This week in The Biz Dojo, we're joined by Rachel Kelly, Founder and Chief Lemon at Make Lemonade.
Rachel walks us through the Make Lemonade journey - from finding the inspiration, to opening day, to dealing with a pandemic while trying to operate a co-working space. We'll get into how she unknowingly built, grew and continues to lead a community of entrepreneurs.
Then on the Podium - brought to you by Beyond a Beaten Path - Seth and JP celebrate May the 4th with a Star Wars themed Podium.
No need to use the force on this one - it's as simple as downloading and listening in. So, whether it's a Dojo Dark, a Masters Medium, or perhaps a tall, cool glass of lemonade, get yourself read for another amazing session in the Dojo.
Don't forget to visit us at the links below, and follow us on social media for exclusive content:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter
The Biz Dojo - Podcast, Production & Professional Coaching
Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter
This week in The Biz Dojo, we're joined by Rachel Kelly, Founder and Chief Lemon at Make Lemonade.
Rachel walks us through the Make Lemonade journey - from finding the inspiration, to opening day, to dealing with a pandemic while trying to operate a co-working space. We'll get into how she unknowingly built, grew and continues to lead a community of entrepreneurs.
Then on the Podium - brought to you by Beyond a Beaten Path - Seth and JP celebrate May the 4th with a Star Wars themed Podium.
No need to use the force on this one - it's as simple as downloading and listening in. So, whether it's a Dojo Dark, a Masters Medium, or perhaps a tall, cool glass of lemonade, get yourself read for another amazing session in the Dojo.
Don't forget to visit us at the links below, and follow us on social media for exclusive content:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter
The Biz Dojo - Podcast, Production & Professional Coaching
Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter
Welcome to The Biz Dojo with Seth and JP, powered by our friends at dq airdry. This is Episode 16 of season two with Rachel Kelly, founder and chief lemon of make lemonade.
JP Gaston:I love the interviews where we interview people who have cool chief titles. Chief Fleming is so good,
Seth Anderson:so good. It's good. We've been we've been pondering chief dojo titles. I don't know that we're there yet.
JP Gaston:Yeah, if you've got ideas for us, you know, swing over to our Facebook page or Instagram and and fire him at us.
Seth Anderson:It's good. It's good when it's like clever, but not too cheesy. Like, you got to find like that. Yeah, you got to hit the line. But yeah, like we're, we're we're gonna call on Francine again, Chief chicken officer. Check it out and see. That's good. Yeah,
JP Gaston:I like that cool.
Seth Anderson:Director, Director of poultry.
JP Gaston:Yeah, Francine was director of poultry. Let's dig it, Chief lemon. It's fantastic.
Seth Anderson:It's amazing. So great interview, lovely to get to meet Rachel and hear her story of, you know, coming up as an entrepreneur. And I love the story where you're inspired by your situation, and you do something about it. So her situation being a freelance freelancer, kind of lonely, looking for somewhere to kind of,
JP Gaston:I don't wanna say put your feet up, but kind of put your roots down and have a community and so she started one somewhere that isn't a Starbucks or some sort of coffee shop, where you're just stealing wine. Drinking far too much caffeine over the course of the day.
Seth Anderson:Yeah. So you know, it sounds like and, you know, by all accounts, and looking at their online presence, she, she really succeeded in creating an amazing space. And out of that, and she kind of mentioned it in the interview wasn't necessarily her intent or realization when she first started. But out of that a beautiful community of women, and, you know, fellow entrepreneurs or women that were looking for, you know, that community that she was looking for, kind of it just blossomed up.
JP Gaston:Yeah, it's interesting. You think your business is gonna be one thing, you think your podcasts. And suddenly, there's a change, and it blossoms into something else. And then not just that it blocks it blossomed before COVID. So she had actually built this community that was wasn't, I mean, just a natural byproduct, that wasn't her intent when she started things. And then then COVID hit, and there was a whole new set of paths for her.
Seth Anderson:I think it'll be interesting when we look back on these seasons, you know, down the road, and basically, every guest has had some version of I think, what's been coined now, the COVID pivot. And I think of all the stories we've heard, Rachel is right up there in terms of inspiring like, she had no online business, no online business plan, and out of necessity, created another community.
JP Gaston:Makes you wonder how many things are sitting out there on the verge of on the verge of possible? That?
Seth Anderson:I mean, I just haven't thought of it yet. We Yeah,
JP Gaston:we just, we just haven't had that spark to like the fuse, right? We haven't,
Seth Anderson:there's a quote, and it is maybe my favorite quote, it's in my top? Well, if we do top three quotes,
JP Gaston:saving it for that, you're not going to tell us because he's no, no, no, for a future podium.
Seth Anderson:Wow. You know, nobody ready for it, everybody. But my people not may not connect the dots. But it's from the Riza of the Wu Tang clan. It's in his a his meditation album. And he said something to the effect of everything you need to be successful, already exists in your universe, you just need to activate it. And I don't know what you just said just made me think of that. Like, we don't even know what it is yet. But sitting right in front of us,
JP Gaston:and so much has gone digital. And so quickly. No, nobody, if you asked in 2019 how quickly, different industries would turn on the dime and get all of this digital infrastructure in place ready to go. If you said that that was gonna happen. I don't think there is a person out there that wouldn't laugh you out of the room,
Seth Anderson:honestly, like, what do they say? Necessity is the mother of innovation. And we're seeing it we're seeing it in real time. So you know, another version of that, and just, Rachel was just an awesome guest. And if you're interested to learn more, you know, you can check out our website and then their new online community, they get shit done Club, which is to the point.
JP Gaston:Like, wonder what they do.
Seth Anderson:I'm gonna venture I guess they get some shit done.
JP Gaston:Exit get Chad's. There's a strong possibility that that is the case. Well, she's got the newsletter to Yeah, right. She's got she's got she's got a lot going on and so fun to talk to.
Seth Anderson:Well, and you know what, one of my favorite things that you know, if you kind of go poke around their website and their social media Very bright, lots of yellows, pinks, oranges, like it just, it makes you feel good. Just just even scrolling through their website.
JP Gaston:I remember, I remember the first time I went to their website was in the morning, and I actually felt like I woke up a little bit while I was cooking, which I thought was weird. But it was great
Seth Anderson:tons of resources. And, you know, part of the, the niche or the differentiator about make lemonade is women, you know, geared towards women. And, you know, we're excited to be able to share that with other women. And we know we have a lot of women in our networks, we had amazing women guests on the show. So you know, if you're looking to branch out and you know, look at other communities, they're, they're going worldwide. And
JP Gaston:well, and she even mentioned, like, you know, there's a, there's a certain gear towards women, but they're not interested in in othering. And they welcome everyone and anyone who wants to be a part of the community. So whether you're a woman or a man or non binary, or whatever you happen to identify as reach out, have a conversation. She's so much fun to talk to you super happy. She's she is the physical version of the website.
Seth Anderson:So with that, let's, let's dive into it with Rachel.
JP Gaston:All right, let's take it there with the URL and the studies. Welcome to The Biz Dojo,
Seth Anderson:your hosts, Seth Anderson, and JP Gaston. Welcome to The Biz Dojo with Seth and JP. This Week in the dojo, we have Rachel Kelly. Rachel, welcome. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, no total pleasure to have you in the dojo today. So you, you're the founder of a company, make lemonade, which is a co working space for women. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about that? And what inspired you to become an entrepreneur? Maybe we'll start there.
Unknown:Yeah, well, I guess my inspiration to become an entrepreneur was my parents. Growing up, both my parents they had their own business and automotive manufacturing. And that was just kind of I that was all I really knew. So that was really where the inspiration was, and and I knew that I wanted to be my own boss and in charge of my own schedule and and create something for myself. And so when when I decided to create make lemonade, it was perfectly fitting that life handed me a lemon. And that was really what, what gave me the motivation to to start the CO working space.
Seth Anderson:So what was said lemon?
Rachel Kelly:Yes, so what happened was, is I've been freelancing for a couple of years, and I've never really had like, quote, unquote, saying real job is not really the right way to say it. But like, I've always done freelance work. I've always done gig work. I've never really known what it was like to work in like the typical nine to five thing. And so what had happened is I've been part of a couple co working spaces. I've either worked from home or from coffee shops, and the common denominator was that I was always lonely. And these are kind of feelings I was just kind of aware of. And so what was happening is that I was doing a bit of freelance work for a small startup agency, and they had offered me a full time, salaried position. And at this point in my life, I was kind of like, what the heck am I doing? Here? We go, like, here's the answer. I'm going to take this job. Now I don't need to figure out anything else. This is the ticket. So I actually cancelled all of my other freelancing gigs and was like, I'm going full in with this thing. It was a full time position. I'd signed the contract, everything was ready to go. I've got a blue couch. I was like, This is what people salaries do. I really, I really like had like was we're turning a new leaf kind of thing. And then what happened is the day before I was supposed to start working for them, they actually said, You know what, nevermind. Can you continue freelancing? We're taking the business and a little bit of a different direction. And yeah, so that was kind of like the the record rip or that lemon. And I spent a little bit of time being bitter about it. And then I was like, well, well, life has handed me a lemon here. I have to make lemonade out of the situation. And that's when I started to kind of reflect back and was like, well, I've always wanted to do something for myself and was wanting to really create something. Like let's just let's just go for it and see what happens. So I actually stayed freelancing for them for about a year. Well, then I was building make lemonade and figuring out those next steps.
JP Gaston:What happened to the blue couch that you purchased? I proudly still sit on it almost daily. Almost like you've conquered it right. Like you stick a flag in it every morning.
Unknown:Yeah, you know, we all have those things. I think those those little symbols in our lives that remind us of, of decisions we've made
JP Gaston:awesome. So that was kind of the inspiration behind make lemonade. What does it mean for you to be able to provide that space for women who may have been going through the same thing or may just be looking for, you know, the I know, the coffee shop always looks great when you're watching a movie, and someone's an entrepreneur, and they're just kicking back in a coffee shop, but it's not. I know that it's also not always like that. So what is it? What does it mean for you to provide that space?
Unknown:Yeah, well, I mean, it means so much more to me now than when I first started. Because when I first started, I was like, I just want a cool place to be able to work it and I can, I could build a business around this. And really, like I didn't think I was, I didn't even think I was building a community. At the beginning, I thought, there's a bunch of people who work for themselves who don't work in an office hours, and two who are working in coffee shops, like of course, they're gonna want to work here too. And it really wasn't until a couple of months in that I really understood the bigger picture what was going on. And my beginning motivation of creating a space that was for women, was that I knew there were so many other co working spaces in the city, I knew I had to differentiate, I knew that there was a lot going on in terms of the online communities I was seeing, but we weren't meeting up in real life, or I wasn't, I was craving connecting with these people. Which is just really funny. Because I didn't see it as like a community. I was just like, I just want to kind of build my network to though within the first couple of months of opening, somebody actually told me like, you know, you're building a community here. And it took me a couple more months for things to really percolate. And for me to understand and, and I think I guess one of the best descriptors I can say is that, obviously, women have had an unfair advantage for forever. And when you come into a space, like make lemonade, whether you're in person or now with our virtual community, it's like you're kind of entering in this lemonade bubble, if you will, where anything's possible. And you kind of forget about all of the other barriers sometimes. And this is a, this is a community in a space that that really lifts you up and tells you like, yeah, like you want to go after that dream. Okay, great. Like, let's see how high and and it's a space that that connects people who were unlikely to connect beforehand and share resources and and give advice to how they may have done something that's in the exact same industry, too. It's, it's been really amazing and truly eye opening for me to see how like, really, I thought it was just we just wanted to get out of our homes or get out of the coffee shop and how, by coming into the space. It's like it's an integral business step for a lot of the members who join our community.
Seth Anderson:Just curious, when you're looking back at that time, when you were kind of getting started. You mentioned that moment or someone said, this is a community and it took a little while to land, is there any other moments where you just kind of reflect and go, it felt real, like what I'm doing right now is making a difference? Like any any specific stories or anecdotes from the sort of first year. So
Unknown:yeah, I think I think some some cool moments. So we used to have this thing because right now we're in month 100 of global pandemic. So it's, it's it's hard to think of when when we were kind of operating and regular time. So once upon a time, we used to have something called the front desk gang. And this was a program that we use, like an energy exchange program. So they would help help us run the front desk, greet people who were there, and then an exchange, they would get a free membership. So we had about 10 people per week who were part of this front desk game program. And really, this was for people who who couldn't, who couldn't afford a membership, because they were just we're very startup stage of their business, but still wanted access to the community access to the space and come to our events and whatnot as well. So I think what was really cool was seeing that, after six months, some of those members then go on to get a desk, or to just kind of see how, within just a couple of months of being there, how much their their business had completely changed. And seeing some of the comments that people will leave on our Instagram will say especially especially during the pandemic have you know, we're saying, okay, we're gonna close right now or, you know, XYZ and just hearing the reflections on, on what, on what kind of impact it's made on people's on people's lives of you know, that that feeling of belonging of being accepted, it's been? Yeah, it's just been wild like to just really see that it's not just a it's not it's not just pretty space, like this is a space where entrepreneurs really feel like they can grow.
JP Gaston:I mean, global pandemics, probably not expected. But were there some some things that you may be underestimated or didn't expect, kind of in those early days as you launched into running this business?
Unknown:Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't be normal. If I had I was able to expect everything.
JP Gaston:You didn't have everything figured out right away.
Unknown:No, yeah. I didn't get that book ahead of diamonds. So, okay, this is like, I think this is like business lesson 101. And it's just like, I don't know, I missed this chapter or something. But I remember I kept hearing all this advice of when you open a co working community or open co working space, grow the community first grow community, because it's gonna make it so much easier, do pre sales, do whatever. And I was like, Yeah, okay, whatever, like, I'm not gonna do that. And mostly, the truth was, is that I was afraid, I was afraid that I was going to fail. And in my brain, I was like, if I just open this really, really gorgeous space, everyone is going to come flocking, and it's going to be so excited. And, and I've been sharing the behind the scenes. So for about a year of like, kind of, like from conception to open doors. I've been sharing everything on Instagram, like we weren't growing a community on there. And so what happened is I I worked with a publicist to just really help get our name out there. And so I guess, like the kind of like two mistakes or ways I imagined things was, of course, day one, I imagined there was gonna be like, a lineup around the block. That was not the case, of course, and and really like it was, it was wild, because within like, 24 hours, my life completely changed. Because the day prior, I was painting and you know, removing moving furniture here and there, and just getting everything ready for like a picture, perfect opening. And then on the very first day that we opened, then the press release came out. And by the end of that day, the question started to come in the emails like that, it was just all of a sudden, I had to answer things that I was no longer prepared to. I wasn't prepared to answer. And that's when I started to learn about this friend called anxiety. I had never experienced that before. I really I had a quick, a quick introduction, that's for sure. And then oh, and then on top of all of that, like, I didn't even really know how to make a sale when my friends came in that first day to get a day pass. And I was like, Yeah, no problem. And then it was like that evening, I was like, figure out how to charge for day passes. Like these just those are simple things that you should know how to do. But I was so focused on getting this thing. So ready, that I had forgotten, or I didn't even realize I didn't know at that point that it was the people that that what it was all about. And I know we'll go into this, but that's really what this this whole year of pivoting has really taught me too.
Seth Anderson:So we chatted in a pre call a couple days ago. And you mentioned so there's sort of that three year span, 2017 2020 get your legs under you. And then boom, global pandemic. What is that COVID been like for you? And what have you learned along the way?
Unknown:Yeah, you know, somebody said to me the other day, they're like, I'm so sorry, I'm gonna say the word pivot. But it's the best descriptor, isn't it? So I have to start off by saying that 20 in the top of 20 2020, January and February of 2020, were the best month that the business had. And I finally felt like, you know, when you kind of think like, this is what success feels like, like, we all know that, like success is not a destination. Like it's always changing and evolving. But there really was a period of time in January, February 2020, where I felt like yeah, this is what I imagined. This is the way I want things to go. The space was full, we had awesome events, like we had just celebrated International Women's Day. And then a week later, we had to close the doors. And so I remember just being so absolutely beside myself, because my entire business model was all around people coming in, I had no real backup, I had nothing, I had nothing else really to offer. And so thinking is I have an amazing team member, her name is Ashley, and she's the director of good vibes. And I so clearly remember on that day that we decided we were going to close. And she said, I said to her, if you want to go home, like you can go home, you know, we can we can get on a zoom call, or whatever I think it was at that time, we're like, well get on a Google Hangout call and, and, you know, we can discuss and she said to me, I'm not going to leave until we have a plan at least for two weeks, at least for two weeks, we will know what to do. And so we started to think, okay, what's going on right now everyone is super uncertain. Everyone doesn't know what to do. And you know, people are going to be home and they're going to be lonely and confused and Okay, well, let's make a Nan's role in all of this. Like, we were a community that that brought people this like dose of sunshine, where they would come into their space. So can we can we be a dose of sunshine for people online? So we actually started this email series, and we just kind of invited everybody to join, and where it was like, every day, we're gonna send you an email and it was called your dose of sunshine. And every day at noon, we're gonna jump on a call, and it's gonna be your dose of sunshine. And I cannot i kid you, not we, we literally had no idea what we were going to do on that first call. We just were like, let's just gather all of our members and anybody else to just join our call. Like it's an open thing. So we ended up doing these free virtual coworking calls, I think for at least a month, if not longer, I remember there was a day where we had at least like 10 plus zoom calls back to back, just figuring everything out. Yeah, so like the pivot really kind of began on that first day of just getting everybody connected online and coming for these free calls, we will play music, we would all coert like, truly at the beginning, it was Google Hangout calls, where you could only see one person at a time, I would play music on my phone, and like, hold it up to the to the laptop, like things really, really evolved. And then and then we got a little more creative and and I, we started to realize like, Okay, this is going longer than two weeks, going longer than three weeks longer than four weeks, we're gonna have to create something here. And then that's when the idea for our membership came to be.
JP Gaston:So it sounds like you didn't just have to pivot. And I'm with you. Pivot. Pivot is a very popular word these days. But it doesn't, it sounds like you didn't just have to pivot your business strategy, you also had to kind of pivot your vision a little bit, and really take to heart everything that was going on? What did what did that mean for your kind of your physical space and that side of the business?
Unknown:Yeah. So now I joke that I just have a very expensive online business. We still have this space, it's it's leased out. So we operate it on like a very, very kind of like, minimal operation. Right now we have a couple of regulars who come in, we still have a few members who are in the space. It's not the way that it used to be. We're hopeful for what can happen. But the online membership called the get shut down club is like this is really like this is our flagship community offering now, which is really cool. And I have to say that, like, my reflections in this past year is that I was connected with the community beforehand. But I am I've never been more connected with the community. Now, because we have these calls, we still do calls every single day, or every Monday through Thursday at 12pm. As a way to stay connected with the community, there's more structures to our calls now. That's for sure.
JP Gaston:It's interesting how pre pandemic, it It felt like anything virtual called based was it didn't allow you to connect with people. And now that people have been forced down that road, they're like, wow, I should have been, Why wasn't I doing this for the last 10 years? I'm so much more connected?
Unknown:Yeah, absolutely. It's been really interesting. We used to say, and I still say this that like, I'm kind of like the the curator, like I really like connecting people and bringing spaces together. Even when I was I went to art school, and I loved the curatorial side of things. And I would always say, especially with make lemonade is like, I'm not the expert, like we'll hire experts, or we'll bring in people to do workshops. That's kind of the thing. And I really kind of had to, I guess, step up to the plate this year, and be like, Well, I know a few things, too. I know a lot. And I've really stepped into the leadership role of make lemonade of bringing this community together to
Seth Anderson:one of the things you mentioned there, Rachel, that I think is a keystone to great leadership is creating the space for people. How do you go about creating that space? Like what are what are some of your your must haves in those spaces? Well, it's
Unknown:like this was the biggest lesson this year, right is that it doesn't matter about the fancy wallpaper, or the really cool custom made tables, or like the zestiness coolest space ever, it's about the people that you bring together and the kind of environment that you create, I would say number one, for anybody who is looking to create an online community or even an in person community to I would say like the number one thing to remember is to be okay with silence. And that was like really uncomfortable at the beginning. But that's where the the ideas marinate. And that's where people then will slowly kind of pipe up to, to say something, I would definitely say that. I mean, there's simple things to this was either when we were in person or online is like music is such a great element to anything. We always play music on the beginning of all of our calls. Remember what your why is and what your purpose is for something. So with every call that we host with, with, when any event any kind of gathered, I guess I should just say gathering, whether it's online or in person, we always need to know Well, what's the objective? What is the point? What are we actually trying to do here? And I always say like cut the fluff, get rid of as much fluff as you possibly can, you know, like fancy gift bags and whatever. Like those are great, but that's not the main reason that somebody is coming to something those are those are little add ons that those are like a surprise and delight, but those aren't the essential things. Remember that people are people, we have all been going through a collective really crazy time. And so I think that's like a big thing is that you know, not everybody is going to experience it in the same way. So to be really mindful of the language that you use and, and be really graceful about how you're going to welcome people in and and yeah, it's just it It has just been like such a wild year of, of how everyone has has moved through this world and not everybody's experience is the same. And you know, one of our things is, we still aim to provide a dose of sunshine for every single call, we know that that's our job for, for everybody. Of course, we pay attention to the news too. So we're not just going to gloss over and be like, let's all just, you know, good vibes our way through this too, it's like making a space for people to feel comfortable to show up exactly how they are, however they need to, I think that that's really important in, in any kind of leadership, any type of space holding capacity, is to recognize that, you know, people are coming from, from all different experiences.
JP Gaston:So it sounds like you had this idea, you came up with this with this space, and you were thinking, I'm gonna own this business that operates this space. And that's where people will go, and they'll, you know, work with each other, and they'll figure that thing out. But now, you've recognized that you're, you're a leader, like, whether you intended to be there or or not, you're now a leader. So what, what has that transition been like for you? Are there certain things that you've had to recognize and work on for yourself along the way? I know you talked about the curatorial portion. But there are, are there other things that you've had to recognize and work on for yourself, as you've developed into accepting that you are a leader?
Unknown:This is such a good question. Because I've never really been asked this, like so. So directly before. I mean, I guess I would just say that like, this has kind of been like my, like, my go to for anything is that like, I know, I don't know everything I know, I never will know, everything. And then this is like the hard advice I give myself to that when I'm faced with difficult decisions that I know that this difficult situation will not be the hardest situation that I will encounter that there's always going to be harder things coming along. And that's just part of the human condition. Thankfully, I've always been a pretty confident person, when it comes to public speaking, I've always enjoyed that growing up, I think that was just kind of part of my my DNA. And this year has really given me that chance to step more into that, that's for sure. But I think it's just really making space for people to speak. Everybody wants to have their voice heard. And that's, that is such an important integral thing, when you're building a community is recognizing that a community is not just about one person, a community is about quite literally all of the people who are who are a part of it, I think it's quite important to have like a main mission. And you know, this is the reason that these people are gathering and this is what we're hoping to get out of it. But everyone's gonna perceive that a little bit differently. And it's okay, like, there is space for everyone's feelings and emotions to be met there, too.
JP Gaston:It's a tough time for that. Lot of feelings and emotions out there right now it's a it's a tough space to play in. Yeah, we
Unknown:used to have a joke Actually, this is kind of like in the beginning days of the online membership of because we would do this call, like we kind of evolved like how the membership public how to get shit done club kind of evolved in that to kind of like different cohorts and programs and whatnot. And so every couple weeks, we kind of do like a wrap up at the end and just, you know, open the floor up for everyone to speak. And we would joke that like, wow, like, there's a lot of onions letter being chopped here. Everybody is crying. That was like our thing. We're like, we couldn't admit we were cry, or just like, there are so many. Like, you know, I think it's just we've all gone through so many different things. And we've shared it together too.
Seth Anderson:With the online space. I mean, just thinking through your business model, very Toronto centric, you know, based on people coming in, you pivot to the online, and probably never really even thought about, you know, potentially worldwide appeal to this community you're creating, what potential Do you see going forward for make lemonade on that front? Just being able to tap into the entire world?
Unknown:Yeah, well, it's so interesting, because like, when I was when I was first starting, or maybe a year or so in. I mean, part of my story is that it's been it's been pretty cool that that make lemonade has has gotten some of the recognition that it did pretty early on too. And that is part part of, you know, the community that we've had, there was a feature in Forbes, with Facebook, I got invited to go have lunch with Sheryl Sandberg in California. So there was some pretty cool like connections there. And then within my first year, we actually got an offer to we acquired and to basically open and make lemonade wherever I wanted to wave my magic wand. And this really kind of opened my ideas and my mind into seeing how how make lemonade could expand in that way. So So when it when everything switched to to pivot into the online world, all of it like it just it's now that I'm thinking about I'm thinking of the accomplishments that have already happened. It's surprising now to say that I was shocked when I started to see the community go outside Ontario, or I would say outside of the Toronto core and then to the broader Ontario and then all of a sudden we have members who aren't just on the East Coast, but on the West Coast too. And we have some members in the states and it appeared of time with somebody who was in Australia be part of the membership too. So I think like the potential has always been there, and I'm excited to really continue to grow the community and and yeah, like really, really see where where, like where else we can connect with people. It's undoubtedly been the hardest year and I know it's been hard for me but I obviously it's it's, this is not the hardest year for some other people who who've suffered a great deal. But what what what happened in this year it was it really forced me to stop thinking one certain way and can I could really, like just reimagine how how the business was. And if it wasn't for having to be forced to pivot like this. I just I never really could have imagined that, that it could work this way.
Seth Anderson:Do you think, you know, reading into the future Do you think expanding the physical locations on the other side? COVID like, I feel like there'll be some pent up demand for people to get together in that way. Have you given that much thought?
Unknown:I wouldn't say I'm looking to expand our physical locations anytime soon. It has been a very expensive year that's for sure. The I should say that like the getcha done club has been absolutely amazing. But if it weren't for the get shit done club, I think it would be a very different future for make lemonade. So it's been absolutely necessary to create an online membership for us. I can't promise you, I hope there will be a make lemonade near you tomorrow, or even next year. But but we shall see. But really, I mean, like beyond that, like, really, to my point. And I think this is like such a good challenge for so many other entrepreneurs too, is to it's kind of like stripped down what your main offering is to its absolute basics. And that's really something that I I've learned this year is that, yes, absolutely. Our our office space is beautiful. And we know there is something amazing that happens when people meet in real life doesn't need to be in our physical office, maybe maybe not. But these are just you know, these are things to chew on as, as you I guess pandemic proof your business.
JP Gaston:So I think this is a really important space for women to have and to be able to go to what about, like the focus on kind of on the outside looking in? So Seth and myself as an example, I know we can we can kind of support by bringing awareness and bringing bringing you on a podcast and having a conversation. But what are the things that others can do to help support that community?
Unknown:Oh, that's really cool. Well, I guess I should say, number one is that make lemonade has always been a space for for women for nine buying for non binary for trans people, men can come to the space to absolutely This has never been about othering people whatsoever. Just traditionally, women haven't had spaces that were were just for them, which is why we why I really wanted to make a focus on creating a space that was that was for women. So I think like in terms of support, I mean, that the best the best way is is by telling people telling telling young entrepreneurs telling people who are looking to create something new to be part of this community or to see what some of our offerings are, and know that I mean, I think one of the biggest struggles for anybody who's starting their business is to feel like they are completely alone. Like they have no other resources. And that's not to say that, okay, when you join that make lemonade, we're going to tell you from A to Z every single thing you need to do, because that's that's impossible. But the chances are very likely that you are going to meet somebody who is going to offer you a little nugget here and somebody else who's going to offer you another nugget to I think community is one of the most integral route recipes or ingredients to the recipe of of building your business. And it's something that I wish I had done so much earlier on for the first because I was working on building make lemonade. And in that first year before it actually opened the doors I had created this Instagram account. And what was really funny is I would have friends who would tell me, they would say you should check out this count. It's called make lemonade. I feel like you would really like it. And I was like surprised. It's actually me. But my point here is, it was it was great. But I did that also because I wanted I wanted to know that people would like it because they liked it. And not just because they liked me. But then I if I were to do it all over again, I would have been a lot more open and public about the thing that I was creating, because I really felt like I was alone. And I I was very confused and afraid of like opening up about the struggles that I was having and navigating those beginning days especially. And and yeah, so like if I were to, if I were to have had opened up earlier about that I was reading it. I think I would have I would have gotten so much more support right from the get go
JP Gaston:sort of like a you bring your lemons and we'll we'll help you figure out the rest.
Unknown:Oh my goodness. I mean the amount of lemon puns, I could
JP Gaston:Did you ever think that you were going to be able to write a book about lemon puns? The end of the day? I mean, like, that's just that's just book number one. Right? That's just all lemon buttons.
Seth Anderson:This has been awesome. Rachel, what are you working on for yourself in terms of self development growth? We've got any focus areas, any, any good books, or podcasts or anything to share with listeners? Yeah.
Unknown:So I love this is actually trying to walk there. But you've probably heard of him. He has the book of awesome. His name's Neil Pasricha. Like he's he did the blog, if that was an awesome things. And I find like I, I love listening to business podcasts and reading the business books. But I think it's super important, especially for entrepreneurs to not always focus on like, like the growth in that way. Like the growth happens in so many, so many different different ways, right. So his podcast is amazing. He interviews, all of these different different people from all walks of life, you know, big, big CEOs, big authors, but then also people who kind of meets on the street and the books called three, or the podcast is called three books. And he's he's trying to build this list of the 1000 most formative books. So everybody, he interviews, he asked them for their three books, and then it's going to build this big list. Anyways, I find it super inspiring. And just I always learned something. I read a lot of fiction. And then I read a couple of business books here and there. But I think truly, like some of the recipes for business and growth is like, keep it super simple. I've listened to a couple of episodes on your on your podcast. And I mean, the truth is, right, it's it's super simple, like the money comes in, the money goes out, like, let's just try to stay afloat, keep your mission, like, focus on the people, it doesn't have to get much more complicated than that. My personal philosophy is that business is like I think the business journey is you start with a very simple idea. You make it very, very complicated. And then you pare it down and make it super simple again.
Seth Anderson:Right, yeah. Thanks for listening to some of our episodes, we appreciate that. Yeah, it's doing my homework. I think, I think what we found and, you know, bang on with all your points there, but I think what keeps people going, you know, just in that vein of of mission is passion, like the people who are passionate about what they're doing, whether that's serving people, developing people, or whatever their product is, just seems like everyone we've talked to you. And you know, we're getting close to 3040 people, or guests at this point, like, it's that passion, that drive that kind of keeps people going when it gets tough.
Unknown:Yeah, absolutely. And I think too, there's like, you know, when all of us start our business, there's a problem that we're solving. And it's usually a problem that is happening in our own personal life, too. So the more connected you stay to what that reason is, and that why, the better it's going to be, and I'll indulge you in my little lemon pond, if you will,
Seth Anderson:please. Well,
Unknown:I always say that, the truth is, is that the most tastiest glass of lemonade, it is impossible for it to be truly lemonade, without lemons and lemons represent the problems in our lives, right. So like, we're always going to be problem solving, there are always going to be lemons, and then we need the water to balance it all out. And we need the sugar to to really, like make it so much better. But um, somebody gave me this advice at the beginning when I was starting my business, and they said, the sooner you get on board with business being a never ending to do list, the better. And I think that number one is is integral to know. And then also to know like problems are always going to arise. So the sooner you can get on board with knowing it's never going to be just perfect, you're always going to be problem solving. I'm not gonna say you're gonna be golden, but I think it just makes it a lot easier to just be on board with the fact that you're always going to be troubleshooting.
JP Gaston:And if your business partner likes lists, you will always have lists.
Seth Anderson:I've been I've been known to write a list or two. love a good list. Awesome. You're not the first guest. I see JP I'm building a following of fellow Do you have
JP Gaston:a list of all of them?
Seth Anderson:So Rachel, where can people find out more about make lemonade and get in touch? Yeah, well, you
Unknown:can go to our website, make lemonade.ca if you want to learn more about the getcha den club, make lemonade.ca slash club, or we're super active on Instagram. So make lemonade CO and we also have a really fun Facebook community too.
JP Gaston:That's great. Well, thanks for coming in. We appreciate you. sharing your story and the story of make lemonade. Yeah.
Seth Anderson:Oh, this is awesome. Thanks so much. Yeah, I appreciate you having me on.
JP Gaston:Thanks for coming by
Seth Anderson:Thanks to Rachel Kelly, for joining us today. Now stay tuned for the podium. Brought to you by beyond the beaten path visit beyond the beaten path.ca. Well, JP, that was a ton of fun, just like we said off the top.
JP Gaston:Yeah, I love that she was so open. And everything she talked about was just a very real experience from how she felt when it all started as an idea in her head to how she felt when COVID hit Like, I love those conversations where people just open up and and really tell their story.
Seth Anderson:Yeah, she's very genuine, very to the point and you know, just an amazing guest here in the dojo, pivoting gears now. It is May the fourth and we are excited for this week's beyond Well, I shouldn't say we I'm excited that this week in the beyond the beaten path podium, we will be sharing our top three Star Wars characters. q star wars music.
JP Gaston:I don't know if we can use that legally. No, but I'll find something. So whatever you just heard is not Star Wars, but we were allowed to play it.
Seth Anderson:It's like an off key.
JP Gaston:It's Star Wars but written in a minor key. So you feel a little sad. It's not as not as fan fairy.
Seth Anderson:You know what I was surprised because I've kind of put it out into the universe. Hey, anyone want to come on and talk about their top three Star Wars characters. And we had one like our good friend, Jordan West was down, totally down to come. However, we couldn't make it work with the scheduling. So in lieu of him.
JP Gaston:In fairness, it's hard to narrow it down to three. Like if I saw that post myself, which I did, but I have to be here. I probably would have paused for a minute before responding and think, man, can I even narrow it down reasonably to three?
Seth Anderson:It's tough. It's tough. You know what, I actually thought we could have just done top three movies. There's enough movies that we could go that route. Yeah, but the
JP Gaston:what's funny is people say oh, there's you know, there's just the series but no, there's all the animated series. There's all the spin offs that are out there. There's franchise as a franchise.
Seth Anderson:Maybe maybe off the top. Does baby Yoda count?
JP Gaston:I think jersey Yoda in general. And you can specify if you'd prefer a version is Yoda your number seven or eight that tied for? Like you usually do. Yeah,
Seth Anderson:I was. I was up to like, doulos and tryst.
JP Gaston:I was like, you had a ranking system. You rewatched all the movies this week. I
Seth Anderson:you know, it's it's tough. I didn't like the middle three. That's like my least favorite of the middle three being the first three. Yes, that was one so yeah, yeah, I
JP Gaston:was the confusing part about Star Wars to me is that people talk about, Oh, I didn't like the fourth movie. So you didn't you didn't like the fourth one that came out or the fourth in the series? Because the fourth was actually the first Yeah,
Seth Anderson:yeah. Okay, what's before we get into our list? What is your What is your least favorite Star Wars character?
JP Gaston:Oh, my least favorite. I did not know that. This would be on the test. Yes. Pop quiz. Jar Jar Binks. Ah,
Seth Anderson:JoJo banks is like the Nickelback of the Star Wars universe. Yeah,
JP Gaston:I think his character his people are gonna hate me for this. I think his character is necessary. Because it helps you form your feelings for so many other characters because it's kind of like there needs to be bad in the world through to you to appreciate the good know how bad that bad needs to. Josh, way up there. But yeah, what about you?
Seth Anderson:I don't like I can't even think of anything other than jar droppings. But you know, I've I've always had a dislike for WhatsApp, big serpenti. Guy, Java. Java. Yeah.
JP Gaston:I actually thought you're gonna say Java and I.
Seth Anderson:Why did I do? I did post him in my Insta post? Not because I like him. No big fan.
JP Gaston:I don't know. He posted them for some controversy. You want to be like, there is no way I'm letting Java. Put your check next you people be like this is gonna be the worst. Freaking Java Jar Jar.
Seth Anderson:Okay, one more. One more bonus round question. favorite Star Wars movie. Return the Jedi. You didn't even hesitate.
JP Gaston:It is my favorite. It's my favorite.
Seth Anderson:It's a good one. I don't know that. People. You know what one I really liked it. new ones since you picked an old one, I'll pick a new one. Okay, fair enough. Rogue One. It wasn't even one of the trilogy. That was like one of those. I that was
JP Gaston:really good. That was my favorite. I know a lot of people hated one, aka four. But the the first in the series, I didn't mind it. I mean, it wasn't, you know, upper echelon of Star Wars.
Seth Anderson:Yeah, there's but basically 10 that we can count, I think.
JP Gaston:Yeah, but it wasn't bad. Right. Like it was.
Seth Anderson:I gotta watch it again. To be honest, I think.
JP Gaston:Yeah, fair enough.
Seth Anderson:Anyway, let's, let's get into this. What do you got top three characters?
JP Gaston:I went with mostly secondary or tertiary care? Well, I feel like I feel like there's some obvious ones. Like, who doesn't like the loops of the world are the Darth bait lists. Those are great characters who have a lot of character development and that mean, they're on top of people's lists for a reason. They spend most of their time staring at them. There's a couple who didn't really get as much screen time I would say,
Seth Anderson:are they like three obscure he walks?
JP Gaston:They're just, I mean, no, you'll understand. Alright, they're just they're not. It's not Luke. Okay. Hey, Jango Fett, aka Boba Fett.
Seth Anderson:Okay.
JP Gaston:He was the he was the he was the template that they used to form the army. Right. So Boba Fett was a clone of Jango. I just thought like, he was just cool.
Seth Anderson:He is he is like the cult fatale. I don't know if cult but like, yeah, like an underground favorite.
JP Gaston:All right. Would that be above a fetish?
Seth Anderson:They're talking about doing a Boba Fett movie. I don't think they ever had ever got off the ground though. Yeah, I'm not sure. Anyway. Okay, that's good. Solid. Yeah.
JP Gaston:Number two Mace Windu.
Seth Anderson:Not the rapper. No. No, not. No,
JP Gaston:not the rapper. But I can't believe that they got Samuel L. Jackson to play rollover. He didn't drop f 03. Other word. I would be interested in remake just to see what it would be like if he played this difficult character in that role. But no, I thought I thought that that was a well thought out character. He I mean, he did get some screen time. He's just you know, not a Yoda. Or a Luke. Yeah. So my, my third one. A little bit more main charactery. I went through a few weird character traits that I thought would be neat. Plo Koon i thought was neat. He's on the council. He's like this crazy.
Seth Anderson:I was thinking that weird thing with the nose. Anyway, that's no,
JP Gaston:he's he's somewhat he looks like he's wearing a mask. I'll send you a picture. You'll recognize them. He's in a whole bunch of movies. But he's always like, just in the background. And you don't get a ton of info on them. For the most part he led. He led one of the battles as the as the general I think he's not not mean, but he's certainly no leave. But I think I'd land on on Chewbacca. chewy, chewy. Who thinks to write in a character that cannot speak. Pretty much like every other one speaks a language that's very clearly a language. He just kind of grunts and groans and spits out some sort of recognizable. I don't know. I dig it. He's, you know, he's strong. He is helpful.
Seth Anderson:What are they again? What is he doing? What is? wiki? our wiki is just giant he walks? Is that what's going on there? Are he working main Wikis.
JP Gaston:I think they ran out of names when they were writing them and they were like, We just moved the eat the front and we'll call them he walks. Okay.
Seth Anderson:Is that an actual George Lucas reenactment right there?
JP Gaston:Yeah. What? What about you? What are your top three?
Seth Anderson:Oh, man.
JP Gaston:I've been thinking about this for like, three months. I know because we started this season. You're like, we're gonna have a thing. This is gonna be perfect. I can't wait. Like, let's just get through season two episode one.
Seth Anderson:Ben Affleck. Let's get Mark Hamill and that didn't happen. So yeah, well,
JP Gaston:maybe we didn't meet a writer. I didn't have just green m&ms for him. So
Seth Anderson:when he literally posts on his on his Twitter don't DM me I won't answer. Yes Get them like all day long.
JP Gaston:I'm sure you have more than one request for a May the fourth appears on something there. I wonder if he hates me. I wonder if he's actually just like I'm so far past doors now. Like Leave me alone.
Seth Anderson:He's gotta eat it up. Come on. It's like,
JP Gaston:I don't know, I think for a while you do. But when it's a thing that's been happening since it's, it's still hitting you today and you're just like, what, uh,
Seth Anderson:what else is he got going on? It's not like, you know, he's Tom Cruise and had some other big acting role. He just looked Skywalker like Luke Skywalker Skywalker than Mark Hamill.
JP Gaston:He didn't get into Scientology and then make his whole career controversial.
Seth Anderson:Anyway, okay, my runner up.
JP Gaston:Oh, my first runner, my first of 74 runner ups.
Seth Anderson:I want to give a shout out and I know the new ones don't get as much love I. I enjoyed them. Like I just took them for what they were. I went to the movie theater. I sat down for two hours and I honestly enjoyed every single one of them. And I really grew to like Ray over the over the three episodes, I guess you would call them. I thought her character development was great. And I love Yeah, I really, you know, as a leading woman and sort of the main character I I quite liked her. So that's my runner up. I dig it. Number three. I'm going to go with the Grand Master Jedi. Master Yoda senior Yoda Lord Yoda. I don't really know your
JP Gaston:Yoda.
Seth Anderson:Also baby Yoda, just from a pure culture or what is it pop culture? Like? Is there a worse business gaff than Disney not having any baby Yoda memorabilia available when that show came out?
JP Gaston:I'm sure we could come up with a few because there have been some mighty fine blunders, but that is that is up there. That's
Seth Anderson:right up there from like a just a. I mean, I guess who knew who somebody should have wouldn't somebody? Yeah, let me show no. Hey,
JP Gaston:hey, here's the thing we're doing. We're gonna start this, we're gonna have this super cute characters gonna be super tiny. He's kind of going to look like a Furby. We're pretty sure it's not going to be as popular as a Furby. So don't even bother making them. Don't make any
Seth Anderson:single one
JP Gaston:of these things make zero. We would like zero please, please. In fact, if you see any dismantle them, because we don't want them on fire,
Seth Anderson:please. Now it would have made sense if they like jumped on it like right like a month later or two months, but it was like a year before anything got like, anyway, that's another podium. But Yoda slash baby Yoda. Yoda is like the ultimate leader. Right? Like, the ultimate mentor. I wish I had a mentor that was Yoda or like, you know, like, you ever just want to like go float around in a bog with a little green dude. learn the ways of the mind. Come on. That
JP Gaston:sounds like the start of most scary movies. People in the bog some random green dude. Tell him they can lift ships with their mind.
Seth Anderson:And then they do.
JP Gaston:Are you getting a little Are you getting little thirsty there? Here's some Kool Aid.
Seth Anderson:Okay, number two. And I debated really on having him number one, but I'm gonna go number two is is Han Solo. I love Han. Yep. I mean, I don't know if I love Han or I love Harrison Ford. Either way. Yeah. I just love Han. And he's just such a badass. And he's so common karate.
JP Gaston:Have you seen the ice cube? trace? No, you can get ice cubes that are in the shape of him frozen. And
Seth Anderson:that's probably have seen that. And then you've got the dynamic with layer. And then Kylo Ren. And then you know, if you're listening to this, and you haven't seen the most recent trilogy, on gears, spoiler alert. You've hung up the phone by an hour, I guess whatever.
JP Gaston:People dial into our show to listen. Pick up your landline folks, dial star 665 Dude,
Seth Anderson:I teared up. I teared up, maybe it was just a certain stage of my life with with Han and Kylo. And just that whole theme. You know, I'm talking about well, ultimately Kylo Kasam spoiler alert, I hope I don't end up in that same you know, on some sort of Death Star. hundreds of feet in the air murdered by my own son. That was deep. Those those Hey, Linden
JP Gaston:went up to the space station this weekend. Got some tickets? Yeah, dad, that'd be perfect.
Seth Anderson:I know we've been estranged for 27 years. Anyway, Han and Kylo and number one for me. I don't think it'll be a big surprise Luke Skywalker. I just think you know, so one of the things we talked about if we had him on the show? Yeah, would be that to ask him what it's like to be like such an there's like a demographic of people that look up to him is like Gen II like the ultimate whatever. Like it's not even real, like, how do you like separate that from you? Like, where does the loop end? And you start? I don't know,
JP Gaston:I think it's fascinating. At the force. That's pretty much where the hard line is. I am unable to move things with my mind. And therefore that's the that's the lie. Up until that point, we are the same person.
Seth Anderson:What's it like having Darth Vader as a father? Yeah, I think Luke's the most iconic character. And yeah, that's it. That's what I got Yoda, Han, Luke.
JP Gaston:I dig it. And I like I love the movies. I love all of the stuff that has spilled out of those movies, all of the other things that exist because of those movies. Yes. I can't imagine a world where avatar, for example, happens with the graphics that like, it's not even just the spin off movies. It's the advancement in technology that Lucas Films and George Lucas respond not not to mention Spaceballs. Yes, I was going there. That's exactly
Seth Anderson:what's going on. That's all you ever think you're just trying to like, delay your way getting there? That's
JP Gaston:Yeah, come on, man. Trying to do some storytelling here. Billy Be proud.
Seth Anderson:Well, I'm the crew and that it's been like, look at Harrison Ford, one of the most famous actors of all time. Yeah.
JP Gaston:I mean, look at just go down the cast list at all. Some folks, especially on those early movies at spawn some serious careers. Some folks had some really good careers. And all they wanted to do was get into a star at some point in their career, and they were so happy when they did, many people did so well taking, I mean, relatively a pay cut. They just wanted to be in the movie. And so they, you know, didn't take their usual. What is an actor go for now? Like $800 billion?
Seth Anderson:I don't even know. I don't know the numbers? I don't know.
JP Gaston:But it's just it. There's so many things around it, that it's just one of those inspiring?
Seth Anderson:Could you imagine just thinking back to the episode we just did with the with Rachel co working facility? Imagine a Star Wars co working facility. I mean, it would be something like on the first one. Well, the airport scene, you know, and I mean, something like that. That's exactly what it would be.
JP Gaston:probably start that giant dude, because they would just be like, you know what, this is gonna be big. We're just gonna build it airports for co working space. Don't worry about the rent. We'll figure that out later.
Seth Anderson:All right. Well, may the fourth be with you. And also thank you for joining us and with you. And with you. And with you. There's an echo. Thanks for joining us this week in the dojo and we'll see everyone next week.
JP Gaston:Thanks, everyone.