Business & Story-Telling

Recently, I have started to think about entrepreneurship and the need for business owners to open up be vulnerable and tell their stories.  This is the story that defines why they do business that tells us about the worries, fears and drive to be an entrepreneur. In a capital world filled with eccentric spending habits, direct fiscal competition and trying to navigate a simple meaning to our existence, we somehow struggle to understand what would direct someone to the challenging and often unpredictable world of business.

I have had the pleasure of talking personally with many business owners and although we all want to show case an imminent amount of success, we know that the struggle to make profit, the difficulties in advertising, marketing and getting our product to a broader market is fraught with unbelievable challenges.  In a capital market, we base our plausibility on a notion of supply and demand, if you need it and I have it, how much will it cost to provide you with this gem.  We have those that are remarkable in their field and have studied profoundly, but we are also navigating these murky waters and trying to identify a fish from a shark.

Business does not have to be cut throat, but we also must sit back and ask ourselves what is our success.  As business owners we have all taken a plunge into the unknown and put our talents, ambitions and passions up for public scrutiny and to some degree constant competitiveness.  Once we can define what we believe is success, I believe business can become a lifestyle, one that we can hone, tailor and craft to make it feasible for ourselves and those around. I asked my brother one day when we were driving, John what would you consider success in business.  His response was not to get rich, nor was it to be popular of famous, it was make a living.  

In business we take a risk and most entrepreneurs have unbelievable stories of risk, but unfortunately we only hear stories of success.  Business owners that are now millionaires, the media does stories on these people, ask for their opinions on business and they are who we read about.  We never read about the failed business owner or why they failed?  I personally enjoy hearing about the struggle, the risk, the blood, seat and tears (sorry if I am being over dramatic) that goes into creating a brand, fulfilling a dream and connecting with your local community.

I want to know these incredible stories of our business owners, we hire social media marketers to inform and sell our supply to a demanding market and to enhance our product visibility.  Saavy social media-ites come back to us with analytics that only sort of make sense and an expert understanding of how digitally social we need to be to get even more success.  This is all fine and good and I know some amazing social media marketers, but what about your story.  Why did you do this?  What have been the barriers?  What did you put on the line?  In the book "ALL IN" by Arlene Dickenson, she states that to become an entrepreneur, you need to have a new understanding of work-life balance and this is so true.  In her book, she tells amazingly inspiring stories of entrepreneurs just like you and me who went for it, figured it out and risked much.  Being in business is so much more then just selling product or concepts, it is a lifestyle that coincides with your family life, relationships, community involvement and everyday interactions.

I want to tell that story of our business owners in Southern Alberta, I want to sit down and hear from you about your failures, your successes, your challenges, your aspirations and your inspirations because I believe that every entrepreneur has a story just waiting to get out and inspire way too many people.

Your Pal,

Roy Pogorzelski

(Pogo Bros Inc.)

(4 Gents Inc - Good Times YQL)

Quip from a Fatigued Humanitarian?

  

My thoughts are tired as I hear the news,

Of some ignorant bigot who has some views,

Everyone’s fault, but their own

As they judge, bicker and groan.

A new media has offered them a time slot

To regurgitate irrational thought

To project what they consider perfect conservative views

Sharing articles from Rebel News.

I sit here in complete shock

When I hear, that a new group of neo nazi’s have crawled out from under their rock

Bad Politicians, Social Media and wealthy colonialists have given this a voice

Yet many remain idle! Another overdose! it was their choice!

A Community should be free of racism and hate

But backward ideologies and friends with an opinion we tolerate

Our ancestors fought and died to liberate

Instead as their memory fades – we suffocate.

Attempting to find one more breathe in a world that is easy to forget

That we once had schools that tried to eliminate the threat

A threat of a vibrant culture and peaceful nations

Instead we create divisive relations.

We are told to remember what our great nation did overseas

But we forget the internment camps made specially for the Japanese

We are told to remember how lucky we are

To be born in a country guided by the North Star.

Then why do we still hang onto this hate

Rather tell ourselves that this was all manifest fate

Why do we still encourage policies that divide?

Why do we still elect politicians that still think LGBTQ is a chemical formula for Formaldehyde.

We are told to remember we are a country built on immigrants

But get provoked at the thought of refugee children being protected by their parents

We struggle to allow people to find their space

And stupidly get angry when we can’t see a Muslim woman’s face.

I am tired of listening to your racist rants

I am tired of your call to arms and xenophobic chants

I am not interested in your hateful learned views

I am only interested in positive, kind, optimistic people that have tried to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.

Roy Pogorzelski

The Art of not Quitting

What is your definition of success?  What is success?  What makes someone want to be successful?

You can do anything if you work hard and seek support from others

I truly believe that in order to reach a level of success in your personal endeavors that their has to be some kind of struggle, some barrier that has been overcome or simply learning by failing.  I am okay with failing at something, it has never been a problem for me because I always took the lessons I learned and turned them into determination to get better.  To be honest, as humans we have many talents and things we are good at, but I remember an old football coach telling me he is not interested in what I can do well, but more interested in working on things that need improvement.

Work on your weaknesses and turn them into strengths

It is true, it is easy to stay positive when everything is going well for us and easy to get complacent in the things we are good at, but what about turning our weaknesses into strengths by challenging our comfort zone and honing skills we never knew we had.  I became a more complete human because of this philosophy and a more complete player. When times get tough in life, I just worked harder and even though quitting would be a legitimate option, we must buckle down and complete our commitments, keep our promises and follow through.  These are traits we trust in other people, think of all the people that let you down in life, or thrust their negativity on to you.  They had these things in common because they broke promises, quit on you and had a hard time following through on their word.  Now think of our mentors, the people we look up to and those that inspire our spirit, what did they do, they kept promises, never quit on you and followed through every time.  It is important to surround yourself with positive, innovative and goal oriented people because they will push you to your maximum capacity and allow you to live a fulfilling life while doing it.

We have all had moments in our life that have shaped us, true moments of resiliency that allowed us to overcome obstacles.  I want to discuss three times in my life where I almost quit and how I was able to pull through these extreme moments:

When I was a young man my father put me in a lot of sports, mostly I think this was to keep me out of trouble.  I had many great coaches and met many amazing team mates, but I remember one year in baseball when I was a young kid I witnessed a team mate get hit in the face with a hardball and his noes started bleeding like crazy.

  This was a scary moment and I remember thinking I don't want my face to get hit with a baseball, who would want that, so I told my dad that I wanted to quit.  My father did not get upset, but rather said "why don't we drop you down a league and give it one more chance, and if you still want to quit then at least you know you are done with the game".  I thought to myself, this is a pretty good deal and the next season they dropped me down from the Double A league to the Single A league.  I was having a great year with the Tigers, I was pitching well and hitting well and we even won the league championship that year and I hit the game winning home run.  I would continue with competitive hardball until I was 25 years old, it is amazing where understanding and support can take a person.

Senior Men's Baseball (Whitesox) with my Brother John

The second big moment was when I was 16 years old and I was getting my first summer job at Ipsco wild life park.  This was the steel mill that my father worked at and low and behold they had an actual wildlife park next door.

  I felt it unfair that my father would make me do this hard full time summer job when many of my friends were on holidays with family, or lazing around.  My father was a practical man and always out to work with a number of older kids.  Instantly, I struggled to get the industrial whipper snipper started and felt like a complete loser out there.  After one week, I went to my Dad and Mom and told them that I want to quit and again my Dad pulled me aside and explained that everything new is always going to be challenging and that I should at least stick it out till I got my first pay cheque and then if I still hated it, I could quit, but that also meant probably never being hired back in the summers.  In that case, I continued to go to work and when I finally received my first pay cheque at 7.15/hour

 and this was in 1998, I was elated and felt rich, so I could not leave this new sense of financial freedom.  Eventually, the job just became a job and I wen to to work in that park for 7 summers, even taking stints in the Steel Mill and the Pipe Mill and made a ton of friends on that journey.

My third example, comes when I am quite a bit older and also comes with some heartache.  In 2005, I walked into my Human Justice Practicum and said hello to all the familiar people, but then noticed this very beautiful girl I had never seen before.

Hanne Op de Beeck

During introductions she announced herself as Hanne from Belgium and I just knew that I had to somehow get to know her.

I worked at the Library at the time as a Student Assistant Librarian and one night she walked in and said hello to me.  I asked her what she was up to and had to get some books for her paper that was on the topic of feminism and having worked at the library for 5 years, I knew where this section was.  I grabbed some books to go and head to the section to file them away and again bumped into her and we struck up a longer conversation and in a very shy way I asked her if I could get her email to go for a coffee and she agreed.  This book stack on the 3rd floor was the very same place I would propose to her about 5 years later.  Needless to say that we started a relationship that was about 8 years long and in 2012 it came to a crashing halt in Belgium when I was living there as an immigrant.  It just wasn't working anymore, the engagement was off and the relationship had played it's course, broken hearted I went back to Canada to start working again at the First Nations University of Canada.  This was hard for me because I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my rib cage and I was in a complete place of "lovers shock".

I had a commitment during reading week to facilitate some sessions with INCOMDIOS on Human Rights/Indigenous Rights and the United Nations to Indigenous Sami youth and European Youth.  Reading week always takes place over my birthday and Hanne was going to meet me in Geneva, which was the early plan, seeing as I left Belgium that December.  However, Hanne canceled on me, so I was going heart broken by myself for my first international contract to Switzerland when I felt empty inside.  Needless to say I wanted to cancel, every inch of my being wanted to make an excuse of why I could not make it, but one night I was talking with my brother John Pogo and told him of my decision.  He immediately told me that quitting this opportunity would be a large mistake and that I committed and need to follow through, what's the worst that could happen.  He was right, I flew to Geneva, met up with my amazing friend that I met in Vienna in 2007 Giorgio Mariano

Giorgio Mariano in Vienna at the Karaoke Bar :)

and had some great sessions.  I met some amazing youth from Swizterland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Bulgaria, Romania and Italy.  On my birthday they all came out to buy me drinks and to celebrate and it was just the greatest time in my life.  When I returned to Canada, I even got a call from Per Jonas from Sweden and he wanted me to come and facilitate some sessions in Vilhelmina Sweden in that May for Saminuorra, a Sami youth organization.  I ended up going to Sweden to hangout with some of my Sami friends and when I arrived back I got an opportunity back in Lethbridge and would end up moving back here in 2013 and this was the best decision I could have ever made.

Sami friends in Switzerland

Amazing 30th Birthday in Switzerland with some amazing youth.

There are so many stories and times I wanted to quit, like the time I moved to Vienna and had culture shock in 2007 and wanted to go home.  I stayed and I completed the internship at the University of Vienna.  I owe a lot to the people around me that motivate me, inspire me, love me, celebrate me and pick me up when I fail. 

Roy Pogorzelski

Beers in a Pub with Patrick McCullagh

Check out my episode "Beers in a Pu. With Patrick McCullagh" from Roy Pogorzelski on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/roy-pogorzelski/episodes/Beers-in-a-Pu--With-Patrick-McCullagh-e18r6k

A Metis in the City (Moment #1)

Greetings,

  I am announcing it, I have decided to write a book (woohoo).  This book is going to engage what it is like to be a Metis person in the City, kind of like Sex in the City (but much less sex....trust me).  Very little is known about the Metis people of Canada even though their is piles of literature on the mixed group of rabble rousers (I say this with a polite smirk and an intentional sarcasm).

My ancestors The Great "Cyprien Morin" & Marie Adele Cook

Often times I have been asked to do presentations, Red River Jig at so many events, instruct whole courses on my people and develop historical and contemporary content explaining the future desires of an entire nation.  I take this challenge with the utmost passion and vibrancy I can muster to explain a history that has been colonially synonymous with the terms "rebels" and "traitors".  I muster a smile every time someone confidently butchers who a Metis person is and as I have learned from my Elders, it is time to politely grin and attempt an information session in the matter of the classic "elevator pitch". 

I listened to a new Billy Joel song I had never heard and it was entitled "The Angry Young Man" and as I listened the lyrics resonated with me because in my entrance to University I was this angry young man.  However, through years of hopeful maturity I have become patient, understanding, researched and humbled to be in a position to practice my culture openly and with the greatest of pride because I am so darn proud of my Metis identity, my family, our history of defending our rights and our role in building this country. 

This did not come easy, and in reading the Globe and Mail account of Fred Sasakamoose and tearing up from his story, I realize just how important it is I continue to be this voice, so that the story of our people can be told accurately, correctly and with the truth in tact.  My ancestors fought hard for us to maintain our identity and rights and even though we are still misunderstood, forgotten, treated with indifference, shoved aside in the overall discussion of Indigenous rights or frankly mistrusted (as our colonial history and fake hollywood movies have taught us); I know the truth, it has been told to me my my family, it has been researched when as a young man I spent countless hours learning my ancestry, understanding the stories and sifting through census and church records. 

The Book will discuss my life navigating the slippery scope of identity.  Reflecting on experiences in my life that were hard and challenging, I have never given up and I don't intend to, but I want young Metis people to know that the future is bright - actually all my Indigenous relatives to know that if you work your ass off, stay away from the negative bullshit and surround yourself in culture that you will make it out of this colonial wasteland that has us buried in quick sand.

In the great words of Charlie Day "People always tell you to do what makes you Happy, but a lot of this has been hard work and I'm not always happy.  Instead do what makes you great and never fear failing because without failure what is success anyways".

So here it is Metis Moment Number #1 (My First Sweat): it was in the summer and I was a young undergrad, I had known a lot about sweats, but had never participated. I went out to the Qu'Appelle Valley and the Elder and Helpers were preparing the Lodge.  I was informed to go by a work colleague because I was at a huge crossroads in life and needed answers & clarity.  Normally I would turn to smudging, but this was larger because it was a path changer. As I entered the sweat in each round I thought about my loved ones, the community and finally the Elder told me to think about myself.  The day was a dry plus 35, so it was very hot in the Lodge and as I sat there listening to the music and feeling the heat push on my back with every drop of water that hit the stones, I dove deep into my subconscious, deeper then I had ever gone before.  As I exited the lodge, sweat dripping everywhere, exhausted from the heat, I laid down on my towel with a very large headache and stared at the sky and in that moment I found clarity and it would change the course of my life.

Till the next moment,

Roy Pogo

Embracing Identity: 2018 (No better time then the Present)

Embracing Identity: 2018 (No better time then the Present): Wow!!!!! It has been a very longtime since I wrote on my blog "Embracing Identity", according to the analytics it has been a 4 y...

2018 (No better time then the Present)

Wow!!!!!

It has been a very longtime since I wrote on my blog "Embracing Identity", according to the analytics it has been a 4 year hiatus.  As I was reading through the blog, I realized how much amazing content has been created over the years and this is my attempt to revamp it.  A lot has changed since 2013, an overwhelming amount, I even attempted to start a whole new blog, but realized very quickly a lot of work goes into it and so claiming an old piece of Pogo history might be more relevant.

Cheers to a New Year

As with most people in the world, as 2018 rolled around and I found myself at Bully's playing some slots and listening to a 50's & 60's cover band, I new this was the time to finally get in shape.  However, every year I have said this and I start off blazing into January with new supplements promising phenomenal results, for a few weeks I fight cravings for greasy/salty food and I limit my fermented barley intake (And as most people who know me knows, I love fermented beverages).

So what is so different about this year then any other year I have failed a resolution.  Firstly, I am at the highest I have ever weighed in my life, for a long time I was stuck at a very happy 220, still a little chubby, but respectable.  However, as I weigh myself before the New Year, I clock in well above that and mixed with a few events I will discuss, I have a feeling 2018 will be that year.

It took many travels and many fermented barley's to get here.

Secondly, in May of 2017 I was playing baseball with the Telegraph Tappers D "mixed" slo-ball team and I hurt myself.  This was not your normal injury and I am still rehabbing from this as I sit here and write a Blog entry.  My hip and my SI joint fused together, to explain it lightly, it was like a block of ice with little rotation and an enormous amount of pain.  I went to chiropractors and massage therapists for temporary relief, but was confused because my body would just not heal in the way it has in the past.

There was no pain medication in the world that was working and I had a 3 week trip to Europe planned.  As July approached I went on the 3 week backpacking trip, of which I can confirm that backpacking as a 35 year old, much different then in your mid-20's.  As well, hostel beds are not the best for someone in chronic pain, so I drank beer as a remedy to mask the pain through England, Belgium and France, very expensive medicinal fix.  For those that have never backpacked, this entailed carrying a 40 pound backpack while walking long distances and waiting at every mode of transportation in plus 30 temperatures.  In fact, it was one of the longest stretches of hot weather in England that the grass was dying on the tennis professionals at Wimbledon.

As we headed to Greece and toured a very hot Athens, I so very badly wanted to climb to the top of the Acropolis, but lucky Derek and Poncho has already done it, my body just would not let me.  I am a guy who played 6 different sports growing up, I depended heavily on my body and now I could not climb up the Acropolis, what was wrong with me.

 
Another moment, I was sipping a Kilkenny in Temple Bar District watching a live Irish band in Temple Bar with Poncho and in 25 mins was the live theater performance of one of my all-time favourite booke "Angela's Ashes".  My pain was terrible as I could not sit in the Bar (it is very popular), so I decided to run to Bord Gais Theatre, which was about 20 mins away, every step was agonizing, fuelled by a few Kilkenny's I made it in on time, got a ticket and watched a master piece unfold in front of me.

Finally, when I arrived home, it was too much, I reached out to a Specialist "Sandra Voth", she is incredible and has worked me back to functional and not in chronic pain via natural methods, I would recommend her to anyone.  She explained to me that my poor posture and how my body took impact playing all those sports caused this injury, one that I could not have avoided, it just chose now to show up.  This injury has been depressing and rehabbing it has been a challenge, but I realized last year that my body is not invincible like I have treated it over the past decade.  Not being able to workout at full capacity has created a complacency that I must overcome.  If my hip could go like this, what else might be in line for a tune-up?

Lastly, as I ventured home to good old Saskatchewan for the holiday season, I went to a rather new bar on Rochdale Blvd named Leopold's Tavern.  As I was there enjoying a phenomenal buzz with Party Tim, my bro, Legbo and Wolkowski, I bumped into a friend that I use to wrestle in highschool.  Will Amichand is perhaps one of the nicest humans I have met throughout playing sports that was not actually on my team.  He wrestled for O'Neill and we joined in the same year.  That year we would wrestle eachother many times and as we reminisced he said something that stuck with me "Dude, you were ripped in highschool".

This is a fact, I was ripped in highschool, I worked out hard, ran every day and as I sit there at my heaviest weight, it hit me!!!  I need to finally take this seriously, which means a change in lifestyle, but at 35 years old, there is probably no better time then the present.  Heck if I have taken 10 years to get here, then 2 years of working hard to get back to a respectable weight is do-able.  Cheers to the Pylo videos I bought on the infomercial, I will let you know the results.

Cheers to resolutions and cheers to a better you :)

Roy Pogorzelski