Seis diseñadores en vivo desde Vancouver, en inglés

0:00Welcome to Mucho Habitat Podcast. For all of you curious about how do I sound in English, this is it. Putting myself in an awkward spot with the only mission of growing up. For all of you new, let me tell you what the podcast is about. We collect the stories of creating Latin people working abroad.

0:40Latins that have left their countries and had to face some challenges in order to conquer their own dreams. I collect these stories because I have a dream. I want more Latin people kicking asses all over the world. world. In Latin America we live in a hard mode and we are not taking advantage of it. Our countries prepare us every single day and we are not aware of it. This is the reason behind this podcast that you get inspired by people doing it and making you to take action. That is the reason. This is a quite unique episode for the following three reasons. The first one because it's not in Spanish obviously. The second one I had a chance to have six different guests in one episode and last but not least it was recorded with live audience which made it such a challenge but super super fun I have to say it. It was recorded in the Vancouver Dribble meetup that I hosted last month.

1:44I would like to thank you guys for joining and thank you the Dunes Famous Restaurant for having Before you guys start to listen to this episode, I would like to tell you a quick story. A couple of months ago, we went to hike one of the most popular mountains in the area, the Panorama Reach in Garibaldi Provincial Park. You guys can Google it. This mountain has stunning views. You guys can see an incredible view of the Garibaldi Lake. It's a 10, 11 hours hiking. So we were there, super mentalized that it was going to be hard. and we started the hike. We saw less and less people on the trail but we thought it was it was normal since it was a pretty difficult hike it wasn going to be that busy after four hours of hiking we reached the top but guess what it was the top of another mountain it turns out that the gps sent us to another hiking we didn't realize of this and got to some other place we were like like i don't know disappointed we were a bit sad even when we were there in one of the most beautiful places in the province. After a few minutes of regretting, this came to my mind.

3:01We were expecting something else and that expectation wasn't allowing us to see the wonderful landscape in front of us. It was real, the view was amazing and we weren't enjoying it because we want something else. Well, I think this happens in real life too. We don't appreciate the house that we live because we want something bigger. We don't appreciate the car that we have because we want something newer. We don't appreciate our jobs because we want something better. Even in our relationship, we expect too much and stop seeing what we have.

3:45And the most important thing is to be thankful of everything around us. So let's appreciate what we have now. I really believe that things we want eventually will come to us once we are ready for them. My name is Aldo Tobias. I hope you enjoy this episode. And please leave your comments. Make comments, make fun about my English, about my accent. And I'm totally fine. And I'm not even a poor guy. So let's get started. My name is Aldo Torrez and this is Mucho Habitat. Alright, welcome guys to the first episode ever recorded in English from Mucho Habitat podcast.

4:28So we're here in the Vancouver Dribble Meetup and we have a bunch of cameras. Yeah, we have a bunch of cameras. I feel important now. Oh my god, it's so good to release the pressure. When I was here, like at 6.30, no one has been show up and I felt so nervous, but this is coming well so far. So we have with us a bunch of guests. I'm going to introduce each of them. I not going to make pauses I just going to go straight at it I don even apologize about my English because this is part of it right so okay so we have me compadre Milo how are you Milo I'm good I'm good how about yourself all good so Milo I have three questions for you and basically I know you're not in the creative industry per se but I know you can explain us a little bit of like the first question I want you to ask is like why did you immigrate like why you're here I guess I can speak for everyone here we all want new challenges we want to say new challenges especially especially for us guys that live in Latin America or we from Latin America, we know how it is so just wanted to get better, grow as a person. Actually like the plan wasn't to come here to stay, I wanted to come here for one year for my masters, go back to my own business whatever, but I don't know, once you're here it's not even the work or the money, it's just like I I don't know, the city is different.

6:13You got nature, you got new things, downtown, quiet places. I don't know, I always tell my friends from Mexico, it feels like a big city without the pressure of a big city. It's very chill, very calm. You don't feel that rush, right? But it's also, it's just nice. After coming here, I was like, okay, maybe not one year, maybe you'll do a master's in two years, like as you're supposed to. And when I was finishing my master's, maybe like look for a job, like let's see what happens. And you get a job and then suddenly you want to be a resident and you want to be a citizen and then you're stuck.

7:00I don't know, like there's bad things, like it's expensive, but even though like there's a reason we're still here, no? Like we don't move, so it's fine. I'm enjoying it. That's great. What has been the most difficult part about working abroad, studying abroad? Like what do you feel challenging I think studying is easy Like you come here to school school like be it hard or easy program it doesn matter Like you have a path I think hard thing is getting out there and making connections like as someone like if you're not from Vancouver it's very hard to break into the Vancouver circle or the Canadian circle like connections wise so just put yourself out there and make connections go to events like this one like try to network like get let the world like know you exist you You know, like everyone has something to give.

8:07So just if you stay at home, you don't try to socialize, you don't try to make connections, you don't try to get interviews, get work. So it's, I don't know. Yeah, yeah, you have to put yourself out there. That's one of the most difficult parts, of course. And what else? What I have for you here is like, what are your takeaways so far? What have you learned about being here and coming from Mexico? I know we're from the same city, we know what we're talking about, but people isn't all over the place in Latin America. I mean, you grow as a person.

8:52Back in Mexico, it's that easy. You have an education, you know everyone. and you know that if you're out of a job, a friend will bail you out. Your parents, your family, I don't know. You'll find a way. So you come here to be on your own. You come here to challenge yourself. I think that's worth it by itself. Let's forget about the money, your career. It's just like you as a person, you become better, and that's it. That's awesome. I love it, love it. One last question for you, Milo.

9:28It's like, if you can give a piece of advice for the people in Latin America that wants to work abroad, what would it be? What would be that advice? I would say just do it. Stop thinking about it. Take the leap. If it's not for you, then you realize when you're here, but don't stay there and stay with that what if. What if I just take the chance? Like, we're all here and no one knew anyone at first. No one, like, maybe I had like worse in wisdom you guys, maybe, I don't know.

10:11Like, we start the same, we start from zero, but look like there's so many people that have made it here, so just take the chance. And if you like it, then great. And if you don't, then you go back and you won't lose anything. You'll stay, you'll be at the same as you are now. So stop thinking about it, just take your chances. Like you only live once, right? Awesome, I love it. Thank you Milo for being part of this podcast. Let's give a chance to someone else. Of course. All right, we have Vania here, also from Mexico. Mexico City, right? Okay, this is important for Mexico City. People say that they are from Mexico City.

10:54Yeah, super proud. Alright, Vania, the main question here is like why do you immigrate? Why people immigrate? To be honest, this wasn't my idea at the very beginning. When I arrived here it was because my dad very... This is like the culture from Mexico a little bit. My dad is like very... he's like a doctor and he's like not creative at all. So when I finished my degree in graphic design back in Mexico, he said you should continue your studies and I'm gonna support you but just with two behind two conditions and one was to leave the country to go somewhere else and the second one it shouldn't be a Spanish speaker country okay and also the program so I was okay like so far I just know English and like very so so okay so I'm just gonna pick whatever is out there that is in English and blah so I pretty much just like arrived to Vancouver to Vancouver Film School actually and I studied digital design program of one year and my idea was to just come here study one year and come back to Mexico but then yeah as every foreigner and everyone you just like end up loving Mexico Vancouver sorry and the Canadians and everything and yeah I just decided to stay longer I look for a job and yeah luckily I'm still here.

12:19Four years at best. Yes. Awesome. Yeah. So the most difficult thing that you have been through over those four years where could it be Wow I would say that permits okay or like design wise both people I think that it been just like the permits and like yeah to look for a study permit is not as hard but to look for a job and then the work permit and eventually the PR if you want to stay longer that's been like the most difficult thing but um yeah once you achieve it you see it as the biggest thing of course i know i mean well i'm in the middle of that situation okay it's part of the things that you you see like canadian people you say like you guys have everything right yeah exactly yeah yeah but it's part it's part of the thing so yeah i've been through so many chats about this with with mexicans canadians like everyone around the world and you have to fight it but yeah when you do it it's great it's part of the deal yeah okay so what What are your takeaways so far? What is your verdict about all this that you have been doing?

13:29Well, I think that I've learned many things as a person and obviously as a professional as well. I'm super grateful that my dad actually opened my eyes and sent me to another country to just enjoy in general just different cultures and different points of view and everything, not just in like the design industry but also as a for us people as uh yeah as we are um i think that yeah just like the culture and how how much you can grab from others is my biggest takeaway um i get super inspired by the cultures different cultures languages and the struggles that everyone has in their own lives to chat with different uh perspectives with people with different perspective points of view is is very interesting so yeah I would say that and yeah Vancouver as well because it's huge and multicultural and yeah you can have that a lot and enjoy it. What about the like a challenging experience like that you have lived like something like you think like oh my god what am I doing here I should be in there in Mexico eating torta de tamal. Oh yeah the food like what do I miss the most?

14:47No no like a difficult thing that you find I mean it a difficult situation that you have been through when you were here Well I don want to get super deep into it I gonna cry no i think that you face loneliness eventually um i don know it just hard to immigrate um but uh it definitely i don know something in yourself grows and you get mature and i don't know you just like feel so badass after when you like achieve this kind of thing so um yeah i don't know you kind of like discover that you have way much more than you think that you have so your confidence just grows um yeah like all these meetups and everything it just helps as well you will face a lot of loneliness as i said and these kind of things just uh yeah make the best out of it like you face you you realize that many people are like in the same place and i just love that to chat with them and yeah even if the the language sometimes it's a hard thing because it's like a barrier sometimes.

15:51Yes, absolutely. Yeah, you will see that everyone is on the same page and you just have to check. This is something, I mean the language itself is something that I was just telling when I was just starting the meetup. I'm doing this because I want to challenge myself with the language. Of course, yeah. Because you're kind of like comfortable with a certain level of language, right? Big time. Yeah. You can communicate, but then when you are in a meeting and then it's like, Oh, because this passed like two days ago. Oh, yeah. And I was sitting there in the meeting, and I have to explain something, and it's like, oh, like I'm way smarter in Spanish. Oh, yeah, and you're funnier, and you're like, yeah, people just get it better. Yeah, that's something I used to struggle.

16:32I struggled with it actually in my first two years here and in Mexico, yeah. Like everyone has a lot of slang, and you can express yourself in a way, and everyone will get it, and you will definitely be like more fun and you know like this like more saucy I would say but no when you face the struggle of language you realize that you're just like boring and you cannot explain yourself and it's frustrating but yeah you just have to make your way as you said I try to challenge myself a lot and even with my Mexican friends that we try sometimes it's very hard and when you have like some drinks on and yeah it's not it's not achievable but we try to speak in English and to just like have the same humor and yeah it's just years of practice probably and yeah I don know one last question for you Vania is like you can give a piece of advice for all the people that is thinking about like go somewhere else where could it be um i would say man that a hard one um i would say don think too much just go for it it's definitely it's a like mexicans and like in general people i think that everywhere they're really nice and they will help you eventually if you need if you need some help there's always angels around the world helping. So I don't think that is as hard.

17:57Yes, of course it's hard and like the older you get they say, right? It's harder but I would say just do it and try it. You have nothing to lose. Life is the the last thing that you can lose and I don't think that you can die trying that but yeah, I would say yeah just try to do it and keep your thoughts clean and stay positive about it as well you're always learning and that's something that you have to keep in your heart so yeah that's great all right thank you so much for sharing your experience yeah we're gonna share like for example your portfolio and everything you want to share is going to be in the description of the episode so don't worry about that. Thank you so much for joining us.

18:48So there you go, a little bit of Spanish there. We have Nacho and Karina. Karina. Karina. Nacho and Karina. Also from Mexico, I might say. Mexico and Peru. I'm from Peruvia. Oh, Peruvia, the best Peruvian ever in Mucho Habitat. Yeah, let's get some Inca Cola here. I built my Peruvian hat just for you. That's great, how are you guys? Good, we're doing good. It's Friday, having fun. Yes, that's right. Enjoying life. Quick question here and it's basically like, first of all if you can tell us a little bit about yourself, what you guys are doing here.

19:32Yeah, so basically we came, well I came from Mexico to study, like the same that a lot of people do, and then you are just like, oh Vancouver, I love it, I want to stay. So you start all the paperwork to stay and work and just try to... Further your career in design. What about you, Nacho? For me, it was more about... I wanted to further my career and I started looking to different places. I actually applied to Chicago first and then one thing led to another. A friend of mine who was living in Vancouver at the moment went back to Peru and he told me, hey, maybe you should apply to BFS in Vancouver because there's a lot of big industry up there.

20:21And I did and in two weeks I was in and Chicago took like a year to get back to me. So, yeah, I mean, one thing led to another. That's great. And then, like, the question that I'm asking around is, like, why did you immigrate? Like, why? I mean, you tell us about it a little bit, like, yeah, I came here to study and this and that. But do you think it's more like a, is it like a problem? Not a problem, but it's something that people want to change their lives? Or it's just like a casualty? Coincidence? It's a coincidence, yes. I think one of the main reasons to be honest when you have the possibility like money wise like lifestyle and safety in Canada you know that it's much better than in probably some of our countries in Latin America and probably that's something also design I feel it's much more value of like they value more your your work what you do yeah the profession is a little bit more it's harder not sure what do you think was a question like why do people immigrate like it's something like they are looking for yeah I think like everybody immigrants for different reasons. There are some people who feel comfortable staying in one place and I think that's okay as well regardless of where you're from. I have like most of my friends from school they stay back in Peru and they're happy doing what they do regardless of the political situation here and there and all the limitations they face.

22:12For me I was happy living in Peru as well. I did not feel like I needed to move but at the same time there this like you know this push inside yourself that you want to experience new things in life and at the end of the day you just try different things you can either try them here or try them there right i mean vancouver is today but maybe tomorrow it could be i don know mexico or it could be wherever else i i love the way that you say it because i i after living here for four years i feel like that sensation like it can be anywhere else right like i mean you came here it's good then you have everything that I mean people is sharing with us but then at the end is like it could be anywhere else yeah in a way like frontiers are in your head that's right yeah and you know barriers are made by your own creation good thing about like work profession is like we can like you know like a work everywhere yeah you're a lawyer yeah that's yeah that's more complicated I I come from a family of psychologists and they can handle it.

23:26Another question that I have for you guys is like what has been the most difficult part about being working abroad? You go first. If you can get the microphone a little bit closer. Like this? There you go, yes. Well, I think just being from somewhere else, sometimes you feel that people that are from here already have that huge advantage, starting from language and then, I don't know, for me it's always hard to socialize.

24:08I think they have already talked about it, but yeah, like your personality is a bit different Yeah, I think those are for me the main like struggles, but you also like learn a lot of it and at the end of the day you just Do it and you learn to Yeah, like just embrace it and yeah keep going I'm not too sure, to be honest. I've been thinking about it. I heard you ask someone else before us, but I don't know what is the hardest part of integrating. I could say leaving family or friends behind It just something that I felt like I did Or I could say language and it just something that I felt like I worked on and tried to improve I guess whichever decision you take whether it is to immigrate or to stay, you are going to face challenges and you're just going to have to face them and try to learn how to cope with them.

25:17That's right, yeah. That's exactly what I was thinking and what I was saying. Another question for you guys is like your takeaways so far, what you have learned so far. The old experience? Yes. Thank you. You go first. Okay, okay. So, an interesting story is a friend of mine from Peru came over probably what, like a month ago. And he's staying with us. Okay. He's sleeping on our couch. And you know, I try to express to him the... how would I say this?

25:55The attitude that he should have towards work-wise in order to stay here and grow in a different country. I would always say that you need to work as hard as you can in order to... you know, because you can come to a new place where nobody knows you and whatnot, but my point is like I feel and what I've been trying to express to him is that you have you almost have to act like as if you have like everything against yourself, like everything against you like if you go and you perform at your job, it's not enough like they could hire anybody anyone else at whichever job you're doing and And you gotta go there and show that even though they could hire anyone else, there's a reason why they should stay with you.

26:53So it's not about giving 110%, I believe it's giving like 250% if not, they're gonna eat your life. Wherever you go, I think wherever you go. It's a good way to challenge yourself and to go an extra mile, right? Like it's always... Especially for design. forward like why is the 80% or yeah give everything that you have right like if you if you come here and or here or wherever you go and you don't you don't worry hard enough I think might as well just stay home That it Alright like one last question Oh sorry No no That good One question that I have for you.

27:36Is the the English barrier that we all face. I know like, I mean you guys have pretty good English, but is this something like a, I get the comment like very often like, hey, how do I do it with my English? Or I don't know, I have like a guest in the podcast, he was from Colombia and now he's living in Russia and it's fun, right? Because it's like you have to learn a new language and all that. So for you guys, how that had affected your pathway or anything? I mean, did you challenge that part or you were okay with the English part?

28:20No, like I think that you have to work on that all the time. Like even, well I don't consider my English like perfect. So I have like every day you can learn a word, like slangs, everything right? So it's just something that you have to learn to, I don't know, like leap and always try to improve and learn. If you don't do it, do it. It's part of the show. It's part of the show, yeah. Right, journey. Macho?

29:01So English for me... Because you have been in Chicago, so it was, I mean like... Yeah, I mean, Yeah, I mean, for me, English hasn't really been a limitation as much as, I mean, for Karina, I always try to help her with English. I'm not saying that my English is perfect by any, like, you see, I can't even think of a word. I've always tried to improve my English by reading and listening to podcasts and whatnot.

29:36But for me it has been more about not about expressing myself in English but communicating, being better at communication overall regardless of what language it is. So for instance, this is something that I told my boss not to too long ago. Like I told him, hey, I don't know if you noticed, but I've been trying to express myself during meetings, even though it has been harder for me in the beginning just because it's hard to express yourself in whichever language, you know? And I've been working on that a lot. And, you know, I'm expressing myself by, you know, looking people in the eye and managing the tone of your voice and stuff like that without your voice breaking.

30:35Those things that when you don't practice or you're not aware of, they just suck. Communication just sucks and you feel like you didn't do a good job. It's like a cultural thing. I remember my very first day in the agency that I'm working now. I got there and I want to handshake with everyone in the room. And when you're here, the way that you express yourself, it's not even like you have the spotlight, but you feel like you do crazy things with your corporal expressions as well. It's different. You have to learn all that. And it's fun. It's fun. Yeah, it's a challenge for sure.

31:14just to notice those kind of details in society that they are a little bit different. Yeah. They're like, oh, maybe they don't shake the hand like this, but they shake your hand. That's right. Awesome, guys. One last question for you. It's going to be the piece of advice that you can give to all of those people that they want to immigrate, that they want to come, like not to Canada, but anywhere in the world, the world and they are just thinking about it like they are thinking i don't know when you're in that spot you might have a lot of questions a lot of doubt and then at the end what do you what could you guys say to that people well i would just say go for it like yeah don't think it twice like of Of course do your research and try to be as informed as possible about the place that you're going, what you're doing, etc.

32:15But at the end of the day you will learn along the way. So just go for it don think twice and be confident in who you are and yeah like those you do your best professionally and and yeah i would i would say something along the same lines just go for it because if you don't go for it you're never going to do it but i would also add that just be aware of like i said before you know like it's gonna be hard and if you don't put everything that you have into it you have all the cards against you you know and there is no reason why like the world doesn't know you anyway so there's no reason why they would hire you instead of hiring someone else or give you the job that you actually need because nobody really cares. Yeah they won't give you a chance right?

33:14Yeah I mean you gotta prove that you're here and you're here you know you're gonna give everything we've got if not they're just gonna hire someone else which is easier someone else who doesn't need the papers all right thank you guys for sharing that with us someone else here. Thank you, the crew. Who else? Who else wanna join? Lia. Lia wants to join the podcast. The first... Lia! The first Korean ever in the podcast. How amazing is that? Alright, so we have Lia.

33:59We work together, let me tell you that. the meantime she's gonna put her headphones on yes that's awesome Leah oh you are you are the first Korean ever in mucho habitat in my podcast thing is like I interview Latin people and then this is an exception right this is the Vancouver meetup and thank you for joining the meeting to the meetup thank you for joining the podcast it's gonna be available I'm gonna tell you details after so you can share with your friends but yeah okay so tell me a little bit what you do now here in Canada.

34:38In Canada? Yeah. I'm a graphic designer at PaceCrew now. I used to study sciences. Sciences? Yeah at UBC I switched my major three times I hated it And at the end of the last term I realized oh I have to do something creative artistic So I switched my major to graphic design and I love it. You love it? How do you, how do you, how long have you been here? In Canada? Yes.

35:21Almost 12 years now. Almost 12 years? Yeah. And when you were about to start, well, okay, so you changed your, what you, sorry, this is a little bit of a miscommunication here. Okay, in Spanish. So, okay, so when you decided to start this new career in graphic design, were you thinking, You were here in Canada? Yeah. Okay. So you wanted something creative because of the city you think that needed that creativity? No, not at all. Not at all.

36:04What was the change? Well, I knew nothing about the city. I was just going to school. Okay. Well, I always liked arts and crafts. When I was younger, I always took art classes in high school. I even got scholarships in art when I was in high school. but I never thought about going into that industry because most of the Asian parents, they're expecting their kids to go into medical, dental, lawyers, engineering.

36:45That's something fun. I mean, because I always have interviewed Latin people, and there's not such a thing. But you're telling us Korean parents or Asian parents, Yeah, like conservative parents. They expect you to study something else. Like more, I guess, more professional. Professional, like suit, you know, like all that. And how do you feel about it? Do you feel like this is something, this is not for me? For which one? The idea? Yeah, yeah. Like if your parents want you to study that, you feel comfortable with it? Well, I had no idea at first.

37:23My parents recommended me to go to dentistry at first because they knew I had that like skills in crafts and stuff but I was also good at sciences when I was in high school so I thought oh I might be good. So I started studying in sciences at UBC and well it was way different than what I expected. I didn't know why I was studying it. I didn't have any motivation to study. All my friends from UBC went to medical school, dental school.

38:06Oh, I see. Except for me. You were the rebel there. Yeah. One question for you, Lia. What has been the most difficult part about working abroad? What is the most difficult part that you are facing as a Korean girl here in Canada? Well, I think it's the same for everybody, the language. Even though I went to high school and university here, I still spend more time in Korea. I'm Korean. My first language is Korean.

38:53It got better now, but I got so introverted when I came to Canada at first. I couldn't say what I wanted to say. I couldn't find the words to translate in my head. Like, how do I say this thing? I couldn't express myself well enough. But I think it's getting better. It's getting better? Yeah, like you all though. I'm putting my stuff out there. It's about that. We were talking about this yesterday. We attended a conference, another meet up. And we were chatting about these because Lee and I worked together.

39:34And then we were just like thinking like you have to put yourself in an Accord sport spot you can actually like push your boundaries like do something else and that's what we are doing here talking in English I don't even apologize about my English because I mean why am I why do I have to apologize? have for you, Lia, is like what have you learned from, I mean, through all these 12 years, what have you learned about being working abroad?

40:10Working abroad and living abroad, I think there are more opportunities, definitely. it broadens my eyes and views of the world. If I were in Korea my whole life, I wouldn't know like life in Canada. I would have no idea like how is it like to live abroad, work abroad, like this multiculturalism in Canada, Vancouver, about this nature, how I wouldn't imagine how it would be.

40:59Now, working in Canada, I'm really grateful that my parents decided to immigrate here when we were young. I love it. You love it? Yeah. That's great. That's awesome. That's really good to hear. Because we're supposed to be happy, right? We make things to be happy. And when you're doing something that is not aligned with your happiness, then you're wrong. Yeah, because when I was in Korea, everybody was so competitive. And if you decided to do something, you had to keep going in that direction.

41:43So I imagine if I were in Korea, I wouldn't have this opportunity to switch my major, to transfer to different schools, to a totally different direction in my life. And this is something, correct me if I'm wrong, but I have heard from Korean friends that university in Korea is so important, right? That you have to study really hard when you're in high school. Because depending on what the university that you get in is basically your style life at the end, right? Like how much you're going to earn and all that, is that correct? Yeah, it's all about that name.

42:24Okay So people is trying to get to the Seoul University Yeah that the best one Only 1 in the Korean University Any university in Seoul, very competitive. Seoul National University, that's the top. That's great. I have a lot of questions, but maybe I will invite you to another episode. Just to tell us about the Korean culture, the graphic design in Korea and all that. we can talk about that in another episode but i appreciate that you joined and one last question for you leah is like if you can give one piece of advice to someone not only in korea but anywhere in the world that is thinking to travel and work abroad and live abroad like what would it be just go out there explore the world Well, life is short and there is so much thing to do.

43:26There are new stuff every day. You can learn from it. Awesome. Alright, I won't let you go until you say something in Korean for all the people that are listening. What? I don't know. You say something in Korean. I don't know. I mean, it's just like, it's a fun thing. You can say something like, hey, listen to the podcast Mucho Habitar or something like that. In Korean. Okay. So I will promote your podcast. In Korea, yes, that's right. Everyone, please give a lot of love to Aldo's show, Mucho Habita. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you so much, Lia, for joining us.

44:17Do you want to join in the podcast? The first Canadian ever in the podcast! Once again, thank you Lia for joining us. And Merle is next. The question is going to be different for you. But... Let me get this one. Awesome. Okay, Merle. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for attending the meeting. This is a fun thing to do. It's my first ever English episode. episode. Make sure I'm set up here. That's good.

44:54How do you feel What are your thoughts about these kind of meetups happening in Vancouver with people from other parts of the country I mean how how where are your thoughts about like this kind of like meetups happening in Vancouver with people from other parts of the country I mean from other parts of the world I grew up in Canada and I never had a chance to travel the world with my family. Vacations weren't financially something that could happen.

45:24So we traveled with tenting here and there within Canada. But I look around the world and everywhere is a place to travel to. But Canada is the place to be a destination to stay. I see. Um, just from political climate to the way I feel about immigrants coming in, welcoming them, um, just, it was fine that I didn't go anywhere. It seems like it's nice to go somewhere warm every once in a while, um, but I can get everything I want here.

46:10That's right. What was the question again? I think I rambled. I guess like the first question and I miss it is just like like tell us a little bit about yourself like what do you do here like uh what's your I don't know like tell us about yourself about the meetups and why I'm here that's yeah well yeah that was the question first but then I want to go a little bit like backing up and then but you tell us a little bit about yourself what what do you do what's what's your background so I live in a town outside of Vancouver okay and Vancouver is the biggest city in this area. It's sprinkled by a few others around it. And I grew up on the outside of this big city. And my family has always lived there. My wife's family's from there. I've always worked outside of Vancouver. And driving an hour into town every twice, in and out, twice a two hour commute never seemed feasible. So I was always working and living outside of Vancouver, which 13 years in I find to be a detriment to my career now, because if you want to make it and do fun stuff you have to work in Vancouver So I just realizing that now and i i the one that actually has been living here my whole life um you know with family and kids this commuting is hard and the transit system is pretty good but if you live outside the city it shuts down it's buggy it's slow um and so driving everywhere has always been what i'm used to that's awesome and I mean like it's fun because like for example we come here from you know like all over Latin America and then we find like like public transport I mean the commute and everything we find it so easy and so good I don't know like probably when you say that when you are outside it's a little bit different but I mean what I have my experience is good yeah it's always good so yeah to finish your question now that I remember it that's That's why I come to meetups and stuff, is to spread my circle outside of the towns that I live in into the downtown hub of Vancouver so I can meet people, get contacts and figure out where I want to be in my career as it goes on, remote, commuting, whatever will tail.

48:44But I need to expand my small circle into something bigger. That's good. That's great. it's like expanding to you know like to Canadians like you know like people like you like you know like they are from here and they you know like they have work here for I mean for ever and then so you're about graphic designer yes how do you find the industry here in Vancouver in this area if you know web you should be pretty good. I don't particularly. It just wasn't something that I had the head for. I was mostly branding, print illustration, print design illustration, things that I could hold in my hand like 300 dpi. I have certain square inches. I know how to make that work. If it looks what I see on the screen is what it's going to print as.

49:43You're good. I'm good. When it has to be back end like web fonts and you have different browsers and mobile and that I was like, oh, but what is it going to look like in the end? I don't know what it's going to look like in the end. Can I measure With measuring tape? No, you can't do that. I'm the total opposite, because I've always been scared about printing things, you know, like in huge amounts of, you know, like a press or whatever. It's like one mistake, you're screwed. But then digital, you can always fix it. So that's why it's like I'm all more like the digital part and websites and all that.

50:21I feel like I am an anomaly, because I technically am a millennial, but I'm an elder millennial that knows how print things work and I'm just too old to understand web completely and so that's where you know I just didn't have I knew what it looked like when I held it and if I could print it and I can look at it I know what's gonna be right And a little bit more, like, for example, so you have been working with people, like, from all over the world. Is that right? Or have you had that experience or not?

51:05Yeah, yeah. Within BC is a lot of people from India or South Asia. I'm trying to be mindful of what I'm saying. People of Korea and China, there's pockets that seem to be sponges for certain type of people around. So there's always different types of people around. And yeah, it's never been a thing where if somebody was a certain somebody, it was, you know, you have to treat them differently or whatever.

51:48The thing is, if you can... The only thing would be the language. If you could... Canadians speak English and French. French. No, most Canadians don't speak French even though we're taught it in high school. We're accommodating... I know I am and the people I've always worked with are and the assholes are the people that don't. They don't accommodate people that are trying. You know, you have to have a certain level and something that you can converse with somebody you know like we are now from there yeah and you know it doesn have to be perfect well if you printing something it has to be perfect of course um but if you need help with something we kind of i think we're willing to help but there has to be a base level of functionality and if you don't it gets super frustrating for for business and that's what this is all about is business if you don't have a business level of English to converse with your employees that is an issue if you can do that and you're learning and you're trying you're not just you know if you're actively trying trying I think most people will try to help you but you have to have a base level where it's not frustrating to work with you I see I understand you and this is like basically like it was my question for you because like um i can i can tell and this is a question that i have in the podcast like hey i don't really know english like can i go to canada and still make it work and it's like my answer is always that you have you have to have a base and then you go from there like you're here and you're gonna learn more than you will learn in in your city back in latin america because you kind of like challenge yourself all the time even at work or you know like when you go to the super uh to do some groceries you have to speak you have to to put yourself in it not to say that if you don't want to learn you can't live here because there are lots of um asian supermarkets where you don't have to speak the liquid english to work there's lots of um fruit of canada or something or Indian restaurants or supermarkets that you can go and not know how to speak English and you could get jobs at those places but you're not going to be immersed in Canadian culture you're going to stay in your same culture just in a different place and you yeah why are you here because you want that or you're here because you're well I don't know it's it's I know it's complicated because there's lots of different it's a great thing for some people there absolutely i try to get it because like i mean i have like family like for example in california and then um there are some of my uncles like uh english because like you know you you turn on the tv it was like spanish tv all over i mean like two three four channels of totally completely I mean Spanish And it like right if you want to stay there it okay You can live there. You can stay there.

55:09There's nothing wrong with it. But then if you are moving from another part of the world, you're willing to do something different, right? And this is what is challenging us to do something different. I think with designers though it's especially difficult because language is only one part. You have to have a good portfolio. If you have an amazing portfolio and you're hot shit and you're doing the best work that's out there, language, that could go away. If your portfolio is so stellar language could could be only a small blip in your career on the other hand if you know perfect english but you are terrible designer you're not going to get any work either that's right yeah absolutely so it's a it's a double it's doubly hard you have to have talent and you have to know how to speak that's right that's right um but even english like people that can't type English, like even people that are born here, they don't speak English very well or read or type very well or know how to spell.

56:22It goes both, even native Canadians have issues with that. That's great. So Merle, you for example, you have been working with a bunch of projects I believe. Could you please tell us one of the projects that you have enjoyed the most working with? This is going to be a long story. You want me? Okay. So, I was working on a crappy job. We were making junk mail. If I doubt anybody that is listening to this knows exactly what I'm talking about. If you do, you know how shitty this place was.

57:01But they sent me to Design Thinkers Vancouver last year. Draplin was speaking. You know Draplin? Yeah, yeah. Everybody knows Draplin. So he was there and I bought cash, brought cash with me. I was like, I want to buy some of his stuff because everybody wants some of his stuff. Right? You want some of his stuff? Yeah, yeah. Your listeners want some of his stuff So he got there and the stupid US border wouldn let him bring any merch across the border so I got signed his book signed so that was cool he was there he had always this great talker he's talking see I'm not even speaking to those very well if you can look look up his stuff if you if you don't know him and look at his talks. He's good at cutting out the bullshit for the graphic designs.

57:59He's just a down-to-earth guy that makes good stuff. So I wanted one of his hats, but he didn't have them, so I was super bummed out. And if you're in the US, you know, you can get one for $30 or something, but in Canada you have to put shipping on top of that and then you have to pay the exchange rate so a hat would have been 65 70 dollars Canadian and I was I was you know if the money went to him like if I could give him 70 dollars and it went to him for him yeah okay that's little it wasn't gonna pay the shipping company in the government all that crap so so that was I was bummed so I I was doodling around one time so I need to start making some projects for myself so I had this idea for a patch and so I made that and it looked pretty cool I was like that would look cool on a hat so I know you can see where this is going so I went to another friend of mine actually he was a creative director he sold he left that another that crappy company started a brewery and he made hats and I saw his hat says I asked him where he got his hats from so I got his contact for hats and long story short I went out and I made my own hats for myself to sell in the style I wanted that looked like the hat I wanted and you know if Draplin brought hats up to Canada I probably wouldn't have made my own but because of that I got my own made and it was it was super exciting to see the boxes show up there's four different styles there's mesh there's brown yeah this is the brown one i'm wearing so you will see it on the description of the episode it's going to be the cover and you're going to see yes um i'll send i'll send give me your card after i'll send you a link to where you can get them if you want please buy my hats i have too many of them to sell please yeah of course and this is a platform for you i mean like you can so seeing them show up starting to have them sell um i have i've made my money back so far um but i still have lots to sell um but that was a super fulfilling thing i eventually um i sent draplin an email saying this story as well you replied back so i keep his email in my my phone and my computer all the time.

1:00:46That's great. But that was a super fulfilling project. So, you know, you've got to do... This is one tidbit of advice that I'm going to give that I've heard before that I didn't actually take in until it was the last couple of years, but that's changed my whole outlook of what I want to do. You've got to do work for yourself that you want to do more of and only show the stuff that you want to do more of. And if you're not doing what you want to do, you have to do it for yourself in your own time to show that you can do it. And then hopefully you can move on from there to do more of that thing.

1:01:32But I was working a crappy job, and I would be sad at the end of the crappy job. And then I'd come home and I'd play video games. And it's a cycle that you're not going to get out of. So I decided somehow that I wasn't going to play video games at night. I was going to work on myself. And that has changed. I realized I really like illustrating. And I've gotten great opportunities from that just within the last two years of trying it and doing it. Because I realize I'm good at it and I like it. But if I didn't start doing that for myself, I never would have been doing it now.

1:02:12That great That great advice and I mean absolutely like you have to go and put your time spend your time in something that you enjoy to do and something that will Spend time on yourself Yeah on yourself That the correct word And I have one last question for you, Merle, before we wrap this up. And it's just like, if you can give one piece of advice to all the people... You know, like... Is it mine? Go ahead. Is it mine? Yeah, I think so. If you can give one piece of advice to the...

1:02:48to the world. Oh, you want a refill? No? Oh, it's water. It's water. It's good. I will, yeah. Thank you. So, yeah, this last question, Merle, if you can give like one piece of advice to the people who is listening in Latin America, and I mean, whoever who's listening, and then um like for example what could it be what could it be that that um you as a grown-up here and then you can see like how the environment is like what would you what would you tell to that to those people and that was i think i went over at the last just a little bit you got it you have to spend time doing what you want to do on your own time to prove yourself do personal projects you know if if you're not working for free when you're working for yourself don't work for free that just ruins the industry but working for yourself is not working for you're wasting time is not wasting you're actually improving right?

1:04:00yeah you're improving and you gotta to spend time on yourself to make it to work that's awesome and yeah like I have a story like from a guest that we had oh here's another tidbit that yeah yeah go ahead I learned in design school that other than learning the programs that's really all they taught me in design school my teacher said If it looks odd to you, it looks odd. Don't just say that's good enough. If it looks funny, fix it, because it does look funny.

1:04:40If you a good designer if you look at something that looks weird don just say it sure good send it I guess it weird fix it yeah that another small thing I love it I love it cuz yeah like sometimes it's just like you look at your I mean whatever you have done is just like something what is this yeah like step up and step away if it looks weird and you think you're done or even if you think you're done close it for a day and then come back they come back and it's gonna be different right yeah you can do like fresh refresh your mind yes it's like when you speak a word where you look at a word too much and it loses all meaning and you like is this word spelt wrong I've been looking at it so long it's that that happens with your designs it happens to me all the time that's great Merrill before you go just let us know where you can find your merch? My website is www.meandmo.ca. I have to fix my link to my store. Don't go there until the link is fixed. Not just yet. I'm going to ask you you for your how can they reach you like in Twitter Instagram is me and Mo design okay Twitter would be I would like more than 16 followers so you can follow me there there's no point tweeting until I have actual followers and my website and I'm on dribble as well that's awesome okay so you guys here here here that's the information is going to be in the description you guys can go and check it out because y'all you have a portfolio there yeah that's on my website so it's on the website and awesome okay thank you for attending the meeting thank you for joining for hosting and what else yeah well i mean people just left where we were recording this um it was a good experience for me so that i have to It was fun. I've been talking in English for so long that I don't know if I'm talking it right or not.

1:06:59It hasn't been an issue for me here. Alright okay People understand one way or another So okay thank you Merle for joining Thank you guys for attending the meeting I don want to say goodbye without saying to thank big thank yous for Lalo Campo DJ Lalo Campo that put the playlist for tonight and the background music that you guys heard it was from Lalo Campo he put all his effort and his knowledge to put this playlist together and yeah follow him on Spotify no what where can they find you oh Instagram like ha la la campo and of course a big big thank you to Judith my girlfriend my baby thank you baby love you thank you for doing all these you have been recording you have been taking pictures yeah like thank you so much thank you all right guys that was it thank you Miro thank you everyone to attend the meeting and see you in one next episode see you guys around bye bye I want to thank you guys for getting to the end of this episode it was unique it It was fun, I'm not really sure if I'm doing it again, but I had fun.

1:08:29I had fun. It's taking the best and the worst of me. This episode kind of like makes me realize how many mistakes I make in English. But it's fun, it's fun. It's challenge yourself in another level. For all of you that don't follow the podcast because it's not in English, this is an episode for you uh hopefully we get another guest that doesn't speak spanish so we can record again another episode in english and again it was fun and let's see what happened thank you guys thank you for following following us on instagram uh at mucho habitat thank you the more followers we have the more people that we can reach and we can invite them to the podcast.

1:09:25Once again, thank you for listening. And let's hear you guys in another episode. My name is Aldo Tobias and this was Mucho Habitat.