============================================================
TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
============================================================
[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:06] SPEAKER_00: Hello, I'm Mario Tonoguzzi on Calgary's podcast.
[00:09] SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of his podcast network joining me today is so on Logan who is co-founder of Northwater in Calgary.
[00:17] SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining us today.
[00:20] SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me. I'm excited.
[00:22] SPEAKER_00: Well, let me just start by asking you if you could explain what what northwater is and what you guys do.
[00:28] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure. So northwater is pure all natural Canadian Rocky Mountain spring water.
[00:36] SPEAKER_01: It is sourced from Banff National Park, which is Canada's first national park in a plastic free and infinitely renewable option.
[00:44] SPEAKER_01: So we are in aluminum bottles and we try to make sure that we are a better product for the environment while showcasing Canada to the world.
[00:53] SPEAKER_01: And we are sourced from the finest water you can get in Banff National Park.
[00:59] SPEAKER_01: And it's naturally high in minerals, so 8.2 pH.
[01:03] SPEAKER_01: And it's all things Canada. So it's basically embodies the spirit and ethos of the Rockies.
[01:10] SPEAKER_00: So tell me how you got involved in this?
[01:13] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I am, you know, consider myself to be fairly well-traveled.
[01:17] SPEAKER_01: And in all my travels and endeavors, I had never seen Canadian water anywhere.
[01:22] SPEAKER_01: And after having tried water here, when I go hiking, I drink out of the spring here and there, which is not the best, but it's nice and cold on a hot day.
[01:31] SPEAKER_01: It makes me realize that why don't we have the worlds that knows Canada for its water.
[01:37] SPEAKER_01: You know, the French Alps has its water here, the Swiss Alps has this water here, the Fiji water exists, but there's nothing that truly showcases Canada and the beautiful water we have up.
[01:49] SPEAKER_01: And so I felt that gap, there was that gap in the market and on international stage as well, because it made no sense for Canada to be not sitting beside Fiji water vast and avian on an international stage.
[02:03] SPEAKER_01: So that was kind of how this whole journey started.
[02:07] SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, plastics, of course, if you're putting up something, putting up something so amazing, you don't want it in a yesterday product, right?
[02:14] SPEAKER_01: Plastic is a yesterday product. So we thought, well, we needed something that was a better alternative for the environment, something that showed that we were responsible and for what we take, what we leave behind and people love leaving behind plastic.
[02:27] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, aluminum came through as a trip to Japan. There was aluminum options everywhere for coffee in bottles at the belt. This is a perfect alternative to what we're looking for.
[02:39] SPEAKER_01: And that's just the beginning and here we are.
[02:42] SPEAKER_00: So when did you start?
[02:44] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we built our own facility. So started building a facility in 2019, October.
[02:52] SPEAKER_01: That's when we got the land, the lease started building. We went operational March 2020. So the same week as COVID lockdowns happened.
[03:02] SPEAKER_01: And as you and I were talking earlier, you know, we were very fortunate that we had some really good friends and customers that just became like total fans of us.
[03:12] SPEAKER_01: And we're still around and we're still surviving and this is going to be year three for us. It's going to be, I like to say my first two years was testing phases, you know, you're like trying to test your minimal viable product in the market and see if the market likes it or not.
[03:27] SPEAKER_01: The only thing that sucked was at what cost it came.
[03:30] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly right.
[03:32] SPEAKER_00: So in terms of your reach right now, tell me where people can find north water.
[03:40] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we across Canada, close to coast, you know, we can we're in a lot of hotels.
[03:46] SPEAKER_01: So if you're somebody staying in a hotel like a Shangri-la in Vancouver, you can find us there.
[03:50] SPEAKER_01: You know, if you're in a dust park lodge, fair more dust park, you can find us there. We can find us at leaners across Calgary.
[03:59] SPEAKER_01: We're in a bunch of safe way and safe way and blush lane.
[04:06] SPEAKER_01: So we're in kind of those kind of stores. We're in organic stores. We're in some metros in Ontario.
[04:12] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like so we basically bring a lot of coffee shops in tonne of cafes and coffee shops.
[04:17] SPEAKER_01: They're all like primary market happens to be hotels, coffee shops and cafes.
[04:22] SPEAKER_01: So if you're anywhere within say Calgary BC, if you go into Hula or if you go into dirt valley, if you go into, you know,
[04:28] SPEAKER_01: develops, you'll find north water there.
[04:31] SPEAKER_00: Okay, now do you, are you reaching out beyond Canada right now?
[04:38] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yes. So we're in certain US. We're trying to get into the market more and more.
[04:44] SPEAKER_01: We're very slow in there, but we are. And then this year is the year we're trying for more international market.
[04:49] SPEAKER_01: That's our goal.
[04:50] SPEAKER_00: Okay. Well, I looked at your background and on LinkedIn.
[04:56] SPEAKER_00: And I see you have a very like oil and gas background with a pambana and and sonovus.
[05:03] SPEAKER_00: And what was the other trans can do? How does somebody from the oil patch end up becoming an entrepreneur selling water?
[05:12] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I think it's I loved everything I ever did. My jobs were amazing. So it's one of those fortunate people that said there's always a need for more.
[05:21] SPEAKER_01: I think entrepreneurs were, you know, crazy hungry people where we want to put out more. We want to, you know, the world to see us and we want to, you know, do something, something meaningful.
[05:32] SPEAKER_01: And it was that the draw this because I felt the need to create and leave a legacy. And you don't get to do that. You know, there's only very few get to do that in a large corporation.
[05:42] SPEAKER_01: Many of us just have to follow suit and just wait for things to happen for us. So I wanted to take charge of that. I wanted to do something that was going to leave that legacy behind for me.
[05:51] SPEAKER_01: And so that's how Northwater started and I thought, you know what, it's going to be a journey.
[05:55] SPEAKER_01: And the journey is going to be exciting. That's all I know. It's going to have its ups and downs, which it still has hasn't.
[06:02] SPEAKER_01: I haven't I wasn't wrong at all about the ups and downs. The extent maybe, you know, I wasn't hoping to be so like crazy.
[06:11] SPEAKER_01: But it's been such a great experience of like learning and has just made me more resilient and, you know, and in all of it, like I haven't become a billion dollar company as yet.
[06:23] SPEAKER_01: But it still has, you know, gets makes me get up every morning and makes me go do things. And I feel like this is something that I'll always be, you know, very passionate about and will hold my, my very near and dear to me, no matter where I like to exist.
[06:41] SPEAKER_00: And I also notice in your background, you were involved with she, EO, yeah, a little bit about that and what that organization has and does.
[06:50] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that is really just a, like a place of venture fund for women. So what it does is it starts. They've just done a reburning of the name and naming and everything.
[07:02] SPEAKER_01: So what they do is you become a member of the organization and you pay, you know, you do, and what they do is they support other female entrepreneurs in their journey, whether it's like to grant money or through investment.
[07:14] SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, you pay back over time and then they use that money again to reinvest in other women. So it's just a basically like a group that, you know, promotes female entrepreneur women entrepreneurship.
[07:27] SPEAKER_01: And so it's exciting to be a part of that. I mean, I think we need as females, we, you know, as you hear more and more about it, it's not as easy for us to be in business and we see that, you know, not only are we female entrepreneurs and something you don't think about prior to this.
[07:42] SPEAKER_01: I've never thought of that and I didn't think it was going to be something for real, but it is. So it's important for us that, you know, if we have gone through a certain journey, it's important for me to make sure that other women can either learn from it or not make the same mistakes or get the support they need where I can provide them the support.
[07:59] SPEAKER_01: So an organization like she allows you to do that outside of, you know, you're within your own network and who you can help yourself.
[08:08] SPEAKER_00: Now, you know, you talked a little bit about being an entrepreneur. I want to explore that a little bit more.
[08:14] SPEAKER_00: Let's start with the positive side of things where, you know, what is it that you like about being an entrepreneur?
[08:22] SPEAKER_01: I said, making a difference, leaving a legacy, creating something. I'm not an artistic person, but, you know, creating when you start a business, you create something, you create a product, you create a service.
[08:33] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it's that it's an gratification that you get the same. My construction workers have the highest. They say job satisfaction because they get to see a product and, you know, they get to see their work.
[08:43] SPEAKER_01: And I think being an entrepreneur in a CPG world in the world, I'm in a consumer world. It is that as well. You know, you hold your product the first time in your hand.
[08:52] SPEAKER_01: It's something, it's created something. And that is such a rewarding space to be.
[08:58] SPEAKER_01: Then there's other parts of it too where, you know, you realize that you're building what you're building has effects, affects many people in many different ways.
[09:06] SPEAKER_01: You have people who work with you in the company who, you know, depend on you for their mortgages and for their food on the table.
[09:13] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, you're creating employment. So it's not just creating a product and making money. It's also about like creating employment and giving opportunities to people.
[09:22] SPEAKER_01: You know, I look around and I love giving opportunities to people who otherwise wouldn't have had the same opportunity in life.
[09:28] SPEAKER_01: So it allows you to give back in different ways other than just volunteering for a charity. And that I think is a feeling that I can't replace with anything.
[09:37] SPEAKER_00: Let's flip it over a bit and what is it that you don't like about being an entrepreneur?
[09:43] SPEAKER_01: You know, it's a lot of up and down. There's a lot of ups and downs and you have to be ready for it. Right.
[09:48] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, lots of sleep less nights. There's lots of days when you wonder where your rent is going to come from when the next, you know, wage is going to come from when you get paid yourself.
[09:57] SPEAKER_01: Like as a business for the first half of many years, you don't expect a salary.
[10:03] SPEAKER_01: And if you're someone like me who's, you know, never had not to be, had get a salary since I started working.
[10:11] SPEAKER_01: It takes a lot to kind of be like, oh my gosh, I'm not getting paid. You know, my RSP contributions on getting made.
[10:19] SPEAKER_01: Because it's easy to look at this picture today versus say, no, I'm working towards something bigger here.
[10:25] SPEAKER_01: And so that can, you know, day days when that does affect me because I'm like, when am I going to get paid?
[10:30] SPEAKER_01: Because it's what you put in is what you get out. Right. It's not like a all-encast job where you could put in less and still get what you're getting yesterday.
[10:37] SPEAKER_01: Yeah. So it's a very what you put is what you get. So, you know, it's a, it's, it's, it's a journey.
[10:45] SPEAKER_01: And those journey, the journey isn't smooth. It's the journey is a positive journey.
[10:50] SPEAKER_01: The journey can also have some major roadblocks. So yeah, a lot more braze and wrinkles.
[10:56] SPEAKER_00: So when you talk about the journey, on that journey, like, where did you seek advice?
[11:04] SPEAKER_00: Where did you seek help along that way? Like, were there any individuals that like that you looked up to whether it's, you know, famous business people or anything or any books that you had that helped you along the way?
[11:23] SPEAKER_01: Yeah. So I read a lot. I read a listen to podcasts, which most people do, you know, these days.
[11:29] SPEAKER_01: And a lot of us don't have that much time, like spend more time listening to podcasts than reading.
[11:34] SPEAKER_01: And one of my favorite books in the world and I would recommend it to anybody is Shudok by Phil Knight.
[11:42] SPEAKER_01: And if you're an entrepreneur or a buddy or entrepreneur and want to kind of get, you know, some motivation in life or just get an idea of what this journey really will feel like.
[11:50] SPEAKER_01: Read the book because I swear it's my life. It's just, you know, he's just created Nike, which is a much bigger brand than North Korea is today.
[11:59] SPEAKER_01: But it is, it's, you know, every entrepreneur can relate the, you know, the nights of like where you're stretching it then to make it to the next production, you know, not getting paid on time or having a rent due or trying to like now dealing with supply chain issues and or having your supply and not come through or something like that.
[12:16] SPEAKER_01: So I think that that to me is, Phil Knight has been my biggest mentor from a world of people that I've never met.
[12:24] SPEAKER_01: And then there's people I've met along the journey as well who are other small entrepreneurs and business within the community and lots of those lots of people who, you know, it's interesting how strong the community is.
[12:37] SPEAKER_01: And it's really nice to have that like I've got a number of people have met just through this journey and they're all willing to share their all willing to open their hearts and they're all willing to open their doors, they're willing to, you know, open their network.
[12:51] SPEAKER_01: And it's tough not to find solace in that.
[12:58] SPEAKER_00: So if you had somebody that was young that came to you, you know, and I was asking you for advice, what would you say to them?
[13:10] SPEAKER_01: I would say to them, don't let everything outside of your little world make you lose sleep.
[13:18] SPEAKER_01: It's all I'd say to them that if you're going to embark on something like this, or even if you don't embark on something like this, you know, your journey is your journey and be on that path and go on that journey.
[13:29] SPEAKER_01: Enjoy every moment, whether it's good or bad because they are no failures, they're all lessons at the end of the day, but don't whatever you can't control anything beyond your control, don't ever lose sleep on it because none of that matters at the end.
[13:42] SPEAKER_01: So it's helped me in my life a lot. I don't I don't do sleep over things I can't control. And I think everybody can use it.
[13:52] SPEAKER_00: Okay, then and in.
[13:56] SPEAKER_00: You know, being an entrepreneur is is many ways 24 seven job, right? And how do you deal with that? How do you find the work life balance to function, I guess, on all cylinders?
[14:13] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think I first of all, I, you know, I love the word work life balance. I just don't think they actually mean much.
[14:22] SPEAKER_01: Because every person is so different because what work life balance might mean to me, man, I don't mean anything to anybody else. And some people don't want work life balance because their work is the passion that drives them that ignites them.
[14:35] SPEAKER_01: And they don't necessarily need work in the mix. So you think the important thing is finding those little opportunities to take time for yourself.
[14:44] SPEAKER_01: It's very, very important. Your mental health is your business. You are your business as an entrepreneur, you are your business. So if you don't take care of your health and you nobody else will, you know, we always joke.
[14:56] SPEAKER_01: And in a corporate world, you are replaceable. You're just a number on a seat. If you don't take care of yourself tomorrow, somebody else comes and pulls up that seat. Well, the exact thing is in business too.
[15:07] SPEAKER_01: If you don't take care of yourself, there is no business. You are the business. So it's, it's, you know, trying to create a routine for yourself is important, like waking up a bit early, you know, 10 minutes earlier than normal or 15 minutes earlier.
[15:19] SPEAKER_01: And having that solitude and meditating and working out and doing things that allow you to mentally and physically function better. So, you know, proper care for your health.
[15:29] SPEAKER_01: It's easy to be again in this world and have so much networking and all these opportunities that come your way to constantly be going out drinking and eating and doing this. But it's, it's not, it's not ultimately the right way to live as a person because it doesn't help you.
[15:45] SPEAKER_01: So it's making choices. You have to consciously make choices to choose you in this whole journey.
[15:52] SPEAKER_00: So what do you do when the choices that that you make that choose you?
[15:58] SPEAKER_00: Kind of things that you do and like to do.
[16:01] SPEAKER_01: So I do meditate every day. I whenever I come and I go to bed, I take 10 minutes out. I don't have a ton of time to meditate, but if 10 minutes is just, you know, me time of breathing and being okay in this space.
[16:13] SPEAKER_01: I work out, I go to make an effort to go to the gym, it doesn't always happen, but I try.
[16:18] SPEAKER_01: I try and eat healthy as much as I can. I cook my meals at home and try to do that.
[16:24] SPEAKER_01: But one of the things that has really helped me in my life and I found this since my oil and gas days is I do digital detox.
[16:31] SPEAKER_01: So I take like three days off a recorder where I don't look at any TV, any screen, any computer, nothing.
[16:38] SPEAKER_01: And I go, I used to go out of Calgary and stay in places like Emerald Lake, for example, where, you know, there's no internet and there's nothing in your room, no TV.
[16:50] SPEAKER_01: And I would meditate, I would read. So I would do a lot of reading and I would meditate. I didn't spend time hiking or anything because to me that was an activity.
[16:58] SPEAKER_01: So the idea was to be bored and just be alone and just be in a space with nothing, no distraction.
[17:03] SPEAKER_01: So I would go for a short walk or something, but I'd come back and I'd read. So there was a lot of time of journaling and of course during COVID couldn't really go too far, go anywhere.
[17:13] SPEAKER_01: So I started to realize that you know what, I can make my own space at home in the same thing. I just need the willpower to not do certain things.
[17:20] SPEAKER_01: I don't need the world to shut the internet for me. I need to be strong enough to turn it off for myself without physically switching up this, you know, turning the switch off.
[17:27] SPEAKER_01: And I did that and it changed my relationship with devices, with computers and with television.
[17:34] SPEAKER_01: Like I can go months without turning the TV on in my house and it's it's perfect because it's totally I don't do the meaningless calling anymore on that.
[17:43] SPEAKER_01: Same with Instagram and social media doesn't doesn't have the dopamine hit or anything. It doesn't do anything for me.
[17:50] SPEAKER_01: So it's you know it's it's changing your mindset is really what you need to do and these are things I do and it's worked for me.
[17:58] SPEAKER_00: So I'm just curious like you know what was there something that sparked you or that to do this digital detox like was there a, a hot moment that you said, OK, I got to do this.
[18:15] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think for me it was always I always had a very you know go go go life and I felt that in this go go go life. I didn't really know who I was anymore.
[18:24] SPEAKER_01: I couldn't and I needed to reacquaint with myself and the only way to get to know myself better again was to shut out everything else that was outside.
[18:33] SPEAKER_01: And he's just way to do it was to say, you know what what is it that high best stimulates my brain that really serves no purpose.
[18:41] SPEAKER_01: And it was it was technology and you know I felt I missed the simplicity. I was born in Fiji and I grew up in Fiji and I missed the simplicity of life of just playing with my neighbors next door playing underneath the tree.
[18:54] SPEAKER_01: You know falling asleep under the tree running around and not and having my parents present, you know my parents would have dinner that be present.
[19:02] SPEAKER_01: They won't be having dinner that bear on us and they were present. They were talking to us. They're talking to each other.
[19:07] SPEAKER_01: They want to their devices and I missed that simplicity and I needed I wanted to find that and I couldn't find that outside in the outside world.
[19:16] SPEAKER_01: Because you know your job expects you to have a phone and check it at 10 o'clock at night that was kind of part of the expectation.
[19:23] SPEAKER_01: So I had to go instead of going outside I had to go inwards and the only way to do it inwards was to start taking time out to find me and then taking out the outside things that no longer served that purpose.
[19:37] SPEAKER_00: So you know earlier in our conversation here you mentioned travel and you like to travel a lot.
[19:47] SPEAKER_00: What's your favorite place that you visited?
[19:50] SPEAKER_01: You know I just got back from Europe and I was in Budapest and I hadn't been there before and it absolutely blew my mind.
[19:58] SPEAKER_01: I was so much in love with the place and the reason being was because every building was so beautiful.
[20:06] SPEAKER_01: I couldn't walk past one without being in awe of it and I think it was just gorgeous to see the architecture and that took me like it was perfect.
[20:15] SPEAKER_01: But also just seeing the history of the place as well where there's been so much there's basically like from the Ottoman Empire to like everybody has had a rule over for Hungary at some point.
[20:25] SPEAKER_01: Everybody has what for it because of its strategic positioning in Europe and yet this country stands and you know it's got every every bit of that history is weaved in its architecture and its culture.
[20:38] SPEAKER_01: And I was in Austria, Slovakia and Budapest and I have to say Budapest I wish I had been there sooner.
[20:44] SPEAKER_01: So yeah it was amazing so it's one of it's not one of my favorite places.
[20:48] SPEAKER_00: Oh wonderful. So just to recap things and we'll come back to Northwater and just tell me a little bit about the plans for the future for the company.
[21:00] SPEAKER_01: Yeah so we just launched back in Rotten December so that was a nice little you know boost to the products we carry and we're excited to share that with the world.
[21:09] SPEAKER_01: For us it's growth you know we're trying to grow in the market we're trying to get more market share we're trying to put more Canadian water across the world.
[21:17] SPEAKER_01: So it's going to be basically that and you know focusing this year on that growth focusing this year on the export markets and focusing this year on getting more people to start recognizing that we don't need water from France and PG when we have our own.
[21:38] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[21:39] SPEAKER_01: So yeah grow the brand.
[21:42] SPEAKER_00: All right wonderful. Well thanks so much for joining us today.
[21:46] SPEAKER_01: Thank you thanks for having me really appreciate it and it's lovely to be on this and appreciate your time and appreciate you learning more about us and sharing with your viewers.
[21:55] SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
[21:56] SPEAKER_00: All right that was so one Logan who is co-founder of Northwater based in Calgary.
[22:01] SPEAKER_00: I'm Mario Toniguzi with Calgary's podcast on Canada's podcast network.
[22:05] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us today.
