How do you mix business with pleasure?
Capital Ideas members share how they marry work and play
“When you love what you do, it’s very easy to become friends with clients and co-workers. As a coach, I can truly say that my clients are friends and we often go for lunch or dinner together. We meet for coffee and we discuss more than just business… My work is my pleasure, and the two are constantly mixing.” — Natalie Blais, owner of Natalie Blais Consulting Inc. — NatalieBlais.com
“The best way to mix business with pleasure is to love the people you work with and be present for the task at hand. Always be grateful for the opportunities before you and enjoy every moment, even the hard ones. Business and pleasure shouldn’t be mutually exclusive — the business you do should be enjoyable. Otherwise, why be an entrepreneur?” — Sara Dasko, CEO of Free Mind — freemindls.com
“Ask clients or potential clients to attend a festival or event with you... The idea is to be in a relaxed, noobligation environment where you can build and strengthen the relationship versus making an instant sale. The key is to focus on having fun and getting to know the person instead of focusing on business expectations.” — Devesh Dwivedi, business coach at Idea2Inception — idea2inception.com
“I mix business with pleasure during inspiring networking events or by collaborating with other female entrepreneurs. Any strong business relationship is based on trust, so why not develop business relationships that already have a strong foundation of trust through friendship?” — Tanya Hartz, doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture at The Fire Within Acupuncture & Wellness — fireacupuncture.com
“My passion is creating, so the majority of my pleasure and downtime come from designing the embroidery for our baby blankets... I do, however encourage myself take at least one day a week out of my sewing studio. It’s a difficult thing for me to do, but in order to have some balance in my life, I must dedicate a day to myself.” — Valery Klassen, owner and designer at Sun 7 Designs — sun7designs.com
“We love Stampede and believe that taking time to enjoy it is a good way to support our community. It’s good to take a break, but staying top of mind is also good for business. Mixing business with pleasure is a bit of a balancing act: We invite clients to Stampede events, which allows us to show appreciation for their business and build a relationship for future business; we write and schedule social media posts, newsletters and blog posts in advance; we record a voice message that lets customers know we are enjoying Stampede but are available to them as well.” — Brenda Mahoney, owner of Vin Gogh Paint & Sip Studio — vingogh.ca
“My boyfriend is a musician who plays with Chris Cummings and Duane Steel, so the easiest way for me to mix business with pleasure is to invite my customers and colleagues out to see their shows. In addition to hearing some of the best live country music Canada has to offer, we have a chance to get to know each other better on a personal level and further develop our business relationship.” — Barbara May, founder of Stumbling Blocks at Work — stumbling-blocks.com
“Being able to incorporate my love for animals with my passion for photography is the perfect way to always be mixing business with pleasure. I also enjoy improving my photography skills, so taking workshops and courses is also very fun for me.” — Holly Montgomery, owner and photographer at BrindleBerry — brindleberrypetphoto.com
“I’m always eager to attend networking events to meet others and learn about the work they do. For me, it’s about building the relationship and exploring their needs… it’s always a pleasure to hear people’s stories and find out what’s important to them in their work or home lives.” — Michelle Phaneuf, conflict manager at REA — rea-agreements.com
“I’m fortunate enough to do a job that I love, which means that for me, business and pleasure are one and the same. It makes such a difference getting up in the morning to go to a job that you can’t wait to get to.” — Susan Smith, graphic designer at Pretty on Paper Designs — prettyonpaperdesigns.com
“We get to meet very few of our clients, as almost all of our clients are global. When I’m on vacation or at a conference, there’s usually a client or two that I’ll call on just to say hi and meet for the first time.” — Glenn Street, founder and president of Street Characters Inc. — mascots.com
“Every month I allocate five to 10 hours to pursue side projects that align with my personal passions... I also arrange networking and business meetings at my favourite restaurants and coffee shops, or I use the opportunity to try out any new establishments that I’ve been meaning to explore.” — Connor Turner, president of Armadillo Studios Inc. — armadillostudios.ca
“For me, it’s all about balance; you need to find the mix of work and life that’s right for you. I’m lucky that our clients at The Agency are lovely people, and I genuinely like spending time with them at various industry events. I also try to get to know people in our industry beyond the day-to-day work formalities; in fact, some of my dearest friendships started out as work relationships.” — Arleigh Vasconcellos, principal at The Agency — theagencyinc.ca