200th Episode Event: How This Podcast Was Built — Untold Behind the Scenes Stories - Nuanced.

Episode Transcript
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Aaron Pete (00:31):
Thank you all so much for being willing to come
out for this.
This is a huge, momentousoccasion for us because we've
been doing this for over fiveyears, so I'm hoping you guys
can all give a round of applausefor you all coming out tonight
and sharing this night with us.
We really, really appreciate it.
It has been a long five yearsand it has been an absolute

(00:54):
blast to interview so manydiverse voices and get to know
people and learn more abouttheir work, and I'm so grateful
that so many past guests likeKylie Bartel, like Kim Gemmel,
are here tonight to share theirtime.
I've learned so much over thesepast 200 episodes and I'm just
so excited to be able tocelebrate tonight.
We're also sponsored by Fortis,which feels like a pretty big

(01:18):
step, and I'd like to thankKelsey, who's here tonight on
behalf of Fortis, which is ahuge step for the podcast,
because being able to work withpartners like them adds
legitimacy to what we're doingand what we're working on, and
the opportunity to work withthem has been a huge privilege.
So we have some exciting newswe'll be talking about later
tonight that we've been workingon with Fortis.
But, kelsey, please tell yourteam.

(01:40):
We're just so incrediblygrateful for your support to
make this night possible, tohelp us get the red carpet and
everything.
We appreciate it.
So we're going to have Rebeccacoming out in a couple minutes
here, but I did just want totake a minute to reflect on
these past 200 episodes becauseit has been a bit of a wild

(02:03):
journey.
I started this in 2020.
For those of you who don't know, I was commuting back and forth
from here and UBC Law Schoolevery single day.
It was like five hours ofcommuting and I was listening to
a lot of podcasts, a lot ofpodcasts, and I just learned so
much from those interviews and Ithought a lot about how there's

(02:25):
so many important voices andthere's so many issues that I
wanted to understand to agreater extent, and I was very
interested in being able to hearfrom people that I was
interested in, and those peoplewere like Chief David Jimmy in
the early days, bill Turnbull,who's running a business, who's
here tonight.
Those individuals stood out tome that they were doing
something and I didn'tunderstand what starting a

(02:45):
business looked like.
I didn't understand FirstNations governance.
I didn't understand so much,and so to be able to ask
somebody for time and get toknow them and learn their story
and the trials and tribulationsthey went to to start their
business or to support theircommunity or to build others up,
was something I was reallyinterested in, and it was such a
privilege to have individualslike Johnny Singh, who's in the

(03:06):
back there, come on and talkabout his passion for health,
and so many people have hiddenpassions and things that they're
dedicated to that you don'talways get to hear fully about.
And we talk about this idea ofnetworking and sitting down with
somebody for a cup of coffee,but really being able to dig
into somebody's journey and whythey took the turns they did was
always something that I wasfascinated by and, to be honest

(03:28):
with you, I grew up with asingle mother, who's here
tonight, and I relied heavily onher for support, but I didn't
have a lot of role models withinthe building I lived in or
within the community that I had,so I was really interested in
hearing from people who had madeit or people who were making a
difference bigger thanthemselves, and that's really
where the name came from.
Rebecca and I were walking andwe were talking about.
I want to speak to people.

(03:49):
I want to get to know howpeople think about things and we
were trying to figure out aname for it and what that would
look like.
And one of my favorite songs wasby an individual named Big Sean
.
He's a rapper, for all of youwho don't know, and he has this
song about how he had made itbig in the music industry.
He'd gone triple platinum withsome of his songs and he felt
empty and he felt like thatdidn't mean anything and the

(04:12):
real opportunity he had was todo something bigger than himself
and that was to be arepresentative and a role model
for his community in Detroit.
And there were so manysimilarities that I saw with him
at the time.
I deeply cared about theParamount Theatre, which was a
local theatre within ourcommunity, and they were working
on shutting it down and Istarted with my friend Jake.
We tried to stop them fromtearing it down and stop them

(04:34):
from closing that, and Big Seandid the same thing within his
community.
He reopened a theatre inDetroit and one of the big
challenges they had was gangviolence within the community,
so he had to have peoplestanding outside making sure
they were checking people formetal detectors and making sure
they didn't have guns on themwhen they were going to see a
movie, and so I learned a lotfrom him as a role model and
I've learned a lot over thesepast 200 episodes and I'm just

(04:58):
blown away by the amount ofpeople who are willing to share.
For the first 82 episodes it wasthree hours.
Willing to share.
For the first 82 episodes itwas three hours and I think
Kylie and Johnny can attest tothat's a long time to have to
talk about yourself and getasked a lot of questions.
And then we started to shortenit down and I started to try and
figure out what was the essenceof what I was trying to get to,
what made them unique and standout to me and what did I want

(05:21):
to learn from them.
And so it's shortened over time.
They're like 30 to 45 minutesnow, which I think is much more
manageable for people.
But it's been such anincredible journey to have
individuals like Brent Butt andNigel Begar and people who had
really interesting perspectives,and we'll get into more where I
think we're going from here.
But the big takeaway for me isthat individuals are really

(05:43):
generous with their time, and Ithink the one piece I hope
everybody can take away fromthis is.
I think we're all yearning toshare our story and the journey
we've been through, like, Ithink, whether it's with your
family, whether it's with yourfriends, whether it's with your
community, we're all doingsomething in a way that's bigger
than ourselves, and I thinkit's really important to give
people the space to share theirstories way that's bigger than

(06:04):
ourselves, and I think it'sreally important to give people
the space to share their stories, and I'm just incredibly
grateful to have been able tohave 200 episodes with
individuals so gracious to sharetheir thoughts and perspectives
.
But I have to invite up myfiance, my partner, the person
who was there the day that Isaid I wanted to start a podcast
, the day I said I'm in lawschool, I'm broke and I have
student loans and I'd like tospend $2,000 on podcast

(06:26):
equipment.
Rebecca, would you please joinus?

Rebekah Myrol (06:43):
All right, well, good evening everyone.
Well, let's give it a round forAaron for 200 episodes.
Let's give him a big round ofapplause.
I mean, it's a huge milestone,right?
I mean, even to start somethingat all is a lot of work to do.
Every one of you knows that youhave to pick something and you
have to work really hard atdoing it.

(07:04):
Every one of you knows that youhave to pick something and you
have to work really hard atdoing it.
And Aaron, for no doubt he issince day one, since his dream
of doing the podcast.
It's been hard work since dayone, right, and you have to take
a chance, you have to risk it,and there's nothing meaningful
unless you risk it.
And I saw it since day one,since it was a dream of walking
downtown Chilliwack and us justthinking what can we do next?

(07:28):
The podcast just came about as aconversation.
We dreamed about what the namewould be.
We thought how do we makeourselves different?
There's so many podcasts outthere.
How do you differentiateyourself?
It's really hard.
How do you market it too?
How do you pick guests?
What does that look like?
All of that just came throughtrial and error.
It's really hard.
And how do you market it tooright, and how do you pick
guests and what does that looklike.
And all of that just camethrough trial and error.

(07:49):
It's so easy now for 200episodes to think, oh, this is
so easy, like, look at how faryou've come, but you haven't.
You didn't.
You weren't there in the firstday, right In the first months,
the first three months, and ittakes a lot of time and energy
to do it.
But it's time and energy worthdoing and that's what you do
when you pursue somethingmeaningful.

(08:09):
And it's just been really greatto see this evolution of the
podcast, all of the guests thatErin has been able to come on
the podcast and also the BiggerThan Me podcast name is
legendary because your rolemodel is Big Sean and I thought
that was a really great way toconnect what you're doing with
your community, what you want todo in the overall world.

(08:30):
You want to make a biggerdifference than yourself and
that's still leading into yournew brand reveal, which we'll
get into, and I think whenpeople see that for the first
time, it'll all make sense onhow this has evolved and where
we're going in the future.
I manage a lot of the socialmedia and I've learned that you
know captivating intros, youknow captivating thumbnails, and

(08:54):
marketing is huge to get outthe word, and it's been an honor
to be able to market that withmy partner and just see all the
evolution that we've been up toand where we're heading in the
future and, most importantly,seeing his growth as a person
from the first start of thefirst episode.
It can be pretty cringy to lookback at the old episodes.

(09:17):
Myself included, I was in thereand it was a bit cringy.
You know.
Look back and be like, oh okay,but you have to start somewhere
, right.
You have to be able to makemistakes, you have to be able to
just put yourself out there andtalk and have a conversation
and that's exactly what this isall about and looking how far
we've come.
Now to David Eby, to John Rustad, carolyn Victor Elder, eddie

(09:39):
Gardner, kylie Bartell like somany people that we never
thought that we'd be able toconnect with.
We never thought we'd be able totravel for a podcast and we did
that on the island for JohnBurroughs, and that was amazing
too, to be able to travel andmeet people that you've never
met and you just don't know whatyou're going to get yourself
into with the podcast, andseeing how this has evolved has

(10:01):
just been amazing, from oursmall apartment to coming into
this beautiful studio with Timand I.
Just one of my favorite memorieswas the 100th episode
celebration for you, aaron, forthe podcast.
And little did I know that Timwas also watching me because I
didn't have a job at that timeand I was looking for a job and

(10:23):
Tim was watching how I conductedmyself, how I set up the whole
space and after that I got thejob, and he was secretly
watching me to make sure and tosee who I was and how I
conducted myself.
And it was pretty cool to getan opportunity to host an event
here, get to meet Tim and get tobe a part of this team and
watch it all happen.
So, without further ado, I'mgoing to give it over to Tim.

(10:46):
He is the owner of the spaceand I've had lots of great times
with him working here and Ilove what I do here.
I manage the space at CoWorkand I just, I'm just really glad
to be here and to speak on thepodcast and at my work here for
CoWork.
So, without further ado, let'sgive it over to Tim.

Tim McAlpine (11:19):
All right.
Well, thanks Rebecca forintroducing me and calling me
out as a stalker.
That was amazing.
But we were looking for a newCo-Work Chilliwack community
manager at the time and she justreally stood out and we had
been doing a search and it wasindeed, is not, indeed it's
tough.
So anyways, sidebar to thesidebar.

(11:39):
So I'm the owner of CoworkChilliwack and Studio C.
Cowork Chilliwack is actuallymy side hustle and Studio C is
the side hustle to the sidehustle.
My main thing is a marketingfirm and we have a financial
education program that welicense to credit unions all
over North America.
So I have this weird tripod andAaron asked me to give a little
bit of an origin story of thisspace you're in.

(12:01):
And so Cowork Chilliwack we'vegot 120 registered business
licenses with the city ofChilliwack and I think we are
the single biggest address forbusiness license revenue to the
city.
We have a mix of all sorts ofdifferent entrepreneurs and
growing their business under oneroof and it's really hard to
estimate the economic impact ofthis space but it's just been

(12:23):
wonderful to be a part of.
So Studio C used to be our photostudio for the marketing agency
and then it was Tim's kind ofhoarding problem, with a bunch
of junk in here, and so when weopened the co-work space, I
thought it would be interestingto put a stage in here.
This used to be our photostudio.
It was all white, with aseamless cove in the back, and

(12:43):
we put what now looks like a1970s studio in here.
This used to be our photostudio.
It was all white, with aseamless cove in the back, and
we put what now looks like a1970s studio in here and with
some basic audio capabilities.
And then one thing led toanother we were able to acquire
another unit, which meant weneeded another fire exit, and so
I was able to do that into abalcony as well and kind of

(13:06):
modify the whole space, and soit's been one renovation after
another.
Interesting side note to thatparticular balcony we were doing
our grand opening in 2018 andMagnum Glass Indoor was doing
some glass railing for us, andit was three hours to go before
all the Chamber of Commercepeople were here and I heard

(13:27):
this explosion and they wereputting it up and it just
literally smashed.
So when you walk out, just takea look up and see the second
set of glass that was installed.
But what I was really lookingfor was just some photo of the
original tech capabilities, andit was actually.
This is the only one I had, andif you look at it, we had a

(13:48):
small eight-channel mixer,simple lights and no video
capabilities.
I learned far after thatthere's a rule to live by with
anything electronics or AVequipment Buy once, cry once,
because you'll start with afour-channel mixer, then you'll
need an eight-channel mixer andthen you'll need a video

(14:09):
switcher and you'll need abigger video switcher.
Anyways, if anybody's lookingfor used equipment, I'll talk to
you after.
And so we added more tech andthis little corner in the
background began to encroach onthe whole space, and even that
space which is our podcaststudio.
I was looking at it.
It was an office, and I said Ithink I'm going to take that

(14:31):
wall down and make it into apodcast area, and so we did that
in 2020.
And then, lo and behold, I hadmet Aaron.
He interviewed me.
Actually, he reminded me ofthat.
Where did I meet you?
Yes, it was three hours in thesweltering sun.
We all have a very similarorigin story.
I think that was his MO at thetime, but he had, ironically had

(14:57):
his apartment had flooded.
Nothing to do with the actualflood.
But at the same time that therewas the actual big flood and he
had landed a really big guest,mayor Henry Braun from
Abbotsford.
He had done 64 episodes to thatpoint and he swung by and said
could I maybe use your studio todo this?
And I was game.

(15:18):
We didn't have a real.
We had a few people doingpodcasts very fresh and I was
willing to experiment and hebrought him out.
If you see the timestamp onthat one it says two hours and
45 minutes.
He was still in that mode butit was.
But as soon as Aaron sat downand I really had this notion man

(15:41):
, there's something specialabout this and I say kid
affectionately, because he'solder and younger at the same
time.
And there was always this Idon't see it as much now but
quite often in the earlyinterviews that I was producing
I luckily I get to, I'm thefirst viewer of every one of
this podcast and I sit now inthe control room and there's

(16:05):
this moment where they cocktheir head a little bit and they
go who is this guy?
Because maybe through awell-crafted email by Rebecca
they agreed to be on this thingthat they don't know quite what
they've got themselves into,especially as they grow beyond
friends and family.
But there was always thismoment where they would just,

(16:27):
hmm, he's really smart Boy.
I've never been asked suchinteresting questions.
And then they lean in and itbecomes this really dynamic,
heartfelt conversation and, loand behold, he could get three
hours out of them.
I was twitching in my producer'sseat for a while and we had
many conversations.
I think maybe under an hourwould be better, but he has

(16:50):
opinions.
So episode 65 was the first onethat Aaron recorded here, and
then he did another 20 on hisown through the summer working
in his temporary Airbnbapartment, and then came back
because he was starting to sayI'm running a little thin on
local people that can come anddo an in-person podcast.

(17:13):
And when you move to wanting todo remote, it's really tough to
wear multiple hats.
You're maybe doing it over Zoomand in this side of your mind
you're going did I hit record?
Is the red light going?
Did I have this?
Is my audio clipping Can?
All of this stuff is?
And once you have a producer,you can just kind of okay, I got
one job, I'm just going to dothis interview.

(17:35):
And so this is an example of theway we set up the podcast
studio.
Over there there's a bigteleprompter, aaron's staring
right into the eyes because it'sa nice to just have that.
We use Zoom and then a numberof different things.
He can have some show notes tothe side or questions, but
honestly he rarely.
He does so more now thatthey're more heavy duty.

(17:56):
But he was like don't you needany notes?
No, I got this.
I'm like really.
But sure enough, it's beenamazing to see him in action and
grow His YouTube channel.
I was looking it's approaching750,000, 800,000 views and I was
looking at a tool thatestimates the growth and I think

(18:18):
it said it'll be at 2 millionwithin about a year, which is
amazing.
And views aren't the onlymetric, but some of them will
blow up.
You can see like 11,000, and Ithink the most he's got is
80,000 on a video, but that'sjust the video side.
Audio is a whole nother beast.
But in 2023, he did 66recordings here, so it was more

(18:39):
than one a week, and then 2024,a little bit more methodical 45.
And so far, half this year he'sdone 21.
Truth be told, I was lookingthrough the channel.
There are 200 numbered episodes, but he's done a number of
little packages, like Taste ofAbby, which are another four or
five, and then this thing andthat thing.

(18:59):
So I'll let you off, it is 200,but you're a little over that.
And so the transition to remoteguests really allowed Aaron to
grow the podcast and I wasconstantly amazed who would show
up on the screen.
So I'm in the control room, I'mon the Zoom call and we know
who's going to show up and thenhuh, it's Brett Butt on my TV,

(19:24):
and it's not just a TV, becauseif I say something he'll hear it
, and so just really neat to seethat and grow in that piece.
Aaron's held four now fivesold-out events here and it's
been really neat to collaborateon that project and do live
podcasts.
This one's a little bitdifferent, it's more of a
celebration need to collaborateon that project and do live

(19:45):
podcasts.
This one's a little bitdifferent.
It's more of a celebration, buttypically it's a conversation
on stage and a really dynamic,wonderful vibe in the room.
As I mentioned, I get the firstviewing of every single episode
in the control room we live cut, so meaning it's a multicam
live production studio withmultiple angles and just like

(20:06):
tonight you're seeing that uphere.
It's sitting there right nowbecause, well, I'm not in there
cutting, so it's a static wideshot, but I'll fix that in post.
But yeah, it's a reallyinteresting setup and Aaron
really takes advantage of it.
So, from my little humblebeginnings in the corner, we now
have 18 cameras, 30 monitors, a120 by 120 video switch, a 40

(20:30):
input video switcher, and Istill have a whole laundry list
of more things that I want.
I'm a little out of control.
A friend of mine, scott McVetty.
He's a local realtor.
He's called this my midlifecrisis and I'm quick to point
out it's better than cocaine.

(20:50):
Marginally my favorite episodeand I think it's more the
experience it was David Eby andAaron comes.
It's in the summer last yearand he said I'm going to get all
four candidates.
Oh, yeah, good, yeah, good foryou.
Go for it, buddy.
And and he did, and he gotthree of them out here.
There was one piece, um, kevinFalcon was on and he had made

(21:16):
the wonderful decision torebrand the BC liberals to the
BC United and Aaron's going athim pretty good.
And and he says he says there'srumor that you might be kind of
folding and going with theconservatives.
Oh, over my dead body and a fewdays later I'm.
It was probably a couple weekslater when he actually published

(21:37):
it and this had gone down andI'm making dinner and I've got
global news on and I hear thisdinner and I've got global news
on and I hear this and I spinaround and the podcast studio is
on global because they use thatas this kind of breaking news,
gotcha journalism type thing.
But it was interesting.
But another side story withDavid Eby, with my multiple

(21:57):
camera angles I've got a view ofthe kitchen and they had, I
guess, our version of the SecretService.
So there were a couple guyswith side arms and and you would
expect them just to be goinglike this, but I swear they were
just both on TikTok, just goinglike this for like an hour and
a half.
Yes, I'll wrap this up.

(22:19):
I'm really proud of thispartnership.
I feel a little bit likeAaron's friend slash father
figure, slash opposite ends ofthe political spectrum
conversations we have and he'sjust really grown into a great
friend and I'm in greatadmiration of him.
So with that I'll turn it backover to you and I'll get back

(22:42):
back over to you and I'll getback.

Aaron Pete (22:48):
Perfect, thank you.
Thank you, rebecca, and thankyou, tim.
So our goal for tonight is tointroduce you to the team that
has been supporting all of thiswork.
This doesn't just happen bymyself, of course.
Rebecca is working on socialmedia, which is an incredible
beast to try and figure out.
I don't know if you've noticed,but there's a whole system to
try and get you to stay on yourphone all the time and she's

(23:10):
trying to figure it out all thetime, and Tim has been an
incredible support to supportingthis podcast and again adding
that legitimacy.
The biggest thing I heard overthe first 100 episodes was
everybody has a podcast man, andI really do understand that.
It would be worth noting thatthe amount of people with

(23:30):
podcasts has significantlydropped off since 2020.
Everybody had a podcast in 2020.
Almost nobody has one anymore,and I knew a bunch of people
when I was starting this thatsaid they were going to start,
said they bought the audioequipment and then didn't get to
episode one or two or 10.
And so the drop-off rate isincredibly high for people who
are willing to start something,and I think that's true across

(23:52):
the board.
But it's been a huge privilegeto work with individuals who
actually believe in you, who seethe vision, and I kept that
circle very close for a verylong time because there are a
lot of doubters.
There are a lot of people whothink you're wasting your time
or you're wasting the otherperson's time or just don't
understand where you want totake things.
And I hope one of yourtakeaways tonight is, if you

(24:14):
have a vision, if you have agoal for yourself, if you have
an idea, to start to chase that.
And you don't have to sharethat with everybody when you
start, but you should share itwith the people who really want
to support you and get behindyou.
Because it was a big risk whenI spent $2,000 when I was
already in student loans for lawschool to chase this dream and
I committed to myself that Iwould get to a thousand episodes

(24:35):
before I'd consider stoppingbecause it's so easy to drop off
, it's so easy to get busy withother things, and when you have
individuals like Tim who arewatching the episode and going
wow, like that person is reallylike fascinated by the
conversation, or that personclearly wants to come back on,
or like all of these doors startto open up and you start to
have that self-confidence thatyou might need in order to start

(24:57):
these things.
And so that's how the teamstarted.
It was just Rebecca and I tostart with.
We would invite the guest in.
They would have a seat, we'dgrab them water, we'd make them
comfortable and then I'd takethree hours of their life away.
And then we moved here andthings started to grow and
things started to make sense.
But for those of you who don'tknow, there's a whole science to
YouTube.
There's a whole science topodcasting.

(25:18):
You have to get the thumbnailsright.
You have to get the photos youpost on social media right.
You have to figure out what'sgoing to hit on LinkedIn is not
the same thing that hits onFacebook, which is not the same
thing that hits on Instagram,because every one of those
platforms is trying to serve theuser in a different way.
And so once we started to figureout the thumbnails, it started
to become a huge challenge.
If you look back at thebeginning thumbnails, they were

(25:40):
terrible, not following bestpractices.
But once we started to figurethat out and once I started to
figure out other people who aredoing something similar to what
I was doing, I knew that Ineeded to start to reach out to
somebody who was a goodphotographer, because it would
just be me making somebody veryuncomfortable, telling them to
stand against the wall as theytake a photo of them very
uncomfortably during the first100 episodes.
But then I had the privilege ofspeaking with Alex Hart.

(26:02):
I recorded my first interviewwith him.
It didn't air because I didn'thit record and he was willing to
stick it out with me.
So, without further ado, pleasewelcome up my photographer,
alex Hart.

Alex Harte (26:22):
Aaron told me not to work tonight, but I promise I
get a few pictures.
So just on the count of threeOne, two, three, make my job
easy, thank you.
Okay, aaron, thanks for sharingthe story, because if you
weren't, I was going to add tothat.
So thank you.
Yeah, my name is Alex Hart andI am a local photographer here

(26:44):
in Chilliwack and I've been alongtime friend of Aaron's and
I've gotten to work with a lotof really great clients around
here in the Valley, some I seein the audience tonight, two of
those being Aaron with theBigger Than Me podcast and Tim
and Rebecca here at CoWork.
If you kind of look around,you'll see kind of the slideshow
, presentations and stuff.
Those are all my shotsthroughout the years of the

(27:05):
events that we've put ontogether and I've also had the
opportunity to work withorganizations like Run for Water
out in Abbotsford doing trailruns and street runs, raising
money for clean water projects,and the Terry Fox Foundation
doing the Ride of Hope, in whichthey're still raising funds for
the Terry Fox Foundation, andit's just.
It's been a really greatexperience through photography

(27:27):
so far and meeting so manywonderful people, getting to do
so many cool projects and justkind of being a fly on the wall,
kind of in the same sense asmaybe interviewing people.
I get to kind of step intotheir shoes for a little bit and
kind of see how the wider worldgoes on and just be really
invested, interested in that.
But really it was meeting Aaronthat got me to where I'm going

(27:52):
today and the work that we'vedone together over the years.
So I'll give a little bit ofbackground before I kind of dive
into my role here with thepodcast.
But Aaron and I go way back,probably close to 10 years now.
We were both young.
I was working at the ShiamCentre at the time front desk,
and there's Aaron coming inevery few times a week working
out and we just banter and chatback and forth there and just

(28:15):
kind of built this fun, casualfriendship and both just kind of
.
I think we were both going toschool at the time and we were
both just kind of like gassingeach other up and cheering each
other on and, you know, riffingand all that.
And after that I moved to theisland for a few years to finish
my own education and it wasthere at the same time where I
started really falling in lovewith photography.

(28:37):
I bought a Canon Rebel T6 fromBest Buy for like 60% off so I
could afford it on the studentbudget, which beat having to
steal my parents' cameras,taking it out and getting
grounded for doing that back inthe day when I was first getting
started.
But it was on the island.
I studied there and I graduatedthe same year that you know big

(28:58):
C hit and all of therestrictions came into place and
I was finishing up myeducational career, so to speak.
I was starting a master's thefollowing fall and as that was
going on, the world had shutdown and it had gotten really
really small in a really reallyshort period of time.
I know all of us probably haveflashbacks to that and have had

(29:20):
our own experiences During thattime.
I decided to try and beconstructive with what was going
on and I started a smallproject for myself on the side
which was grad photos bydonation and it was kind of my
way of trying to still celebratethe grad ceremonies of all the
classmates and all my friendsaround me who suddenly had no

(29:42):
passage from education into thereal world, so to speak.
So I was on the island and Iwas doing these grad photos and
you know people would pay me a20 bucks or a six pack of beer
and we'd go outside, we'ddistance, we'd do all of our
protocol things and we'd sitthere and take photos.
And they just became funhangout sessions, a chance for

(30:02):
people to vent, grab some photos, some memories, and it got a
bit of traction.
It kind of stretched across theisland that was up in Nanaimo
and I had people from Victoria,from the north part of the
island, who were actuallydriving up and down to meet me
for these shots.
And it's while this was gainingtension I eventually heard from

(30:23):
Aaron, kind of towards the endof this project, because what
had happened was I eventuallymoved back to Chilliwack where
we kind of slowly reconnectedand Aaron caught wind of what I
was doing and at the same time Ihad seen the first few episodes
of his podcast and payingattention to what was going on
there and I remember firstseeing his early episodes and

(30:43):
just thinking, hearing fromlocal people, local makers and
shakers, people who are justinvested in community.
I just thought was such awonderful idea, especially in
the time that it was coming up,and I wanted to support that and
I had no idea I was going to bea part of it.
But kind of at the same timeAaron reached out to me and

(31:03):
invited me on the podcast, wherewe got sunburned for three
hours, then had to reshoot againin his apartment.
But it was that podcast thatreally kind of, I want to say,
like rekindled our friendshipand we both we're both kind of
in the next chapter of our livesand we're both seeing each
other try and do something andwe both wanted to support that.
And when I was first watchingthese and when I sat down and

(31:25):
talked with him for my ownpodcast, which I think we got
like 20 full views, which at thetime was like okay, 20 people
are giving us their time.
That's pretty wicked.
I'll take that Big win so far.
And I just knew something wasgoing to come from this, like I
knew Aaron wasn't going to stopin an episode or two and that
this was going to keep going,and I knew that I wanted to
support it in any way that Icould.

(31:47):
So fast forward in ourreconnection and I'm building my
own business here locally andAaron starts hitting me up for
photos, for taking pictures ofthe in-person interviews that he
has, which were taking placeright here in Studio C.
So after Tim got involved, Istarted coming in too and it
just became this really greatexperience for both of us

(32:10):
because not only was I finallyable to help Aaron on this
mission that I've believed infor a few years prior, but just
getting to extend that and getto meet all these people that
were doing things and getting tokind of be on the inside, the
inner workings of how hispodcast was shaping up and how
he was interviewing these peopleand getting to kind of add to

(32:31):
that and the value to that isjust something that I'm going to
touch on with Aaron and justexplain kind of the importance
of the visual aspect of hisstorytelling Because, like he
mentioned, there really is a lotof behind the scenes and there
is a science and it is a full-onproject to get an episode from
concept to being put up onYouTube and social media.

(32:54):
So what I'm going to do is I'vegot a few pictures.
I'm just going to quickly gothrough and then we'll circle
back to them and kind of checkthem out.
So we've got Aaron and Matthewsharing some whiskey, which
we'll talk about.
We've got Angela Murphy herewith her children's book and
we've got Dan Oostenbrinktalking about local harvest and

(33:16):
organic regenerative farming.
So, between these images as justa bit of insight into the
gallery that we've created overall the podcasts with quality
content that the Bigger Than Mepodcast produces.
It requires quality.
Everything Like this is not.
You don't get to this levelwithout taking with taking

(33:37):
shortcuts and trying to cheapout on things.
And when it comes to the visualaspect, because it's so audio
centric, being able to createthose compelling thumbnails or
just to document what's going onso that when we have these
celebrations we can look back onand have visuals of it, is so
important.
And what you'll notice in theseimages is what I like to think

(33:58):
of as consistency.
First and foremost, we've got areally cool space with kind of
Aaron's colouring and thebranding all in the corner there
and being able to bring all ofhis guests into this space and
sit them down with the studio inthe background, where he's got
accolades, he's got gifts fromother guests that have been
given to him throughout hispodcasts, and being able to

(34:20):
capture his interactions withhis guests in that space I think
is incredibly important just toshowing that there's that, that
consistency and that care thatgoes into everything that his
podcast encompasses.
And the other thing, too, isit's easy to take photos of.
You know you can sit somebodydown, you can snap a photo, you

(34:40):
can walk away.
But what makes Aaron's podcastspecial is the relatability and
the humanity that's baked intoevery episode and, as his
photographer and as somebody whois driven to share that having
moments like this this isn'tstaged Like, this is, hey, aaron
, sit down with like Matthew fora minute, grab your whiskey and

(35:02):
just chat.
And these photos are justlittle snapshots into what these
experiences are like.
When we look at something likethis, that's a little bit
lighter and a little bit morecelebratory of someone's passion
and art.
We get to see it come acrosswith the smiles and just
enjoying whiskey there, whichthat was maybe not the first and

(35:22):
only glass that was had duringthat episode, but it did make
for some great photos Justcapturing that humanity and not
being afraid to be humble infront of your guest.
And really, when it comes tostorytelling like this, with
photography and podcasting andinterviewing, it's about taking
things to the ground level andwhen you're sitting next to the
person, the title kind ofvanishes and their work is still

(35:46):
front and center of the podcast, but it is an element of a
person talking to a person, andso that is something that I try
to capture in all of Aaron'simages.
And, if you'll notice, evenwalking throughout the studio
and into the lobby there you'llcatch these little candid images
of Aaron chatting with hisguests and you'll see the
reactions on their faces.
And again, those are candidmoments, just catching Aaron

(36:10):
interacting with his guest, andwhen he gives the freedom for a
guest to speak like that, itreally opens up opportunities to
capture those moments and keepthem as a visual documentary for
all the work that's gone intoit.
Like here with Angela, we werecelebrating I believe it was
celebrating the release of hernew book, and so we just had her
sit down and just, you know,show the book, show us how

(36:33):
excited you are about it, andwe're going to capture that for
you while we share and celebrateit.
And with Dan, it's easy to getDan to smile.
He was a super grounded,down-to-earth person and once
you get him on the topic offarming, it's it's all talk and
it's all smiles and it's easy to.
I shouldn't say it's easy, butit's, uh, it's worthwhile to

(36:55):
take that moment and justcapture those images and really
just make it memorable becauseyou'll have it on all of your
audio platforms, on YouTube, um,but people look back and kind
of have like a a scrapbook or aphoto album to be able to look
and see the work that's done, um, but yeah, working, working
with Aaron over the past fewyears has been, um, a huge area

(37:19):
of growth for myself, and beingable to see the podcast grow and
shape itself into what it'sbeen and being part of that team
has been really a highlight forthe clients that I've worked
with and the work that I do getto do and continue to do.
Getting to sit our premier downfor a few minutes and tell him
how to sit and how to smile andto avoid the double chin and you

(37:42):
know, just to get to tell himwhat to do for a minute is kind
of an added bonus.
Just little moments like that,um, but just getting to be like
person to person, like thatright and uh, I think the images
like this and just seeing the,the ease that people are put at
when you look back at theseimages, is just, it is just a
reflection of how this podcastis operated, the, the
philosophies behind it and um,it's a testament to what it

(38:06):
takes to get to this level andto look forward and to see
what's next.
But I think that's about myspiel.
But yeah, if I could leave iton anything, it's just.
The visual side of this is justabout capturing what's already
out there and just figuring outhow to best bring it forward.
And working on this podcast,that comes pretty easy.
So well done, aaron.

Aaron Pete (38:30):
That was incredible.
When we did episode 100, all ofthese guys had speaking notes.
I don't know what's good.
There's nothing here.
There's nothing You're likelook behind you.
There's nothing on thesespeaking notes that say anything
of what they're supposed to say.
That's all coming from you guys.
This is incredibly meaningfulbecause a lot of people feel the

(38:52):
most comfortable when they havesomething written on a piece of
paper.
But that was all off the top ofyour head, was it not?

Alex Harte (38:58):
Yeah, you didn't even force me to say that.

Aaron Pete (38:59):
I didn't.
Even I didn't pay him to, Ididn't do anything but Okay.
So I just wanted to go througha few of these really quickly
and just explain to you why thismatters.
So do you see how crisp thisphoto is?
That plays a huge role onwhether or not people click on
YouTube.
And this photo stands out to mebecause I did an interview on

(39:24):
regenerative farming, and if youasked me to bet how many people
would watch that video, I wouldguess one.
Like I would guess not verymany people are going to jump at
that, but this was one of thefirst times I really started to
understand how much thethumbnail and how much the
information of what you'retalking about matters on a
thumbnail, because it was thisinterview that I think is at

(39:44):
like 7,000 views on YouTube,where I'm talking about
regenerative farming.
Something I don't know anythingabout, and the fact that this
did well is, one, the photo andthe quality that it brought out,
but then, two, the ability toconnect it with what people are
looking for, and so I don't knowif anybody knows this, but I
think it's worth just quicklyspending a moment and explaining
how the algorithm works.

(40:05):
The algorithm is incrediblyfair.
For those of you who don't know, it will put your thumbnail in
front of a thousand people andif nobody clicks on it, then it
stops pushing it to people.
But if people start clicking onit and start taking an interest
, then it will continue to pushthat, and they do calculate how
many clicks per view when theyput it in front of a thousand
people and they will continue topromote it.

(40:26):
So a quality photo like thiswas far exceeded any other
interview I had done previously,and it was this that started to
make me go okay, this thumbnailthing starts to matter, and I'm
not great.
I wanted to outsource thethumbnail process, but once I
started to realize that this wasa key piece, I started to
understand how all of this tiestogether.

(40:47):
Because people hear podcast.
They still think audio it's onApple podcasts or it's on
Spotify or something, and so youdon't think much about the
visual aspect.
But do you really want to tuneinto something that's like just
a question mark and you don'tknow what they look like Like.
That's a key piece for peopleto want to know what does this
person look like, what are theircredentials, who are they?
And this started to add hugelegitimacy to what we were doing

(41:09):
, and so I just I reallyappreciate all the work that
you've done and, again, findingthose people who believe in you
before you really believe inyourself is a huge key piece of
this, and just watching yourphotography take off, watching
people to continue to want towork with you, watching you
expand your style, has just beena privilege to see, and I'm
just so proud of you for youchasing your own goals, and
we've done that alongside eachother for years.

(41:30):
So please give it up for Alex.
Alongside each other for years.
So please give it up for Alex.
But we're done with the biggerthan me podcast.
We're throwing that in thegarbage.
We're going to try again withsomething different now, and I
just want to give you a littlebit of background as to why.
So we're changing the name andwe're changing the brand, moving
forward, and the reason forthat is one, because every time

(41:52):
I said, oh, you've got a podcast, what is it called?
And I'm like the bigger than mepodcast, they'd be like the
bigger than it's.
Just that's too many words totype on my phone.
I don't want to do that.
So that was one of thechallenges.
And then, two, I think overthese past 200 episodes, I've
learned a lot, and I've sat withcertain, certain interviews
that I've wanted to speak moreabout, but I have just moved on

(42:13):
to the next episode withoutaddressing it, and so the one
example I'll give was DavidSuzuki, which was a huge
privilege to have him come onthe show and just a momentous
occasion.
But man, was he depressing mandid he have like this?
The first question was like arewe on the right track?
And he's like nope, we're WileE Coyote and Roadrunner and
we're off the cliff and we'relooking over at the cliff and we

(42:36):
are already off it.
So it just depends how far wewant to fall.
And it was like whoa, like thatwas.
That was really like upsetting,and I think it's important,
like there is information topull from that, and I think it
is useful for us to think are weon the right trajectory when it
comes to biodiversity, when itcomes to taking care of the
planet, when it comes topollution?

(42:57):
I think those are all validconversations, but I don't like
the message that we are alreadyoff the cliff.
I don't think that's productive, I don't think that's how I
would want it communicated, Idon't think that makes me want
to spring into action, and sobeing able to hear all of that
and go, that's reallyinteresting.
Being able to hear all of thatand go, that's really
interesting.
I want to respond, but myinterviews the first 200 have
always been let the guest speak.

(43:18):
Get out of the way, and that'sone of the challenges I see so
many interviewers struggle withis they get in the way of their
own interview, they interruptthe person.
They have their own thoughtthey want to jump in with, they
want to point out what they knowand they want to be seen.
And again, I understand thatknow and they want to be seen.
And again, I understand that.
But my goal has always been tohear from those voices, and so
now I want to be able tocontinue to do that let people

(43:39):
speak.
But I also want to be able todive into these issues in a
deeper way and be able to sharemy perspective and take this
person's opinion and thisperson's opinion and try and
find some sort of middle groundwhere we can move forward in a
constructive and useful way.
And so we're looking atswitching the brand.
We've done that with theincredible support of people who
will be coming out shortly, butwithout further ado.

(44:01):
I'd like to introduce you tothe Nuanced brand, thank you.

(44:40):
So that's it.
We're switching the name frombigger than me podcast to
nuanced.
It's much shorter, it's mucheasier to say and, and I think,
in one word, tells you whatwe're about and where we're
trying to take this, and thegoal is to have nuanced

(45:01):
perspectives.
I've heard one side is evil andthe other side is brilliant.
I've heard one side is evil andthe other side is amazing, and
I'm really, really tired of itand I think it's time that we
start to have mature, thoughtfulconversations.
And so there are a bunch ofprinciples that Nuanced is going
to follow that I think arereally important.
One of them is steelmanningpositions.

(45:23):
So I don't know if everybody'sheard of the term strawmanning,
but strawmanning is where youtake the weakest version of that
argument and you utilize that.
The goal of this podcast is nowgoing to be to steal man
perspectives, and this is goingto get, at times, controversial.
So, as some of you may know,I've interviewed people who are
called Indian residential schooldenialists, and I've

(45:45):
interviewed them to get anunderstanding of what they're
talking about, because if wedon't talk to them, they're
going to be on a team of theirown and we're going to be on a
team of our own and we're goingto be on a team of their own and
we're going to be on a team ofour own and we're going to
become polarized and I have nointerest in that.
And so we are going to havetough conversations.
Some of you may know I'veinterviewed Candice Malcolm, who
is one of the authors of a bookthat is incredibly unpopular

(46:08):
and it goes through the unmarkedgrave story and the book is
called Grave Error.
I've interviewed her twice andin story and the book is called
Grave Error.
I've interviewed her twice andin those conversations we
disagreed on a lot and she didso respectfully and we agreed on
a lot.
I do not want to see uscriminalize Indian residential
school denialism because thereare pieces of this conversation

(46:28):
that are important to have thatare uncomfortable, that I know
my own community and FirstNations people are going to feel
uncomfortable with.
But we have to have theseconversations if we're going to
show up in a thoughtful andrespectful way, and the only way
to bring down the temperaturein the room is to speak to these
people, and Candace wasincredibly respectful to me.
She was willing to hear my sideof the argument.

(46:49):
She was willing to have toughconversations and I think that's
becoming more and moreimportant.
One of the interviews I was themost nervous about was John
Rustad, and because all of myresearch, all of my preparation
for that interview, was that heis an evil person, that he
doesn't care about anybody else,that he's got all the wrong

(47:10):
mindset, and I was very nervousto go into it because I didn't
want to interview a caricatureof him.
I didn't want to end upspeaking to somebody and him
being like that's not myposition.
You read that in some article.
That's not who I am, and sojust reading all of the articles
that said he hates Indigenouspeople, he hates everybody who
doesn't agree with him, and thensitting down with him, he was

(47:31):
incredibly respectful,thoughtful, and he has some bold
positions that I don't agreewith.
But it's still worth havingthese conversations and I think
my big concern and one thingI've been thinking a lot about
is I'm afraid that we'rebecoming a less and less mature
society when we look at toughissues, that we want it to be A
or B and if you're anywhere inbetween then you're on the wrong

(47:52):
side of history and that reallyscares me because this does
impact my own community.
I don't want growth in FirstNations hatred.
I don't want people thinkingreconciliation is not worthwhile
.
But if we're not willing tocome to some of these tables and
have really tough conversationsabout, okay, what is the
evidence of the Sun Marks gravestory, what is the middle ground
of some of these complex issues, then we are going to be on a

(48:19):
team and we're not going to getanywhere and the support for us
is going to continue to diminish.
And we saw that in the lastfederal election, first Nations
issues and Indigenous issueswere not on the ballot box, it
was mainly the economy.
And that happens because thisconversation gets difficult.
And I had the privilege ofinterviewing the Minister for
Indigenous Services, canada andthe Minister for CERNAC, which
is Crown Indigenous Relations,and both of them were petrified

(48:40):
of the story.
And when I asked them offcamera why, why aren't you
raising, how you're supportingFirst Nations and getting water
treatment?
Why aren't you talking aboutall the things you're doing to
support Indigenous people theywere like this is not what our
cabinet wants to be talkingabout.
We don't think this is a strongissue to be discussing right
now and that scares me becausethese are things where
marginalized communities do needthese supports and are

(49:00):
receiving them, but it's not apolitical topic that is popular
right now and so they areavoiding it.
And that scares me because thatshows that what's going on with
this conversation is gettingmore complicated, and my
interview with Candace Malcolmhad 20,000 views of people
saying that I'm a moron, I'm anidiot, I'm on the wrong track,
and I appreciate all of thatbecause it means I'm reaching

(49:20):
the audience that needs to bereached when we're having these
really difficult conversations,and I'm just I'm really excited
to be able to go down this trackand start to interview people.
I again, I don't agree with.
Dallas.
Brody is currently one of thepeople I'm very interested in
interviewing and she's anincredibly controversial person.
If you haven't heard of her, shehas left the Conservative Party

(49:41):
for some of her extreme viewson First Nations people.
But if we don't bring down thattemperature, if we just leave
her to continue to do what she'sdoing, then we're not going to
get anywhere and there's noreason for her to reach out to
anybody right now to try andhave a reasonable conversation,
because everybody's justdenouncing her, and that really
does freak me out, because I wasalways taught to ask a better

(50:01):
question by my mother, and Ithink that that's what we need
right now who want to engage andtake whatever grain of truth
they're saying and take itseriously, so they know they're
being heard, but also that thepeople that they're speaking to
also understand that there aredifferent, more reasonable

(50:21):
perspectives taking place, andso my hope with Nuanced is not
only to continue to interviewpeople, but to start to dive
into issues and start to speakfor myself on some of these
issues that I'm really worriedabout, because I want to take
everything that I've learned andstart to channel it in a way
that communicates allperspectives and comes to some
reasonable middle ground to makesure we can continue to move

(50:44):
forward in a safe andresponsible direction, and I'm
incredibly excited to be goingon this journey.
I think the length of the name,I think the new brand, will
really help a lot of peopleconnect with it and understand
that we are committed to findingnuanced perspectives in a time
where we're finding more andmore polarization, and so,
without further ado, I wouldreally appreciate inviting Matej

(51:06):
out to talk about some of thebranding work that has gone into
what you've just seen.
So, matei, please join us.

Matej Balaz (51:22):
Hi everybody.
Everybody can hear me.
I promised everybody I wasgoing to make this show.
I've always had a dream to looklike a Britney Spears.
You know, today I have aBritney Spears mic.
I have debated that I was goingto pace the stage left and
right like she does.
You know, anyway, but obviouslyI came here to talk about you
know, what do we do?
My name is Mathieu Balazs andwe have a film company called

(51:44):
Kala Films.
We operate out of Abbotsford.
We've been around for 12 years.
Before I talk about the branding, before I talk about the
evolution of the intro and howwe sort of got to know Aaron, I
wanted to give a shout out tosome of our team members Dasha,
who is also my wife and she'sour lead editor.
She's pretty much the personwho's, perhaps you know,

(52:06):
responsible for 99% of theintros that have been created.
And obviously Camille, whoworked on the Oldry brand.
She's one of our graphicdesigners who we work with.
Alex, who worked on the newintros and is one of our junior
editors.
Harnoor, abby and Kiana, whoworked on the logo.
So it's a big team of people.
They're involved in the process.

(52:29):
I think that it takes a littlemore than just one person.
I make a joke that I'mbasically a person with a loud
opinion and I barely touch akeyboard other than sending an
email.
But you know I wanted to give ashout to a lot of hardworking
people.
Obviously, we met Aaron a whileback, I think it would be five
years ago.
I remember him operating thepodcast out of his living room

(52:50):
and he, sort of, you know,reached out to me and was saying
hey, you're a filmmaker fromAbbotsford and or from local
filmmaker.
Can you give me some advice howto film, you know?
And I came to his living roomand or the bedroom I don't know
exactly what it was and Iremember the cameras all
pointing down at the top of thepeople's heads, which is sort of
like nails on a on a on a borkchalkboard for me.
So I was like maybe we'll lowerthe cameras a couple inches,

(53:12):
you know.
So we've gone a long way.
You know we've gone to 17cameras.
You know I don't think I'veever had that many cameras
pointed at me in the same time.
But obviously, you know, we'vehelped with early branding,
where I felt the podcast was alittle more playful.
I think it was more about, youknow, having general

(53:41):
conversations with people fromall kinds, and I think that with
a nuanced branding, I thinkwe've Aaron has dived into a
little more nuanced conversation, so maybe I'm going to show the
logo.
And you know, we wanted tocapture.
You know who Aaron is.
Obviously he's from Chihuahua.
The eagle is very significant.
We wanted to capture hissignature suit.
I don't think I've ever seenAaron without the suit Actually,
no, I have at his home.
He does not wear a suit.
He actually wears, you know,comfortable clothes.
Obviously, the glasses are ahuge, big part of the branding.

(54:01):
I think that that was somethingthat we wanted to capture.
And so you know, really, thestorytelling.
I think that what I have seen asa filmmaker over the years was
really cool to see and really,you know, pushing for the
storytelling and pushing for the, as he calls it, nuanced
conversations I think you'veprobably heard it seven times
already but to really, you know,press people and to put them on

(54:24):
hot seat.
I think that that's where youknow, the work becomes
interesting for us because youknow, you have, you know,
somebody who's really interestedin having conversations with
both sides, which is reallydifficult.
I don't think that I have thatstrength sometimes, or I
sometimes I say to myself like,hey, you know how do you do it,

(54:44):
you know how do you.
But yeah, it's been amazing tosee him, you know, go after
things.
I mean, we've, you know,gravitated to his passion.
I think what was really amazingto see is is that somebody has
a huge passion for story and andand for for talking to people.
You know, he can talk to prettymuch anybody.
I've, I've, I've, I've, I'vereally admired, you know, the

(55:07):
way that he conducts interviews.
You know, I, I mean, I amshaking.
I'm not exactly a publicspeaker, you know, behind the
camera guy, and so I feel it'sbeen really amazing.
And so, you know, with thepodcast, we really wanted to
capture that and really create abrand, you know, from the
graphic standpoint Not that youwant me to talk too much about

(55:27):
graphic design, but you reallywanted to capture something that
has a chameleon, you know,effect.
If you will, that could beapplied to anything that could
take a certain, you know, image.
You can see the differentcolors and color palette and
whatever have you.
And so, if anybody's interestedin the type of topography we've
used, you can take a look.
We've used Neue Haas grotesquemedium in various different

(55:50):
sizes.
If anybody wanted to take aphoto, you're more than welcome,
you know.
But, you know, obviously it'sbeen a pleasure.
You know the whole team,rebecca and Tim.
You know the podcast has gone along ways and I think that you
know, for us the mostinteresting part was, you know,

(56:10):
really learning about the medium.
I remember always Aaron callsme like oh well, if you push the
intro to 45 seconds, theretention rate is much higher,
and we're like I don'tunderstand what a retention rate
is, I don't understand what anyof these things mean, and the
percentages and when we'rehitting these percentages.
So okay, well, it'll be 60second intro then, I guess.
And so it's been really, reallyawesome to learn about the

(56:34):
YouTube, you know, and so it's.
It's been really really awesometo, you know, learn about the
YouTube, learn about the world,that that he lives in, and I
think that what I've alwaysappreciated is is, you know the
stories he tells and and, andI'm looking forward to see you,
see you go forward.
But yeah, you know, one of thebig part was developing intros.
You know, I think we've gottenfrom a little more playful to

(56:56):
something a little more serious.
But the funny story I wanted totalk about is, if you notice
this logo, we've gotten througha lot of different variations.
I think we've gotten we've hadover 100 different versions, and
the eyes and the smile was thelast phase of the design of the
logo, and I think we've gottenthrough over 10 to 20 different

(57:17):
smiles, and so if I made atime-lapse of all the smiles and
facial expression that he'smaking, you would literally see
a person going through a panicattack or something like that.
But there was a smile once, andI'm texting with Aaron and he's
telling me like I really wantto be a little more approachable
, I want to have a smile Right.
And so I tell Hardenor, who's agraphic designer, is working on

(57:38):
the logo, hey, can we apply alittle bit of a smile.
And he sends me this photo thatlooked literally, you know,
like a portrait of HannibalLecter from from high school.
It was a Colgate, you know, acommercial type of a smile, and
so, anyway, and so, anyway, wehad a lot of fun.
This has been a fun process.
I hope that Aaron has enjoyedthis as much.

(57:58):
But anyway, without further ado, I wanted to share one of the
intros, and that's all from me.
Hopefully you enjoy the brand.
Hopefully you'll watch thepodcast and I want to give one
more round of applause to Aaronand to the episode.

Brad Vis (58:15):
I think in Ottawa there's a culture of denialism,
there is a culture of not comingclean.

Aaron Pete (58:23):
When did you know that the election was heading in
the wrong direction and thatthe Conservative Party was
unlikely to be successful in theelection?
What is your position onTrump's approach?
Is there any merit to what he'sdone?

Brad Vis (58:34):
What Donald Trump was doing is disrupting one of the
most successful economicrelationships the world has ever
seen.
I would have Brad from a senior, you know.
I just don't think Carney's theright guy for the job.
Facing the challenges we'refacing and then the next door,
I'd go to a young mom.
It's like I can't afford thegroceries.
I don't know what I'm going todo at the end of the month and I

(58:59):
don't know what's happening orif I'm even safe in my community
anymore and it was like peoplewere living on two completely
separate planets.

Aaron Pete (59:02):
What is your message to Canadians and your
constituents who might befrustrated?

Brad Vis (59:06):
I'm going to fight for you.
I take this job extremelyseriously.
Pierre Pauly have lost hisriding.

Aaron Pete (59:11):
Yeah, what was your reaction to that?
We've come a long way to fillin Matej's comments about the
YouTube algorithm in theseintros.
One thing we found and onething I've learned over this

(59:33):
journey is that the questionsyou ask at the beginning really
matter to whether or not peoplestick around to hear the whole
interview, and so one of thepieces that we started to
develop were these intros, wherewe highlight some of the
conversation that we had alreadyhad and start to put it
together, and then we started towork with Matei and Dasha on
doing some B-roll footage andadding that in and starting to

(59:53):
make it so people understoodwhat they were tuning in for.
But for many of the intros wewere doing 45 seconds, and then
they did one that was a minutelong and we saw an increased
retention rate for anybody who'sinterested, and so basically
every 30 seconds, youtube judgeswhether or not people are
sticking around or clicking away, and so the longer you have
them retained for, the more theypush it to more people, and so

(01:00:16):
for the first minute, it reallymatters whether or not people
are sticking around.
So now the intros are an entireminute in length, and the
reason for that is because wenoticed that that does better.
This interview with Brad Viz isat 18,000 views and continuing
to grow, and that was released,I think, three weeks ago, and so
we start to understand howthese things start to function.
And perhaps it's useful for youto know what's making you watch

(01:00:38):
YouTube videos all the way tothe end, because these are some
of the things people arethinking about on the other side
, on how to get people to stickaround.
How are people feeling aboutNuanced, good, positive?
Am I moving in the rightdirection?
Imagine.
This is a gigantic waste of mytime and I'm on the wrong track.

(01:00:59):
So the next piece I wanted totalk about was again Fortis, and
I'm incredibly grateful forKelsey and her team for being
willing to support the BiggerThan Me podcast.
I reached out to them I thinktwo years ago, if I'm not
mistaken.
She doesn't want to talk aboutit, but I reached out to them

(01:01:22):
two years ago and said I hadtraveled to their Tilbury site,
which is out in Burnaby Delta,close enough.
Same thing For the FraserValley.
Everything over there is allthe same thing.
And so we had gone out to oneof their sites and one of the
people had said yeah, we runthis site and during the 2022,
what was the year?
That was that?
2020, 22.
It was extremely cold.
If you can remember, it waslike minus 30 degrees for like a
long period of time and one ofthe operators said during that

(01:01:45):
period, we almost, like thiswhole system almost failed.
It got very close to failingand that would have impacted
British Columbians across theregion and they would have been
going cold.
And through other lifeexperiences, I also know that
the cold kills far more peoplethan the heat does, and so
having people without heat is anextreme risk, and that's when I

(01:02:05):
was like this sounds like agood podcast episode.
And so I had reached out toFortis and said I'd really be
interested in understanding thesystem more, because I kind of
get BC Hydro.
They have dams, I haveelectricity, it all goes
together Like I kind of get that.
I don't really understand whatnatural gas is.
I don't really understand whywe have two systems.
Why not just have one system.
I don't really understand anyof these things and I'd be

(01:02:26):
interested in learning more, andso over the past couple of
years we've spoken a lot aboutwhat would the topics be, how
would we approach it and all ofthose things, and I'm very
grateful for the people that youall selected because they've
turned into, I know, natural gas.
It doesn't sound that exciting,but it's become way more
interesting than I would haveexpected, and again, I think

(01:02:47):
there's something interesting tobe found in the places you
might least expect, and I dothink we take our gas,
electricity and a lot of theseinfrastructure pieces for
complete granted.
A lot of people don't understandsewage systems or lighting
systems or any of these things,and being on Chihuahua Council,
I've learned about sewage,active transportation, how to
support people with septicfields and all of these things

(01:03:09):
that I never thought I wouldever learn about
Telecommunications.
I met with Rogers about how weupgrade the telecommunications
on reserve and, like all thesethings, I never thought I would
ever learn aboutTelecommunications.
I met with Rogers about how weupgrade the telecommunications
on reserve and, like all thesethings I never thought I would
touch on, and it's been humblingto continue to learn from
people.
And again, every person I getto sit down with is passionate
about what they do, and I thinkthat's probably true for all of
you.
Everything you do that you'recommitted to is something you're

(01:03:31):
passionate about, and I thinkwe don't give enough pause for
the people who are passionateabout those things and who are
willing to do it without anypraise, glory or anybody
noticing the fact that they'redoing this important work.
And being able to highlightpeople behind the scenes who
make sure that you have heat inthe winter and make sure that
you have electricity that makesyour Wi-Fi run so you can watch
endless TikTok videos and watchYouTube videos, is really

(01:03:54):
important, and so, withoutfurther ado, I'd really like to
show you what we've done withFortis.

Carol Suhan (01:04:10):
I have to say I'm very proud of working for Fortis
and really delivering a vitalservice for everybody in the
province.

Aaron Pete (01:04:19):
But could we start at the beginning?
What is Fortis BC?

Energy efficiency not only will make your home
more comfortable and reduce yourutility bills, but potentially
could even improve your healthand what does that look like in
people's homes when they'regetting that Fortis bill?

What does that really mean, does that?

look like in people's homes when they're
getting that Fortis bill.
What does that really mean?
You could have a new furnaceand you could have solar and you
could have air conditioning,but if it's that air is just
leaking in and out of your house?

Why is it so important that you have BC,
hydro and Fortis BC?
What was the logic behindmaking sure that you have
different options?

Homes were saving on average.
A minimum was like $200 and$300 a year to $3,000, $4,000 a
year.
Having that heat, having thatenergy in people's homes, it's
not even a matter of comfort,it's a matter of safety.

Carol, thank you so much for being willing to join
us today.
Would you mind first brieflyintroducing yourself?

I'm Carol Suhan.
I work for FortisBC in theEnergy and Conservation Group,
and over the last seven-ishyears I've been working almost
exclusively with Indigenouscommunities, Again really trying
to improve energy efficiency inhomes and in community
buildings.
The idea, of course, is to makehomes more comfortable, reduce

(01:05:35):
utility costs, utility bills,and obviously climate change is
a part of that as well.

I'm incredibly grateful for Fortis to being
willing to support the podcastand, again, being willing to
share their trusted brand withmy brand, and being willing to
collaborate means a lot more tothe seek, more opportunities to
interview other, more prominentindividuals, and, as we continue
to grow, there are pieces thatyou need to have in order to

(01:06:12):
have the trust of those peopleto be willing to come on, and so
I'm incredibly grateful forthis journey.
I'm incredibly excited for wherewe're going, and I just can't
thank all of you enough forbeing willing to share your time
tonight to discuss where we'reheading and to celebrate where
we've been, but where we'regoing, I think, is just as
important, and so I want toclose us off in a good way, and

(01:06:34):
it wouldn't be in a good waywithout bringing out somebody
that I had the pleasure ofhaving on the podcast previously
.
I have to confess something Ifailed Elder Eddie Gardner
previously when I had him on.
We had him out to the GreatBlue Heron Reserve and it was 42
to 43 degrees in the sun and wedid three hours and this man

(01:06:56):
managed to sit it through, andit was incredibly fascinating to
hear his journey and hispassion for uplifting First
Nations, people, and supportingour continued growth and
figuring out a way to reconcilethe past and grow into the
future.
So, eddie, thank you so muchfor being willing to join us on
that hot day and for beingwilling to be such a mentor to
me.
Please give a round of applausefor Mr Gardiner.

(01:07:17):
Thank you.
RCM CIO, I want to hold my handsup to each and every one of you
for answering the call to behere today.
Give yourself a big pat on theback for being here too.

(01:07:38):
And I remember when I wasreally rabble-rousing and
raising hell about the open-endfish farms, raising public
awareness to get the federal andprovincial governments to get
the fish farms out of themigration routes of our wild

(01:07:59):
salmon, there was a reallystrong supporter of the fish
farmers and I was making allthis noise and I got some
publicity about it.
And this guy said Eddie Gardner, who's he?
He's just a minor localcelebrity.
But we have Aaron.

(01:08:21):
He's a major, more than a localcelebrity.
He's hitting the national scenewith all these interviews he's
doing with famous people.
And this evening what you heardwas how he started out and all

(01:08:43):
those brave new steps that hehad to take.
He had to step out of hiscomfort zone, he had to believe
in himself and he had tosurround himself with supportive
people.
And that's the sign of a leaderIf you ever want to achieve
anything in your life.

(01:09:03):
It's just like he says you havea dream.
Take small, simple steps in thebeginning, outside of your
comfort zone, and eventuallyyou're going to make it and
you're going to make it big.
And look what happened.
This is an amazing achievementand he must be congratulated.

(01:09:23):
And he does more than talkabout it.
He takes inspired action everysingle day and that's really
important for all of us to beinspired about and to do
likewise in our own lives.
And all the interviews thathe's conducted show that people

(01:09:50):
actually who believe inthemselves and really want to
make a difference in the world,they can do it and you can do it
.
Everybody has that inside ofthem.
They just have to wake thatcourage, wake up that bravery,
wake up that own wisdom andintelligence that we all have to

(01:10:10):
do something to make adifference.
And so I'm really proud.
I'm really proud of Aaron andthe people he's surrounded
himself with to continue on thegood work that he's doing.
Opening up a new chapter Nuancedand nuanced, bigger than me,

(01:10:35):
going from bigger than me tonuanced it's a challenge.
It's a huge challenge.
It means that he pitcheshimself against other people and
challenges other people.
He challenges himself, peopleand challenges other people.
He challenges himself and hechallenges other people, and
that's where the magic is goingto take place with this new
chapter that he's entering inright now boldly, and I followed

(01:11:05):
Aaron and what he's been doingwith his life.
It's very impressive.
You know, he's a graduate outof law school, he's on council
taking up leadership, he'spursuing to become chief of

(01:11:25):
Chabotlo First Nation and lookwhat he's doing with all of this
.
It's absolutely inspirational.
I so admire it and I wish himwell.
You know, I wish him well andcontinued amazing success, and
so I'm going to sing this eaglesong.

(01:11:48):
We saw the eagle in the pictureabout nuanced, and that image
does have the eagle on it andthe eagle for For First Nations
people it means that it's aspirit.
It's a spirit that carries ourprayers to our great mystery.

(01:12:15):
But the eagle is a teacher andthe eagle teaches us to take
that long vision, the long-rangevision.
As the eagle soars up into thesky, it can see all around, but
it also pays attention to thedetails and it can swoop down,

(01:12:37):
you know, and catch its preyvery swiftly.
So it's attentive to detail aswell, and we learn a lot from
the spirit of the eagle and howit takes care of its young ones,
and the eagle spirit issomething that I think is part

(01:13:02):
of who Aaron Peed is.
Thank you.

Eddie Gardner (01:13:11):
Oh yeah, oh yeah , oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

(01:14:00):
, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

(01:14:23):
, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ¶¶.

(01:15:12):
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

(01:15:57):
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, wee-oo-oo-hee-hee,wee-oo-oo-hoo-hee-oo,
Wee-oo-oo-hee-hee,wee-oo-oo-hoo-hee-oo,

(01:16:20):
wee-oo-oo-hee-hee, you are theonly one to fly that high Fly,
eagle fly, fly soar through thesky, or through the sky,

(01:16:48):
Wee-oo-oh-oh-oh, wee-oo-oh-oh-oh, wee-oo-oh-oh-oh,
wee-oo-oh-oh-oh.

OCMCIS, thank you.
O-c-m-c-i-a, thank you.
It's always good to acknowledgeFortisBC, the sponsor.
Our hands go out to the sponsorfor this evening as well, and a

(01:17:26):
special thanks to the crew whomade this happen and to each and
every one of you for makingthis so special as well.
Oh, see him.
Yes, you can say it.
Thank you, thank you.

(01:17:48):
So, very briefly Eddie mentionedit I am running for chief of my
community and I just want toreally appreciate Eddie for all
of his support.
My mother and I grew up off ofreserve, completely disconnected
from our culture and ourcommunity, and it's individuals
like Eddie who say that that'syour birthright to connect with

(01:18:09):
your culture, to connect withyour community, to hold up your
culture and your teachings in agood way.
And there's a lot in FirstNations communities that a lot
of trauma of people who don'tthink that that's your right to
be able to access those thingsor connect or to serve or to
give back.
And I just I can't appreciateEddie enough for making the

(01:18:29):
culture accessible to otherpeople like yourselves, but for
always wanting to support othersand connecting and learning
more and and trying to be asteward for that.
So I just I can't appreciatehim enough.
In terms of the formalities ofthis evening we are at a close
and I appreciate all of you forbeing willing to come.
We have lots more food stillsitting out there, so please eat

(01:18:52):
it, because I cannot eat 17pizzas to myself or the rebrand
is not going to be reflective ofwhat I'll look like after 17
pizzas.
We have more drinks, moresnacks, and so I hope you don't
rush to your vehicles and rushhome.
I hope you're able to connect.
We'll have everybody out frontwilling to chat with you if you
have any questions.
I hope that this just can be arelaxing evening where you have
another drink, chat with yourfriends and then you're able to

(01:19:14):
head out to your evenings.
But feel free to head out ifthat's your preference.
But thank you all for beingwilling to attend tonight.
I really appreciate it.

Eddie Gardner (01:19:20):
Thank you.

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