Erin O’Hoski On Developing City Strategy To Improve The Community #superentrepreneurs #shahiddurrani

Welcome to Super Entrepreneurs Podcast. Today we have with us Erin Ohoski. Did I pronounce it correct? Ohoski. You were close. Ohoski. Oh, amazing. Almost there. How are you? I'm well. How are you doing today? Amazing. Amazing. I'm so happy that you came on the show. I'm very excited to learn more about what you're involved with and kind of share with the audience as well. I'll allow you to kind of go ahead and introduce yourself. Great. So hello everybody. I'm so excited to be here. My name is Erin Ohoski. I am the founding principal of a firm called Boulevard Strategy Group. What we do is city strategy. We work with mayors, councils, city managers to develop roadmaps to really put their cities and communities on the path to success. Work with cities all over Ontario right now, expanding nationally into Canada. Really just leading with love, making sure that what folks are hearing from the communities that they serve is reflected in their strategies. Over the past year we've been working with cities and communities to differentiate, to see what are their opportunities during the pandemic, and to make sure they pivot their strategies so they're not just surviving this pandemic, that they can find opportunities to help their communities thrive during the pandemic. So it's been really exciting work. Love what I do. Have been working with cities and communities for almost two decades. That's scary to admit now, but serving cities is just, it's my passion and serving the people who serve the public is what we're all about at Boulevard Strategy Group. It's very exciting stuff. That's so amazing. So what are some of the examples of pivoting that you're involved with? Yeah, so some of the pivoting examples that we're working with cities and communities on are, you know, the things that you might expect. Early on this time last year, we didn't know what the pandemic would bring, but now we know there are implications in office space. So how are they going to pivot economic development and real estate strategies to understand what the future of work looks like? We're noticing challenges in affordable housing. It used to be just housing wasn't affordable in big centers, and if you went off into rural communities, you could afford anything. That's not the case anymore. So how can cities work with other levels of government to make sure that the people who live or want to live in their communities can afford to live there and who can thrive in those communities? Inclusion and diversity. We're noticing across the board communities have to be ready, have to be celebrating inclusion and diversity. So these are just a few examples. The digital divide. You know, folks move into these communities expecting their internet to be top notch, and that's not always the case. And for entrepreneurs or for people who are starting businesses or people working from home, if they don't have universally accessible, reliable, affordable internet, then that's not going to help their businesses. So how can cities and communities support that? Those are some of the issues we've been looking at. There are some of them, yeah. So for me, I can relate to that location part because I live the northern side of Whitby, like on the outskirt, and internet is not that reliable. And my business was brick and mortar. So when I had to pivot with the pandemic, right, like I had to pivot. I'm one of the pivot childs, you know, pivot, COVID pivot child, I call it, right? So I had to make a lot of moves and bring everything online. And I was facing that problem. And I didn't know what to do. But luckily, I found a company. Did I reschedule on you as well before because of my internet issue? No, you didn't. No, but you have internet issues. Yeah, I canceled so many people. I had to cancel in February and beginning of March. But luckily, everything is back to normal again. Oh, that's good. Because a lot of people are moving out, you know, they don't want the city life, they want to kind of get away. Now, if they're if they're kind of have to stay home, and they're working from home, why not get a bigger property and nicer views, right? Yeah, the pandemics a lot easier when you have a pool to cannonball into. So a lot of the cities that I'm working with, they're not really cities at all their towns or hamlets, their villages who are experiencing and they were experiencing growth before I think there was a trend to allow people, you know, a few days at home working. But now, folks don't have to go into the office at all, and they're not sure if they ever will have to again. Yeah, some of the cities I'm working with, it's just explosive growth, and trying to adapt to that and making sure that they're not just coping that they're, you know, really thinking 10 steps ahead and making sure that they have line of sight to what the real opportunities are for their community is really, really exciting, but very challenging. A lot of people who work for cities right now haven't taken a vacation day since, well, March 13 2020. You've been busy. Yeah, well, especially the people we serve are very busy folks. You know, really trying to get the people who run indoor recreation facilities who had to pivot and go to virtual so we're doing everything we can to support. It's tough to think about strategy at a time like this when you're just focusing on day-to-day, but we believe that the cities who look further ahead than just tomorrow are going to be the ones who are ultimately the most successful when we find out what the new new normal is after this. After this, yeah. So do you actually help businesses as well, or is it just government? Just government. Towns and cities is where our business is, but we help businesses indirectly through that. So a lot of cities and communities have economic development portfolios. So as part of developing those strategies, we talk to the businesses who live in those communities about what they need. You gave a great example. I'm trying to run a business remotely and I can't connect in. It's not always the city's responsibility, but they can get out the megaphone or they can develop partnerships to figure out how to address things like digital issues. Maybe that wasn't an issue before. Maybe you just needed to log on to email before, but now folks have businesses that are running from home. They have kids who are trying to learn at home at the same time. Maybe they're playing video games and it's affecting your bandwidth. So what was okay before is not okay now. We hear about the increasing emphasis on logistics space and the increasing demand because shipping goods now is more important than ever and access to highways and access to logistics is so important. So we support cities as they support the businesses who work in their communities and understanding what type of infrastructure, what type of support, what type of programming that they need in order to be able to go beyond surviving this pandemic to hopefully thriving. That's a good example of food delivery services. When they came out, we were trying to get food order here for the longest time. Now we're noticing in the rural, there's a lot of them skipped the dishes and all these guys are coming out now. You start seeing the ads saying, hey, we deliver here now, we deliver here. So you can notice everybody's evolving. All the businesses are kind of expanding. I think it's a good thing because it was too congested in one area. It's kind of broadening the infrastructure, right? Yeah. I think what's important for us to realize and what we bring into our work all the time is to know that no two cities are the same. We have a process we go through, but it's really having to listen to the needs of the client, understand what's going on in their city and making sure that whatever roadmap we help to build is really addressing their specific needs and the ideas that they have. I think a lot of people come into cities, whether they work on staff in a municipal government, whether they are an elected official who signed up, everybody is hearing different things and everybody has great ideas they're bringing to the table, but until they can get on the same page and develop a roadmap that they're all really fired up about and inspired about, it's very difficult to move forward. So that's what we do. We come in and we try and kind of find those areas that people are excited about, bring them together, establish consensus, develop an action plan and also help develop performance measures so that the elected officials in the city government can demonstrate to the community how they're progressing, how they're moving the community forward and how citizens are getting the best possible value for tax dollars every single day. And do you notice the mindset shift, the mental health in the government organizations? Do you notice that they need help with that? Is it kind of bumpy right now because of what's going on? I think that we have to be careful for anyone working on the front lines and I view city governments as one of those. Mental health is extremely important. You have to understand what employees are going through. So we will work with those employees to understand what their reality looks like. They can't have those conversations around the water cooler anymore, so you don't truly know how your employees are doing unless you ask them. I think the bigger issue even on the minds of the municipal leaders, the city leaders that I talk to is how is their community doing? How is the mental health in the community doing and how can they support that? So many city governments that we work with understand now the importance of trails and parks and virtual programming to keep the senior citizens connected and making that as easy as possible, addressing digital literacy there. And I don't know about you Shahid, but I live in Milton and if it weren't for our parks and trails and virtual programming to keep our community connected, I don't know what we would do if it weren't for that lunchtime walk to get out in the midst of this pandemic. This is how municipal governments are supporting people where they live. I worked with the municipal government who went above and beyond and the employees who work there actually helped with the food drive to help folks who were not thriving during the pandemic in their community. It's not within their job description, but this is the type of leading with love that the municipal sector is doing with their communities right now and we're doing everything we can to support them and their efforts. That's great, that's great. I used to, I don't know if you remember, I mentioned I used to live in Milton as well. Yes. You guys have a beautiful views and it's just beautiful town city. It is, yeah, we love living here. Yeah, Milton's a great place. It's a great place. So do you go all over Canada or is it just in Ontario? I think you mentioned, right? Just Ontario. Well, yeah, as an entrepreneur before the pandemic, we worked mainly in Ontario because a lot of our work is getting right into those communities, you know, face-to-face talking to business leaders. So before the pandemic, I really focused in Ontario because, you know, these are public sector tax dollars and you have to keep your proposals very competitive. So if their travel costs are too high, it starts to diminish the value that you can bring. However, during the pandemic, we've been branching out more and more talking to communities further afield because if you're doing this engagement digitally, you can do it with any community anywhere in the world. So we're looking now at how we can expand reaching out to communities outside Ontario. Yeah, that's great. I wanted to ask, you were working as an employee before, right? Yeah. So can you talk about that transition into self-employment? Absolutely. So I think what's really exciting about the work that I did and the work that I do is it's all based on making cities better places to live. Every single role I've ever taken on has been about making cities better places to live. What I loved about some of the work I did with consultants and firms when I was in municipal government is they were able to bring perspective that I didn't have working in a single municipality. I didn't know what other municipalities were doing and the value that they could bring to me in my role in telling me what the best practices were, some of the leading edge innovation that was happening. That was really exciting. I got to thinking, huh, I think in time I would really like to do what they do. I think that I really believed in myself because I knew the challenges that I was facing as a municipal employee. Sometimes firms in the private sector don't always understand the day-to-day reality of people who work in municipal government, who work for cities, the extreme importance of value for money. You have to demonstrate value for every single tax dollar that you collect. So I think having that understanding really put me in a position where I could make that jump, where I could make that connection and expand into a private sector role while still keeping a very keen line of sight to what it was like for me when I worked in municipal government and understanding, really acutely understanding the needs of the clients in that sector. You had that experience. It will help you in the entrepreneurship journey, especially in this field. It makes sense. That's how you got that entrepreneurship bug and you went out after it. Did you have to shift your mindset though? Did you have to kind of think about like, okay, am I going into this? Is it going to be okay? Because obviously the financial changes as well, right? When you take that leap. Yeah. Yeah. It's petrifying. It's absolutely petrifying. It takes a lot of mindset work, a lot of self-development when you can't rely on that steady corporate or public sector income week to week. You really have to make a decision to bet on yourself, believe in yourself, believe in your capabilities and believe in the value that you can bring and the impact that you can make on the sector that you choose. I think with any entrepreneur starting out, you really have to have a passion for the field you're in, especially, you know, during a pandemic, if you don't truly love what you do every single day, it's going to be hard to wake up in the morning to not press that button. It's staying connected. And that's why I love the work that you're doing. You are helping entrepreneurs stay connected at a time when it is so, so important because without those connections, without that passion, without that mindset, it's very, very easy to feel lost when times get uncertain like this. So it's a very important lifeline that you and entrepreneur communities to stay connected everywhere are going to bring. Yeah. Thank you so much, Aaron. And you as well have a lot of passion for what you do. You could tell. Right. So you just you just want to help like you're not like, you know, everybody, every human being is connected energetically. We can even through even through cameras, even through devices, we can pick up on these intuitions and these feelings. Right. And you could tell that about you, that your only focus is the people is to serve. Right. You know, the numbers and the business is that one component, but you're actually really focused on how much can I do? So my question, my question comes is, have you considered creating some kind of programs that government employees can sign up for to get training on how to make life better for them in that environment? Have you considered kind of online courses, stuff like that ever before? I have considered online courses. I think something I'd really like to branch into is and I haven't quite figured this out yet, but I do have a work that I'm doing on it. I guess it's a related hustle to my main job is love to hear getting citizens truly involved in what's going on in their municipal government. I think in the public sector, we have that passion. But I think it's difficult to find a voice that gets citizens really engaged and happy in the work that is happening. So I'm looking at building social platforms that really connect the citizen to what's going on in their community and are really part of a way. And I look at Instagram every single day. I look at my social media feeds every day. And I see consumers who are very engaged in products, whether it's wellness products, whether it's the fashion industry, whether it's food. And I don't see that same level of passion and energy and connection digitally and connecting people to doing great work and volunteering and being engaged where they live. So I'm working on platforms right now where we take those lessons learned from the private sector. We take those lessons learned from the restaurant industry, from retail, and we really kind of capture what's going on in cities in a way that would resonate with people by demonstrating success stories, by kind of stopping the jargon that sometimes goes on when we work in the public sector, and really developing true, meaningful conversations with people about where they live and what's going on. Yeah, so like an individual, if they want to get involved, they have to kind of get in touch with the city officials, and they might feel uneasy to do that, right. But if you created something that's cool, hip, and you could even incorporate something like a point system, where the more involved they get, they get points. And at the end of the month, they receive something, something good. Or on their name, there's a specific small amount of money that's donated towards the city. Something that gets them involved, makes it more exciting, puts some pizazz into it, right. And I think that will work globally, not just in Canada, like that kind of concept. And the reason why I brought this up is that I have this, I have this, I guess, knack, because when I see it in someone, I want to bring it out that I think you should definitely go on that route, because I see something phenomenal happening. Oh, thank you so much for your trust and confidence. You know what it was with me? I'll tell you a bit of a story. I was working on a project when I when I worked in city government when I was a public sector employee. And I was so excited. It was a transit project. I was so, so excited about it. This transit project we were working on at the time she had, it was going to connect people to jobs, people who didn't have access to transportation, people who needed greater opportunities, it was going to connect these people to the opportunities that they so truly, truly needed, but didn't have a way to get there. But when I came home and talked to my family about it, I wasn't speaking like that. I was saying, Hey, good news. We've got terms of reference on agreement in principle to proceed with Project X for two, and I'm being silly, but that's how I was communicating to it. And I could see they were kind of like, what is she talking about? And I think there's a real disconnect between sometimes the way we communicate the projects we're really excited about to the audiences we want to get excited. So that's kind of the side hustle that I'm working on right now. But it is a different angle that is about connecting people to the places where they live. And if it's not about connecting a resident to the community they live in, maybe it's about getting inspired about something that's happening elsewhere. I get inspired by the places I look at all the time, whether it's Porto, whether it's Melbourne, these places that are doing really cool things, Stockholm, and I get excited about that. New Zealand, you know, New Zealand, we don't always, we are always connected to what's going on elsewhere. So if we can showcase the very best of the best and get people inspired, I think that's going to lift up communities everywhere. Have you looked at New Zealand though? Like, have you like, I'm really impressed with their, I have never been, but just from what I hear, their infrastructure, the way they do things, I don't know, have you studied them? I've looked at them a bit, not at the city level, more at the national level. I think they have phenomenal leadership there. You know, the way they responded to the pandemic was very decisive. The way that they were able to adapt in the wake of emergencies has been incredibly, incredible, resilient leadership. So yeah, that's a great example as well. And I think sometimes when we're so focused on the day-to-day, whether you're a city government or whether you're an entrepreneur, there's a real risk when you don't feel secure that you get into the weeds and you lose that perspective, you lose that source of inspiration that got you fired up when you started your business. So you really have to step back sometimes, take a look at what's going on elsewhere and rediscover that inspiration because that is how you're going to deliver the best value for your clients. Amazing. Awesome stuff, Erin. What's the biggest surprise you had in your entrepreneurship journey? I think it was, you know, when I became an entrepreneur, when I became a consultant for the municipal sector, I thought I would be losing that sense of camaraderie and teamwork that I had when I worked in a more corporate environment. I thought, okay, I'm going to be a lone wolf and I just have to come to terms with that. But what I was really amazed by is some of the clients, a lot of the clients I worked with, I really felt like I was part of their team. When you're able to establish that trust and confidence with your clients, I felt and I feel to this day that I am part of their team, that we are all on the same page, that we all are going for that same goal. So I think that camaraderie that I didn't think would be there when I decided to become an entrepreneur, where you're able to establish that connection and demonstrate that you're on their side and that you want nothing more than the success of the community they serve, you do find that sense of teamwork and you do find those connections. I think what's really cool, I didn't really have a lot of opportunity to do it before, is talking to elected officials, really talking to them about why did you decide to run for government? Why? This is huge. I mean, people who serve in an elected capacity, they are probably the most underpaid individuals. Especially people who do it part-time. Why would you decide to do this? And the love and the caring and the want to do good and the passion, it's phenomenal. And to be able to find those opportunities where one of those public servants, one of those elected officials felt passionate and being able to convey that to others and create this momentum, it's amazing. What's the number one answer you get? When I ask people why they- When you ask them why, yeah, what is your why? I hear two things. I hear, you know what, I've always wanted to make this community a better place to live. So powerful. And if I thought, you know what, I have to step up. If I want truly the very best for that, the community. And it could be anything. It could be maintaining what makes that community great already. Or it could be, you know, we are transforming into this aspirational future state. It's people who felt they could no longer sit back, that they wanted to be engaged. That's great. People who, I mean, are just, they live and breathe public service. It's really inspiring. Yeah, that's great. See, you can either, you know, complain or find problems, or you can step up and be part of the solution and give back, you know, and that's the real change, right? That's the real difference. And I think in business, you can kind of lose sight of that. You can lose sight of whether you're an elected official or you're an entrepreneur. Once you get into the day-to-day of meetings and, you know, finances and all of that, you can sometimes lose sight of the why and the purpose. So, you know, connecting people back to what is your vision? What is your quest? What is your end game as an individual? And figuring out what that means as a collective and developing a roadmap to get there. Very same lessons for entrepreneurs, too. Once you get disconnected with that, you can find yourself in the weeds. You can find yourself lost, and that's not a good place to be. So really connecting to your why each and every morning, I think, is so important. Yeah, it's so true. And it's basically, human beings, the easiest thing we're capable of doing is drifting. So what you have to do is you have to have a goal, and you have to be so passionate about that goal that it has to be part of you. That means, like, the mornings that you recommended, has to be morning, evening, has to be affirmation, all those kind of things. Because you have to be it, you have to live it, you have to feel it, you have to be consumed by it. That's the only way you can actually grow. Because without that, you'll get drift, you'll find reasons, you'll complain, you'll be, your mood will be off. You'll make excuses. Yeah, you won't be in that vibration, how can you grow, right? So you have to make sure. So that was a great recommendation. Definitely a good pointer that, you know, both sides, like entrepreneurship and that, like, we need that focus. We need to have that shining star, right? We need to be going after something, even the employees, right? So they could have, like, a job dream, or they could have something that they want to do for the city that they can go after, and they'll see themselves climbing up the ladder of the, you know, that world. Yeah, and I'm glad you raised that, because those roadmaps we build, we also develop, you know, employee engagement, where we, you know, try to connect the roles that people do every day to how they're going to advance that community. And the work that every single individual in that corporation does is so, so meaningful. They're the people who wake up and serve the public on the front lines every single day. So if we don't hear from them in this process, and we don't hear their ideas, if we don't hear the values that are really important to them in a workplace, then we're not really realizing the potential of that community. So I'm fortunate, the communities that I work with, listening to employees is something that I don't even have to come in and say, we should do this. The city managers are like, this is a must. We have to hear from our employees. That's amazing. So great leaders in these communities. That's great. We always like to ask our guests what their inner superpower is that got them to this point. I think the inner superpower, and I originally, maybe when I started on my entrepreneur journey, maybe thought, oh, that's too wishy-washy, or that's too, you know, high level, but it really is leading with love. It's not being an entrepreneur for financial gain. It's having to trust that if you care about the clients you serve, that you'll be okay. And your behavior expresses that. You can see it. Like when you communicate with you, you can see that your behavior is expressing that superpower, even though you don't even say it. Now that you say it, you could connect the dots, but it actually connects. So that means you live it from within, right? That's who you are. And people who ask me about becoming an entrepreneur, because they're interested, very quickly the conversation talks about money and financial gain. And I get it. We all have families to feed. We've got kids to put through post-secondary education. That's very, very important. But I think becoming an entrepreneur is the courage to believe in what you're passionate about, believe in your capability, and let the client's needs come first, and trust the financial side will come with that. That has to be paramount. Not, I need to develop this business line to develop Q3 goals. Because if you have that line of sight, that passion for what you do, and that understanding, that keen understanding of what the client needs, you'll be able to adapt and be flexible. And some of the colleagues I've talked to during the pandemic, when they led with that sense of purpose and understanding, they were much quicker to adapt to this reality, because it's that passion. It's not about a rigid business plan or financials. It's understanding that side. I don't want to discount it. No, I know what you mean. You can't just have a Zoom call and a dream, but you do need to make sure that the purpose is first. That's paramount. Why you do it and what your client needs in making sure that you're doing everything you can to help your clients succeed. And you pointed out the number one universal law in growth and being successful and all the good things that you desire is that giver's gain. When you have an attitude of actually trying to leave everyone that you interact with better off than you left them or met them, that energy, when you put out and you're doing, you're going to get tenfold back. And I noticed that for me, I have it embedded in me. So if I talk to someone, even if it's a prospect or anything, my main, main focus is always trying to see what I can say or do or help that can shift their reality in some way that can make their life better. If they become a client, don't because that doesn't matter that second. So what you're saying is actually a law like that's amazing that you mentioned that because that is key component money and all that is great to have as goals, right? You want to go towards things because more money you have, you could do better for the world, right? You could do more if you're a good person, obviously, but the main focus is, is day to day, just see what you could do for that day that you can help others and you'll get like, you'll get a lot of success coming your way. Yeah. And don't be afraid to reach out to unexpected places. You know, I often reach out to who, you know, in the business world might be considered my competitors, but if I know that they care about communities at the end of the day, reaching out to them, understanding, you know, if I bring my skillset and they bring their skillset, could we develop an even better solution for the clients we're serving? You know, it's really having to have that abundance mindset. There are so many people in the service sector that if you're too focused on, you know, your turf and what you have, you really need to think differently. You need to think about what the client needs. And if you can only deliver part of the puzzle, how do you make those connections and how do you establish those relationships? And that's been exciting too, right? I've been able to find folks to work with and work together and be able to bring truly innovative solutions forward. Yeah. It's like, you know, the saying professionals create, amateurs compete. You should never, ever have the mentality of competition ever. Everybody has their own source, you know, there's no need that you should be trying to take from someone else. And that's such a great point that you brought up. You're like, you're bringing up all amazing, amazing points. It's been phenomenal talking to you and everything that you shared. I hope it can make a difference in someone's life. You know, any last thoughts that you want to share, any kind of recommendations you want to share with anyone looking to get into entrepreneurship or being in entrepreneurship? Yeah, I think a few things. Number one, have passion for what you do. If you're not a hundred percent convinced that what you're doing is going to help you get out of bed on the hardest, hardest day, then reconsider it, figure out what you are passionate about. When I was getting in this field, I was doing self-development work where they said, even when you were a child, when you worked on things in school, what were you really excited about? Those are really good clues into what might drive you as an adult and as an entrepreneur. So that's number one, your passion. Number two, love your client. Love them. Make sure that they succeed in whatever they do. And you might have processes that help you become more efficient. Maybe it's automation and that's not great, but they need to be in service to your client. So if you need to adapt them, then go ahead and do that. I'd say number three, I thought this was a little bit hokey when I started as an entrepreneur and I was reading about it, but it's truly helped me a lot is believe in abundance. Believe by me getting something, someone else has to lose something. That's not how entrepreneurship works anymore. It's about understanding by working together, you can create more, you can create abundance. And I think that has been a huge mindset shift for me that in order for me to win, it doesn't mean others have to lose. If someone else is winning, that doesn't mean that I'm losing. It's about understanding that. And the last thing I'd say, something I had to learn as an entrepreneur. So when I get a no, I think a lot of people, it's your innate reaction to get angry or upset, or maybe you lack your confidence. But just really understand that a no is a redirection. Behind every single no, there is a bigger yes. So I have a rule. This is my rule. I'll share it with you. If I get a no, I allow myself two hours to get into the weeds, to work out emotions, especially if it's something I really wanted. After that two hours is up, time stops, I flick the switch, find the bigger yes. Find the bigger yes that was behind the no you received. Great. And use it as an opportunity to grow. Awesome. Awesome, Erin. Great recommendation. Great suggestions. I want to really, really thank you and for coming on the show. It was a pleasure speaking to you today. And you too. Thank you so much for the work that you do every day and connecting entrepreneurs. And if folks don't follow you already, I encourage them to do so. It really helps the entrepreneur community stay connected on those days when it's hard to keep going. Sometimes I'll see one of your posts on Instagram. I get inspired. I get excited. It gives me a thrill I need to keep going. So thank you for the value that you're bringing to entrepreneurs every.