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B Local Series: Bridging Business with Sustainability with Michelle Reid of B Local Vancouver · Responsibly Different™

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the responsibly different mini series exploring the different B locals around the United States and Canada.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: B locals are placed based communities of people that are using business as a force for good in their region.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: B locals are made up of people and businesses that are helping to transform the global economy to benefit all people, community and the planet.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Throughout this series, we will hear from different B local leaders in their community and we will learn about the work they are doing and how others can get involved.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: In this episode, I will be talking with Michelle Reed, with B Local Vancouver.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the podcast, michelle.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: We're so excited to have you.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: I feel like I've known you for a little bit now, but this is exciting to get to know you a little bit better, so welcome.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Brittany.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Of course, Michelle, since I do know a little bit about you, I want to back up and maybe just say there's probably some listeners out there that don't know anything about you.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: So, assuming that I know nothing about you, can you share with me a little bit about who Michelle is?
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: what makes you, you, oh gosh, that's always a tough question and to be honest, brittany, the first thing I always want to say is my cat's lying here.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: I love cats.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: But in terms of who I am so, I'm Michelle Reed.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I work actually for the BDC as an advisor for corporate sustainability and B Corp, and so I think just wanting to help people has always been a very distinct passion of mine.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: It's been something that I've thought of as a child and so wasn't really sure how that was going to translate.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: I honestly thought I was going to be either a lawyer or a politician, but something that folks don't know about me.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: I'm actually painfully, I was very painfully shy and I still very much kind of am a introvert, and so those two careers probably wouldn't pan out.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: And so I kind of just like floated around and just really thought that I might have to work for a nonprofit kind of organization and that would really kind of align with my values.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: And, interesting enough, I just chanced upon this company that was in the office supply.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: So if anyone's watched the office, it is very much like that, but the very lovely company that was doing incredible things in the community, and I just got really excited and I was like why would a business do this?
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: And so just was really kind of introduced to this whole world of like using business as a force for good and just understanding this whole network of companies that were doing these really cool things and just understanding that there was such a power behind it, so definitely wanted to kind of join that community.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: And I think really that was the first time I felt at home.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: I never felt I'm not going to name any other organizations but I never felt at home with the dark blue suits and just like tell me who you are and what value you have, right, but I really wanted to be in a community where I felt valued and that I kind of shared those same ideals.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: And so that's kind of how I chanced upon the B Corp community and absolutely fell in love with B Lab and so.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: But it's a look at myself as an individual, besides what I do, because that's only a small part of who we are, you know I'm also a mother to a wonderful seven year old.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: And it's really rewarding to be able to kind of look my daughter in the eye and say, yeah, I'm trying to do some good here and leave the place kind of a little better yeah that's me.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing all of that with me.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: I also would love to know where you physically seated right now in the world.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I am on the unceded ancestral lands of the Musqueam, scottish and St Louis, two nations.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Otherwise, no one has been here.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: I know there's a Vancouver in the US, so, yes, no.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: So we're in Canada.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Okay, great to know.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: And, for those of you listening, we will eventually get to talking about Jamvans retreat, but don't fast forward quite yet.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Great Well, michelle, I would love to Understand a little bit more about the work that you do and how you get paid and what your job looks like.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: But just a preference, like what a weird question to kind of ask somebody.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: But I know that your situation is a little bit unique, so do you mind explaining for us kind of how you're with B lab, but also with BDC?
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah for sure.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: So I've had an interesting, interesting journey, and so whenever I'm talking to anyone about sustainability and kind of looking for work in this field, just know that it is not a linear pathway, it is a lot of different routes that you can take, and so I think I was telling you, brittany, if I had to apply the traditional route for both organizations, I probably wouldn't be here.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: So so y'all can sneak in the back way, but Um, but no, it's really interesting.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: You know I had told you I'd fall in love with B lab and everything they did and knew.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Really I think that was honestly the first organization that I knew I really wanted to work for, really had my heart set on and tried multiple of ways the traditional way, and then there was a way that wasn't quite so perfect.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: It was kind of a part time role, just kind of feeling, feeling in on a mat leave, but really understanding, having being a part of the B Corp community, the really importance of personal connection, and so for those going through certification, it's a hard process, it's a long process sometimes and at the end of it to just receive an email, it felt very dissatisfying for me and so I really wanted to be that person that would kind of welcome folks, be like, hey, congratulations, this is amazing, so exciting, really happy to have you part of the community.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: And so I took this community position.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: That was kind of half time and the contract ended in the BDC, the business development big a can.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah really kind of saw the importance of having a community person really represent the Canadian perspective.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: There's not a lot of folks really on the team of being lab that are Canadian.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: There are a few of us, but not really folks that really center just on Canada and just really felt that was important and so have been serving the community kind of ever since kind of in that role as part of that partnership.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: And so, yeah, it's really exciting to be really deep into a partnership and that's not usual, that usual kind of practice that is done.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: And it's been exciting to be part of the community team and just really bring that diverse Canadian perspective to to the US Canada community for sure.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: Hmm, I love that.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that is very important.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: So I'm glad that you feel the role that you feel.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: So let's transition a little bit to be local Vancouver, and I'm wondering what's the role that you play on that board?
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and being local Vancouver, I'm currently the chair, something I've held for a couple years and kind of shared the position previously with my colleague Carla, and yeah, it's been definitely been a great, a great experience kind of leading this group of 10 or so individuals that are really kind of dedicated to the Vancouver and BC community and so, yeah, it's been great to kind of serve as that and in kind of leading.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: We're all very excited and I know we're going to talk about later but it's kind of leading up to two champions or trade next year and just seeing how we can really make this really uniquely a Canadian experience.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Super cool.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Michelle, do you mind sharing with me a little bit about how be local Vancouver got started?
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: So I was trying to go back in time, brittany, to kind of think over the exact year, so I think it was about probably about 2012,.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: 2013,.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: When be local Vancouver was formed and it was kind of really unique in the fact that we did have support from being lab us in Canada and so an incredible person to work with and in life, stephanie Ryan, used to make the track every month from Seattle just to kind of convene a group of very small yeah, I think we all fit around kind of the BDC boardroom table, so I think maybe there was about 14 of us at the time that kind of made up the BC kind of community, and so, yeah, it was really a great experience to be able to kind of go and see how we could support one another, how we can kind of grow this movement, and so that's, that's the origin, the origin of that, for sure.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it sounds like you were involved back then.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: So I'm wondering how maybe, has the work evolved that you've witnessed, what were some of the first projects that you all worked on, and, if it is a seamless transition to where you are now, or kind of like your B corp journey into B lab, like is it a zigzag line of what the work looked like that B local Vancouver has and has have been doing?
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, definitely isn't.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Zigzag, I don't know, does anything go linear?
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: I don't know, maybe, maybe time, I don't know.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: Welcome to life.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: I'm just on here and it's going to say, yes, it does.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: But yeah, it's just been really interesting to kind of see the transformation.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: And so, as I talked about, you know, originally it was just us getting to know one another, getting to understand one another's businesses, understand what folks are really kind of working on, and I think you know, through that kind of evolved into kind of these monthly breakfasts is really where folks would, companies would be able to really present on the work that they're doing and we would be able to be able to kind of share learnings and kind of build on those.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: And you know, I think that the breakfast format has still kind of continued to today is kind of altered in some aspects.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: But then, you know, with the B corp leadership development days, you know, when those first kind of started, that was something that was interesting and it's like, oh, can we actually do this in our community, where folks kind of show up and and at the same time, you know, the Vancouver or BC community is really growing quite significantly and so kind of holding the first B corp leadership development day felt like a really big, a really big kind of win.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: I think it was on.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: I literally came back from that leave or I was very pregnant at the time for the first one and so I wasn't really so involved in the planning.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: That definitely was there for the subsequent sequential ones.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: And I think you know, just kind of looking at you know, how we've evolved to kind of like how can we, you know, work with other B locals across Canada and the work that we're doing and so so that's been kind of an evolution of how can we bring a lot of the messaging that's really important, not only regionally but across Canada, to everyone and so so those BLDs have definitely transformed to to Canadian type of events, which has been really great to see.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: And we were go back, beat us to the punch because we were just a little bit slow and we were just trying to trying to do it the right way and it just seemed a lot more complicated than it was.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: But we actually finally formalized really kind of ads of last year and so I would say, is folks that are kind of starting B locals?
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: You know B locals transform people leave.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Like you know we had a really significant person in Carla that was leading the B local for a long time.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: She was doing it by herself, which I have no idea how she did that by herself, but she's she's just incredible person.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: So I have no doubt how she did to really having this team of 11 folks that are really concentrated in different areas and really kind of taking ownership of that and probably looking to another transition next year, right?
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: So it's always a problem and what that can look like and I think that's the exciting part of it.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: It's bringing in new people that are like, hey, let's reimagine this.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Because I always see people that are like, hey, let's reimagine this, because I always say Michelle does not have all the answers, no way, I don't.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: And so it doesn't really look to guidance of these folks and in these business leaders to say, hey, you know, should we be looking at this or have we thought about that?
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: And so you've mentioned now a few times, like the Canadian way, and because I'm not Canadian and I mean I've been to Canada but not it, not that much.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: I'm just wondering like what do you mean by that?
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Like what?
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: What is the Canadian way?
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: What a loaded question, right?
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be quoted here and people will be like that is not the Canadian way.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: You have to tell me who reaches out and tells you no, michelle, you got it wrong, I'll be like sorry, sorry y'all, I was put on the spot.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know what the Canadian way is, you know.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: I would kind of say it's more the Canadian perspective.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: And I would say, even though there are similarities between the two countries, the US and Canada, there are things that are very different.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: It's very different political system, very different issues in terms of racial equity, and that will vary also from region to region.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: And I think you know it was interesting when we pulled folks for what they wanted to see in the big corporate leadership development days like reconciliation is something that's really important to the overall Canadian audience and that's not something that really has the same level level of significance, really kind of in the US market.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: Of course it is still important, it is still something that's part of both countries histories.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: But I think in you and Canada there's just that, I would say just a unique kind of responsibility that we really need to act and do something on this, and so I think it's really important for us to really kind of talk about some of these things.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: And I think too, just you know, just the way with policy may work.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: Things just work a little differently, and so it's really great to kind of have these Canadian conversations where we can give that space so people can say, hey, what is it that we can do, rather than kind of looking at stuff from a US perspective that may not really kind of just doesn't really fit with us, right, and so I would kind of say that's the Canadian way and just like the US.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: In Canada there's so many regional differences, right, so you can't really say there's just one Canadian way, but there are.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: There are definitely some threads that that kind of go through throughout the country in terms of what folks are looking to focus on and and obviously, obviously, climate changes is a global way, right.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: But you know, we have been experiencing it quite significantly here in Canada on all, within all provinces, which is something that you know we would like to be able to kind of address as Canadians.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Perfect.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: I love your answer.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: So I kind of want to jump into how you all have been planning your B Corp leadership development days, I think is what you've been calling them, which is a little bit unique than maybe what some people are used to in past years and specifically in New England, because we've always done just a bigger conference and that's not necessarily the approach that Vancouver has been having.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: So I'm wondering can you talk about maybe how you've been planning your BLDs and what they looked like, and maybe in particular, like, what are you focusing on this year?
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think we talked about this in.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: So for folks that have planned the BLD, especially an in-person BLD, I always equated it to a B Corp wedding.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: It was just eight months of planning, everyone's all in the one day happens.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: It's incredible.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: Folks have connections, great conversations, and then it's just kind of silent.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: You know it's kind of like oh, let's wait for next year.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: And if you all know like time already goes fast, right, and so for me to remember what happened last year or to act on it, I should do stuff, you know we're all very busy and what we do.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: And so we thought I always thought that was really disappointing because we had this momentum and the momentum was always kind of lost kind of within two or three months because there really wasn't that action, that kind of follow up those things.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: And so, interestingly enough, covid kind of gave us a way to kind of re-imagine kind of what that looked like, what does that communication look like?
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: And so that's really where we kind of transformed and kind of said like can we go, can we provide messaging kind of across Canada?
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Is there a way to kind of bring some of these topics really to regions that aren't really served by B locals or the B local may not be like up and running kind of right now, and so really kind of looking at that perspective.
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: And so we launched our first kind of BLD Canada.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: We did it four part series and no, I would not recommend it to you all.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: It was a lot of work.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: It was a lot of work, but one of the core things always was reconciliation.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: And so as we rolled into the next year, we decided to do kind of a two part series where, like, hey, let's do two parts, and again reconciliation was always kind of a huge kind of focus of one of them, and with climate and climate justice kind of being the other one.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: And then we started to kind of expand and kind of look kind of at equity, because we do have a large Quebec B court population.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: They're actually hopefully not going to surpass this, but they're growing quick y'all.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: And so, understanding that, you know, how can we provide this?
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: We've been providing in English.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: How do we bring French translation into this?
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: And so it's really exciting this year, you know and I think last year was the first year we started collaborating with other BLD locals and we were like, hey, in Canada, do you want to join us?
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: You know, do you want to be part of the planning process in terms of speakers and things like that?
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: And so we've continued that collaboration this year and so we had our first one in June no, it was in May, I lied, it was in May on reconciliation and never tried before.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: In October we are going to do one, be local, quebec will be kind of being the lead and we'll be supporting, but it will be mostly in French, so as Anglophones are going to have to listen to the translation, and so I think that's just a really cool way to kind of evolve and kind of include a community that typically, kind of, has been excluded in the overall kind of picture.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, we're super stoked and excited.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Oh, that is, that's so interesting, and I'm curious to just kind of hear, like, yeah, I mean, being English speaking, everything's always in English and I've never been forced to listen to something in another language if I want to listen to it and then, like, have the English translation, ooh, I kind of want to sign up just so that I can, I can see what that's like, so I can understand, like, what everybody else has had to go through all these years.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: And yeah, ooh, so eye opening, that's cool.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Well, I think it's just a really great opportunity and, like you said, brittany, sometimes we really take for granted some of the things we have, whether it's ableism, whether it's having everything in the dominant kind of language right, and it's something, honestly, that I think a lot about just as a leader and also feel a responsibility.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: I'm like you know, I'm going to have to go back with my old adult brain and and really try to really kind of learn French again.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: You know I mean, but I think steps like this can really kind of signal to the overall community yes, this is important to us, we want you to feel included and, you know, we should understand really the experience that you're kind of going through.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: Even if it's something that we just have to do for three hours, I think it's definitely open up a lot of perspectives.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: So, yeah yeah, very well said.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: So what are some of the other projects that you all are working on that maybe aren't so focused on?
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Blds?
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, one of the things that's been interesting for us, you know the other, the other B locals in Canada have kind of taken on the whole provincial name right, and so when we incorporated this was like this big, big hot topic.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: People had a lot of opinions on it and we ended up just staying B local Vancouver, even though we service all of BC.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: But with the way the community is kind of growing in BC, I think you know there's such an opportunity for other cities within BC to kind of have their own B local regions.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: And so last year we made a track over to Victoria and y'all, it's not that far, it's like a two and a half hour ferry ride.
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: I'm making it sound like we will be packing or something.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: There's none of that, but if you all been on the ferry, sometimes it is a truck.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: So but we, we thought it would be really interesting because there were so many B Corps that were on the island that can't necessarily access our events, especially if they're in person.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: So we're like let's have an event over there.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: And what was really exciting that happened after that is they continue to have events.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: They're like, michelle, we've had like three other events since you all came in so I thought, wow, what an opportunity, right.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: And so one of the things that you know we plan to do kind of every year is kind of go and visit those different communities, and so we're really excited.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: Next month we're heading up to the interior on Kelowna, which is wine country, and the only B Corp certified winery in Canada actually is up there just somewhere, and so we're going to do an event there which we're super excited about.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: And you know, on top of that, I think B local Vancouver is one of only the four B locals actually has a Jedi chair.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: So it's just equity, diversity and inclusion chair.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: We love acronyms.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: And so I think there's a real opportunity, kind of leading up to champions retreat, for us to really kind of ask ourselves what is our approach to reconciliation and how are we actually interacting with the different Indigenous nations that are here in Vancouver and what could that possibly even look like.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: And I think you know we're always telling other folks to be brave, but you know, I think it's kind of time for us to maybe lean a bit more into that work and be a bit more brave ourselves as we kind of lead up to champions, retreat and beyond really, because it's a, it's relationship building and you know what role do we kind of play in that.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: So those are just some of the things.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: But we have, yeah, tons of other events and breakfasts and fun social activities and I think we're blessed with an amazing community here that is just so giving and they just are so excited just to really be involved, just in being a B Corp.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, Right, I didn't prepare you for this, so I don't mean to completely surprise you, but you mentioned so 11 people on the board.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: How many B Corps do you think are in your region?
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Or do you even know how many B Corps are in Canada?
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Just to give our listeners like that background too.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah for sure.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Well, the number keeps growing, which is, which is great, you know, and y'all, I love the word exciting.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: I don't know why.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: I probably should find another synonym, but I'm just, I'm just very excited.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: So last time I checked, which was a couple of days ago, I think we're sitting over the 460 mark in Canada and I think we're about at the 126 mark in terms of B Corps within the region.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: Bc is the second region only to Ontario, and then Quebec is quickly gaining ground behind us and that was fun fact in US and Canada.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: Canada had three of the five top spots in terms of growth and it comes from those three regions.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: So yeah, oh cool, yeah, I knew you would have those stats for us.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: You know what?
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: I'm not usually a stat person.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: People are like give me the business case.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: I'm usually all about the fields.
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: But I am like you know, you do have to know some of those things and I think you know, when we looked at the growth of Canada like last year was our biggest growth we had 112 new companies come in across Canada and I think now we're already at the 65 mark.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: So we're looking to really surpass that this year and so seeing really great new companies come in in different sectors, it's just incredible to see.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: You know, especially since you know I've been part of this movement since 2012,.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: Right, so I've seen it at really really small in-sailor kind of went into really really expanding really across all provinces and so all provinces actually do have B Corp.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: So it's great to see me.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's awesome.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Okay, well, we kind of have been alluding to it, but I think now is finally the moment where let's talk about champions retreat.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: So super exciting If this is people's first time hearing.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Champions retreat is in 2024, in March, and it is going to be in Vancouver and from there.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: Michelle, I'm so excited, just to use your word, can you?
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: Can you, maybe without being like any, like giving away any spoilers, because that's not what we're here to do, but we're here just to understand, like what's the B locals role in helping assist B labs, plan champions retreat and I guess, like what does it feel like to be in the community, like working towards what is, I mean, this amazing event?
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: so, yeah, you know, ever since I've been a part of the local Vancouver, this has been something that we've dreamed about.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: We're really upset that we weren't the first Toronto Toronto beat us to that, but that's okay.
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: We're excited that it just is finally come to Vancouver and it's something that really a lot of folks you know we have on the be a local board.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: At least five of the folks have been there for at least about four years now, and I think you know this announcement has some saying yes, this is what we've been waiting for, to really be able to participate and have this in our own backyard and kind of bring really that Canadian experience to the champions retreat, and so we're really looking forward to and we have been working with green living, which is a Canadian company which I love as well, and so they have really been thoughtful and really including us in a lot of those conversations.
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: You know whether it's looking kind of at venues.
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: We had a really great event back in February.
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: We were able to bring the local community together and have them put forward their ideas of like this is a really great venue.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: This is an amazing performer we would love to see.
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: These are some topics, and so it was really great to be able to kind of involve the community because, brittany, I get messages almost every week.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: So what can I do?
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: How can I be involved in this, and so so people are really, really looking forward to having this here and you know, I think you know they're looking forward to really having maybe canned a bit more centered than it has been at previous kind of champions retreats, and so really, our role on being local Vancouver is just to kind of work kind of really as a I don't know, a guide, a partner, however you want to determine it, to just to make sure that things just don't get missed.
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: And some things are really highlighted and they think one thing, one thing this year that we're really focusing on, is really accessibility accessibility of events.
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: And so not just not just looking at events and kind of taking kind of the venues word that they're accessible, but really, you know, looking to bring in someone to to really kind of assess it and just really make sure that we're taking all those considerations.
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: And so, yeah, we're just really thrilled to be part of that process and just kind of weigh in on, you know different things and yeah, it's definitely it's not, it's not a huge lift on our part because we're not doing all the logistics, fun stuff, but it also gives us an opportunity to sit to imagine how do we bring together, you know, canadians, how do we welcome folks from outside of Canada, how can we really show, kind of you know, the value that the differences kind of bring us?
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: And so it's, I'll be excited because a traditional champions retreats there's usually about 40 of us Canadians and it's Michelle or you know my former colleagues, you know kind of saying, look, meet in this place, and they're just all excited to know each other, because we don't normally get those opportunities right.
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: So it will be.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: It will be interesting to see if we outnumber everyone.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: That's my hope.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I hope that there's a strong Canadian showing as well, and I mean I hope that there is.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: But I feel like I need to spend a few extra days in Canada when I do come, just so I can make sure that I learn the Canadian way and I don't have to ask you next time.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: I can tell you what I think the Canadian way.
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: We do say it is true, we do say sorry a lot.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: They may that may just be a Michelle is a bump into a tree and say sorry to it, but yeah.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: Great.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: Okay, I'll be on the lookout for that.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: Well, this has been so awesome and so much fun, michelle, so thank you so much for kind of opening up and sharing your story and sharing a little bit more about the local Vancouver with us all.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: Is there anything that maybe I didn't ask or that you wanted to share with our audience?
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I would say in terms of the locals, there's no right or wrong way to do it.
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: What we're all really trying to do is just to bring together this community of like minded folks.
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: Right, and that can be.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: It doesn't have to be something grand or you don't have to follow a certain model.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: Obviously, you know there's guidelines.
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: You know Rose would be like, don't be telling people that.
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: But you know, I think it's just a great opportunity and it could be something very simple and I think a lot, a lot of the locals across Canada just really started that way, and across the US probably as well, as just folks like meeting up and just having those conversations and, and I think that the greatest benefit is we get further working together than working in silos, and so we really hope to kind of create that type of community where we can share and then folks can definitely collaborate.
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: So so if you're looking to start one, keep it simple and it just kind of grows organically from there.
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: So I love that.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: Well, kind of set it better myself.
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: So thank you for sharing that, no problem.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: So, michelle, I will say that this last champions retreat in Philly was my first champions retreat that I've ever gone to, even though I've been involved in the community a little bit.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: And there was one thing that I learned at this champions retreat that I didn't realize was always like a thing.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: So I'm wondering can you tell me the origin of the running group at champions retreat and how you have to do it in jeans?
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness.
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: So and I'll preface this y'all I am not a runner, so I have no idea how this even became a thing.
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: And I think just being growing up in kind of the 80s and seeing Rocky, and we were at, you know, in Philadelphia and I was like if I do anything, I need to run the Rocky steps.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: And so we looked at timings and we're like when can this work?
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: It was like literally 6am Eastern.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: I'm on the West Coast y'all, so I was up at 3am, which kind of sounds really ridiculous while I think about it.
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: And so we're like, yes.
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: So we're like who's going to sign up?
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: Okay, there was three of us.
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: So so, mr Mr Wonderful Queen B Gray Hemmings shows up, full disclosure.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: He probably been out a little too late, so I don't even know if he went to sleep.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: He shows up in jeans.
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: Okay, so you have Michelle, the non runner, the lovely Suzanne from Isle, who is a runner, the only runner of the group, and Mr, mr Hemmings in these jeans.
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: So we did it, we did it, did the Rocky steps.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: It was amazing.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: And so when we went back to Philly I said to Greg I'm like we are doing the Rocky steps again.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: He goes.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: Yes, we are.
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: He didn't show up in the jeans.
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: I was a little disappointed, but we only.
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: We only still got one more person.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: Everyone else was like why are you running at 6am, 3am your time?
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: And I said it's a tradition.
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: So for anyone that comes to champions retreat, we don't have the Rocky steps, but we have a beautiful seawall and we are continuing the tradition once again.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: But maybe not at 3am your time this this time around, since it will be in your time zone.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: Well, just 6am Pacific, so so, if you all are in, eastern is nine, so it's doable and doable and it's beautiful.
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: So so it'll be worth it, I promise Great.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: And maybe I'll start the walking group that walks behind all the runners.
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: Oh, you know the B from the A linker, which is a mobility device.
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: She was thinking like, oh, could we do something like on the seawall?
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: So so maybe we'll do a collaboration event, so folks that want to be on that device and try it out and folks that want to run in, so yeah, we'll do that.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: Thanks for sharing that story.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: Thank you for all of you.