This is More Than Work, the podcast reminding you that your self worth

is made up of more than your job title.

Each week, I'll talk to a guest about how they discovered that for themselves.

You'll hear about what they did, what they're doing and who they are.

I'm your host, Rabiah.

I work in IT, perform standup comedy, write, volunteer, and of course podcast.

Thank you for listening.

Here we go!

Hey everyone.

So my guest today is Martina Carello and she is founder of Colour

Alchemist, Canada, which we're gonna get into learning more about.

So thanks for being on Martina.

Oh, it's my pleasure.

Awesome.

Well, and where am I talking to you from today?

You're talking to me from Calgary, Alberta, which

is in Canada on the Western end.

Oh, nice.

So I guess, let's just start with what is Colour Alchemist, Canada.

So Colour Alchemist Canada is a development company that

helps startups in small businesses, take their ideas, their textile ideas,

fashion ideas, clothing, ideas, apparel, ideas, home, textile ideas out of their

head and onto the production floor.

So we like to kind of see ourselves as kind of the engineering process that

happens from an idea to finished item.

We really love working with niche companies because that's an area where

a lot of small companies can find success in nicheing into areas that

the bigger players are not considering because they're not financially.

Strong enough for them, but can be really a good place for startups

to get a good hold and start a, you know, a sustainable business.

And when I speak sustainable business, it's like to become a business that will

still be around in five years, right?

Cause there's lots of

things around sustainability that yeah, so that's what we do in a nutshell.

We educate people on the process and um, yeah.

So when you talk about textiles and apparel and stuff in

a niche business, is it almost like someone going from maybe having a shop

on Etsy to growing it, to having like a business or how's the how's that work?

Yes.

Yes.

We have a lot of people that come to us who have established more like a

craft set business where they themselves have created a product, have found

some success are literally in their basements, cutting and sewing, and wanna

take their business to the next level.

And so where they have a lot of difficulty is understanding the difference between

what they themselves like the self-talk procedures, which have brought them to

the success and then working with the manufacturer and what that takes, right?

In any industry, there's always like a process, there's rules, there's

directions, there's certain standards and items that a manufacturer will need that

a lot of times, these people may not have.

And that's where we help them funnel, help set them up so that

they can move on to the next step.

So we do work very often with these types of businesses.

Yeah, well, that makes sense too, because I would say most

people know, like they go into a store and buy something and they don't have any idea

what went into everything from before.

And then even if they are making something just in their home and

handing it to someone that's such a different thing than really scaling

and, and all the rules around that.

So, then the other part is the niche part.

So, you're meaning that it's just find like a product that maybe doesn't have

a huge footprint, but people need, so they'll go buy it and they'll find

you as the top person for that, right?

Right.

Yeah.

So niche like the niche niche areas that do really well are clothing that

suit, the adapt like adaptive wear.

So let's say people with disabilities or who have

difficulty finding certain things.

People with very specific body shapes that don't fit into the

traditional clothing brands.

And even clothing like women's clothing in the plus market.

A lot of plus providers, they're just very standard and a woman's

body , especially in women's wear, you have so many different body shapes.

And this doesn't just mean that when a woman is more voluptuous

that her body shape all women's body shapes the same, right?

So, you know, women who are, are wanting to start brands that really

reflect a particular, very specific group of women who are shaped a

certain way or items that are directed towards particular industry, right?

Or particular target market and fulfilling a need that that's out there.

Yeah.

That's interesting.

And it, yeah, it is funny with, I mean, I'm someone who has had to

define themselves as plus size, because that's what clothes are

called which is weird, you know?

Cause it's like, okay, like, I'm just wearing clothes, you know?

But but yeah.

You're yeah.

And you're right.

They are very like the mass marketplaces.

I mean I'm from the us and just thinking they all have these huge, these patterns

that I definitely don't identify with at all, like these floral big things.

And then also they're cut weirdly.

So like one part of my body may be bigger, but the other part isn't,

and then you just end up looking like nothing fits, you know, so I can see

that being useful as a niche basically.

Yeah.

And then, and at the end of the day, it's marketing, marketing is really important

part of, of the, of the business too.

Yeah.

So how right now, first of all, do you personally create your own line and do

you create your own fashion or textiles outside of what you're helping other

people do as part of your core business?

Yes actually we have two clothing lines that we've

been working on for three years now.

One of them is very close to launching and they're, both of

them are, are passion projects.

But ones that are also fulfilling a need in the market.

And another way to niche in a market is to find your purpose first and

to fulfill that purpose and clothing could be a way to portray that

message or bring that message forward.

Right.

And that's another way that people can be nicheing right.

Especially if they're, they're going into very traditional,

typical type of clothing.

But the line that we are we've been working on that we're

launching is a specifically directed to the generation X woman.

And so women that were specifically born between nineteen eighty,

nineteen sixty five, right?

And it's pretty much the forgotten generation, right?

The generation of latchkey kids.

The generation of, of, of playing in parks and, you know, like the whole

Stranger Things thing on your bikes and, and the last generation, really

to have really experience life in a way that is not like the life we see

today, or we see the youth living today.

And that's, that's a group of women.

I find have a lot to say, have experienced a lot, are in a place

where they have lived and survived having to face perfectionism.

Being taught by their moms, go to school, have a career, but take

care of your husband and your kids.

Have kids and have a husband.

All of those types of things.

And they have a lot to say, and they're not saying enough.

So I I'm in that generation as I'm actually 50 tomorrow.

which, which is really exciting.

Yeah.

yeah.

Happy birthday in advance.

you.

Thank you.

And so for me, You know, there are a lot of things with a changing female

body, you know, and a lot of us, a lot of us are, are reaching menopause.

Our bodies have shifted.

Some of us have had kids, some of us haven't.

Some of us have had to deal with health issues or other types of things

that have changed our bodies and really being able to create a product

based on the wants of this group.

But it's not just the product that's coming forward.

It's also the building of this community and really bringing forth the voices

of, of this generation and how they can help the future generations.

It's the, a lot of these women have come to point where they have a message

and they have a story to tell, and I think they have a really strong,

impactful stories that can really help a younger generation on their journey.

People don't talk enough about things, and especially that group of people.

So yeah, that's, that's what our brand moving forward or coming out soon we'll

be reflecting and we'll be targeting.

Great.

Yeah.

And I'm in that generation too.

Cause I'm 42 and And even looking at clothing, I mean, there's not

much room between dressing, like an older woman or dressing like a kid.

There's like nothing in between, you know, in a way, unless you're

wearing business wear maybe, but just, I don't know so that, oh, that'll

be interesting to, to see that.

What got you, the knowledge that you have in order to be able to consult

and help people build their businesses?

How did your career start out to bring you to this point?

How did it start out, it was interesting.

Both of my parents have parents that were in the needle trade.

So my dad's dad was a tailor.

My mom's mom was a designer.

And my dad was supposed to follow in his dad's footsteps

in in apprenticeship, right.

And didn't want to, and so I think he really pushed me into that area,

cuz I, I was, I just loved clothes.

I loved, you know, dressing my dolls, that kind of stuff.

And the, the start of it was when I was eight my dad bought

me an industrial sewing.

And my grandmother and my mom's mom thought he was crazy.

She says, you're crazy.

She's gonna sew her hands.

Cause these things are fast.

Right?

And he said, no, no, she likes this and whatever.

And that was where, where it kind of started.

And it was interesting cuz it wasn't something I really wanted to do.

I, I really wanted to more into a direction where I was helping.

More into like maybe a healthcare direction or, you know, in that capacity

and left high school and got at the time one of the colleges, they had a pilot

program for a liberal arts program.

And so I had been quite strong in like, you know, my English class

and history class in those areas.

And I'm like, okay, I'll apply.

And they had 20, they were accepting 20 students.

And I got into this program and the reading list that summer was 25 classic

books that they, I had to get and read.

I'm like, oh wow.

So I went into this program.

And at that time, my grandmother was had cancer and she ended up

passing away during that year.

So it was a very difficult time for me.

And I'm like, you know what, maybe I'll just leave this and go into design, right.

She did it.

She taught me a lot.

You know, it, it it's something that I can do.

I feel I can learn easily.

And that's how it started.

So I went to to fashion college.

I did a degree in fashion design marketing.

Started working actually in my second year of school.

So I had an industry job right like from the onset, from teachers who

had seen that I technically strong.

And that was it.

And it's been 30 years and there there's been ups and downs.

There have been, I, the amount of times I wanted to leave I

mean, I can't even count them.

But this last stretch I realized someone had told me, if your

innate thing is to help people you don't need to be in healthcare

or you don't need to be in the obvious types of profession to help people.

You can help people no matter what you do.

Colour Alchemist was supposed to become an art club.

And then more and more people kept coming to me to help them with their businesses.

I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna like stay . And that's where I got to today.

So it's been five years running this company and helping businesses with

their start and helping them not make the mistakes, the common mistakes that

Mm-hmm

most people do.

And that's it.

Well, and it is serving others.

I mean, you're right.

Because it, there are obvious things where healthcare, like

for the most part, those people are

The gods.

people,

Yeah,

especially now.

Yeah.

if you look at, yeah, well, totally.

And look at educators, you know, and they're doing the work of educating

others and those things, but then there are, are like I'm in technology

and you can have technology for good and to serve other people.

And you can have like, consulting, like you're doing, but for good, because

honestly, if someone's business could completely break before they even start,

if they don't have the right advice and they don't have the right guidance,

right?

So you could.

In a way, save someone who might have been successful if they knew what to do.

But if they took a wrong path and spent all their money or something,

they might end up never doing it.

So it is a service in a, in a different way, for sure.

Yeah, so, educating people in the right way of doing things

and, you know, there's, this, this industry's had a, a lot of backlash

and there's a lot of ups and downs, but there are good people in this business.

Some very good people who have very good intentions and just making

people realize that that still exists.

That's the important part.

Yeah.

And so what made you decide to start your own company?

Because I'm sure you could just, and you did, and then you could just

work for other companies, right.

And work for other people.

And.

Maybe advise on the side, but not do your own thing.

There's a few things.

There isn't really a huge fashion industry in Calgary.

I'm originally from Montreal.

So Montreal and Toronto Vancouver, those are like the hubs.

Right.

And that's where I spent most of my career was in Montreal

working for major companies.

So coming out to Calgary, there was not very much going on.

It is more of a local market.

That seems to be predominant and growing.

And I was teaching at a local college as a contract teacher for about seven years.

And people started reaching out to me asking me for help and advice

on starting their businesses.

And it just happened.

It, it, I didn't set out to start this business.

It just happened and I just started doing it.

And here I am so that it's, it's really been that kind of a journey

for me in this business period.

Like from start to finish, just following, following the path that's in front of me.

And did you at some point, cause you, you know, you made the

decision to switch gears and to go into, into this, but then is there something

that is more fulfilling now that you're doing your own business and working with

other people versus when you were working for a company or doing previous work?

Yes, absolutely.

So, one of those things is that I get to choose who I work with.

I get to help build the people who really wanna align with the value

system and the direction that we really should be taking in this business.

I get to help people build their dreams.

I mean, I've had clients that have cried, cuz they were just so happy

to have a result that they've wanted.

And there's nothing more exciting than that for me, right?

To see people see, see, people have something that they're thinking of

and, and have it in their hands and know that they're giving something

of purpose to other people.

Right.

It's like a passing on of purpose.

So that I think is something that is amazing for me at this point.

Whereas if I were working for a company, unless they were in alignment

with that philosophy, I would just be dealing with clothes and

issue you know, which I do anyway.

But at the same time, I get to inspire people.

I get to see them grow and their successes make me happy.

Right.

So it's It's a great way to come to the, I mean, I still have a long

way to go, but still let the tail end of, of, of where I'm heading.

That's awesome.

And as far as your business, you guys it's on your website, but you're certified as

a women business enterprise in Canada.

And so what does that mean, basically?

So it's an organization where there's, there's many diversity

programs and there's many companies that are looking to work with diverse

groups and help grow women businesses.

And so what being certified, just certifies the fact that you are actual

woman in business, that your business is owned by at least 51% of, of a

woman of women women based business, ours, mine is a hundred percent.

It's just me as owner.

And what it does, it really does connect you with resources on how

to find these diversity programs.

It also gives you an opportunity to meet other women in business, right?

So power of networking is something that's really important with building

any business or anything, right, that you wanna bring to the forefront.

Finding people that you can work with, finding people that align

with what, you know, what your goals are, what their goals are

and how you can help one another.

And yeah, and it's been, it's been a great experience.

I've been a part of them for a year and still have a lot to learn with

what their offerings are and how I can, you know, collaborate more with them.

And being a woman in business and then meeting

other female entrepreneurs.

I mean, one thing that you're away from at that point is, and, and I work in

it and so it's very male dominated, but, and I know that your industry,

the fashion industry has been too, but you get away from some of the

sexism or just other things that are kind of negative basically too.

And have you found that to be the case for you and a shift there as well?

There's been challenges in that respect.

And the challenge I would say is that one area that's still

an issue is is equal pay.

People are underpaid in this industry by a long shot in comparison to others.

And there's so many factors that, that surround this.

And one thing I've learned by running my own business and, you know, being

paying my staff fairly is that it's hard.

It's hard when I see my clients having to struggle with their price points.

Price points are really a big, a big deal where the shift has occurred in

a positive sense is that again, I'm in control over my destiny, right?

I'm in control over who I work with, who I serve.

And one thing that.

I have done, and I think I'm quite known for, is not blowing

smoke in people's faces.

I'd rather discourage someone from taking this step than encourage them into

something they're not ready for, right?

And there's a lot of people in that pathway that will take advantage of that.

Oh, yes.

We'll take you here.

We'll do this.

We'll do that.

And so the shift, the shift in that respect has given me the control

to really help people on a, on a deeper level in that respect.

And also not being subject to...

sexism.

It's not so much sexism in a direct sense.

It's the issue in this industry.

It's just that it's a female prominent, like the workers are

female prominent, so it's very see they're not equally paid as the men.

It's it's it's still a little behind, behind it's it's a lot behind the, the

fence compared to other industries.

Right?

So this, yeah, it's, it's, we've seen it in nursing.

We've seen it in teaching, right?

That whole yeah, so

Yeah.

Yeah, no, it, it is.

And then, I mean, you also have, in the case of any manufacturing, you have

people who are blue collar, like workers in a factory and stuff, and there's

people make the joke and they joke about it all the time which I, I don't know.

I mean, I think it's, yeah, it's funny in a way, I guess, but really it's a human

rights issue also like they'll joke.

Oh, I got this shirt.

Oh, thanks to the little kids who made it for me.

And I you know, like Primark, for example, over here and they joke about it.

But I think that it's also, you know, a big thing.

I mean, where are people making clothes and to hit a price point, right?

I mean, that's usually what they're trying to do.

Like these big box places, like, well, we wanna reach our price points

when need cheap labor, but how do you work with labor in that sense?

And, and what's your stance on, on that?

So, I work mainly with smaller companies, smaller factories.

I've chosen to stop working with overseas and not because all of it is that way.

There are some fantastic factories that are ethical.

It's just that it's a really big bite to chew.

And a lot of my clients are not ready for the high units and, and that risk, right?

But from my experience, cuz I worked in those, in that industry for

years is that there's a couple of perspectives people need to take.

When we're living in our comfortable little Western world, we can be

a little high and mighty on, oh, well, I don't want kids, you know,

making my clothes and this and that.

And we have every right to demand that.

But then in some countries, unfortunately, that is probably the best pathway for

them cuz they could be doing so many other things that are worse, right?

And, and, and it's about changing that.

It's about if a working age is lower than what we are, we deem as acceptable,

are these children given like proper food, proper nourishment?

Are they doing jobs that are perhaps like, you know, not going to be detrimental

to their health and to their wellbeing?

Are they being treated fairly?

And that's very hard for us to know.

You know, like a lot of these companies can, they can fake papers.

Like we see it all the time, these big box people getting

stuck caught with like these.

Yeah.

you know, oh, they found out this factory had

this going on and that going on and were, were they cognizant of it?

Maybe, right?

Maybe not.

Maybe they took for granted that whatever information they were provided or what

they were shown was something legit.

It happens in Canada and it happens in the United States too.

They call labor theft where you know, I mean, and I was subject

to that too throughout my career where, you know, you're paid

salary, you're paid really low.

You're paid for 40 hour a week, but you're working 80.

So you're working double the time.

You're not getting paid anything for that extra time, right?

And.

Yeah, it, it, it's, it's just a fine line to, to, and it's a difficult conversation.

And I think that I think more people need to understand cultures.

They need to understand political situations and countries.

They need to understand those things and how they need to help in other

ways, not just by stopping, by buying goods from them, but also.

You know, help fund and, and help grow these org these people go

there help women entrepreneurs build businesses in these countries.

You know, fair trade like those types of things.

Those are more impactful ways that we can help and yeah, the jokes are

pretty fierce and it's, it's, you know, it's, it's sad that, you know, it's

outta sight outta mind for many people

it's not necessarily who, but how they're treated right too.

And that's a good point that you make.

Like you don't want three year olds, on time machines,

but you know, 14 or 15 year old people that, you know, can trained and learn a

skill, like, in a culture where they're they in a country where they'll never

have an education, they might as well, at least be able to feed their families.

Right.

So are they being paid fairly?

Are they being trained?

Are they working fair hours?

Those are things I think that we need to address more so then a 14 year

old working in a factory cuz what is the alternative for many of them?

There isn't.

And I don't think we're going to see a difference for a long time, right?

Things have gotten better in certain situations, but this is a long

term thing shift that we need to be conscious of and participating

in when we make our decisions.

Mm-hmm yeah, I agree.

And it's, it is interesting too cause you point out the U.S.

And Canada, and I know in the U.S., for example, at least before, and I, I don't,

and I do think even the generational thing you talked about before the generation

X was used to working crazy hours like, and it kind of got ingrained in us.

I mean, that's one reason I have the podcast.

And you would get a salary job, so you'd be proud cause you got

a salary position, but then you'd end up working 60 or 80 hours.

And then the company could just say, well, you're on salary.

So that's what you agreed to.

But it really wasn't.

You really agreed to a work week.

And I worked for a company where also I was in warehousing a lot and so

very similar to manufacturing, you saw different abuses of people and

really couldn't do much about it other than try to report it but if you did,

you'd probably be in trouble with HR.

Cause they didn't really want you to report things, you know?

And so.

And that was the whole power dynamic of how certain people, the women, mostly

on the line were treated versus the men.

And so I think it is interesting now that those things can get hidden,

but they can also get exposed.

And I guess it's just a balance of when it happens, but it it's just, it really,

when you were talking through all that, it really, a few things resonated with me

just thinking about past experiences or.

also how, how, yeah.

We look at other cultures because it is important and you're right.

If a 14 year old or 15 year old is gonna work in a factory, that's better

than a lot of things that could happen to them at that point, you know?

For sure.

So one thing that we chat a little bit about before, and that you shared

is that you have synesthesia and that that's made the way you look

at the world and, and function the world a little bit different for you.

So can you talk a little bit about that and what that means in your context?

So it was interesting because I, you know, we all have a way of,

of thinking and processing information.

Like my brain is always in three dimension and I thought

everybody's brain was that way.

So whenever I think I'm literally floating in space, and I see things floating around

me and rotating and that type of thing.

I never see words, you know, I, I, I smell things.

I hear things as my brain is kind of functioning and it, it, it started

like with conversations with people and just asking people certain things.

Because growing up the way I processed information and the way I learned,

I, I, you know, I, I realized I would, I learned differently.

And I think a lot of, a lot of the, being more aware of how my brain works was

having to raise my son who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at four.

And really learn, having to understand and learn how his brain works

and how he processes information and how he relates to the world.

And it, it, it really forced me to kind of draw myself.

You know, I, I don't have the form of synesthesia where I see five as

a blue and four is a green, right.

That's the very traditional one.

But I see things like days of the week and months.

Like a Monopoly board in space.

right.

And like, as I, and I'm literally walking on this Monopoly board oh yeah.

Monday was like, yeah.

Three spaces back, you know?

And like, that's, that's how I see my world.

And so it's, it, it has helped me in my work and in my, in,

in, in a real impactful way.

And sometimes when I have new clients that.

and they're explaining things to me.

I'll have to excuse myself and say, look, I, I will close, like if I'm

not looking at you in the face and I have to close my eyes or look away,

I, I don't want you to think of being rude, but I would close my eyes and

then I can see right then and there, how these items are pieced together.

And they literally float in the air and they come together like a three

dimensional, uh, Like watching it on a, on a, on a screen, like a three

dimensional screen and that's, that's always been the way I've seen everything.

So it's

Yeah.

been an interesting discovery.

Yeah, for sure.

That's really cool.

And interesting.

And, interesting you lived with that.

Not knowing it wasn't what everyone else was seeing.

That had to be pretty enlightening to you to just say, oh,

so I do think differently.

Yeah, it, it was pretty enlightening and, and then it make,

brings forth the questions, right?

Like I know I don't have autism.

I'm pretty sure I don't.

But it, it also leads to the question of, of, of these types of things.

Right.

You start to under, you know, see how there were certain things growing.

Like it takes you back to your life and how, you know, there were certain

ways you processed information and felt different from your friends because you

talk about something and people be like, well, I don't, what are you talking about?

That doesn't make any sense, right?

And that's how I, I, it, it, it, it just kind of clarifies

things from your, from your life.

So, yeah.

Oh, yeah, that's neat.

Well, it's kind of now you can, now that, you know, you can use it

in a different way, which is cool.

Yeah.

You can tap into it more.

You can understand, you know, and I do, right.

Like, visualization was always easy for me, you know, like

I could see things that in.

Right.

I look at something and I can see it in a different color.

I could see it, you know, and people would say, oh, you have a very visual,

you know, you're in a visual field.

You must be a visual person.

I'm not a visual person.

I'm actually an auditive person.

And one of the, the, the things I realized about myself is that I'm a

really big storyteller and I like details.

And I go into details about things and I.

That's because that's how I like to be spoken to.

And the reason why I like those details is that's how I understand

the information that's coming to me.

No, that makes a lot of sense.

Well, that's really cool.

So thanks for sharing about that.

Just because I think, I don't know, I just think it's good for people to

know more about, I mean, that's the whole neurodiversity thing, right?

Where people's brains do process differently and a lot of times we

might be seen, or we might talk to ourselves in a way like, oh, well I'm

just weird or they're just strange or whatever, but it's really just not that

it's a matter of, you know, you just learning about how you process and,

and then being able to tell people, well, this is actually better for me,

if you do it this way, you know, rather than just kind of suffering through.

awesome.

So do you have any advice or mantra that you'd just like to share

generally or that you turn to?

You know what it it's like, I think I've come to the point

where you have to just live and enjoy your life and not take things so seriously.

The whole work life balance thing for me has always been a struggle.

There's a lot of people like me who know they're there.

Right.

But I mean, also for the younger, younger generations, I have a

son who's in the university right now and a star, star student.

And you know, he's studying science and, and one of the things that a

lot of young people panic about is getting through school quickly and,

you know, having to make decisions about their future and their life.

And I think you have to have a plan, there's, you always have to have a

plan cuz then you end up nowhere.

Right.

But if you're off, you know, you fall off the route to get getting to where

you have to go and something feels better, just go that way, right?

Like that, that is to listen to your instincts and to not

be so swayed with what other people's expectations of you are.

More of enjoying the journey as much as the result or the potential outcome,

right.

Cause you don't know where you're gonna end up, so you gotta enjoy the journey.

And if you're not enjoying the journey, you're not gonna like

where you are at the end.

That's the way I see it.

Right.

So.

Just enjoy the journey,

Yeah,

as much as the destination.

yeah.

I don't always comment on the advice someone says, but I will in this case,

because one thing that I learned recently along those lines is like, if there's

something you want to do and you don't do it today, you'll still wanna do it in a.

Yeah,

and if it's something that takes a while, then you'll be that

amount of time plus a year away from it.

exactly.

I heard it put that way, it really yeah.

Changed things.

So

Like a year, it's gonna pass.

Look how COVID two years of just like, you know, like, and, and,

and we're, you know, it's like,

we've lost.

Most people have lost two years just like panicking.

Right.

But rightfully so

Mm-hmm,

extent, but you know, it, it happens and it comes

and it goes, and then you're 50

Yeah.

you know,

like

yeah.

yeah.

And just like that, you're 50, right?

Yes.

Yeah.

the next set of questions I have is called the fun

five, and they're just a set of five questions that I find fun.

And hopefully you will too.

This might be interesting, cuz I don't know.

You might not even wear t-shirts but what's the oldest

t-shirt you have and still wear

Well, I prepared for these questions.

actually one of my oldest, t-shirts, I just got rid of, and it was a hot pink

rib knit tank top that my grandmother bought me in the eighties and I kept it

just cause I, I would I'd sleep in it.

It just, it just reminded me of her.

And while not it just had holes in it and didn't fit anymore,

and I'm like, you know what?

I gotta get rid of this crutch.

This is just, you know, and I got rid of it, but that was the oldest t-shirt or

top or piece of clothing that I owned.

Wow.

Yeah.

That's nice though, that your grandma gave it to you.

I mean, I, I don't know.

I, I loved my grandma, so I get like treasuring something from them.

Alright.

So it seemed a lot like Groundhog's Day.

You guys had lockdown longer than we did in England.

Certainly because England just really didn't seem to even

know anything was going on.

But anyway, so you had a little bit longer day than we did, but if every

day was really Groundhog's Day and you had the same song playing in your alarm

clock every day, what, what would it be?

You know, it, it, bounces back and forth.

I would say I I Got the Power from the Nineties.

Um, that song, yeah, just gets me going every single.

Yeah, I would

say that.

I can hear it in my head now.

Yeah.

oh, cool.

All right.

Good.

I don't have that one yet either cuz some of 'em are starting to

repeat themselves on my Spotify playlist so this is that's helpful.

So, coffee or tea or neither?

Ask anyone who like I only post about coffee on my Facebook.

I need coffee, not just once a day, like sometimes even 10 times a day.

It's a thing.

It's a thing.

It's just part of who I am.

Coffee and dogs.

those are, those are things.

That's awesome.

So, and really caffeinated to dogs, perhaps, which

Oh, they are?

Yeah.

is.

So, all right.

So can you think of a time that you laughed so hard you cried

or just something that cracks you up when you think of it?

Yeah.

So I have a couple of college, college girlfriends, and we were

on a threeway call last week.

And It's, you know, I just realized how much I missed them.

And so we were, we were talking about being.

And being kids in the playground, in the eighties with all little, with

like burning our back sides down that slide, like how, like we didn't kill

ourselves, you know, and like comparing, comparing ourselves to like today's

generation where everything's in a bubble.

Right.

And like, we were.

One of 'em.

She's pretty funny.

She, well, she's very funny.

She was telling us about the story about this one kid that always wanted to hang

out with all of the cool kids, right.

They used to build these ramps on, you know, we used on the street and like

with their motocross bikes, like jump.

So they built one that was like five feet tall and he was the

only one he goes, I'll do it.

So she's like, she goes the terror of just seeing him fly off

and land, like on the grounds.

And then that was it.

And she's like, I don't know, months later she's, you know, walking and she's like,

I wonder what's been going on with him.

And she looks in the back, his backyard and he's sitting there in

a cat body cast and in a wheelchair and she's like, oh, what happened?

Right.

And, and he's like, well, remember that time with the ramp.

And, and not that, that was funny that wasn't what we were laughing about.

We were just laughing about how nobody knew that he was so severely hurt.

No, his mother didn't come screaming at, you know, or arresting all like

that was just the life we lived.

And it was just part of being a kid, you know?

And she just, the way she told the story, just, you know, we were laughing.

We're like, yeah, it was not so much cuz it was funny.

It was just because it was like that nostalgic feeling of like, whoa, like

that was, those were weird times that we'll never see you know, and learning

lessons and lessons in life that have made a huge impact on who we are as

people, how we choose to raise our kids.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It is funny just because I remember distinctly one time just shredding my

leg, basically doing this stupid thing.

I was following the older, the boys and I was on my bike and I,

I, I was going down this big hill, which I wasn't allowed to go down.

And then I, I was trying to skid out, like, you know, my basically like

flip the backside out of the bike and I ended up just going down onto

my knee and just sliding down the hill on my knee, you know, on my leg.

And then the guys...

it was awful and the guys had to pick me up.

Cause I was just trying to make the longest skid I could of up with my tire.

And I didn't, I ended up doing that.

And so then the guys, like, I think the one had to basically carry me home and

the, the other one had to bring my bike and my mom, I mean, of course she didn't

get mad at them, but, you know, it's just like, well, this is what my kid did.

And I think there was a lot of that, especially on our bikes.

There was always something you were up to on your bike.

Right.

That was the thing.

Cause, and we didn't have our phones.

So like there's no TikTok dancing.

There was no being on the phone, talking to people, we actually, you went outside

and then eventually someone else would come outta their house and someone

else would come outta their house.

And that's how you did it.

You didn't, you know, so I, I do think that kids are missing out on a lot now

because, and you were in Canada and I was in California, but it's the same thing

So something.

Yeah.

they're missing out on a lot, you know, with the phones basically.

And not, not just like, not just with fun, but

also like when you're spending all this time doing silly things on

TikTok, what else are you learning?

You know, like you like, it, it, it is an escape, but at the same time, like what

are you learning from that experience?

There's only so many hours in a day and, and it's kind of sad just cuz cuz

a lot of parents are very tired and the solution is, you know, their kids are

two or three years old here's an iPad.

Like watch this.

Yeah.

then you, you hear of kids not having the, the, skills,

like the tactile skills or the ability to calculate how far away

from that floor they are or how that is gonna be a peaceful experience

jumping off of that, because, you know, those are things we knew.

We're like, okay, I'm not jumping off of that because I've fallen on rocks and

that hurts, or I've done this enough.

And I know I can do it, you know, and challenging.

Physically in a different way.

The kids today, the only ones who really have that experience are

the ones that are in sports, right.

And like in, and whose parents really encourage them in sports, but it's

still a controlled environment.

And, you know, I think we do control our children's

environments a little too tightly.

And I think play is important.

I think hurting yourself is important.

in learning, no learning skills, t hat it's okay.

But

yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's interesting.

So the last question is who, who inspires you right now?

I would say my parents do.

And I mean, my parents were people that are at the start of the boomers.

They were born in like forty five, forty six.

And they were really like carefree people grow, you know, but it made me

realize, like now I'm at a point where I realize how adulting is pretty hard.

It's not an easy path and, you know, having respect for them on, on the

types challenges that they had when they did and challenges that they

had raising my sister and myself and how they are as people today.

I mean, like my dad's had health issues for years and they're both

very youthful in their perspective.

Very carefree people.

You wouldn't, if you spoke to them, you'd be like, no way

they're in their seventies.

Like you would think they were at least 30 years younger than they are.

And it, and the inspiration is just that, you know what age is a number and it

really, especially now with turning half a century tomorrow, it makes me realize.

Yeah.

There's still so much to life to enjoy.

And they have made me realize that.

So, yeah, that's very important.

They're very important people to me.

Yeah, that's awesome.

That's really nice about your parents.

So, alright.

And if people wanna find you and look you up, where should they go and what

do you want them to, to do basically?

Okay, well, people can, can find me at my website which is colour

alchemist dot com (colouralchemist.com).

The new brand that a ladies brand, the gen X brand that will be coming

out soon is called Myka Soula M Y K A S O U L A dot com (mykasoula.com).

And Myka Soula is basically a play on the words "my soul".

So, that is a clothing line designed for the progressive generation X women.

So, a lot of great things soon and wanting to grow communities.

So any women in the 40 plus market that want to be part of this community and

share and learn just to reach out to us.

I can be also be reached at martina at colour alchemist dot com and on Facebook

and on Instagram, we're at Colour Alchemist Canada as well as at Myka Soula.

Oh, it was a lot of fun.

Thank you so much.

It was nice to meet You

Thanks for listening.

You can learn more about the guest and what was talked about in the show notes.

Joe Maffia created the music you're listening to.

You can find him on Spotify at Joe M A F F I A.

Rob Metke does all the design for which I am so grateful.

You can find him online by.

Searching Rob M E T K E.

Please leave a review if you like the show and get in touch if you

have feedback or guest ideas.

The pod is on all the social channels at, at more than work pod

(@morethanworkpod) or at Rabiah comedy (@rabiahcomedy) on TikTok.

And the website is more than work pod dot com (morethanworkpod.com).

While being kind to others, don't forget to be kind to yourself.