody implementing that for us now, whereas before we were trying
[10:39] SPEAKER_01: to self-implement.
[10:40] SPEAKER_01: But it talks about, essentially, how to run your business, but in a very simple way.
[10:46] SPEAKER_01: So it breaks it down literally to, there's a tool where it's literally like one page.
[10:51] SPEAKER_01: And like, you know, you don't need a business plan necessarily.
[10:53] SPEAKER_01: I mean, they are helpful.
[10:55] SPEAKER_01: But, you know, this particular book talks about literally one page room.
[10:59] SPEAKER_01: That kind of sums up everything for a business.
[11:03] SPEAKER_01: And yeah, just really easy digestible, really easy to implement.
[11:06] SPEAKER_01: That's a big one for me.
[11:09] SPEAKER_00: So, you know, being a business owner, obviously, there's so many different aspects of it, right?
[11:16] SPEAKER_00: And you find that taking care of business, so to speak, takes you away from the creative side of
[11:24] SPEAKER_00: what you got into this first place for, I guess?
[11:28] SPEAKER_01: That's a great question.
[11:29] SPEAKER_01: I actually get a set quite a bit.
[11:31] SPEAKER_01: So I would say, like, yes and no.
[11:33] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I'm really big on building teams that are smarter than me.
[11:39] SPEAKER_01: So I will confidently say every single member of my team currently and always has been,
[11:45] SPEAKER_01: every single person has something that they can do better for me, including the creative side of things.
[11:50] SPEAKER_01: So we still definitely weren't together, but it's all about my team that pulls on that creative side.
[11:55] SPEAKER_01: And I would say that for me personally, I am now creative in other ways as well.
[12:00] SPEAKER_01: So in terms of business, I think even just showing up every day at the office and you're having
[12:05] SPEAKER_01: like a business conversation, you know, or trying to solve an issue or work through something or
[12:10] SPEAKER_01: a new business strategy, there's a lot of creative creativity that you need to inject into those conversations.
[12:15] SPEAKER_01: And like pull from, so that gets me really excited as much as, you know, the home design aspect of it also gets me excited.
[12:23] SPEAKER_01: So I don't know if that answers your questions, I guess it's too much.
[12:26] SPEAKER_01: That's great.
[12:27] SPEAKER_00: How have you been able to, you know, it's been a tough time, obviously, for businesses in general in Canada,
[12:33] SPEAKER_00: and small businesses in particular with so many different factors, pandemic obviously,
[12:40] SPEAKER_00: but everything that in terms of like costs of everything going up and labor shortages, etc, etc.
[12:49] SPEAKER_00: What do you think it's been some of the reasons that you've been able to, I guess,
[12:53] SPEAKER_00: survive and navigate through all these challenges in these times?
[12:58] SPEAKER_01: I think it's, that's a great question.
[13:02] SPEAKER_01: So yes, it has been challenging for lots of different reasons and you know, I don't think we're the only business,
[13:08] SPEAKER_01: but I think I always see challenges as an opportunity as well.
[13:11] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, what everything has forced us to do in the past few years is really just,
[13:17] SPEAKER_01: I think setting everybody's expectations properly, especially like in my industry where you're working
[13:23] SPEAKER_01: with homeowners and clients that are very time sensitive. Like everybody wants everything yesterday,
[13:28] SPEAKER_01: which is understandable, there's a lot of money on the line, any emotions, of course.
[13:33] SPEAKER_01: So just setting proper expectations in terms of costs and time frames.
[13:37] SPEAKER_01: And really, I always go back to like your team, right? Like just having the right people around you
[13:42] SPEAKER_01: and understanding how to lead a team and making sure they're engaged and informed to run projects
[13:48] SPEAKER_01: in as efficient ways possible. And also using technology, like we've really taken a
[13:54] SPEAKER_01: renewed focus on looking at ways we can use technology to streamline processes.
[14:00] SPEAKER_01: And I don't think, in my opinion, maybe I'll have a different opinion in five years,
[14:04] SPEAKER_01: but currently I don't think technology can fully replace like humans, but it's good to
[14:09] SPEAKER_01: utilize technology to, you know, enhance what we do on a day to day. So something as simple as like,
[14:15] SPEAKER_01: we rolled out a project management software that we customized, which enables us to forecast
[14:22] SPEAKER_01: our time frames, you know, months, if not years into the future, like for a really long project.
[14:28] SPEAKER_01: So just being able to have that level of forecasting, I think, you know, really helps our projects,
[14:35] SPEAKER_00: and then they're far as fine as well. Okay, this kind of a weird question that just popped
[14:41] SPEAKER_00: in my head when you talk about that technology and an artificial, say, artificial intelligence,
[14:48] SPEAKER_00: like, you know, when we get to the day where you throw in the key words, I want to really
[14:59] SPEAKER_00: cool design for a new house and boom, it's there in seconds. Like you see that kind of coming
[15:07] SPEAKER_00: and what, you know, what is the, I get no significance of what that means for us.
[15:15] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, that's a great question. And I like, I was actually joking, I've been joking to my
[15:20] SPEAKER_01: close circle. I'm like, oh my god, I'm going to have a job in like two years, all face to
[15:25] SPEAKER_00: love. Oh, no, what's that sorry? I said, no one will have a job. I won't be a robot sitting here,
[15:33] SPEAKER_01: asking you questions. But nobody can take your place, Mario, come on. Yeah, so that's a really
[15:41] SPEAKER_01: good question. And one like, I wish I knew the answer to you. I think again, yeah, and I don't
[15:46] SPEAKER_01: know the answer to that question. Hopefully, you know, I think that we will be working side-by-side with
[15:52] SPEAKER_01: technology rather than just being fully replaced by technology. I think there are elements of what
[15:59] SPEAKER_01: we do that just can't be replaced and hopefully not mistaken. And so for example, you know,
[16:05] SPEAKER_01: just being able to have that human interaction and where, you know, there's a certain way we ask
[16:12] SPEAKER_01: questions as an example to pull the information we need from a client and hopefully robot
[16:18] SPEAKER_00: will be able to take our place. We'll see. What's it leaves me something else like as an owner,
[16:25] SPEAKER_00: and when you're making decisions, are you the type of person that makes decisions like
[16:33] SPEAKER_00: strictly and maybe more so based on research and knowledge and data and all that type of stuff?
[16:40] SPEAKER_01: Or do you go by your gut? Great question. I think you need both. I don't think that, you know,
[16:55] SPEAKER_01: do all the research in the world, but you know, the reality is business. The business environment
[17:00] SPEAKER_01: changes so quickly. So if you're going to wait until you're 100% certain, which I don't actually
[17:05] SPEAKER_01: believe in 100% certainty, before you pull the trigger on something, like your opportunity is
[17:10] SPEAKER_01: going to be already gone by that time. So, you know, you make an informed decision based on the
[17:16] SPEAKER_01: the data that you have at your disposal at the time and obviously do your research, but, you know,
[17:22] SPEAKER_01: 80% done is sometimes better than 100% perfect and there's no such thing as perfection. So,
[17:28] SPEAKER_00: yeah, so I think on what it is, of course, right? So, yeah. So, some young person came up to you and
[17:35] SPEAKER_00: and said, yo, I want to be an entrepreneur. I'm thinking of being an entrepreneur. What advice
[17:41] SPEAKER_01: would you give them? Good question. I would say, you know, surround yourself with really smart people.
[17:51] SPEAKER_01: You never want to be the smartest person in the room. In particular, in key areas that I think,
[17:57] SPEAKER_01: again, a lot of startup entrepreneurs don't know, including myself. So, for example, like,
[18:01] SPEAKER_01: finance and legal and even like strategy, right? Like, just surround yourself with as many smart
[18:08] SPEAKER_01: people as you can. Get a really good mentor or, you know, ideally multiple mentors out there.
[18:15] SPEAKER_01: Be prepared to work hard and, you know, when the going gets tough to stick in there, I think,
[18:20] SPEAKER_01: really business at the end of the day, it's a lot about the hard work and tenacity when things
[18:27] SPEAKER_01: just don't go your way. Just keep keep out of it. All right, now we talked a little
[18:33] SPEAKER_00: right a bit here about technology. You know, one of the areas of technology is obviously what we're
[18:39] SPEAKER_00: doing right here in video. And I know that you're a big fan of video and using video. Tell me
[18:46] SPEAKER_01: how you use video for your business. Yeah, so I love video because I just think it's engaging.
[18:53] SPEAKER_01: So how we use, sorry, video specifically. So I have a YouTube channel, DreamHomes with Kathy.
[19:01] SPEAKER_01: So we talk about basically everything you need to know about DreamHomes and answer, you know,
[19:05] SPEAKER_01: all the frequently asked questions. I think it's really good because it delivers a lot of
[19:10] SPEAKER_01: information out to people who need it. And, you know, on a YouTube channel, viewers can consume
[19:17] SPEAKER_01: information like kind of at their leisure. And then once you actually have somebody that's engaged
[19:24] SPEAKER_01: in their content, you can continue to deliver that content, right? Like in a really good, concise way
[19:30] SPEAKER_01: to. So instead of having to sit there and like, you know, watch a one hour video on something,
[19:36] SPEAKER_01: like you can just basically like skin through a channel and be like, yeah, I want to
[19:39] SPEAKER_01: can see in this 12 minute video about how much does a house cost or, you know, what can I build on
[19:45] SPEAKER_01: my lot? Like things like that. So yeah, so I think video, and I just love video. Like I think
[19:51] SPEAKER_01: it's really fun to do too. Like once you actually get the hang of it. So I wouldn't encourage any
[19:55] SPEAKER_00: anybody other to do it. You think it's a scary thing for a lot of businesses to adopt initially?
[20:03] SPEAKER_01: Oh, for sure. It totally is. And it was for us as well. And, you know, my close business friends,
[20:10] SPEAKER_01: they actually just had one that came to me and I've been encouraging him for a long time. And
[20:16] SPEAKER_01: he's like, he's a builder friend of mine. And he finally started doing it. And it's really cool.
[20:20] SPEAKER_01: Like he was telling me this story. Like, he's like, oh, Kathy, I finally did it. But it was cool
[20:24] SPEAKER_01: because he actually saw his metrics go up like on, and the level of engagement on, on all of those
[20:30] SPEAKER_01: platforms. So he's kind of at the ball and just did it. And somebody gave me some advice about
[20:35] SPEAKER_01: this a long time ago, which is kind of crazy. But it's true. They're like, okay, you know what? When
[20:40] SPEAKER_01: you first video, do video, you're going to suck. So sooner you just start sucking and being like,
[20:48] SPEAKER_01: really bad at it on the other end of it. One day, you're going to wake up and be like, oh,
[20:52] SPEAKER_01: these are actually starting to be like, pretty good. Yeah, just start sucking. And then one day,
[20:58] SPEAKER_00: you'll just be good. Like, you know, so tell me a little bit about yourself, Kathy. Now, obviously
[21:06] SPEAKER_00: being an entrepreneur, you know, it's busy. Yeah. And many ways 24, seven for many on,
[21:12] SPEAKER_01: entrepreneurship, you do to relax outside of work. I love anything new. So like, I call it
[21:21] SPEAKER_01: adventuring. So, you know, and that can be like something really bold and exciting, you know,
[21:26] SPEAKER_01: like traveling and like going to new places to like even some nights, like I'm kind of in this
[21:31] SPEAKER_01: mode right now where I just want to chill on home and do nothing. But by that, like, you know,
[21:36] SPEAKER_01: you're still out there trying new recipes. I don't know. Maybe like you just ate a home and like
[21:40] SPEAKER_01: something new. So basically anything new, anything to do with the outdoors I love. I love dogs. So
[21:49] SPEAKER_01: standing open invitation to anybody out there with a friendship that needs,
[21:52] SPEAKER_01: a French bulldog that needs a doggy center. I'm always open for two. Yeah, I just love hanging
[21:58] SPEAKER_01: with dogs. So that's another cool thing I love to do. And then also, I really, really,
[22:06] SPEAKER_01: brain of kind of in the background and working on a nonprofit initiative for affordable housing.
[22:11] SPEAKER_01: Okay. Which that'll be an announcement that we're going to be making. It's a big
[22:17] SPEAKER_01: herodation school of mine, Beheag. Not just mine now. It's actually one of phase one. So,
[22:22] SPEAKER_00: it's 1800. Okay. And I see that, you know, on your bio, you're involved with the Horizon Housing
[22:31] SPEAKER_00: Society. Sorry. And tell me about your interest there and why?
[22:37] SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay. So Horizon, yeah, I was on the board of Horizon. I'm no longer. I actually
[22:41] SPEAKER_01: is a person because I'm sorry, I need to update that. But yeah, I can't just back to affordable
[22:46] SPEAKER_01: housing. So that's where Horizon Housing was doing. Okay. And yeah, I had to realize that I'm
[22:51] SPEAKER_01: on the board because I started being a big nonprofit. So I just wasn't able to come in anymore.
[22:55] SPEAKER_01: But well, I guess maybe I'll give you this sneak peek. This will be the first time it's out there
[22:59] SPEAKER_01: in the public. So as part of some one of our strategic planning sessions for phase one,
[23:06] SPEAKER_01: we actually decided that one of our 10 year, 10 year goals, we think it's going to be 10 years.
[23:12] SPEAKER_01: We haven't quite defined the time line yet. But we actually want to enhance one million lives
[23:17] SPEAKER_01: around the world. And that means either humans or we said lives specifically so it could be
[23:23] SPEAKER_01: like humans or maybe like animals or something. We think it's going to be in the form of like
[23:28] SPEAKER_01: affordable housing or something. We haven't quite firmed up the details. But that's our beehag
[23:33] SPEAKER_01: that as a company, we actually want to go out there and start doing that. And we're just in the
[23:38] SPEAKER_01: process of starting a ticker to count a million. So it's a pretty ambitious goal. But you know,
[23:44] SPEAKER_01: it's one that gets not just me, but like my entire team super excited. Excellent. Excellent.
[23:49] SPEAKER_00: All right, well, Cassie, I really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today.
[23:54] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Mario. It was good to see you.
[23:57] SPEAKER_00: To see you again too. And that was Kathy Ewan, who is president of phase one design,
[24:04] SPEAKER_00: with offices in Calgary and in Vancouver. I'm Mario Toneguzi, managing editor of kind of
[24:11] SPEAKER_00: this podcast. This has been Calgary's podcast. Thanks for joining us today.
