I had originally connected with one of the members Khrystyne (KC) from a FB Group and we instantly hit it off. I had the opportunity to meet more members of the team from 6initiative and attend a couple of their events. They have been nothing but super supportive of my endeavours and I am truly grateful for that. I am also very inspired by what the team has done for the entrepreneur community in the York Region and the surrounding area and what they continue to do during these unprecedented times.
Karen Swyszcz 0:00
I’m Karen Swyszcz, and you’re listening to The Bacon Bits ‘n’ Bytes Podcast. This is the podcast where a bit of business and a byte of technology come together.
Hi everyone, and thanks for tuning in to another episode of The Bacon Bits ‘n’ Bytes Podcast. I’m excited to be chatting with a few members of The 6initiative Team. The 6initiative is an entrepreneurial community platform that provides resources, connections and guidance to side hustle and small business owners.
Khrystyne KC Alfonso is The Director of Operations and Business Development. Khrystyne has acquired over 10 years of experience in administration sales and client services throughout her years. She previously worked in several sales positions before she co founded Flaws of Relativity, where she discovered a way to link her interest in beauty, her background in business and desire to become an entrepreneur. As Director of Operations and Business Development of 6initiative, KC utilizes her business knowledge to effectively create strategies for process improvement to optimize the growth of the company. Her strong connection to support the entrepreneurship community allows her to keep the end in mind when connecting with potential businesses and developing relationships with clients.
Marian Claudio, Director of Innovation, Marketing and Business Development. Marian’s passion for community engagement, marketing and promotion can be traced back to her undergraduate days as a program coordinator and team lead in several campus initiatives at the University of Toronto. She’s organized various events liaised with different organizations and was involved in creating several marketing campaigns. With her background in research and business, Marian has an integral role of supporting the entrepreneur and startup community by creating effective marketing strategies through the use of digital platforms and curating networking events. Apart from working on 6initiative projects, she is also an entrepreneur with a passion for science, research and beauty. By day she works as a clinical research analyst at the hospital and by night she can be found working on her e-commerce and beauty consulting business. She’s also a huge foodie, loves meeting new people and loves to collaborate with other entrepreneurs all over the city.
Jen Myky Lam, Manager of Creative Branding and Events Manager. Myky is a creative guru and passionate educator, Founder of Myky Paints and Co-Founder of Flaws of Relativity. After finishing school for teaching, she decided to take her passion for arts and start her own paint class business. Currently working as an administrative assistant at Sterling Hall. Myky is able to build programs and train other educators to execute the programs. As an educator and passionate entrepreneur herself, Myky is able to bring her education, background creativity and enthusiasm to the team through The 6initiative events and workshops. Welcome to the show, ladies.
Myky Lam 3:03
Hi.
Karen Swyszcz 3:05
So glad for you to be all on the show today.
Myky Lam 3:09
Yay. We’re excited.
KC Alfonso 3:10
Thank you for having us.
Karen Swyszcz 3:11
Alright, so let’s get started. So how did 6initiative start? Like who came up with the idea?
Myky Lam 3:15
So it was actually a small group of us. We’re just like a group of friends. We all own our own businesses. And I think subconsciously, we all had the passion of educating and spreading that energy. And so we ran our first free event. And the first I want to say like, first couple events were free, because we just wanted to build that community. And eventually, we started branding it and yeah, it just came together like that.
Karen Swyszcz 3:44
Oh, cool.
Myky Lam 3:45
Yeah.
Karen Swyszcz 3:46
So how do you specifically support entrepreneurs?
Myky Lam 3:50
Well, when it comes to entrepreneurs, because we’re all business owners ourselves, we realize that a lot of business owners out there are missing that connection and community. Everyone’s kind of just standalone. And what’s missing is that, that community and engagement with each other. And so with our events is our one value where people come together just to learn even if they want to get into business. But a lot of it is that networking aspect and that feeling of welcome that people get when they come to our events, I’d say that’s probably the biggest thing that we can offer to business owners.
Karen Swyszcz 4:23
And when you guys like started 6initiative, and when you were building the community, because from what I’ve noticed from attending a couple of your events, it’s a very large engaged community, like did it take a long time to get to that point?
Myky Lam 4:37
I would say our first event definitely wasn’t as successful per se, quote, unquote. So it did take a lot of trial and error. We’ve done we’ve had a lot of mistakes on the way and like, whether it’s like speakers not showing up or ticket sales and like not having the expected outcome in terms of numbers. And so it definitely took us a while to really and we’re still I think we’re still learning because especially with what’s happening now, too, there’s been quite a pause and going online right now. So yeah, ladies, feel free to chime in (laughs).
KC Alfonso 5:13
I have a few things to add actually. It was a lot of it was based on experience. And that was collective experience as well over the years. We initially started The 6intiative idea, just a couple years ago, but the main concept was developed maybe five or six years ago. And through all of that, we gained so much experience in terms of running events. I am pretty sure collectively we’ve hosted more than 100 events.
Karen Swyszcz 5:16
Wow.
KC Alfonso 5:20
Which is insane to kind of believe, but through all of that experience, we’ve come together to make sure that all of our events are engaging. All our attendees are well connected, and enjoy.
Karen Swyszcz 6:00
Since you guys have like, so much experience with respect to event planning, and I know from my own experience, like planning events are a lot of work. So how do you come up with the ideas like for your particular events?
KC Alfonso 6:13
Marian, I think you can take tackle this one.
Marian Claudio 6:16
Honestly, I feel like what really helps is coming together, we usually have like bi-weekly meetings or whenever we need to. And we just brainstorm a bunch of ideas that we have. And we usually have like a list of speakers, we think that might be great for a certain topic. And then I don’t know we just continuously like brainstorm from there, whether we want to make into like a big event or into like an interactive workshop. Like for example, when you spoke Karen at one of our events, we pretty much went from like a big event to Hey, let’s make it super interactive so that people can actually like learn in this event.
Myky Lam 6:56
A lot of it is like based on the business owner community because we want to like, showcase them and help them with the branding awareness, but also what’s happening in the world and what people want to learn.
Karen Swyszcz 7:06
Mm hmm. Yeah, I remember that event I spoke and it was really fun because it had to do with sales. And I remember the activity was like we got into groups, and we had to come up with pitches on how to sell Yeah, the most random things like a water bottle.
Myky Lam 7:21
Like a tea bag (laughs).
Marian Claudio 7:24
We wanted to try something new yeah and it worked out.
Karen Swyszcz 7:27
Oh, yeah. It’s very different from a lot of the networking events I go to rather than than just like listening to the speakers and people just exchanging business cards and stuff like you feel you have, like more authentic conversations.
Marian Claudio 7:41
Yeah.
KC Alfonso 7:41
I think that’s also what makes us really different from other networking events. And that’s one question that we get a lot and it’s really about being creative, and you’re actually talking to the best people because Marian and Myky are definitely part of the creative team within 6initiative so they have a lot the ideas within the team. And they’re the ones that are shouting out the ideas during our meetings.
Karen Swyszcz 8:06
So since speaking of team, The 6initiative team is relatively large, and correct me if I’m wrong, there’s about nine of you all together, or as of now.
Myky Lam 8:16
Yes, we are a big team.
Karen Swyszcz 8:18
And Marian, you mentioned that you have bi weekly meetings when you’re brainstorming. So having that many people on the team to like, come together and like to plan and do decision making, like, Is it hard to coordinate and like, what is it like when you guys, you know, get together and have your meetings?
Marian Claudio 8:36
I think in the beginning, when we were kind of trying to figure out our roles and what exactly we’re doing, because we all were also very diverse, and we’re also you know, talented. It was kind of hard because everyone like had their own opinions and they had all these ideas, but I think what really helped is just being organized, or at least we try to be as much as we can. Having in person meetings, or Zoom calls now, we usually have an agenda for our meetings with a list of topics or questions that need to be addressed. It gives us direction because we all have, like I said, so many ideas. And sometimes our conversations can go in tangents. And we want to be mindful of the time that we have. And we want each person on our team to be heard. So some topics or questions might be directed to a certain person. If we have some small task or problem that we have to tackle. We have a Slack chat. I don’t know if you have you ever heard of Slack?
Karen Swyszcz 9:36
Yep.
Marian Claudio 9:37
It really helps. Yeah. Because, yeah, we have group chat on there where we communicate often on what to address. And we also started using the Monday app, which is really, really useful because we’re able to divide all of our different tasks and assign them to each person. So by doing that, it gives us a lot of accountability and it also keeps track of things we’ve done and what we need to do and who needs to do it.
Karen Swyszcz 10:04
Wow, you guys are super organized. I love it.
Marian Claudio 10:06
Yeah.
I think yes, communication is also very, very key.
Myky Lam 10:10
It wasn’t always like that, but definitely learned a lot through their process, especially working with a big team. Yeah.
Karen Swyszcz 10:16
So with respect to your specific roles, and I’m sure, like all of you again, like you said, You’re very diverse. You have different experience, and you’re all creative. How did you decide like, who would take on what specific role. Were some people just like automatically be like, all right, like all volunteer themselves for this role? Like, I’m just curious to know, like, who is behind like, how was each role assigned?
KC Alfonso 10:39
I think majority of us we actually nominated each other for the actual role just because it’s kind of hard to pick and choose what you want to do. But also, you want to know what other people view you as well in terms of your strengths, and what you can potentially fill in within the team. And that’s why each of us do stick with our role. But then we also expand in terms of different tasks and projects that we take on. We are accountable for them and take responsibility for them. Whether or not it is within our role. We also ask each other for a lot of help when it comes to that.
Myky Lam 11:18
Yeah, it’s kind of like with any startup where you’re always like, wearing a lot of hats as like, the founders. And so I think eventually, it was just being, again, like organized and working on each other’s strengths, too.
Karen Swyszcz 11:32
So all of you have a full time job and you have your roles, at 6initiative. So how do you balance between the two?
Myky Lam 11:39
I can start with that. Well, I think for myself, it wasn’t it wasn’t too challenging, because I feel like I’ve always been like a multi-tasker, which isn’t a good thing. But I think in terms of balancing things, the more I’m doing I feel the more I can get done. I don’t know if anyone else can relate to that.
KC Alfonso 11:55
Yeah, the busy people get things done.
Marian Claudio 11:57
Yeah, definitely. We don’t like to get bored.
Myky Lam 12:00
Exactly. I found it too in terms of like organization like that’s probably it and time management. That was the number one thing where time blocking. And even on my weekends, I’m always assigning my time to certain things, whether it’s even like family time, I have to kind of assign that and like, like, put that into my agenda. And so that’s helped a lot too.
But it’s really doing what you love. And it’s like, it doesn’t feel like work otherwise.
KC Alfonso 12:24
Yeah, Google Calendar has become my best friend. I just send people invites, in terms of meetings. And then I think what we also do when we schedule our meetings, right before we end our meetings, we make sure that the next one is scheduled as well.
Karen Swyszcz 12:40
So just I wanted to circle back to the networking events, a lot of people they tend to find networking events, overwhelming and intimidating. And what would you say to somebody who is interested in attending one of your events for the first time but isn’t really sure how to approach networking?
Myky Lam 12:56
That is a great question. I think even for myself first going into like networking events, I thought I had to like, well, you do have to be ready with like your elevator pitch per se. But I think the biggest difference with The 6initiative is that be recognized that a lot of people aren’t business owners yet and even people looking into learning about business. It’s a very like warm and open community where it’s not forced for you to interact with anyone. But I think that energy coming from our team really just helps people open up naturally. But when it comes to our networking events, it’s just coming ready to learn and knowing that you have a positive open mind, I think that’s probably the only thing that you need to come into our events, whether it’s whether you’re a business owner already or not.
KC Alfonso 13:41
I think one thing that we try to focus on as a team is to also make sure that every person that does attend our event, we actually are able to connect with them. Whether it be just a hi or a simple conversation, we want to get to know all the all the people that do come to our events because the diversity within the attendees can really range and we want them to know and be familiar with, like, where they’re coming from, what background they have, they do have even any business background as well. And then we also want to see how we can actually help them. Whether it be to simply start a conversation, learn how to talk to people as simple as that, or even, maybe some of our services can help them as well. But that’s one of the main things is that we will also like, we want to focus on connecting with our attendees.
Karen Swyszcz 14:36
Yeah, for sure. That makes a huge difference. Like when people are when especially like when the host comes and talks to you.
Marian Claudio 14:43
We encourage people to talk to their speakers. Actually, I want to add like when inviting someone like I would edify the speakers and you know, just get them really excited. I’m usually like, very enthusiastic anyway. And I think our social media content helps as well because sometimes I see show some of the guests that I want to invite like, Oh, this is how our events actually are and how they’re run. And in turn, some of them get excited and you know, are a little curious. Right? So yeah.
Karen Swyszcz 15:13
So since we’re still like talking about networking, and for the most part, we’re talking about, like in person networking events, and we were, we were so used to, you know, having that freedom and flexibility to do in person, networking events. And I’m just thinking, like, for a lot of people, social distancing and self isolation, it can be very lonely. So how are you staying connected to The 6initiative community and engaging them?
Myky Lam 15:38
We actually just finished a webinar, it was where we were educating on navigating financially through COVID. So that was a free webinar on Zoom. And it was really nice. We had like 35 people show up and it was just really nice because we want to still connect with our community and also give value during this time because a lot of people need it, especially that the resources. And so we’ve just been running a lot of webinars and interviews as well with business owners. So this is really nice even being on the other end with you, Karen.
Karen Swyszcz 16:10
Yeah, and actually, so speaking of being on the other end, you just recently launched a podcast, So congrats on that. Yeah, it’s very exciting. Um, and I think, you know, given also, the COVID situation, like, it seems like a lot of people are launching podcasts, listening to more podcasts, just because it’s a way we can still connect with each other, and still able to, you know, get that authenticity through the voice alone.
Marian Claudio 16:41
Oh, yeah, definitely. I think a lot more people have more time to do things that they’ve always wanted to do or are just curious about, you know, different podcasts and just learning different skills because what else is there to do at home, right (laughs)?
KC Alfonso 16:55
Yeah, keep themselves busy so they don’t go crazy.
Marian Claudio 16:59
Everyone’s always connected online. It’s like the only way that we can, yeah, connect with other people and talk to other people.
Karen Swyszcz 17:06
Yeah, that kind of touches on my next question. And we know that the digital world is pretty noisy to begin with. And now do you feel it’s extra noisy because everyone is more active on social media. And then now everyone is hosting all these online events.
KC Alfonso 17:24
I actually love seeing that because it really brings out the creativity within every single person to actually challenge themselves to see what they’re capable of.
So, so people that let’s say, you wouldn’t think to expect a webinar or a podcast or just different creative things just come out. And it’s so refreshing to see actually.
Myky Lam 17:50
Yeah, I like KC’s perspective on that. It’s definitely I can definitely see the overwhelming in terms of like resources available now. Because whether it’s like your emails you get like 10 a day. I don’t know if it’s just me, yes, where those COVID messages are even like walking around even though you shouldn’t be walking around right now, but seeing the signs on businesses, it’s noisy, but it is really nice to be challenged to, to kind of move forward with technology and learn what’s what’s already in trend, if that makes sense, because a lot of businesses that weren’t on social media now that they’re kind of forced to.
Marian Claudio 18:24
Yeah, I think they’re everyone’s being pushed out of their comfort zone, right, and to learn things, especially if they’re very like old school because some businesses don’t even use social media, but now they’re forced to learn like Myky and KC said, right?
Karen Swyszcz 18:38
Yeah, even like the whole video chatting thing to I was like telling a couple of friends about Zoom. And they were like, what’s Zoom? I’m like, Well,
Marian Claudio 18:47
Yeah. Oh my god.
Myky Lam 18:48
Let me tell you.
Marian Claudio 18:49
Yeah, I had to teach my boss about that (laughs).
KC Alfonso 18:53
Funny actually, one of my friends posted on his Facebook status that Zoom was created nine years ago.
Karen Swyszcz 19:00
Oh, wow.
Marian Claudio 19:02
I didn’t know it was that old. That’s crazy. It’s like the new Skype.
Karen Swyszcz 19:06
Yeah, it’s funny. I remember using Skype and then when somebody said Zoom. I’m like Zoom, what’s this? And then when I transitioned over, I’m like, Oh my gosh, it’s game changing.
Marian Claudio 19:16
Oh yeah, it’s amazing. Oh and Tik Tok. Oh my god, everyone’s going on Tik Tok now. They see like, a lot of other businesses hopping on to it. So that’s interesting.
KC Alfonso 19:29
Yeah, if you’re looking to grow as a business, Tik Tok is definitely the platform to start just because what’s going viral right now are a lot of videos. That’s what all eyes are going on.
Myky Lam 19:41
Right.
Karen Swyszcz 19:42
Since we’re talking a lot about how things are changing, given like the current state of the COVID situation. Do you think now would be a good time to like start your own business or consider it?
KC Alfonso 19:55
I’m gonna say definitely. And the reason why, of course. Like I mentioned before, a lot of people are getting more creative. And you’re gonna see a lot more individuals stepping out of their comfort zone doing things that they’re, they didn’t think that they would do. I’ve seen a lot of people post like workout videos, and different things like that. And it’s so interesting, but what I think people need to focus on is just to enjoy what they’re starting. And the most important thing in that is because you don’t want to stress yourself over starting something, especially what we’re going with what we’re going through right now. You don’t want to add to your plate.
Myky Lam 20:39
Yeah, to add on to what KC said to like, it’s definitely the right time to kind of explore what your passions are because we have the time right now. And so and also, for myself, personally seeing just like job stability, like I feel like with your side hustle you have more control over how much work you can do and finding your own business and like making your own paycheck right. And so seeing a lot of people realize that with their jobs that they thought that were stable for like 20 years and just kind of slipped right out under them. It’s like, with business owners, you have more control over your financial state too.
Karen Swyszcz 21:17
Yeah, that’s very true.
I was just thinking this is kind of a little bit of a side note, but I was looking on your bios. And underneath each of you had a quote, which I thought was really interesting for each of you. And I was wondering if you could explain why you chose that quote. So I’m gonna start off with Myky, and your quote was, what you desire is deliberately placed out of reach, so that you can become the person it takes to obtain it.
Myky Lam 21:43
It hits me even when you read it.
Karen Swyszcz 21:45
I was just like BOOM.
Myky Lam 21:46
DAMN.
But I feel like this really resonates with me personally, because even as I’m journaling every morning, like my mission statement is to continuously grow so when it comes to challenges I try my best to not see it as a negative because I’m constantly trying to get further and so it’s the balance of like being happy with where you’re at but also knowing that there’s so much more that I can learn and so when it comes to a goal that I have I realized that I do need to learn new things in order to grow into that person or like grow into this financial salary for example, right so it really pushes me just to learn new things every day and and take obstacles positively.
Karen Swyszcz 22:30
Cool. Okay. And Marian your quote was “No one is you and that is your power”.
Marian Claudio 22:36
Oh, I think this resonates with me a lot. And I feel like to while everyone else just because. How should I say this? Like in the world that we live in today, we’re always constantly bombarded with ideas of what perfection means or lives that we wish we had or people that we wish we could look like. And it’s okay to admire what other people have and to let yourself to be inspired and to dream and look at all the pictures on social media, just as long as I guess you don’t make yourself feel that you aren’t worthy of reaching the levels of greatness that you aspire to.
And I think what’s important is that you have to remember that your individuality is what makes you beautiful and that you’re worthy of everything that this world has to offer. And no one can ever take that away from you. And that’s fine no one is you and that’s your superpower.
Karen Swyszcz 23:35
I love it. So inspirational.
Marian Claudio 23:37
Oh, and I just want to add because I love this author Marie Forleo. If you’ve ever heard of her. In every podcast that she has, she always says she say it’s like something along the lines of the world needs that special gift that only you have. Yeah, I think that’s the exact line (laughs).
Karen Swyszcz 23:56
Nice. All right, and KC, yours is short and sweet. You’re worth it.
KC Alfonso 24:01
Yes. Oh my gosh. So this actually started maybe about five or six years ago. I was actually at a really low point in my life. And I was just reminded of this. And someone asked me why I was doing what I was doing. And this quote actually hit me for some reason, it just popped into my head. And since then, I’ve always told myself this. And why this is so important to me is because it’s basically reminding myself it’s more self talk than anything. And it’s kind of selfish, but it’s more for me than anyone else. But I do tell this to anyone that I do meet that I hope to empower. But I always remember that I’m the best investment and to focus on what I can do better and what I can be great at and finish what I start and always focus on the end goal, but never, never forget why I start.
Karen Swyszcz 25:01
When we’re talking about like entrepreneurship. And again these days like we have the technology. We have like the tools. We have the social media and the ability to connect with others. Do you honestly feel that like anybody has the potential to become an entrepreneur if they were really enthusiastic and passionate about it? Or do you think sorry, do you think there are certain qualities that entrepreneurs should have?
Marian Claudio 25:25
I think honestly, anyone can be an entrepreneur, as long as you don’t give up. I feel like it is a risk that you’re taking. And you have to be creative and think outside of the box. And it’s also important to be persistent about what your goal is, when you’re starting your business.
KC Alfonso 25:48
I think I want to add on to that, as well as if you have a good idea and you really think it’s a good one just start it. Just sitting on the idea and thinking about if it’s gonna work or not, well most likely not gonna get you anywhere. So I empower anyone who does have a good idea and has tools and resources and connections or can find them then to actually just start.
Karen Swyszcz 26:13
What would you say are some common mistakes that new business owners make?
Marian Claudio 26:18
They procrastinate on what their ideas actually are. I feel like if you want to start something, I know some people just kind of like float on the idea and don’t really, you know, like, take action. And they may seek advice from the wrong people. That’s why, like KC said, it’s important to just start, stop procrastinating. Seek advice from the right people. And also learn how to network really gets you outside of your comfort zone and also support other businesses because you don’t know who you’re going to meet and what impact they’re going to have on your life.
Karen Swyszcz 26:53
Yeah, definitely.
KC, did you want to add to that?
KC Alfonso 26:57
Yes, to add on.
I actually want to add on the fact that often times we see a lot of people quit so early on when they’re so close. And it’s so interesting to see. There’s this visual that I’m thinking of right now of that photo where there’s this man digging through the ground, and he’s maybe a centimetre away from his end goal. And oftentimes, that’s, that may be the case for some people. So really hang on and tie a knot at the end of the rope and, uh, hold on because you might actually be close to where you want to be.
Karen Swyszcz 27:42
That’s so true. I’m also thinking about to how a lot of people they’ve started businesses, or say their first couple of businesses they failed for whatever reason, and then they started another one and that ended up becoming successful so on, I guess you could say the flip side, like, at what point do you decide to like quit and like pivot or to start something completely different.
KC Alfonso 28:09
Find a mentor if you don’t already have one, but also be surrounded by other business owners as well, who have watched you grow and have been a part of your journey and seek advice. Because you may not see something that they see. So it’s actually really good to have another pair of eyes, a third, a fourth, a fifth. So definitely take that into consideration.
Karen Swyszcz 28:35
Yeah, I know. That’s really great advice. As you know, these days more people have the option to work from home. So with that being said, Do you think employees will push for that more once the pandemic is over? Or do you think that they will end up looking for jobs where they can work from home?
Marian Claudio 28:55
Oh, hell yeah. Personally, for me, I’m working from home now and I would definitely, push for it. I know it’s different for let’s say, for example, for some moms who have to take care of their kids. I know like some of my co-workers they said that it’s hard to work when their kids are running around or like you know, bugging them, but I love the flexibility. I love not commuting. It’s saving me a lot of money. There’s more time with you know, your loved ones and family. Also, like wearing no makeup all the time.
Karen Swyszcz 29:28
Sweatpants.
Marian Claudio 29:29
Yes, and like it’s so refreshing for my skin. It’s so nice (laughs).
And if I wasn’t stuck at home, it’s nice to choose the environment where you know, you could work at and if we weren’t in quarantine I would choose to work at you know, like a nice coffee shop or like a co-working space or just something you know, just something outside of the house. Oh, and also I can work out whenever I want if I can push myself to (laughs).
KC Alfonso 30:00
I feel more companies are heading that direction anyway, where they’re actually giving the option for employees to choose for themselves if they want to work at the office or work from home. Plus, it’s actually a lot better for the environment.
Karen Swyszcz 30:16
Yeah, yeah, it’s true. I’m seeing a lot of images on Instagram and other forms of social media where they show what it was like before people like yourself isolating a lot of air pollution and then showing a photo afterwards and it’s just like two completely different photos. It’s crazy to see how blue the sky was.
KC Alfonso 30:37
Yeah, so crazy.
Marian Claudio 30:39
Yeah it’s nice actually, and seeing the roads so nice and free, it’s like you can drive anywhere without rush hour.
Karen Swyszcz 30:48
Okay, so in addition to working from home, let me ask What are you currently binge-watching or binge-listening to?
Marian Claudio 30:57
Ooooh, so I never really watched Gossip Girl as much when it came out so I’m binge-watching all of that.
Karen Swyszcz 31:06
Oh my god, I love that show. I’ve watched it like twice.
Marian Claudio 31:09
I know. My boyfriend kept saying that he was always commented on looking like, like the Asian Chuck Bass. I’m like, okay, I kind of see that (laughs).
Yeah, I love it.
KC Alfonso 31:23
So I finished watching 100 Humans. It was so interesting. I don’t completely believe it 100% in terms of like the results, but I think it’s a good show to watch just to past time. And then I also started watching Friends. Yeah, that’s my all-time favorite show.
Karen Swyszcz 31:44
I’ve been watching like on CBC they have a lot of shows that you could watch like for free but with ads, but I’ve been watching. Have you heard of the show Fridge Wars?
Marian Claudio 31:55
I think I’ve see covers.
KC Alfonso 31:56
No I haven’t.
Karen Swyszcz 31:58
So basically there’s two Canadian chefs and they so what they do sorry prior to that is they just like raid, the host raids the like these families fridges with, like leftover stuff and the two kitchen chefs they have to create like a meal out of leftover so it’s kind of cool to see what they can make. And it’s funny because my husband does like you hate cooking, but you like watching cooking shows. I’m like, No, I like watching people compete in cooking shows. I think it’s a whole like competition that I really like. I’ve been watching a lot of that.
Marian Claudio 32:33
Now that’s exciting. It is nice to watch other people cook and then wishing that you could eat what they cook. It’s like I wish I was a judge on that show.
Karen Swyszcz 32:43
I know. Oh my God, that would be like the best job ever.
What about books? Like are you are there any like certain business books that you could recommend?
Marian Claudio 32:51
Oh, in a time like this,I mentioned her name before but I absolutely love, love, love Marie Forleo her newest book is called Everything is Figureoutable. So if pretty much if you’re going through something, honestly just read that it’s all for business owners and people who want to start a business or if you feel like you’re just stuck. She goes by that motto, Everything’s Figureoutable and I’m still reading through it, but it’s so good and listen to her podcast too. Like, she gives really amazing tips. And she interviews a bunch of these entrepreneurs and different areas of business. And it’s just, it’s just so good. That’s all I can say. Just listen to it and read her book.
Karen Swyszcz 33:35
Okay, do what Marian says. Listen to the podcast. What about you, KC? Any books that you could recommend or anything you’re currently reading?
Marian Claudio 33:43
One book that I would recommend would be Start With Why by Simon Sinek.
Karen Swyszcz 33:50
Oh, yeah, that’s a good one.
Marian Claudio 33:50
I love that.
KC Alfonso 33:54
Yeah (laughs). Talking about like the movement to help people become more inspired, whether it be at work or their job. But in terms of podcasts well I listen to a lot of TED talks on YouTube, and I love just listening to a variety of them. I’m not focused on like a specific genre. I just like learning.
Karen Swyszcz 34:14
Alright, so before we sign off, I have one question to ask both of you is What is your definition of success?
Marian Claudio 34:23
Oh, I think I could go on. But I think one thing that I think about is this quote about being rich. So to me, it’s kind of like being rich in knowledge. Rich in adventure. Rich in laughter. Rich in health. Rich in family and rich in love. I think that pretty much sums up what for me my definition of success is, is just being happy and being around those that you love.
KC Alfonso 34:51
Yeah, I would agree with Marian on that. But to add on is to actually find your purpose in this world or in this life. To figure out what you’re actually good at, and as well, once you’ve kind of mastered that or defined that you’re more likely to reach whatever defines success for you.
Karen Swyszcz 35:14
Amazing. All right. So if people wanted to get in touch with 6initiative, where can they find you?
Marian Claudio 35:22
They can find us on social media at 6initiative, or they can email us at info@the6initiative.ca or any of our social media platforms.
Karen Swyszcz 35:35
Great. So thank you so much for chatting with me this evening. It was really great. I had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. So.
KC Alfonso 35:42
Thank you so much.
Karen Swyszcz 35:44
Oh, no problem. Just a heads up. I think we’re gonna have a blooper episode as like a bonus episode to this because we had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs during this (laughs).
Marian Claudio 35:54
Sounds good.
Karen Swyszcz 35:56
All right. Thanks for tuning in everyone and stay tuned for more episodes. Ciao for now.
Transcribed by Otter.ai
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