Month: June 2013

Yes, I’m being cheeky.

But in a world where fundraising permeates ALL of life, I will confess my distaste for the unpleasant parts of the machine…. July 7, we will gather and… You will not get a T-shirt, you will not sell chocolate almonds, you will not wear a number a ribbon or a pink feather boa, there will be no growing moustaches, there will be no shaving hair, there will be no medals, I will not play 2-unlimited to pump you up, no celebrity will give a heartfelt testimonial – there will be no pledges, there will be no golf, this is an anti-fundraising zone.

Fundraisers and entrepreneurs are my target, mostly my network, strangers with purpose are always welcome. Bring a friend? You bet. Come to consider your future, your career, your business. To build skills, to meet mentors or be a mentor, to share ideas, to be curious, and above all – to network.

Now, recently you may have read that sitting is the new smoking, well networking indoors is a leading cause of boredom so let’s bust out of that mold and bust-a-move! Like a previous event I held, I’ll be breaking out of my comfort zone. This is on a Sunday, it will probably be warm, civvies only folks. Hawaiian shirts and character-wear is encouraged, judgements are discouraged. My suits are my armour and true entrepreneurs play without that safety net, this is training for me too!
For details and RSVP click here. We start, where else, at Starbucks at Bedford and Bloor outside St. George subway station next to a green p parking lot. We’ll do some pretty beautiful urban walking downtown and over to Chinatown/ Kensington where we’ll end with lunch. The group is already over 20 so there will be different options for lunch, cost for the event is only for what you eat. We meet at 9am, we eat at noon.

See you July 7,  Paul Nazareth

Nice to get a shout-out on one of Canada’s most listened to morning shows – CBC Metro morning last week. Dozens of peers, emailed, phoned and tweeted – Paul why are you baking cookies for the hosts of a radio show?! It all started on my one annual clothes shopping road trip, when I buy ALL my business clothing accessories for the year in one shot. I saw this bow-tie set and thought of Matt Galloway the host of my favourite CBC radio show. Now Matt rocks the bow-tie, not as much as Mr. Enright but he’s a champion of being a man whose life doesn’t revolve around just beer and sports, he’s curious, he loves his city, and he inspires me. My buddy who was with me quipped “that’s weird man, buying a bowtie for another dude. That’s something you pretty much only do for family”. Then I realized, CBC has a spot on my personal board of directors, I grew up on Metro Morning for breakfast and As it Happens for dinner thanks to my father. Matt and the huge crew of Metro morning are indeed part of my family, I’m addicted to CBC Podcasts – I’m so grateful for all of them. So I got baking, cookies for business family ( past co-workers of mine will know about this ) and I dropped them off Friday. Thanks gang, you make this city, this country, a better place to live.   Paul Nazareth Ps. For the 1000th time, I’m not directly related to Errol Nazareth but I did reach out to him on LinkedIn years ago and recently was part of the push convincing him to join Twitter! So welcome and follow him here if you’re a fan of the show!

Working for charities for more than a decade and having a family means that every dollar I spend on something, could have been donated to good causes or spent making my kids happy. Also, being a man, I hate the anxiety of clothes shopping. So I ruthlessly put together a budget, a small one. And make just two purchases for the whole year. Yes. Two. The first, I rely on the advice, teaching and good value of my guys, Tom and Tom Jr. in Toronto’s Kensington Market for suits. I never go over budget, I always walk away feeling more confident. The second, I research all year ( thus my pinterest board ) and take ONE road trip to purchase all accessories. The man road-trip I call it, pocket-squares and ponderosa steaks – I get all I need for less than most guys spend on one suit, and a $9 steak for dinner. This year, I took a couple buddies of mine. One who was self-admittedly brand obsessed. Hugo Boss, Hugo Boss is all I heard the whole day. We argued and argued, a discussion I have often with other young up and coming men about brand Vs. value. On one side, is the idea that you can buy class. That a Hugo Boss suit ( which are exquisite no question ) makes anyone look successful.  On the other, I believe that with research and creativity even on a budget, you can look as good as you want to and have the confidence you desire. In the end, I came back spending less and having more than my friend’s couple items purchased from dear Hugo. The suit and tie is still the prison-uniform of the business sector, but if the warden lets you choose what to wear, why not have a little fun yes? Life is short, express yourself. So to those young men, the up and coming, if you want to look good on a budget watch these video’s, take a look at this board, series of articles, get this app, style is part of your success – no matter where you find yourself in this debate, get on it. You don’t want to be shabby suit guy on the left, right? If you’re on Twitter, here’s a list to follow. I leave you with one of the leaders of Canadian menstyle, Melissa of GotStyle! Thanks for reading, weight in on the debate below!    Paul

Buzzword alert!  Innovation  Like so many things, people say it and have no idea what it really means. I love reading what my network is reading, so when an innovator in the social-profit sector Lee Rose, co-founder of the MESH Network in Ottawa, formerly of CharityVillage and now of the Community Foundations of Canada tweeted he loved this book, I picked it up. And I’m glad I did. See I have a business disability, I was born and raised in offices. Where meetings are sit-down affairs, thinking is over-ruled by doing and white boards are for fancy consultants. Thanks goodness for my network, an army of entrepreneurs, disruptors, thinkers, convenors – all who live and die by what they produce. When I look at the successful among them, at my own successes I see the theories of this book but neither of us had put the method to paper – little bets! Great ideas are not born complete. Great service professionals walk with the client and react, I work with someone like this. To see them create solutions sometimes borders on art, to work on small steps to evolve our business is the joy of my professional life – but I’d like to do it better. Now I can. Steve Jobs, Pixar, Frank Gehry, Chris Rock are just some of the examples Peter Sims uses in the book. Like Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers taught us about brilliance through experience, but how do the brilliant build their business from scratch! This book is truly worth the read and as we head into the summer, it’s a light fast read that gets into your head and into your work and makes you think then adds to your actions. I love this book because you will see yourself and your actions in a more strategic light after reading it and you’ll get tips on how to amplify past success.  Often I find myself trying to help my network get more active in the social business sector, but they always think they have to have all the marketing and strategy done before they launch. As Seth Godin says, “ship it”. Getting caught up in perfection is the illusion that will keep you from finishing. So, let’s get to work. Let’s make more little bets. As Lee gets to work changing the philanthropic face of Canada with his team here’s a quick video, I hope it helps you take that last step to pick up the book! Enjoy,         Paul

And if you’re the hard-core learner, here’s Peter at Google giving a longer lecture. Leave it on as you wash the dishes or fold the clothes…