The Two Twenty

When we think about municipalities and their responsibilities, we often tend to think about their role in providing day-to-day basic services. While this is true, these decisions intersect with values like equity and inclusivity, despite not often being talked about. Today's guest, Saskatoon City Councillor, Hilary Gough, is passionate about equitable access, representation, and inclusion. Through her role, she hopes to bring discussions around these values into municipal chambers. In this episode, we hear about Hilary’s interesting journey to working in the municipality of Saskatoon. She sheds light on what she has learned about municipal decision-making and how the great service provision has surprised her tremendously. Although many things are done right, there is always room for improvement, and we get into triple-bottom-line decision-making and the importance of balancing economic and social outcomes. Along with this, we discuss the anti-racism movements in the city, Saskatoon’s COVID response, and why Hilary is so excited about what’s on the horizon for her hometown. To hear from this incredible member of our municipality, tune in today!

Last time on Two Twenty, we shared a quote by Margaret Mead, and it applied so well to the work by Jacob and Katie Sayles. On this episode, we are going to apply it to the work done by our guest, Stephanie Yong. Stephanie is joining us on the podcast today to talk about Human-centred design thinking. Steph is an entrepreneur and currently has her own consulting practice that’s focused specifically on Design Thinking Methodology and how it applies to business for deeper user experience research to identify common patterns of behaviour in people and to pinpoint real-life problems and how to apply a solution to that problem.

Margaret Mead once said, “Never underestimate the power of a small, dedicated group of people to change the world, indeed that’s the only thing that ever has.” This quote is especially relevant for today’s episode of Two Twenty and the discussion about co-working spaces. Today we will be talking to Jacob and Katie Sayles who were in on this co-working movement from the beginning. And, as you’ll hear today during our chat, there’s a lot more to it than just space. Jacob comes from a software background and found it very isolating and was looking for a more community-based working environment. He then opened Office Nomads, the first co-working space in Seattle. To support this business he wrote Nadine, the first open-source co-working platform and founded Open Coworking, a non-profit dedicated to the co-working movement. His wife, Katie, is a designer who was working from her home, but often found herself becoming distracted by the most mundane things. When she was introduced to Office Nomads she instantly fell in love with the idea of co-working spaces, the design behind it, as well as the community that comes with it. Katie now plays a vital role in the design aspect of creating optimal co-working spaces. Stay tuned for today’s episode of Two Twenty to hear all about the journey of the Co-Working Movement with our special guests, Jacob and Katie Sayles. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Jacob and Katie’s personal journeys through the co-working space and community movement.  
• The difficulties that came with how to communicate and educate on co-working spaces.
• Values and culture in the co-working space versus traditional workspace.
• Are co-working spaces for anyone? Understanding whether it is for you.
• The importance of design plays in cultivating community in co-working spaces. 
• How to navigate the difficulties encountered in co-working spaces.
• Whether design elements apply across the board to different co-working spaces in other places.
• Differences between regions: community influence on the design of co-working spaces.
• Why big corporations are sending employees to co-working spaces and the result. 
• Trends in technology and design that will influence co-working as it changes and evolves. 
• Jacob shares ideas around how to cultivate connections in co-working spaces.
• Katie talks “nerdy design things” that will shape co-working spaces in the future.
• Does co-working space change the way we work?

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Two Twenty Saskatoon

Open Coworking

Office Nomads

Office Nomads on Twitter

Katie Davis-Sayles on LinkedIn

Jacob Sayles

Jacob Sayles on LinkedIn

Jacob Sayles on Twitter

Digital Spaces

Digital Spaces on LinkedIn

In this episode of the Two Twenty Podcast, we are joined by Lonnie Robinson and Fred Khonje from Affinity Credit Union to talk about small business banking and the amazing work they are doing to help companies get off the ground! Our guests share some very simple and helpful advice for asking questions and gauging your bank and how they are serving you before we dive into the work that is done at Affinity and the services they currently offer.

Joining us on this episode is the owner of Studio D and photographer, Matt Ramage, and Carli van Heerden, the founder of We Edit Podcasts. They share their experience with blogs, vlogs, podcasting, and more so that listeners can learn the tips and tricks that make social media experiments successful! This episode is for those of you who are always trying to build community and attract larger audiences on social media, but who are looking for new approaches and are ready to hear it straight from those who have made successful careers in the media space.

Today on the show, we welcome educator, writer, speaker, and benefits advisor, Andrea Hanson. Andrea is a change-maker at Sutton Financial and was recently featured in Business Advisor Magazine. She has participated in the Betty-Ann Heggie Womentorship Program and the Raj Manek Mentorship Program as both a protégé and mentor. She’s spearheaded several events and initiatives such as Seeds for Dreams that supports leadership in communities. Andrea is also a past recipient of the Athena Young Professional Leadership Award and more recently the Kent Smith-Windsor Leadership Award. 

Since mentorship is something that happens often coincidentally and informally around the Two Twenty, we thought we’d invite Andrea on the show for her vast professional experience in mentorship. In this episode, we discover what made Andrea reach out for a mentor mid-career, her experiences in the various mentorship programs she has participated in, and her top tips for building a successful mentor-mentee relationship, whether formally or informally. 

She also shares her experience working as a mentor to others and how this has expanded her own personal growth. By the end of this episode, you’ll know more about the expectations of a mentor-mentee relationship, the various avenues available for finding a mentor, and why we all need a bit of inspiration and motivation no matter where you are in your career today!