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Immersive Art and Community Impact: The Precious Julius Story · Behind the Business

• 0:01
  Ian McLean: Welcome to another episode of Behind the Business, presented by Gore Mutual.
• 0:04
  Ian McLean: I'm your host, Ian McLean, President and CEO of the Greater Kitchen Waterdoo Chamber of Commerce.
• 0:09
  Ian McLean: This podcast is recorded on the traditional territory of the neutral Anichinabe and Haudenosaunee peoples.
• 0:15
  Ian McLean: Each week I sit down for candid conversations where we go beyond the boardroom and behind the business to uncover the real stories of Waterdoo Region's business community.
• 0:25
  Ian McLean: Today we're talking with Precious Julius, the founder of Last Minute Gallery.
• 0:38
  Ian McLean: What started as a small passion project has grown into an award-winning, dynamic platform that is reshaping the art scene in Waterloo Region.
• 0:46
  Ian McLean: Precious creates immersive, hands-on experiences where audiences don't just view art, they actively participate, collaborate, and leave their mark.
• 0:55
  Ian McLean: Events like the art experience that showcases emerging artists and builds strong connections with the community.
• 1:03
  Ian McLean: In this episode, we'll hear about his journey from concept to award-winning event impact, the lessons learned along the way, and how creativity can be a powerful driver for community.
• 1:15
  Ian McLean: Join me as we go behind the business with Precious Julius.
• 1:19
  Ian McLean: Well, it's a pleasure to have you here with us today, Precious.
• 1:22
  Ian McLean: Thanks so much for spending time with us.
• 1:23
  Precious Julius: Absolutely.
• 1:24
  Precious Julius: It's my pleasure to be here today.
• 1:25
  Precious Julius: I'm looking forward to our conversation.
• 1:27
  Ian McLean: Well, let's start at the beginning.
• 1:29
  Ian McLean: And what sort of inspired you to step full-time into the arts and and uh and create last-minute gallery?
• 1:36
  Ian McLean: What was it that got you um headed in that direction?
• 1:39
  Precious Julius: Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:40
  Precious Julius: So um growing up as a child, I've always loved art.
• 1:43
  Precious Julius: I've been passionate about arts.
• 1:45
  Precious Julius: However, growing up in an African home, quite different, right?
• 1:50
  Precious Julius: And the noble path that you're supposed to take on is either you become a doctor, an engineer, or a lawyer, right?
• 1:58
  Precious Julius: And so telling my parents that I wanted to do art and be an artist wasn't really accepted, right?
• 2:05
  Precious Julius: It was frowned upon.
• 2:06
  Precious Julius: Like you have to get a job, you have to make money.
• 2:09
  Precious Julius: And those paths seemed like the most likely path they're gonna give you what you need, right?
• 2:15
  Precious Julius: So I decided to, okay, listen to my parents, and I got a bachelor's degree in applied health information science.
• 2:22
  Precious Julius: And my dream was to be a medical doctor, but I decided to put that on the side while I focused on my passion for creating.
• 2:31
  Precious Julius: I did work uh in the corporate world for some time.
• 2:34
  Precious Julius: I worked as a customer service representative.
• 2:37
  Precious Julius: I did uh a little bit of tech support as well as sales.
• 2:41
  Precious Julius: Kudos to those that are in sales because that was that was a tough one for me.
• 2:46
  Precious Julius: But one thing I realized was that all of that experience has actually shaped me to be who I am today as an entrepreneur because it helped me with building relationships in terms of also communicating, right?
• 3:00
  Precious Julius: So while working in the corporate world, I also was doing my work on the side, like my paintings.
• 3:06
  Precious Julius: And so a friend of mine advised me to put myself out there.
• 3:10
  Precious Julius: Let me be let me be more visible so that people can also see my work and portray it.
• 3:14
  Precious Julius: So I was kind of skeptical about it because I believe every artist, when they create, they don't create with the intention of selling at first.
• 3:22
  Precious Julius: They just want to create just for the love of creating.
• 3:25
  Precious Julius: But I decided to put myself out there.
• 3:27
  Precious Julius: So I applied to a few galleries, I got rejected, but I was able to sell my work at a few art markets and I sold my first painting for the first time.
• 3:38
  Precious Julius: It was an amazing experience.
• 3:39
  Precious Julius: And in that moment, I realized that our region does not have a significant platform that actually give emerging artists the opportunity to sell.
• 3:49
  Precious Julius: Because most traditional galleries, they're packed with so many artists.
• 3:53
  Precious Julius: Well, we want to get into that space.
• 3:55
  Precious Julius: So they rarely take on new artists.
• 3:59
  Precious Julius: And with my rejection, I realized that no, we need to do something about this.
• 4:03
  Precious Julius: We need to make my art more accessible to those that are still starting up, right?
• 4:07
  Precious Julius: Because that's how you build your career as an artist.
• 4:10
  Precious Julius: So I spoke to a few artists as well, and they shared the same sentiment.
• 4:13
  Precious Julius: Yeah, art needs to be accessible.
• 4:15
  Ian McLean: So Last Minute Gallery is one from a passion project, right?
• 4:19
  Ian McLean: We talked about that, and but it's into an award-winning arts platform.
• 4:24
  Ian McLean: So describe what that means.
• 4:26
  Ian McLean: Tell us about the art experience and what makes it so impactful for both the artist and the audience, right?
• 4:35
  Ian McLean: Because it is a it's a different model than you said.
• 4:38
  Ian McLean: It's a different model than a traditional, you know, artist in a gallery concept.
• 4:42
  Ian McLean: So describe how how that what that looks like.
• 4:46
  Precious Julius: Yeah, so the the first event we had was in 2023.
• 4:51
  Precious Julius: So the idea was that we're gonna bring artists all in one space where they can exhibit their work and at the same time also have members from the community also engage in the experience.
• 5:03
  Precious Julius: Because I believe everyone has the power to create.
• 5:07
  Precious Julius: We're all created to create.
• 5:09
  Precious Julius: But because of the business and the responsibilities that we have, we tend to put that aside.
• 5:14
  Precious Julius: And some people say, Oh, I can do that, I can create, right?
• 5:17
  Precious Julius: So the idea was that while at the same time giving artists the visibility to showcase and also meet more people from the community, let's also give the attendees, the participants, the an opportunity to also express themselves, right?
• 5:31
  Precious Julius: Let's try to break down that barrier of, oh, I'm not good enough with this work.
• 5:35
  Precious Julius: And that was how Last Minute Gallery was created.
• 5:37
  Precious Julius: So the the art experience is an immersive event where people from our community come together to collaborate, to paint together, while there's also a live music performance going on, and at the same time, a live exhibition from the artists that we select from our rosters.
• 5:55
  Ian McLean: And that is different, the the live experience of or the art, or you say the art experience, but a group together, right?
• 6:02
  Ian McLean: That it's not the solitary.
• 6:05
  Ian McLean: Sometimes you think of artists as you know, they go off onto their own, and this is more a group experience.
• 6:11
  Ian McLean: Yeah.
• 6:12
  Ian McLean: Music, either seeing or understanding others' art and then creating something yourself in a group environment.
• 6:19
  Precious Julius: Yes, yes.
• 6:20
  Precious Julius: It's just where creativity can thrive because we need that.
• 6:24
  Precious Julius: And studies show there's a correlation between mental health and the arts.
• 6:29
  Precious Julius: So when people create, they spend more time in their meditative state.
• 6:33
  Precious Julius: They don't have to think about the problems around.
• 6:35
  Precious Julius: And that was why we decided to do that.
• 6:37
  Precious Julius: Because whenever we are in a room where other people are creating, it brings up that creative aspect of ourselves as well.
• 6:44
  Ian McLean: Well, there's no question, there'd be an energy.
• 6:46
  Ian McLean: Listen, Last Minute Gallery is known for pop-up exhibitions and partnerships with everyday spaces, so it's not traditional gallery spaces.
• 6:56
  Ian McLean: I mean, you can pop up in whether it's a mall or or other spaces.
• 7:01
  Ian McLean: Walk us through the business model because I'm interested in the, you know, one of the challenges that that the art sector has is it's it is a really tough business model.
• 7:11
  Ian McLean: Yeah, from how does the revenue come in?
• 7:16
  Ian McLean: Probably not enough on the earned revenue side, which is which makes it tough to be sustainable.
• 7:22
  Ian McLean: Yeah.
• 7:22
  Ian McLean: But walk us through the business model that you've created and how you bring these events to life.
• 7:28
  Precious Julius: Our business model is uh founded on different, I'll call it streams.
• 7:34
  Precious Julius: Like we didn't want to operate as a traditional gallery where we have a physical location and then just showcase art, right?
• 7:41
  Precious Julius: Because that's, like you said, it's expensive to maintain.
• 7:45
  Precious Julius: So we decided that okay, the best way is to collaborate with local businesses in our region where we meet with them, we collaborate with them, and we use their walls, their spaces to showcase art.
• 7:57
  Precious Julius: And then we have a bi-weekly roster where different artists can come in and showcase their work.
• 8:02
  Precious Julius: That way they get more access to a broader audience of people.
• 8:07
  Precious Julius: We also draw traction for the small business and also help the artists with more visibility, right?
• 8:13
  Precious Julius: And part of that model is also through our events, our annual events where we bring more artists through that.
• 8:21
  Precious Julius: And currently we're trying to also scale so that we don't want to just limit our the opportunities to only events and pop-ups, right?
• 8:29
  Precious Julius: And with the introduction of AI, we're trying to leverage technology so that we on and we're also thinking on how we can give artists more access and also visibility using AI.
• 8:40
  Precious Julius: And that is what we're currently working on.
• 8:42
  Precious Julius: So we're we're growing.
• 8:44
  Precious Julius: We just we're over two years now, so we're growing.
• 8:48
  Precious Julius: So we are we're looking forward to what the future holds.
• 8:52
  Ian McLean: So you work with a wide range of both artists, sponsors, partners, businesses.
• 8:57
  Ian McLean: You've got a you've got that that's that's a wide wide array of folks.
• 9:01
  Precious Julius: Yeah.
• 9:02
  Ian McLean: How do you balance the creative vision with the practical side?
• 9:05
  Ian McLean: Now this is always a struggle.
• 9:07
  Ian McLean: So you talk about you know, your passion is art, yeah, but you've created a new business.
• 9:11
  Ian McLean: There's there's no two-way for any business.
• 9:14
  Ian McLean: You still gotta pay the tax man and you gotta pay the bills and you know, staff and you know, whatever your whatever your cost of doing business is.
• 9:24
  Ian McLean: Um, you still have to do both sides of that.
• 9:26
  Ian McLean: So how do you how do you balance the the creative vision and the that part which you're I love, uh the practical side of doing the nitty-gritty of running a business like last minute gallery.
• 9:38
  Ian McLean: And and and what does that taught you uh about yourself as a leader?
• 9:41
  Ian McLean: Like, like you know, how do you how do you you have to balance that?
• 9:44
  Ian McLean: How do you how do you and you you're the leader, you're the one that's got to give that vision and yeah and get all those things done.
• 9:50
  Precious Julius: Yeah, so it's tough as an entrepreneur, it's tough.
• 9:54
  Precious Julius: I it wasn't some what I was it wasn't what I thought it would be.
• 9:59
  Precious Julius: I thought entrepreneurship was just to have a product, sell it, and make money and then you're financially free, right?
• 10:05
  Precious Julius: Yeah, but from a creative standpoint, I try to do what I can do.
• 10:12
  Precious Julius: I I leverage on my strength, and what I'm not able to do, I try to delegate to my other members of my team.
• 10:19
  Precious Julius: For instance, the I'm responsible for securing the partnerships, the sponsorships, and also like putting out the grant applications for funding, right?
• 10:29
  Precious Julius: That's what I'm good at, that is my strength.
• 10:31
  Precious Julius: But when it comes to the marketing, the logistics, and other operational aspects, I try to delegate that to other team members who are good in that area because for every vision to work, you need people to ensure that it's successful.
• 10:44
  Precious Julius: And you need to have the right team members to make it successful.
• 10:47
  Precious Julius: And if you can do it all by yourself, right?
• 10:49
  Precious Julius: So I try to delegate that.
• 10:51
  Precious Julius: And looking at that from a leadership perspective, I would say I'm more of a leader who likes to give room to other ideas, right?
• 11:05
  Precious Julius: Other people who share their ideas on how we can push this vision forward because I don't know it all, right?
• 11:11
  Precious Julius: I also try to maintain a work-life balance, although that is a myth.
• 11:17
  Ian McLean: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:18
  Ian McLean: I'm not sure that that's ever achievable for if you own a small business or you're an entrepreneur, but but uh struggling towards it is an important thing.
• 11:27
  Ian McLean: I mean, I guess one of the things that strikes me is in you know, for for any of us, we have some strengths and some things that we're better at than other things.
• 11:41
  Ian McLean: Like I can read a balance sheet, I could probably you know do the finances if you gave me a long runway and I made a lot of mistakes, but I could do it.
• 11:50
  Ian McLean: But it's it's not what I like doing.
• 11:52
  Ian McLean: I'm not, I'm not, I have to work hard at it and it feels like work.
• 11:55
  Ian McLean: Yeah, some of the other parts are like this.
• 11:58
  Ian McLean: Some people may go, I don't I why I love having this.
• 12:01
  Ian McLean: Is this something that energizes me having these conversations, but it's not for everybody.
• 12:06
  Ian McLean: So you gotta build on your own, on your own strengths.
• 12:09
  Precious Julius: Yeah, exactly.
• 12:14
  Ian McLean: The Behind the Business podcast is made possible through the support of our title sponsor, Gore Mutual.
• 12:19
  Ian McLean: Proudly Canadian, Gore Mutual has stayed true to one purpose for more than 185 years: insurance that does good.
• 12:26
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• 12:28
  Ian McLean: They believe that when we focus on being good, doing good, and spreading good, we all thrive together.
• 12:33
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• 12:39
  Ian McLean: For more information, visit goremutual.ca.
• 12:43
  Ian McLean: So Waterloo Region is known for innovation and collaboration and kind of a mosaic, a cultural mosaic that we're a very, you know, frankly, a very diverse community.
• 12:58
  Ian McLean: But what makes this region special for you and for Last Minute Gallery?
• 13:03
  Ian McLean: Like, is there something unique about Waterloo Region and where you said, I think I've got this vision, I think this is the place I want to do it?
• 13:10
  Ian McLean: Because, you know, I you could have said, you know, the the place for me to really do this would be to go to Toronto or Vancouver or Montreal, which are the biggest cities, and they are by their very nature, there is just more of everything in those big cities.
• 13:25
  Ian McLean: But Waterloo Region, you chose Waterloo Region, why here?
• 13:29
  Precious Julius: Well, I've literally lived here for quite a bit now, and one thing I've realized is that there are always people who are available to help you, who are willing to help you.
• 13:42
  Precious Julius: You can, if you literally want to go to a grocery store and you call someone, oh, please, I need your help.
• 13:48
  Precious Julius: Could you take me to the grocery store?
• 13:50
  Precious Julius: And someone's, oh yeah, sure, we can do it together.
• 13:52
  Precious Julius: And that is one thing that is so unique about the region because it's the spirit of collaboration.
• 13:57
  Precious Julius: Everyone is willing to help you.
• 13:59
  Precious Julius: And in business, collaboration is very important because you can't do business alone, right?
• 14:04
  Precious Julius: Like I said, every great vision needs people, and you have to be out there too.
• 14:10
  Precious Julius: So share your vision, share with people who are in the community who are willing to help you, right?
• 14:14
  Precious Julius: And that is one thing I realized about the region because so many people who who even when I went to pitch at different organizations, and we didn't win those pitches, right?
• 14:28
  Precious Julius: We didn't get the grants.
• 14:29
  Precious Julius: However, after the event, people would approach me and be like, Oh, I love your vision.
• 14:34
  Precious Julius: I would like to invest as a private donor, right?
• 14:36
  Precious Julius: Those kind of things.
• 14:37
  Precious Julius: You would rarely see those kind of things outside the region.
• 14:40
  Precious Julius: And that was why I decided that you know what.
• 14:43
  Precious Julius: And also, Waterloo Region is a growing region, so we need more artistic and cultural engagement that remains unmet.
• 14:50
  Precious Julius: So, with this initiative, the art experience, that is what we tried, that is what we are trying to bring into our region so that we can make Waterloo Region a global hub for art.
• 15:00
  Ian McLean: Now you made that uh some version of that comment in your um remarks because you were award winner at our BDC Small Business Awards Gala a week or two ago.
• 15:11
  Ian McLean: I don't know, I've lost track of the calendar, but recently.
• 15:13
  Ian McLean: Yeah.
• 15:14
  Ian McLean: And and I think you looked you looked resplendent in your in your uh in Nigerian uh uh cellar uh ceremonial dress.
• 15:22
  Ian McLean: It was fantastic, and we were talking just before we started, I have some family roots in in Nigeria, so it was great to see.
• 15:28
  Ian McLean: So but winning the the Event Impact Award at the 2025 Small Business Awards, what does the recognition mean for you and your team and and how do you think it will impact, you know, presumably positively for the rest of the local arts community?
• 15:45
  Ian McLean: Like recognizing the impact that you've had in not only art space but also as an ongoing business is something to celebrate.
• 15:56
  Precious Julius: Yeah, absolutely.
• 15:57
  Precious Julius: And uh thank you very much.
• 15:58
  Precious Julius: Uh because in all honesty, I wasn't expecting the award, right?
• 16:03
  Precious Julius: So when it was announced, I was overwhelmed with joy.
• 16:08
  Precious Julius: I was like, wow, this means that our vision has been accepted by the community, right?
• 16:14
  Precious Julius: And it means we're doing something tangible, something significant.
• 16:18
  Precious Julius: And not just for me personally, but also to our team.
• 16:23
  Precious Julius: It shows that all the hard work, all the sleepless nights that we had to put into the project to ensure that it's a success actually bore fruit.
• 16:32
  Precious Julius: And the the award has a significant impact in our community because it shows that the region also appreciates the arts, right?
• 16:42
  Precious Julius: And they don't see art just as a form of entertainment, but a form of uh community building.
• 16:49
  Precious Julius: It gives vitality to our community.
• 16:51
  Precious Julius: So this will also strengthen the arts in the community and also give momentum to other art organizations that yes, it is possible that the arts needs to be more accessible and also make our region like the best place where investors can come, specifically just to invest in the arts.
• 17:09
  Ian McLean: I think it's a very good point.
• 17:10
  Ian McLean: I mean, you know, again, I think this community was probably, even when I was younger, and I've been here since 1971, it was probably more diverse than people would have imagined.
• 17:23
  Ian McLean: At first, you say, well, it's just men and you know Mennonites and and a and a very homogeneous.
• 17:30
  Ian McLean: Yeah, but it's always had you know big Portuguese community, and there have been there have been cultural um uh you know pockets of of different communities, and it certainly is now a very um, you know, there's a rich tapestry of of people from all over the world here.
• 17:46
  Ian McLean: And so we're seeing more of the whether it's the KW community or the uh multicultural um festival, and you see that every passing day is that there is just more of everything in it.
• 17:57
  Ian McLean: You don't have to look far to see that there's a there's a there's a little bit of the rest of the world in in Waterloo Region.
• 18:03
  Ian McLean: Every everything is here.
• 18:05
  Ian McLean: Yeah, last Minute Gallery Thrives.
• 18:07
  Ian McLean: I mean, we talked about this a little bit so on the collaboration.
• 18:10
  Ian McLean: I mean that that's that's what the almost feels like the secret sauce is that collaboration.
• 18:15
  Ian McLean: Yeah, what can the community do or local business do to support that work, the work that you're doing, and help the merging artists who you know need support to succeed in the region?
• 18:29
  Ian McLean: So what can business and the community do to support it?
• 18:34
  Precious Julius: I think there's so many there's so many ways the community can support as well as businesses.
• 18:40
  Precious Julius: I believe first is creating more opportunities by having more spaces where art is made accessible, right?
• 18:48
  Precious Julius: Because one of the major issues that even myself, while we're planning the events, we realized that there are not a lot of spaces where we can have events outside Victoria Park Pavilion, which is, I believe, is one of the big, bigger spaces.
• 19:03
  Precious Julius: So if we could have more spaces where we can host these events and bring more artists, that would be beautiful, right?
• 19:11
  Precious Julius: And second of all, more collaborations between local businesses and art organizations, right?
• 19:17
  Precious Julius: We need investments, and I think that is one area that is significantly lacking in the art industry funding, right?
• 19:26
  Precious Julius: And where sometimes when we apply for grants, we don't get the full amount most of the time because there's so many other organizations applying at the same time, so it's hard to fund everyone, right?
• 19:37
  Precious Julius: So if other businesses could also want to invest, it's gonna go away.
• 19:43
  Precious Julius: And I think fine the third one would be people like you and I supporting other artists directly, right?
• 19:53
  Precious Julius: Buying their work, because you'll be surprised if you ask a few people from the community that, oh, do you know who the emerging artists in your community are?
• 20:02
  Precious Julius: Not a lot of people would know them, right?
• 20:04
  Precious Julius: Yeah, so it's if we want to really push the art forward, we need to engage with these artists, we need to support them, whichever way, like the festive season is coming right now, Christmas, right?
• 20:15
  Precious Julius: You can buy a gift for a friend, an art piece for your friend.
• 20:20
  Precious Julius: So I I believe those are the little ways that one could also help.
• 20:24
  Ian McLean: So the city of Kitchener was just at the uh at the State of the City uh address, and and obviously being here in Kitchener, is rolling out a new arts and culture plan this year.
• 20:35
  Ian McLean: Yeah.
• 20:35
  Ian McLean: How do you see that plan benefiting grassroots initiatives like Last Minute Gallery?
• 20:42
  Ian McLean: Um, and what opportunities do you think they have tried to embed in the in the new plan um to support or encourage um the emerging artists in in uh in 2025 and beyond?
• 20:58
  Precious Julius: The plan I believe it's a great initiative.
• 21:01
  Precious Julius: It's really gonna boost the the art sector in terms of funding.
• 21:06
  Precious Julius: Now more organizations will be able to have access to funds, which would also help them, like for ourselves, get the help our event to be better, to serve more artists, because over the years, if you follow our progress, we've not been able to showcase beyond a certain number of artists because of limited funding.
• 21:32
  Precious Julius: Now, with this uh plan, we will I believe it's gonna give us more access to funds so that we can expand our reach to have more artists, and then that way we can compensate artists for their work.
• 21:46
  Precious Julius: Right?
• 21:46
  Precious Julius: And and it will also, I believe it will also help in building spaces in the region to make um some unutilized spaces more accessible.
• 21:58
  Precious Julius: And also I think it would also help artists in the sense that they could get public art commissions where they can have more public uh projects commissioned to specific artists, and then artists get paid for their work.
• 22:13
  Precious Julius: I think it's a great initiative.
• 22:16
  Ian McLean: Okay, um, we're almost out of time.
• 22:18
  Ian McLean: So uh just before we wrap up, um, what's next for Last Minute Gallery?
• 22:23
  Ian McLean: You you've got you've got you've doing all kinds of interesting things, but what are the any exciting projects or partnerships or expansions planned for the rest of this year as we come into Christmas and beyond?
• 22:36
  Precious Julius: Um yeah, we do have some exciting projects coming up, especially for the Art Experience 2026.
• 22:43
  Precious Julius: We're working towards that for next summer.
• 22:46
  Precious Julius: And and but our main focus right now is to scale and to find more ways that we could be of service to our community and Canada and beyond.
• 22:57
  Precious Julius: So we are trying, we're looking into the use of AI and how we can build a system where artists in our region and not just our region alone across Canada can reach other audiences globally.
• 23:11
  Precious Julius: So that is what we are currently building, and it's quite exciting.
• 23:15
  Precious Julius: I'm looking forward to it.
• 23:16
  Ian McLean: Well, AI is in the top of everyone's uh tongue these days, but uh I think that's a that's a wise move, is that there seems to be a lot of opportunity to be um more efficient and effective and and and get that that reach that you're looking for.
• 23:30
  Ian McLean: Yeah.
• 23:30
  Ian McLean: Listen, uh at the end of uh each of these episodes, I ask a few rapid fire questions, and it's the same questions I ask everybody.
• 23:38
  Ian McLean: Okay.
• 23:39
  Ian McLean: Um, and it's really the the podcast is about your entrepreneurship and sort of your successes in business in the community for all of the people I interview, but it's also about leadership.
• 23:50
  Ian McLean: It's uh you know some of the questions that underlie that.
• 23:52
  Ian McLean: And so I asked the same set of questions because it's always fascinating to me how people interpret and how they kind of respond to these questions.
• 23:59
  Ian McLean: So um, if I could if you could go back and tell your younger self something, what would it be?
• 24:07
  Precious Julius: I would say know who you are, know who you are, know your gifts, know your strength, and then refine that gift and serve it to your generation because that is where your prosperity lies.
• 24:23
  Ian McLean: I like that.
• 24:24
  Ian McLean: Um, who or what has inspired you most along the way?
• 24:29
  Ian McLean: My family.
• 24:31
  Precious Julius: Yeah, they've they've been amazing.
• 24:34
  Precious Julius: Like, because I I I came to Canada alone.
• 24:37
  Precious Julius: Yeah.
• 24:38
  Precious Julius: I went to school, I went through all the emotions of school, yeah.
• 24:42
  Precious Julius: But they've always been there for me.
• 24:44
  Precious Julius: So my family, 100%.
• 24:46
  Ian McLean: Uh, if you weren't doing what you're doing now, uh in your current career, what would you what do you think you'd be doing instead?
• 24:54
  Precious Julius: Playing football.
• 24:55
  Ian McLean: Really?
• 24:56
  Ian McLean: No, uh American football or real football?
• 24:59
  Ian McLean: Real football, real soccer.
• 25:01
  Ian McLean: Okay, sorry.
• 25:02
  Ian McLean: Well, that's waiting.
• 25:03
  Ian McLean: I always have to I just came back from Australia and every time football came up, I said they're not talking about the football I played, they're talking about real football.
• 25:10
  Ian McLean: Yeah.
• 25:11
  Ian McLean: Um what book are you reading, or are you watching a podcast?
• 25:16
  Ian McLean: Uh what do you what do you listen to to kind of give your brain a break?
• 25:20
  Precious Julius: Yeah, I I have a curious mind, and there's a saying, there's a quote that says that leaders are readers.
• 25:26
  Precious Julius: So I love to read abroad.
• 25:28
  Ian McLean: That's a good one.
• 25:29
  Ian McLean: Leaders are readers.
• 25:30
  Precious Julius: Yeah, I like to read a broad range of work.
• 25:33
  Precious Julius: I I'm currently reading We Who Wrestle With God by Jordan Peterson.
• 25:40
  Precious Julius: It's a great book, it explores our nature with uh God and humanity.
• 25:45
  Precious Julius: And for podcasts, I enjoy listening to Jay Shetty on purpose.
• 25:50
  Precious Julius: And also I love to listen to because I have spiritual mentors like Mans Monroe and uh a preacher from Nigeria.
• 25:59
  Precious Julius: His name is uh Apostle Joshua Joshua Selman.
• 26:02
  Precious Julius: I enjoy listening to his teaching, so those are the kind of things that keep my mind engaged.
• 26:07
  Precious Julius: Yeah.
• 26:08
  Ian McLean: Okay, and what's one of your favorite local businesses here in Waterloo Region?
• 26:12
  Ian McLean: Where do you where do you go?
• 26:12
  Ian McLean: Where's your go-to?
• 26:14
  Precious Julius: Oh, uh for oil ice cream.
• 26:17
  Ian McLean: Oh, so a joy was in the kitchener or the Waterloo one?
• 26:20
  Ian McLean: In Kitchener.
• 26:21
  Ian McLean: In Kitchener?
• 26:22
  Precious Julius: Yeah.
• 26:22
  Precious Julius: My friend introduced me to it, and ever since then I've never stopped.
• 26:26
  Ian McLean: Oh, it's the best.
• 26:27
  Ian McLean: My my girl, I've got all kinds of empty jars that need to go back periodically from the girls because they uh they get their uh their ice cream there.
• 26:35
  Ian McLean: That's a good one.
• 26:36
  Ian McLean: Yeah, okay.
• 26:37
  Ian McLean: Um if if anyone wants to be in touch uh with you, what's the best place for the anyone watching or listening to connect with you or learn more about the work that you're doing?
• 26:47
  Precious Julius: Uh you so they can reach out on social media, Last Minute Gallery Gallery, and on our website, last minute gallery.com.
• 26:56
  Ian McLean: Well, thank you so much for spending time with us today.
• 26:58
  Ian McLean: I know one of the I always say this, but it's so true, is one of the most precious commodities uh for someone like you, precious, is time.
• 27:06
  Ian McLean: And uh so thank you for spending some of your time with us and sharing your story.
• 27:11
  Ian McLean: Really appreciate it.
• 27:12
  Precious Julius: Thank you so much.
• 27:13
  Precious Julius: It was a pleasure being here.
• 27:15
  Ian McLean: Thank you for joining us for another episode of Behind the Business, proudly presented by Gore Mutual, insurance that does good.
• 27:22
  Ian McLean: New episodes drop every Thursday, so be sure to tune in next week.
• 27:26
  Ian McLean: You can also visit greater kwchamber.com to catch up on past episodes anytime.
• 27:31
  Ian McLean: We'll see you next time as we continue to go behind the business.