January 18, 2022 • 35 mins
Today’s episode is all about the hustle.
Marina V.K., in just her early 30s - is the incredible business mind behind Cadmen Barbershop. Starting from very little - her business acumen, coupled with the talent of her husband and partner Francis, has allowed them to attract and sustain other talented stylists and are now the go-to upscale barbershop of many GTA athletes and VIPs.
The Cadmen Barbershop opened its doors in Clarkson 6 years ago, opened a second location downtown and has recently announced they are franchising.
In today’s episode, I sit down with Marina to learn about the challenges they faced in their early days, how she gets inspired and the role of social media in business.
This episode's Lorne Park Local Legends - Brianne Law and the other volunteers and contributors to the "Pumpkins for Piggies" initiative - which helps local residents by collecting uncarved pumpkins and donating them to an animal sanctuary.
Do you know someone from South Mississauga who would make a great guest on the show? Send your suggestion to lorneparkliving@gmail.com.
Also, make sure to subscribe, rate and review!
Information from the Episode:
Cadmen Barbershop: 1684 Lakeshore Rd W #18, Mississauga, (905) 822-8998
www.cadmen.ca
https://www.instagram.com/cadmenbarbers/
Do you know someone from South Mississauga who would make a great guest on the show? Send your suggestion to anuja@anujapereira.com
Also, make sure to subscribe, rate and review!
Follow me at www.instagram.com/anujapereira.homes
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Anuja Pereira (00:00):
Today's episode is all about the hustle, Marina
(00:03):
VK and just her early 30s is theincredible business mind behind
Cadmen barbers, starting fromvery little, her business
acumen, coupled with the talentof her husband and partner
Francis has allowed them toattract and sustain other
talented stylists. And they arenow the go to upscale barber
shop of many GTA athletes andVIPs Cadmen, barbers opened its
(00:27):
doors and Clarkson, six yearsago, opened a second location in
downtown Toronto, and hasrecently announced that they are
franchising. In today's episode,I sit down with Marina to learn
about the challenges they facedin their early days, how she
gets inspired, and the role ofsocial media in business.
(00:54):
Welcome to Lorne Park living.
I'm your host, a Anuja Pereiraand each episode, I get to help
tell the story of someone in thesouth Mississauga community who
is a difference maker, makinghere such an incredible place to
live. In what I'm sure will bean inspiring conversation.
Marina v k is here today to tellus more about how she used the
grind to bring Cadmen barbersfrom humble beginnings to where
(01:16):
it is today. I'm so glad youcould join us here on Lorne Park
living Marina.
Marina VK (01:24):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm absolutely
honored when you asked me to beon your podcast. Well, I'm so
excited.
Anuja Pereira (01:31):
I'm excited to I'm so glad you could join us.
And, you know, we've had achance to talk a little bit, but
I'm so glad our listeners get tojoin in on the conversation
today. You know, I want to startoff just learning and listening
a little bit to where you allstarted from in the background,
where the shop started from howdid it start and when did it
start.
Marina VK (01:54):
So I do have a partner who is also my husband,
so he's been a barber for about18 years. He started off in his
garage when he was 15. And heopened his first barber shop
when he was 21. But here,Ontario and Donbass and just
like most barber shops, in thearea, it was, you know, cash
(02:18):
base, no appointments, nocustomer service, co
receptionist, no website. Andthey were pretty successful.
They've been running for aboutfour years. And then him and his
partner ended up splitting up.
And at the time I was finishinguniversity. I was working in the
financial district. And myhusband was well, at the time,
(02:44):
he was my boyfriend. He was verydevastated. His partner left, he
lost a shop, because all thebarbers left to go to the new
barber shop. So he had to goback home. And I always wanted
to start a business. I alwaysknew I wanted to grow something
special. And so I said, Hey,look, work from your dad's house
(03:07):
for now. I'll still get myexperience downtown and then
we'll open something. So a yeargoes by we saved up and we found
the most amazing location,Clark's and village we got so
lucky to find the spot. Andyeah, it's been six successful
(03:30):
years. We love the community. Welove the BIA the businesses
around here. So it's been it'sbeen a great ride so far.
Anuja Pereira (03:44):
Absolutely. Well, when you say you want to start
something was a barber shop,what you envision the business
that you would grow? Is thatsomething that you knew a lot
about?
Marina VK (03:55):
No, I never thought it would be a barber shop. But I
always knew I wanted to havelike multiple businesses. To me,
it was very fun. I was alwayslike an entrepreneurial thinker.
And when I was working thecorporate finance world,
(04:17):
whatever ideas I had aboutimproving the business,
improving marketing, etc. It waskind of like ignored so, um, but
a barbershop was never in mythoughts. It just kind of landed
on my lap with the way thingsunfolded with my boyfriend at
the time. But I also saw a huge,a huge need on the market.
(04:41):
Because barber shops issomething that every single guy
uses, but rarely do they haveappointments customer service, a
website and rarely are theyprofessionally ran like on the
backend side where you have, youknow, payroll where you set up
The employees so that they'reable to be financially stable in
(05:06):
order to purchase, purchase ahome and start a family, etc.
And so there was this huge gapin the market where I thought I
could fill. And that's what wedid.
Anuja Pereira (05:17):
That's great. And do you find? I mean, you talked
about being a co founder withyour husband, and I'm wondering,
I'm married as well. And I amcurious how that works. How do
you find working so closely andbeing married to the same
person? What's that like for youboth.
Marina VK (05:36):
So that was really our biggest concern is like, Oh,
my God, we're gonna see eachother all day every day. Right.
But it actually worked out thebest way possible. The reason
for that is because we havecompletely separate roles. And
so he has his own specialty andNish, he's in charge of like the
(05:59):
skills, the barbers training,education. And I am in charge of
all business related matters,like customer service, you know,
all the bills, marketing,strategy, growth, strategy, HR
related things. And so wecollaborate kind of like a
puzzle piece versus doing thesame role. And so I think one of
(06:26):
the most important things isthat we respect each other's
roles enough where we listen toeach other. So for example, if I
need advice on like, okay, howcan we make education better?
That's his specialty. And then Ilistened to him, I take what he
says, and then I put it into agrowth strategy and marketing,
etc. So it worked out reallywell. Hmm. Well, it
Anuja Pereira (06:46):
sounds like that's really good. Teamwork.
But I can imagine also, a lot oftime together, which is, which
is interesting. I am alsowondering, you know, you have
grown a lot and change. I knowthat you have added other things
besides just barbering, right,you've added the academy, you've
entered the hair clinic, why doyou think that's so important?
Marina VK (07:10):
Yeah, so I think that a lot of people think that we
just sit in the same businessall day, every day, that's
actually not the case. He'susually training, he's usually
out, he's a recording contentfor the Academy. We also have
multiple locations. So we arerarely in the same place. A lot
(07:31):
of the times I work from home aswell, while he's either on the
floor, or he's taking care oflike TFC players on site, etc.
So we're not together all thetime. And we did add different
branches under the Cadmenumbrella, mostly based on client
(07:57):
needs. So we were really goodwith hair customer service. But
the one problem that we werenever able to solve for any of
our clients was hair loss. Andso we started a new business,
which is a clinic, a hair lossclinic, and now we're able to
fulfill that that need on themarket. The Academy came about
(08:23):
because of mostly our passionfor growth or like in general,
myself and my husband, likewe're very passionate about
always growing, always helpingpeople around us, helping move
our team forward. And so a lotof the times, we had people come
to us asking for us to trainthem because there's not a lot
(08:47):
of Barber schools, there'shairstyling schools, and they're
completely different. Right? Alot of barbers are not allowed.
Well, they're not interested indoing color. They're not
interested in doing perm, lady'scuts, like they just wanted to
concentrate on men's hair. Andthere's no schools like that.
And so, again, there was a need.
And so we created Cadmen barberAcademy. And because of the
(09:12):
COVID, and because of the highrise in demand for online
learning, we decided to take itonline. So it's an online
academy, as well as we do inperson classes. So basically,
all the branches that we have isbased on need and there is no
other places that really fillthat need.
Anuja Pereira (09:37):
Well, it sounds like you know, with your
business acumen and Francis'sskill in barbering, and fades
and all the skills that hebrings to the table that you're
obviously doing something rightyou know, I'm curious what you
know, what is it? All in allthat you think you're able to do
(09:59):
that a truck x such a high levelclientele you know, you talked
about TFC. I know, looking atyour social media, not just TFC
but Maple Leaf players, raptors,there's so many people
celebrities who are coming toyou. What is it about the Cadmen
experience that is so unique andspecial.
Marina VK (10:23):
To be quite honest, I think it's just the mentality
that we have, and then thementality that we teach our
entire team. So a lot of thebarbershops that you go to, it's
a very individual Doggy Dog, myclient, my seat type of
(10:43):
mentality. Over here, weliterally have like core values
where, hey, it's not about you,it's about the team, it's about
the company, it's about servingthe community, and anybody that
doesn't grow into that mentalityor comes in with that mentality
doesn't really last year. And soI'm very team based mentality,
(11:06):
growth mentality. And so whenyou deal with people that are,
you know, like VPS, andpresidents and TFC players, they
already come with thatmentality. And so I think that's
what really attracts them tocome into our shop, because they
can feel the vibe, they couldsee the energy, they could see
the efforts in our customerservice to service them. Um, you
(11:29):
know, there's no ego here. Wedevelop long term relationships.
We do sacrifice, like immediatethings for long term
relationships, right. So but Ithink it's mostly just like the
mentality you can get on theclient's level and how really
(11:52):
meaningful conversations andrelationships that's what brings
them back.
Anuja Pereira (11:57):
So I want to ask you a little bit about when you
were starting out inMississauga, your first
location, you talked aboutfinding this fantastic location,
it is a great location, right onLake Shore. What was it like at
the beginning for you did werethere any challenges that you
faced when you first opened upin Mississauga?
Marina VK (12:17):
Yes, so when we first signed the lease on this place,
we actually had saved up for acondo and we decided, okay,
let's just live at his dad'shouse for now sacrifice because
you read in all these likebooks, that's what people do to
get to where they want to do be.
And so that's what we did. Wedecided to stay at his dad's
(12:39):
house and take the downpaymentmoney that we had to put it
towards the business. We didn'thave enough. And so after my
corporate job, I would come inhere and we would YouTube how to
like do renovations. So we didthat on the weekends. And we
were lucky enough, I had somefriends that came and helped us,
(13:01):
but the renovations were doneall by ourselves. And when we
were finally done, we had thegrand opening, a lot of people
came to support. And then afterthe grand opening was done, it
was like cricket Oh, no. Like,I'm like, Wait, so like, where
are the clients? And so nobodytells you that, you know,
(13:25):
building something out is justthe beginning of it. And the
hard part now comes intobringing the client said,
working on your Google ranking,right, working on customer
service, your prices, yourtraining for the barbers. And so
we had to learn very quickly. Wewere not searchable on Google
(13:51):
for at least a year. That'susually how long it takes to
rank first on Google. And so Iwould say like the first year
and a half, it was a struggle.
Sometimes we would have like,literally four clients a day.
And so like I said, we didn'thave enough money. So I printed
(14:14):
out the flyers myself and Iwould call around the community.
I would introduce myself to allthe businesses I would attend
the BIA meetings. I joinedMississauga Board of Trade. I
literally did everything youcould possibly like think of.
And so we started working withthe community to we volunteered
(14:34):
in frosh weeks whether it was Uof T Frosh Week, we did
Elementary School frosh weeks.
So we basically did everythingwe possibly could to get
exposure while the Google theGoogle picked up the analytics.
And so as we were going along,we kept learning we kept
(14:56):
building clients buildingrelationships. within the
community, we were lucky wedidn't have a mortgage to pay
for we were still living atFrancis dad's house. But it took
a lot of perseverance. So yeah.
Anuja Pereira (15:16):
Do you think, you know, having to grind it out for
those first months and thatyear? And, you know, does that
really inform how you dobusiness? Now? How does that
change what you do now?
Marina VK (15:30):
Ah, I think that every, every certain period,
like there's certain timelines,where you have to go through
certain lessons and learn. Sowhen we opened our second
location, we did things a lotdifferently. That was a lot
(15:52):
faster and quicker. And so nowwhen we open the third location,
it's going to be even faster.
Because when it comes to, forexample, Google ranking, we're
going to start working on it ayear before we open, right,
that's just one of the lessonswe learned. And many lessons
along with each location thatyou open. I actually remember
(16:13):
this one time, when we firstopen and we had like, I don't
know, maybe it was like a thirdclient ever that walked in from
the community. It was a fatherand a son. And I was like, Oh,
my God, a client. And so I triedso hard to build a relationship
with them. I freaked him out,and they never came back. I
(16:34):
became so awkward. I sat besidehim like, hey, like, thank you
so much for coming. Where areyou from, etc. And the father
felt so awkward. He's like, canyou just leave me alone? I'm
just waiting for my son tofinish his haircut. And I'm
like, Okay, I need to lay off.
So, yeah,
Anuja Pereira (16:54):
it's funny what we do when we're desperate.
Marina VK (16:57):
Yeah, if you live in your learn,
Anuja Pereira (17:01):
you know what, I do think there's some beauty in
the struggle, though, you know,I think there's something to be
said, for the hustle. You know,like you out there. I'm
imagining you boots on theground. I don't think you're
handing out flyers these days.
But I think there's something tobe said, for the effort that you
put in, in those days, andprobably something that you
(17:22):
learned during those times thatinforms what you do today.
Marina VK (17:30):
Yeah, I think that opening the business, my
mentality was whatever it takes,right? So we have a certain
amount of resources, we couldnot afford Canada Post to give
out our flyers. And so I'm like,Well, I have nothing else to do.
So I'm gonna go do it. And thenwhen one of our barbers was
(17:52):
coming in, and he only had like,one clients a day, I would ask
him to do it with me, right, sowe cover more ground. And so
that's just the beginnings ofit. You don't know any other
ways, because you're so new, youjust do what you can. And then
when you do that, you discoverbetter ways, smarter ways. You
(18:14):
know, as I was reading morebooks, more, listening to more
audio books, watching YouTubevideos, I learned more and more
on how to be more efficient withmy time to get more clients,
etc.
Anuja Pereira (18:28):
Absolutely. And probably, I'm sure there's some
appreciation for all therenovations as you look around
the space that you're in that,you know, you did it with your
own two hands, right or your ownforehands, if you count you and
Francis and all your friends,
Marina VK (18:42):
right. Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
Anuja Pereira (18:46):
I'm also know that you are a young mom, and I
am wondering, as anentrepreneur, how you juggle all
that and how you find balance init all.
Marina VK (18:58):
Um, so having kids and I found like, as much as I
love, live and breathe business,I just love it, um, family and
friends, and having a family ofmy own was always my life
priority. And so no matter what,that's always going to be my
(19:20):
priority. Business, you buildit, you rebuild it, you know,
you start new ones. I've learnednot to get attached to the logo
not to get attached to alocation or the business, right
i I'm very attached to growth,learning and just having quality
(19:41):
relationships. And so I'vealways prioritize that. Um, but
it's not easy juggling bothbecause sometimes there's urgent
things in the business that I dohave to take care of where it
requires me to sacrifice timewhere my Normally, and so I
(20:03):
tried to make up for it, youknow, maybe taking an extra day
off the following couple of daysor so. But it's definitely been
hard, especially when I firstgave birth, and at the same
time, we opened our secondlocation. So when you open a new
business, it needs a lot ofattention from the owners and a
(20:25):
lot of love. And I wasn't therefor that part. And so we were
off to a slower start, becauseoff the beginning, we hired, I
think, like four or fivedifferent staff. And they ended
up leaving after like, a month,because there was no leadership.
Right? I literally just gavebirth. And so that was a pretty
(20:47):
low time for me personally,because it felt like I failed.
Like we just opened a secondlocation where we had people
quit. And I have like, a fourweek old baby, and like, I have
this, like, you know, myhormones are all over the place.
Right, but yeah, it's just, Idon't know, it's just one of the
(21:09):
things you have to overcome.
It's a great now,
Anuja Pereira (21:12):
you gave birth to two things at the same time, the
baby and badness at the sametime. Exactly. Well, you chose
your child, which is probablythe right choice at the time.
Marina VK (21:25):
100. Yeah.
Anuja Pereira (21:27):
I also know that social media is a very big part
of the Cadmen brand. And I'mwondering how important you
think that is for Cadmen itself.
And, in general, what's the roleof social media?
Marina VK (21:46):
I think that if a company's not on social media,
they're, I don't I don't want tosay not going to make it. But
they're definitely not going tobe where they could potentially
be. A lot of the times, youknow, like, a lot of our efforts
(22:07):
go towards creating content,because that content translates
into branding new clients. Andthen those new clients translate
into like them going to ourother businesses, sometimes them
turning into employees. And soyou have to be on social media.
(22:28):
And you actually have to put inway more effort than I see most
companies put in. And so we findit so valuable, that it's almost
like currency as well. Like, ifyou see an influencer, and they
have, let's say, 180,000followers, right, you're willing
(22:49):
to give them anything for freefor a post or willing to pay
them. Right. And so a lot oftimes, followers and engagement
is a form of currency now, yeah,
Anuja Pereira (23:01):
it's definitely changed the game. And I recently
noticed that you on yourpersonal social media have a bit
of a following as well. How isthat important to you? And how
has that played a role just fromyour personal side.
Marina VK (23:18):
So I, when the lock downs happened, I had a little
bit more time on my hands. Andso I'm not a person to just
stand still and enjoy life,like, I am going to create more
businesses. So I think my longterm goal is to write a book or
a few books. And I'm verypassionate about educating,
(23:43):
especially what I know sharingthe knowledge experiences,
because if that means someoneelse can take my mistakes or my
advice and apply it, and ithelps their business. That's
amazing to me, right? And so Idecided to start sharing my
knowledge. I did have like a fewvideos that went viral, one of
(24:05):
them had like, over 1.1 millionviews, I believe. And so I just
started creating videos becauseI really enjoyed sharing
knowledge. I read a lot. I watcha lot of interviews and YouTube
videos that are businessrelated, or even like personal
growth related. And so if I can,let's say take an eight hour
(24:29):
book, and sum it up the biggestlesson in like 30 seconds.
That's what I started doing andpeople started finding a lot of
value in it. I disliked a littlebit, but I really want to get
back into it. Well, that'sgreat. Who
Anuja Pereira (24:45):
Who inspires you?
Who do you follow? What do youread? Who are the most
influential people that you reador follow?
Marina VK (24:53):
I think in the beginning when I first started
my business Tony Robbins, hejust Just as a mindset, right,
he really helped me set my mindstraight. And then now I read a
lot of different books. Forexample, right now I'm reading
this book called Scaling up. Andthe books that I've read and
(25:18):
people that are listened to itdirectly relates to this stage
where I'm at in my business andmy personal growth. So right now
we have three companies, whichis the barbershop franchise. We
just made it a franchise, thatclinic and the Academy. And so
what I'm going through isgrowing pains of handling and
(25:42):
growing three differentcompanies. So I'm reading this
book, it's called Scaling up.
And it's been really helpful.
This guide basically justexplains and uses example
companies of how they went fromwhere I am, to the next level.
And so that's what I read. Oh,that's amazing. Just really
(26:04):
depends on where I'm at.
Anuja Pereira (26:05):
That's amazing.
Cadmen is going to befranchising. That's incredible
news.
Marina VK (26:10):
Yes, but thanks to COVID Well, we got held back for
two years, but that's okay.
Anuja Pereira (26:17):
Yeah, that's incredible. Why franchising?
Tell me about that.
Marina VK (26:20):
So I wanted to grow, I would never go into this
business or any business justjust for you know, one location.
I always knew I wanted to growbased on the industry and based
on, you know, the revenue eachlocation makes based on
(26:41):
basically like, the businessmodel, it made sense to expand
into multiple locations throughfranchising. One of the major
reasons to is because when youhave a barber, 95% of them want
to have their own location, theywant to have their own barber
(27:02):
shop. And so we wanted toprovide that for senior barbers,
right? We don't necessarily hireand encourage people to go and
take the franchise, but it'sthere for an option because
everyone loves to grow. Right.
Another problem again, there wasa need on the market, right?
(27:23):
Because a lot of barber shopsare owned by barbers. And what
that means is they're busycutting hair and not working on
developing the business,developing their marketing
plans, developing their team.
And so when they open afranchise with us, the whole
(27:44):
business side is given to them.
And they're trained on a silverplatter, right? Because it took
us six years to put somethingtogether that makes sense, you
know, financially and from like,the business perspective,
marketing, etc. And so, usuallybarbers, they're not trained on
the business side. And so weprovide all that all the
(28:07):
resources, we show them how todo, you know, like accounting,
bookkeeping, how to do thehiring HR processes. Just stuff
like that, that a regular barberdoesn't know how to do but they
want to, but they have nowhereto go to find out knowledge.
Anuja Pereira (28:27):
We know you are so incredibly good at seeing a
need and finding a solution. Youare very skilled at it. I can
tell it's, it's very, very coolto see I am wondering, you have
a location in downtown Torontoand a location here in Clarkson
Village and I'm wondering howyou see them differently. And,
(28:48):
you know, our listenership iscertainly geared towards
Clarkson and Lorne Park in SouthMississauga, and what do you
think is special about the SouthMississauga area?
Marina VK (29:01):
It's actually very special because it's a community
versus Toronto is more passingthrough. Right. And so over the
years, so we've been here forsix years, we've literally had
clients that have been coming tous for six years the whole time.
Like it's almost a traditionwhere certain families come in
(29:25):
once a month, with the entirefamily, a mom with three boys or
a dad with two boys. every otherSunday. There will be no like to
ask for lollipops or popcorn.
It's very community based,right? We see a lot of the same
faces. And it's very steady.
With Toronto downtown. It's it'sgreat. It's very cold like
(29:51):
street Queen streets. It's veryQueen Street. It's very have a
lot of financial debt. straightguys. And a lot of tourists, not
so much with the lockdowns, butmost of the people are passing
through.
Anuja Pereira (30:12):
You talked a little bit about some of the
volunteer activities that youdid while you were starting up.
I'm wondering what things youknow, you're obviously
established and don't need to,you know, promote your Google
algorithm anymore. Are therethings that you still do to give
back to the community now thatyou've been here for a while?
Marina VK (30:33):
Yeah, so my absolute favorite day is Halloween, when
it comes to the community. Iactually this Halloween, I
brought my daughter here. Wewent around, I just love it so
much. And it's incredible howmany kids are around this area,
how many parents? How manybusinesses on the lake church
(30:54):
has come out together andthey're just fully 100%
community? It's been great. Sowe always participate in it. I
always make sure we have atleast 1000 candies. Because even
there's been a couple of timeswhere even 1000 is not enough.
Like it's busy. Um, we stillevery single year, we do raffle
(31:19):
donation gift cards. It like wedo a lot of events. We actually
did paint the town red, a poorcredit. So we do tons of events.
But again, not in the last twoyears because of everything. We
did barbecues we did charitybarbecues we did. We rented out
(31:44):
a basketball net, and we wererunning kind of like a little
competition. So we've done tonsof stuff here. Yeah, that's
Anuja Pereira (31:53):
fantastic. I think my two girls probably ate
a lot of those candies thaty'all gave out when we buy. It's
a fun day Halloween and clerksand it's it's not to be missed,
that's for sure.
Marina VK (32:05):
It definitely Well, you're
Anuja Pereira (32:06):
in the area. Are there any places that you just
love walking around when you'rein Clarkson village or poor
credit?
Marina VK (32:15):
Rotary conservation area. That's my favorite. During
summer, that's where I usuallygo to kind of like take a midday
break. I just walk. Um, I loveone does. One does Jamaican
food. Yeah, that's been great.
This is so good. That's
Anuja Pereira (32:36):
your favorite place to eat?
Marina VK (32:37):
It's definitely one of my favorites. Yeah, I feel
like all the places are great.
There's a trend kitchen thatjust opened as well. Yeah. I
always go to keto girl to getlike low carb pasta. Yeah. So
yeah,
Anuja Pereira (32:53):
that's great. I ask at the end of every episode,
my favorite question to ask isthat if you were building a home
and money were no issue. What isone design feature? You would be
sure to include?
Marina VK (33:07):
A pool for sure. I love homes that have like the
roundabout. At the front. Yeah.
Where? It's like a littlestatute in the middle. I feel
like if you have one of those,you've made it in life.
Anuja Pereira (33:23):
What would you what would your statue be of?
Marina VK (33:28):
Oh, that's a good question. I think just the
waterfall. Okay. You know, like,a live
Anuja Pereira (33:34):
waterfall like a fountain fountain in the middle
of sound.
Marina VK (33:38):
Yeah, I would. I would like buy some birds and
there. I don't know.
Anuja Pereira (33:45):
Alright, so a round about driveway. That's how
you'll know you've made it.
Marina VK (33:51):
Yeah, exactly. You will not actually in Clarkson
village. There you go. You
Anuja Pereira (33:55):
will not be delivering mail by foot. Once
you've got the roundabout.
That's for sure. Sounds good.
Well, thank you so much, Marinafor being here. And it's been so
nice to chat with you.
Marina VK (34:08):
Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure. Wonderful.
Well,
Anuja Pereira (34:11):
that's it for our interview with Marina today. But
stick around for a shout out tothis week's Lorne Park local
legends. In each episode, I getto do what I call Lorne Park
local legends, a chance to thankone or more people for their
grassroots work that impactsthis community. This time, I'd
(34:31):
like to do a shout out toBrianne law for her initiative
pumpkins for piggies. EachNovember she collects uncarved
pumpkins from local residentsand delivers them to an animal
sanctuary near Hanover. In 2021.
Our community collected enoughpumpkins to fill a 15 foot U
haul, keeping waste out oflandfills and helping feed pigs
(34:51):
and goats to Brianne and herother Volunteers and to all the
community members who havecontributed to helping feed the
animals of the sanctuary. Wethank you here today on the
Lorne Park living podcast. I'myour host and Anuja Pereira. Be
sure to subscribe so you cancatch us next time when we get
(35:12):
to hear the story of anotherdifference maker of this
community, making here such anincredible place to live. See
you next time.
Today's episode is all about the hustle, Marina
(00:03):
VK and just her early 30s is theincredible business mind behind
Cadmen barbers, starting fromvery little, her business
acumen, coupled with the talentof her husband and partner
Francis has allowed them toattract and sustain other
talented stylists. And they arenow the go to upscale barber
shop of many GTA athletes andVIPs Cadmen, barbers opened its
(00:27):
doors and Clarkson, six yearsago, opened a second location in
downtown Toronto, and hasrecently announced that they are
franchising. In today's episode,I sit down with Marina to learn
about the challenges they facedin their early days, how she
gets inspired, and the role ofsocial media in business.
(00:54):
Welcome to Lorne Park living.
I'm your host, a Anuja Pereiraand each episode, I get to help
tell the story of someone in thesouth Mississauga community who
is a difference maker, makinghere such an incredible place to
live. In what I'm sure will bean inspiring conversation.
Marina v k is here today to tellus more about how she used the
grind to bring Cadmen barbersfrom humble beginnings to where
(01:16):
it is today. I'm so glad youcould join us here on Lorne Park
living Marina.
Marina VK (01:24):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm absolutely
honored when you asked me to beon your podcast. Well, I'm so
excited.
Anuja Pereira (01:31):
I'm excited to I'm so glad you could join us.
And, you know, we've had achance to talk a little bit, but
I'm so glad our listeners get tojoin in on the conversation
today. You know, I want to startoff just learning and listening
a little bit to where you allstarted from in the background,
where the shop started from howdid it start and when did it
start.
Marina VK (01:54):
So I do have a partner who is also my husband,
so he's been a barber for about18 years. He started off in his
garage when he was 15. And heopened his first barber shop
when he was 21. But here,Ontario and Donbass and just
like most barber shops, in thearea, it was, you know, cash
(02:18):
base, no appointments, nocustomer service, co
receptionist, no website. Andthey were pretty successful.
They've been running for aboutfour years. And then him and his
partner ended up splitting up.
And at the time I was finishinguniversity. I was working in the
financial district. And myhusband was well, at the time,
(02:44):
he was my boyfriend. He was verydevastated. His partner left, he
lost a shop, because all thebarbers left to go to the new
barber shop. So he had to goback home. And I always wanted
to start a business. I alwaysknew I wanted to grow something
special. And so I said, Hey,look, work from your dad's house
(03:07):
for now. I'll still get myexperience downtown and then
we'll open something. So a yeargoes by we saved up and we found
the most amazing location,Clark's and village we got so
lucky to find the spot. Andyeah, it's been six successful
(03:30):
years. We love the community. Welove the BIA the businesses
around here. So it's been it'sbeen a great ride so far.
Anuja Pereira (03:44):
Absolutely. Well, when you say you want to start
something was a barber shop,what you envision the business
that you would grow? Is thatsomething that you knew a lot
about?
Marina VK (03:55):
No, I never thought it would be a barber shop. But I
always knew I wanted to havelike multiple businesses. To me,
it was very fun. I was alwayslike an entrepreneurial thinker.
And when I was working thecorporate finance world,
(04:17):
whatever ideas I had aboutimproving the business,
improving marketing, etc. It waskind of like ignored so, um, but
a barbershop was never in mythoughts. It just kind of landed
on my lap with the way thingsunfolded with my boyfriend at
the time. But I also saw a huge,a huge need on the market.
(04:41):
Because barber shops issomething that every single guy
uses, but rarely do they haveappointments customer service, a
website and rarely are theyprofessionally ran like on the
backend side where you have, youknow, payroll where you set up
The employees so that they'reable to be financially stable in
(05:06):
order to purchase, purchase ahome and start a family, etc.
And so there was this huge gapin the market where I thought I
could fill. And that's what wedid.
Anuja Pereira (05:17):
That's great. And do you find? I mean, you talked
about being a co founder withyour husband, and I'm wondering,
I'm married as well. And I amcurious how that works. How do
you find working so closely andbeing married to the same
person? What's that like for youboth.
Marina VK (05:36):
So that was really our biggest concern is like, Oh,
my God, we're gonna see eachother all day every day. Right.
But it actually worked out thebest way possible. The reason
for that is because we havecompletely separate roles. And
so he has his own specialty andNish, he's in charge of like the
(05:59):
skills, the barbers training,education. And I am in charge of
all business related matters,like customer service, you know,
all the bills, marketing,strategy, growth, strategy, HR
related things. And so wecollaborate kind of like a
puzzle piece versus doing thesame role. And so I think one of
(06:26):
the most important things isthat we respect each other's
roles enough where we listen toeach other. So for example, if I
need advice on like, okay, howcan we make education better?
That's his specialty. And then Ilistened to him, I take what he
says, and then I put it into agrowth strategy and marketing,
etc. So it worked out reallywell. Hmm. Well, it
Anuja Pereira (06:46):
sounds like that's really good. Teamwork.
But I can imagine also, a lot oftime together, which is, which
is interesting. I am alsowondering, you know, you have
grown a lot and change. I knowthat you have added other things
besides just barbering, right,you've added the academy, you've
entered the hair clinic, why doyou think that's so important?
Marina VK (07:10):
Yeah, so I think that a lot of people think that we
just sit in the same businessall day, every day, that's
actually not the case. He'susually training, he's usually
out, he's a recording contentfor the Academy. We also have
multiple locations. So we arerarely in the same place. A lot
(07:31):
of the times I work from home aswell, while he's either on the
floor, or he's taking care oflike TFC players on site, etc.
So we're not together all thetime. And we did add different
branches under the Cadmenumbrella, mostly based on client
(07:57):
needs. So we were really goodwith hair customer service. But
the one problem that we werenever able to solve for any of
our clients was hair loss. Andso we started a new business,
which is a clinic, a hair lossclinic, and now we're able to
fulfill that that need on themarket. The Academy came about
(08:23):
because of mostly our passionfor growth or like in general,
myself and my husband, likewe're very passionate about
always growing, always helpingpeople around us, helping move
our team forward. And so a lotof the times, we had people come
to us asking for us to trainthem because there's not a lot
(08:47):
of Barber schools, there'shairstyling schools, and they're
completely different. Right? Alot of barbers are not allowed.
Well, they're not interested indoing color. They're not
interested in doing perm, lady'scuts, like they just wanted to
concentrate on men's hair. Andthere's no schools like that.
And so, again, there was a need.
And so we created Cadmen barberAcademy. And because of the
(09:12):
COVID, and because of the highrise in demand for online
learning, we decided to take itonline. So it's an online
academy, as well as we do inperson classes. So basically,
all the branches that we have isbased on need and there is no
other places that really fillthat need.
Anuja Pereira (09:37):
Well, it sounds like you know, with your
business acumen and Francis'sskill in barbering, and fades
and all the skills that hebrings to the table that you're
obviously doing something rightyou know, I'm curious what you
know, what is it? All in allthat you think you're able to do
(09:59):
that a truck x such a high levelclientele you know, you talked
about TFC. I know, looking atyour social media, not just TFC
but Maple Leaf players, raptors,there's so many people
celebrities who are coming toyou. What is it about the Cadmen
experience that is so unique andspecial.
Marina VK (10:23):
To be quite honest, I think it's just the mentality
that we have, and then thementality that we teach our
entire team. So a lot of thebarbershops that you go to, it's
a very individual Doggy Dog, myclient, my seat type of
(10:43):
mentality. Over here, weliterally have like core values
where, hey, it's not about you,it's about the team, it's about
the company, it's about servingthe community, and anybody that
doesn't grow into that mentalityor comes in with that mentality
doesn't really last year. And soI'm very team based mentality,
(11:06):
growth mentality. And so whenyou deal with people that are,
you know, like VPS, andpresidents and TFC players, they
already come with thatmentality. And so I think that's
what really attracts them tocome into our shop, because they
can feel the vibe, they couldsee the energy, they could see
the efforts in our customerservice to service them. Um, you
(11:29):
know, there's no ego here. Wedevelop long term relationships.
We do sacrifice, like immediatethings for long term
relationships, right. So but Ithink it's mostly just like the
mentality you can get on theclient's level and how really
(11:52):
meaningful conversations andrelationships that's what brings
them back.
Anuja Pereira (11:57):
So I want to ask you a little bit about when you
were starting out inMississauga, your first
location, you talked aboutfinding this fantastic location,
it is a great location, right onLake Shore. What was it like at
the beginning for you did werethere any challenges that you
faced when you first opened upin Mississauga?
Marina VK (12:17):
Yes, so when we first signed the lease on this place,
we actually had saved up for acondo and we decided, okay,
let's just live at his dad'shouse for now sacrifice because
you read in all these likebooks, that's what people do to
get to where they want to do be.
And so that's what we did. Wedecided to stay at his dad's
(12:39):
house and take the downpaymentmoney that we had to put it
towards the business. We didn'thave enough. And so after my
corporate job, I would come inhere and we would YouTube how to
like do renovations. So we didthat on the weekends. And we
were lucky enough, I had somefriends that came and helped us,
(13:01):
but the renovations were doneall by ourselves. And when we
were finally done, we had thegrand opening, a lot of people
came to support. And then afterthe grand opening was done, it
was like cricket Oh, no. Like,I'm like, Wait, so like, where
are the clients? And so nobodytells you that, you know,
(13:25):
building something out is justthe beginning of it. And the
hard part now comes intobringing the client said,
working on your Google ranking,right, working on customer
service, your prices, yourtraining for the barbers. And so
we had to learn very quickly. Wewere not searchable on Google
(13:51):
for at least a year. That'susually how long it takes to
rank first on Google. And so Iwould say like the first year
and a half, it was a struggle.
Sometimes we would have like,literally four clients a day.
And so like I said, we didn'thave enough money. So I printed
(14:14):
out the flyers myself and Iwould call around the community.
I would introduce myself to allthe businesses I would attend
the BIA meetings. I joinedMississauga Board of Trade. I
literally did everything youcould possibly like think of.
And so we started working withthe community to we volunteered
(14:34):
in frosh weeks whether it was Uof T Frosh Week, we did
Elementary School frosh weeks.
So we basically did everythingwe possibly could to get
exposure while the Google theGoogle picked up the analytics.
And so as we were going along,we kept learning we kept
(14:56):
building clients buildingrelationships. within the
community, we were lucky wedidn't have a mortgage to pay
for we were still living atFrancis dad's house. But it took
a lot of perseverance. So yeah.
Anuja Pereira (15:16):
Do you think, you know, having to grind it out for
those first months and thatyear? And, you know, does that
really inform how you dobusiness? Now? How does that
change what you do now?
Marina VK (15:30):
Ah, I think that every, every certain period,
like there's certain timelines,where you have to go through
certain lessons and learn. Sowhen we opened our second
location, we did things a lotdifferently. That was a lot
(15:52):
faster and quicker. And so nowwhen we open the third location,
it's going to be even faster.
Because when it comes to, forexample, Google ranking, we're
going to start working on it ayear before we open, right,
that's just one of the lessonswe learned. And many lessons
along with each location thatyou open. I actually remember
(16:13):
this one time, when we firstopen and we had like, I don't
know, maybe it was like a thirdclient ever that walked in from
the community. It was a fatherand a son. And I was like, Oh,
my God, a client. And so I triedso hard to build a relationship
with them. I freaked him out,and they never came back. I
(16:34):
became so awkward. I sat besidehim like, hey, like, thank you
so much for coming. Where areyou from, etc. And the father
felt so awkward. He's like, canyou just leave me alone? I'm
just waiting for my son tofinish his haircut. And I'm
like, Okay, I need to lay off.
So, yeah,
Anuja Pereira (16:54):
it's funny what we do when we're desperate.
Marina VK (16:57):
Yeah, if you live in your learn,
Anuja Pereira (17:01):
you know what, I do think there's some beauty in
the struggle, though, you know,I think there's something to be
said, for the hustle. You know,like you out there. I'm
imagining you boots on theground. I don't think you're
handing out flyers these days.
But I think there's something tobe said, for the effort that you
put in, in those days, andprobably something that you
(17:22):
learned during those times thatinforms what you do today.
Marina VK (17:30):
Yeah, I think that opening the business, my
mentality was whatever it takes,right? So we have a certain
amount of resources, we couldnot afford Canada Post to give
out our flyers. And so I'm like,Well, I have nothing else to do.
So I'm gonna go do it. And thenwhen one of our barbers was
(17:52):
coming in, and he only had like,one clients a day, I would ask
him to do it with me, right, sowe cover more ground. And so
that's just the beginnings ofit. You don't know any other
ways, because you're so new, youjust do what you can. And then
when you do that, you discoverbetter ways, smarter ways. You
(18:14):
know, as I was reading morebooks, more, listening to more
audio books, watching YouTubevideos, I learned more and more
on how to be more efficient withmy time to get more clients,
etc.
Anuja Pereira (18:28):
Absolutely. And probably, I'm sure there's some
appreciation for all therenovations as you look around
the space that you're in that,you know, you did it with your
own two hands, right or your ownforehands, if you count you and
Francis and all your friends,
Marina VK (18:42):
right. Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
Anuja Pereira (18:46):
I'm also know that you are a young mom, and I
am wondering, as anentrepreneur, how you juggle all
that and how you find balance init all.
Marina VK (18:58):
Um, so having kids and I found like, as much as I
love, live and breathe business,I just love it, um, family and
friends, and having a family ofmy own was always my life
priority. And so no matter what,that's always going to be my
(19:20):
priority. Business, you buildit, you rebuild it, you know,
you start new ones. I've learnednot to get attached to the logo
not to get attached to alocation or the business, right
i I'm very attached to growth,learning and just having quality
(19:41):
relationships. And so I'vealways prioritize that. Um, but
it's not easy juggling bothbecause sometimes there's urgent
things in the business that I dohave to take care of where it
requires me to sacrifice timewhere my Normally, and so I
(20:03):
tried to make up for it, youknow, maybe taking an extra day
off the following couple of daysor so. But it's definitely been
hard, especially when I firstgave birth, and at the same
time, we opened our secondlocation. So when you open a new
business, it needs a lot ofattention from the owners and a
(20:25):
lot of love. And I wasn't therefor that part. And so we were
off to a slower start, becauseoff the beginning, we hired, I
think, like four or fivedifferent staff. And they ended
up leaving after like, a month,because there was no leadership.
Right? I literally just gavebirth. And so that was a pretty
(20:47):
low time for me personally,because it felt like I failed.
Like we just opened a secondlocation where we had people
quit. And I have like, a fourweek old baby, and like, I have
this, like, you know, myhormones are all over the place.
Right, but yeah, it's just, Idon't know, it's just one of the
(21:09):
things you have to overcome.
It's a great now,
Anuja Pereira (21:12):
you gave birth to two things at the same time, the
baby and badness at the sametime. Exactly. Well, you chose
your child, which is probablythe right choice at the time.
Marina VK (21:25):
100. Yeah.
Anuja Pereira (21:27):
I also know that social media is a very big part
of the Cadmen brand. And I'mwondering how important you
think that is for Cadmen itself.
And, in general, what's the roleof social media?
Marina VK (21:46):
I think that if a company's not on social media,
they're, I don't I don't want tosay not going to make it. But
they're definitely not going tobe where they could potentially
be. A lot of the times, youknow, like, a lot of our efforts
(22:07):
go towards creating content,because that content translates
into branding new clients. Andthen those new clients translate
into like them going to ourother businesses, sometimes them
turning into employees. And soyou have to be on social media.
(22:28):
And you actually have to put inway more effort than I see most
companies put in. And so we findit so valuable, that it's almost
like currency as well. Like, ifyou see an influencer, and they
have, let's say, 180,000followers, right, you're willing
(22:49):
to give them anything for freefor a post or willing to pay
them. Right. And so a lot oftimes, followers and engagement
is a form of currency now, yeah,
Anuja Pereira (23:01):
it's definitely changed the game. And I recently
noticed that you on yourpersonal social media have a bit
of a following as well. How isthat important to you? And how
has that played a role just fromyour personal side.
Marina VK (23:18):
So I, when the lock downs happened, I had a little
bit more time on my hands. Andso I'm not a person to just
stand still and enjoy life,like, I am going to create more
businesses. So I think my longterm goal is to write a book or
a few books. And I'm verypassionate about educating,
(23:43):
especially what I know sharingthe knowledge experiences,
because if that means someoneelse can take my mistakes or my
advice and apply it, and ithelps their business. That's
amazing to me, right? And so Idecided to start sharing my
knowledge. I did have like a fewvideos that went viral, one of
(24:05):
them had like, over 1.1 millionviews, I believe. And so I just
started creating videos becauseI really enjoyed sharing
knowledge. I read a lot. I watcha lot of interviews and YouTube
videos that are businessrelated, or even like personal
growth related. And so if I can,let's say take an eight hour
(24:29):
book, and sum it up the biggestlesson in like 30 seconds.
That's what I started doing andpeople started finding a lot of
value in it. I disliked a littlebit, but I really want to get
back into it. Well, that'sgreat. Who
Anuja Pereira (24:45):
Who inspires you?
Who do you follow? What do youread? Who are the most
influential people that you reador follow?
Marina VK (24:53):
I think in the beginning when I first started
my business Tony Robbins, hejust Just as a mindset, right,
he really helped me set my mindstraight. And then now I read a
lot of different books. Forexample, right now I'm reading
this book called Scaling up. Andthe books that I've read and
(25:18):
people that are listened to itdirectly relates to this stage
where I'm at in my business andmy personal growth. So right now
we have three companies, whichis the barbershop franchise. We
just made it a franchise, thatclinic and the Academy. And so
what I'm going through isgrowing pains of handling and
(25:42):
growing three differentcompanies. So I'm reading this
book, it's called Scaling up.
And it's been really helpful.
This guide basically justexplains and uses example
companies of how they went fromwhere I am, to the next level.
And so that's what I read. Oh,that's amazing. Just really
(26:04):
depends on where I'm at.
Anuja Pereira (26:05):
That's amazing.
Cadmen is going to befranchising. That's incredible
news.
Marina VK (26:10):
Yes, but thanks to COVID Well, we got held back for
two years, but that's okay.
Anuja Pereira (26:17):
Yeah, that's incredible. Why franchising?
Tell me about that.
Marina VK (26:20):
So I wanted to grow, I would never go into this
business or any business justjust for you know, one location.
I always knew I wanted to growbased on the industry and based
on, you know, the revenue eachlocation makes based on
(26:41):
basically like, the businessmodel, it made sense to expand
into multiple locations throughfranchising. One of the major
reasons to is because when youhave a barber, 95% of them want
to have their own location, theywant to have their own barber
(27:02):
shop. And so we wanted toprovide that for senior barbers,
right? We don't necessarily hireand encourage people to go and
take the franchise, but it'sthere for an option because
everyone loves to grow. Right.
Another problem again, there wasa need on the market, right?
(27:23):
Because a lot of barber shopsare owned by barbers. And what
that means is they're busycutting hair and not working on
developing the business,developing their marketing
plans, developing their team.
And so when they open afranchise with us, the whole
(27:44):
business side is given to them.
And they're trained on a silverplatter, right? Because it took
us six years to put somethingtogether that makes sense, you
know, financially and from like,the business perspective,
marketing, etc. And so, usuallybarbers, they're not trained on
the business side. And so weprovide all that all the
(28:07):
resources, we show them how todo, you know, like accounting,
bookkeeping, how to do thehiring HR processes. Just stuff
like that, that a regular barberdoesn't know how to do but they
want to, but they have nowhereto go to find out knowledge.
Anuja Pereira (28:27):
We know you are so incredibly good at seeing a
need and finding a solution. Youare very skilled at it. I can
tell it's, it's very, very coolto see I am wondering, you have
a location in downtown Torontoand a location here in Clarkson
Village and I'm wondering howyou see them differently. And,
(28:48):
you know, our listenership iscertainly geared towards
Clarkson and Lorne Park in SouthMississauga, and what do you
think is special about the SouthMississauga area?
Marina VK (29:01):
It's actually very special because it's a community
versus Toronto is more passingthrough. Right. And so over the
years, so we've been here forsix years, we've literally had
clients that have been coming tous for six years the whole time.
Like it's almost a traditionwhere certain families come in
(29:25):
once a month, with the entirefamily, a mom with three boys or
a dad with two boys. every otherSunday. There will be no like to
ask for lollipops or popcorn.
It's very community based,right? We see a lot of the same
faces. And it's very steady.
With Toronto downtown. It's it'sgreat. It's very cold like
(29:51):
street Queen streets. It's veryQueen Street. It's very have a
lot of financial debt. straightguys. And a lot of tourists, not
so much with the lockdowns, butmost of the people are passing
through.
Anuja Pereira (30:12):
You talked a little bit about some of the
volunteer activities that youdid while you were starting up.
I'm wondering what things youknow, you're obviously
established and don't need to,you know, promote your Google
algorithm anymore. Are therethings that you still do to give
back to the community now thatyou've been here for a while?
Marina VK (30:33):
Yeah, so my absolute favorite day is Halloween, when
it comes to the community. Iactually this Halloween, I
brought my daughter here. Wewent around, I just love it so
much. And it's incredible howmany kids are around this area,
how many parents? How manybusinesses on the lake church
(30:54):
has come out together andthey're just fully 100%
community? It's been great. Sowe always participate in it. I
always make sure we have atleast 1000 candies. Because even
there's been a couple of timeswhere even 1000 is not enough.
Like it's busy. Um, we stillevery single year, we do raffle
(31:19):
donation gift cards. It like wedo a lot of events. We actually
did paint the town red, a poorcredit. So we do tons of events.
But again, not in the last twoyears because of everything. We
did barbecues we did charitybarbecues we did. We rented out
(31:44):
a basketball net, and we wererunning kind of like a little
competition. So we've done tonsof stuff here. Yeah, that's
Anuja Pereira (31:53):
fantastic. I think my two girls probably ate
a lot of those candies thaty'all gave out when we buy. It's
a fun day Halloween and clerksand it's it's not to be missed,
that's for sure.
Marina VK (32:05):
It definitely Well, you're
Anuja Pereira (32:06):
in the area. Are there any places that you just
love walking around when you'rein Clarkson village or poor
credit?
Marina VK (32:15):
Rotary conservation area. That's my favorite. During
summer, that's where I usuallygo to kind of like take a midday
break. I just walk. Um, I loveone does. One does Jamaican
food. Yeah, that's been great.
This is so good. That's
Anuja Pereira (32:36):
your favorite place to eat?
Marina VK (32:37):
It's definitely one of my favorites. Yeah, I feel
like all the places are great.
There's a trend kitchen thatjust opened as well. Yeah. I
always go to keto girl to getlike low carb pasta. Yeah. So
yeah,
Anuja Pereira (32:53):
that's great. I ask at the end of every episode,
my favorite question to ask isthat if you were building a home
and money were no issue. What isone design feature? You would be
sure to include?
Marina VK (33:07):
A pool for sure. I love homes that have like the
roundabout. At the front. Yeah.
Where? It's like a littlestatute in the middle. I feel
like if you have one of those,you've made it in life.
Anuja Pereira (33:23):
What would you what would your statue be of?
Marina VK (33:28):
Oh, that's a good question. I think just the
waterfall. Okay. You know, like,a live
Anuja Pereira (33:34):
waterfall like a fountain fountain in the middle
of sound.
Marina VK (33:38):
Yeah, I would. I would like buy some birds and
there. I don't know.
Anuja Pereira (33:45):
Alright, so a round about driveway. That's how
you'll know you've made it.
Marina VK (33:51):
Yeah, exactly. You will not actually in Clarkson
village. There you go. You
Anuja Pereira (33:55):
will not be delivering mail by foot. Once
you've got the roundabout.
That's for sure. Sounds good.
Well, thank you so much, Marinafor being here. And it's been so
nice to chat with you.
Marina VK (34:08):
Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure. Wonderful.
Well,
Anuja Pereira (34:11):
that's it for our interview with Marina today. But
stick around for a shout out tothis week's Lorne Park local
legends. In each episode, I getto do what I call Lorne Park
local legends, a chance to thankone or more people for their
grassroots work that impactsthis community. This time, I'd
(34:31):
like to do a shout out toBrianne law for her initiative
pumpkins for piggies. EachNovember she collects uncarved
pumpkins from local residentsand delivers them to an animal
sanctuary near Hanover. In 2021.
Our community collected enoughpumpkins to fill a 15 foot U
haul, keeping waste out oflandfills and helping feed pigs
(34:51):
and goats to Brianne and herother Volunteers and to all the
community members who havecontributed to helping feed the
animals of the sanctuary. Wethank you here today on the
Lorne Park living podcast. I'myour host and Anuja Pereira. Be
sure to subscribe so you cancatch us next time when we get
(35:12):
to hear the story of anotherdifference maker of this
community, making here such anincredible place to live. See
you next time.
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