It's something so unnatural to me about sitting there on your phone and like scrolling through people like you're looking through a menu. Sometimes that's a very hard because it takes what is already a rough dating pool and it makes it go from this size to this size and pay attention to who reaches out to you when you're a little quiet. Hello, hello everybody, welcome back to The Walk Podcast. If you're new here, my name is Sam. I post all things lifestyle, faith, and occasional travel vlog. If you're here watching on YouTube, this channel is essentially a video diary of my life, but my focal point lately has definitely been this podcast. So I'm super happy you're here, episode 20, which is wild. Let's just get all the business out of the way, shall we? Maybe you want to listen to this audio only. If that is you, then I do have these episodes up on Spotify. They are all up there. The link will be down below. Support over there actually means a lot, even if you just want to listen to one episode over there, it really does boost the algorithm and where these episodes kind of meet people. So I would really appreciate your support over there. If you would rate the show, I would really appreciate it. And just thank you for being here. I love reading all your comments down below under every single episode or your DMs that I get over on Instagram, which by the way is just Sam on YouTube, Sam on YT. I will put all the information down below and on the screen for you should you want to follow it. I am also on TikTok. I will have my personal TikTok down below, which I am fairly active on as well as the TikTok for this podcast. One of the biggest goals for me this year was to really share my podcast and my social platforms with the world because I haven't always been really good with that. So that was one of my goals. So if you would love to support me on any of those platforms, I would really, really appreciate it. But like I said, we are on episode 20, which is crazy. I think we hit a year that I've been doing the walk podcast. I've said this before. When I started it, it didn't have a name. It wasn't even a podcast. It was just like, here's this video, I'm going to put it out. And I think to date the first episode of this was probably the most viewed out of all of them so far. So that's interesting. But it's just funny how I didn't know what I was doing, but things were happening. And now we're here at episode 20 and it's really cool. So I have decided that I think I'm going to do every 10 episodes will be a Q&A and we'll kind of split it up that way. So you guys are in control of this episode. I asked you guys over on my Instagram story yesterday for topics, questions, anything that you wanted to talk about said you are in control of this episode. So I have kind of skimmed through a little bit but not too much and we're just going to kind of dive in because these episodes tend to be a lot longer the Q&As, but I'm excited. So without further ado, here are all the questions. There are always a good amount of them. You guys always pull through and I really appreciate it. I have cat hair in my nose. Luna is here. She's sleeping actually thank goodness. She's getting better with being more independent while I film, but she's still a pain in the butt sometimes. But she is starting to lose hair. She definitely has, she has a lot of hair. She's a Siberian. She has three levels or three layers I should say of fur. And so I knew that going into it especially because this is molting season for cats. So I'm finding little pieces of hair everywhere. But it's okay. So if you see me scratching my nose, that's why. All right. So let's just dive into these. I say this always. I probably won't get to all of them because then this would be like a four hour long episode and ain't nobody got time for that. Well, you guys might. I have to go to work in a few hours. So I don't have time for that although I would love to. But some of them might be repeats because that usually also tends to happen. So I'm going to try to get through as many as I can in the time that we have together. And I'm excited. So let's jump into it starting strong. Someone said pros and cons of using dating apps. That's a good one. Actually, you guys know I'm in my dating era. Lord help me right now. And it is fun. I will say you should have fun with it. I think the moment that it stops becoming fun, I think maybe you just shouldn't be doing that right now. I had to take a couple steps back, you know, a few months ago where I was just like, wow, this is draining. I'm not having fun. And I took a couple months off of dating and apps and all the things and it was actually a really peaceful like four months or whatever it was, it was nice. So I will lead off with that. And I will say that yes, dating should be fun. But if you're really serious about it, you should also be dating with intention. So yeah, let's talk about dating apps. I am not the biggest fan of them. I will I will say I am on two of them. Okay, I have hinge and I am trying upward, which is supposed to be like a Christian dating app. But honestly, I don't like labels. Anybody could go on that app. And just because they slap the label Christian, it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean you're going to be compatible. But so I'm trying it. Okay, I'm trying it. And I will say I am not going to sit here and be like, I don't think dating apps work. I have multiple friends that are either married or engaged to be married. That met on dating apps. So it's very, it's very possible. But it just, I don't know, okay, let's pros and cons. So I'm probably going to come up with more cons just because that's how it works in my brain. But I think there are some pros as well, right? If you work maybe odd hours or you don't really know where you would meet people, you know, you know, you're not going to meet them at your job or you're not going to, you know, it gives you more options, right? But with that, I think that is where it becomes part of a con at least for me. I think there's something so weird and sometimes when I'm on them, I get a weird feeling and I have to get off where is something so unnatural to me about sitting there on your phone and like scrolling through people like you're looking through a menu. It's just weird. It makes people feel less like a person and more of just an object, truly, which I think is one of the things wrong with dating in this era and this generation. I also think one of the problems in dating is the amount of options. I think there are too many options and if you can sit there on your phone and just endlessly scroll and scroll and never run out of people, that makes people feel like the person you're talking to is kind of disposable, right?  So there's a lot that feels unnatural to me, but I am also open to them, which is why obviously I have them. I think God can move in any way. He can bring, you know, somebody across your path through an app, through in person, through a job, through church, like there's, you know what I mean? So I'm just open to it. It's kind of like, Lord, however you bring my person to me, I'm open to it. Another con I would say is that you're meeting a complete stranger, right? So more often than not, you don't have other people like mutuals that can attest to their character that can say, oh, yeah, so and so, like, he's a really good person. He's going to treat you right. You know, he's he loves his family. He blah, blah, blah, blah, because when you're meeting a person on an app, right, all you know about them is what they're showing you. They're putting their best foot forward. They probably will for a while. That's you've heard, like, you don't really truly know who you're dating until like a year or so in, which I can attest that that's true. So that's another thing that you're very I'm weary of, because you really don't know them. There's no one to really talk about their character, at least for the first couple months or in the beginning. So I am not going to say that the dating apps make it impossible. Like, I don't think they're impossible to find love. I think it's just you need to be more on your toes. It takes a lot more energy out of you, I think. But I'm open to them. Like, it probably sounds like I hate, I hate them. I'm not the biggest fan, but I don't hate them. I'm open to them and the way that they can work. But just know that no matter what app you're on, you're probably going to have to, like, for every one good person you meet or interact with, you're going to have to probably interact with 50 that are, I'm not going to say that they're bad people, but they're just not going to be for you. So, yeah, there's probably a lot more I could say about dating apps and just dating in general.  Um, OK, let's see what else we got. Advice on getting back into dating after not dating for years. That's a good one. That's a big one. Been there, done that. It's scary, but you're just going to have to, at some point, do it. Now, don't do it if you really, you'll know when you're really ready. And if it really feels like, wow, I would rather do anything else other than this, it is OK to not. Don't let anybody pressure you into feeling like you have to. I know I've been, I've felt pressure before with people in my life where it's like you're 20, you know, back when I was like 25, 26, right? Maybe like you're in your mid 20s, like you're supposed to be dating. You're supposed to be, I'll never forget, somebody said to me once and it was like a grown man, a man in his 40s who I've known for years, but a grown man, he was like, you should be going on a date with like three different guys every single week. Like, what are you doing? And for a split second, I remember sitting there and I'm like, am I doing this wrong? Like, am I supposed to be doing that? And then I kind of took a step back and I was like, no, I don't want to do that. No, so I'm not I'm not going to do it. So don't let anybody make you feel like you have to. OK, but when you once you know that you are ready, it should be like I said before, it should be fun. Don't treat it as I know I I went into dates when I started going back into the dating world a year ago, actually a year ago this month. Happy anniversary to me a year ago in April. I went on my first date after getting out of a long term relationship. And in the beginning, I remember I was going on these dates and what was in the forefront of my mind was, oh, I hope they like me.  I hope like it was never I never sat down to be like, do I like them? Would they fit into my life? It was always like the people pleaser in me that was like, I just wanted to make sure that I was liked that he made that he thought that I was pretty, that I was saying all the right things, that I was, you know, having the right date etiquette and all the things. And that's what I was focusing on more than I was focusing on. Do I actually like this person? Would they work for me? So I would say approach it like that. Just go and sounds cheesy, but go and be yourself. I would always like hype myself up and be like once I started to learn from from my ways as I started navigating the dating world again, I would kind of have to hype myself up and be like, you're just going to meet a friend. That's it. You're going to make a new friend and you're going to see how compatible you are. And if if that first date with your new friend ends in a first kiss, OK, that's cool, too.  So just go and be yourself. Be like, I'm going and, you know, it's fun to get dressed up and look pretty and whatever.  Just address it and like approach it and like going to hang out with a new friend, you know? And I will say, too, like be wary of. You know how they say like you should feel butterflies and fireworks and this and that that's actually equated to like the chase, right? Like you want you you're chasing a high, right? And I saw something that was like you shouldn't be looking for fireworks. You should be looking for a warm campfire. So it's OK if they don't make your stomach do somersaults, but if you feel peace in your heart and you feel comfortable with them and you feel calm, that's actually better than somebody who makes you feel like you want to throw up, even if it's in a good way every time you see them because that also fades. And then once that kind of fades, once that feeling fades, it's not as exciting anymore. But if you feel that comfort right from the beginning, that comfort usually doesn't go away. So look more for a warm campfire than fireworks. I heard that a couple of months ago and it really stuck with me. And now I like whenever people ask me for advice, I always I always like jump back to that. OK, let's see. There's a lot of dating questions. I told you guys that you were in control of this episode. So whatever you want to talk about, we're going to talk about it. Somebody else said similarly, though, but like in a different from a different angle, what is dating like as a Christian? So I will say this. So a year ago, I was kind of going on a date with whoever, right? It didn't matter if they, you know, went to church or, you know, prayed or read the Bible, like it didn't matter, right?  We had a good conversation. Sure, let's go on a date. Whereas now I am and I've said this before where I have really like narrowed it down where I'm just like, I know that if this person doesn't have similar faith, who doesn't have the same priorities of like going to church and like serving at church and not saying that has to consume every single part of their life, but it has to be the biggest part of their life like me or else it won't work. And so I will be honest, sometimes that's very hard because it takes what is already a rough dating pool and it makes it go from this size to this size. It severely, severely, especially where I live, severely cuts down the dating pool. And sometimes that's discouraging. I will be fully transparent with you. To I think it was two weeks ago, I redownloaded Bumble and because I was just like, I want like the hinges and working, right? I'm going to download Bumble. I'm going to see spoiler alert. I no longer have it. But I remember when I first downloaded it and I was swiping and I was like, wow, so many attractive people, right? And I was getting matches and I didn't message a single one of them. Do you want to know why? Because none of them said anything about faith or or being a Christian. And I knew already I knew I had that conviction in my heart. I was like, that's not going to work. So don't even waste their time. Don't waste your time. So that was the reason I got rid of Bumble because I just wasn't I wasn't using it. I was sitting there to swipe and it felt icky and I didn't like it. So I got rid of it. But I had that moment of like my dating pool now is so small. And I'm like, I'm seeing all these attractive people. I'm like, I could probably have a good life with them. Like I'm I'm not perfect, guys. I'm human. I have these temptations where I'm like, I could do it. And then maybe like invite them to church. These thoughts, I know that they're they're not the thoughts I want to be having, but I have them sometimes. I'm like, I can invite them to church.  And I look at my list and I'm like, the top of that list is sharing similar faith is wanting to serve Jesus. So why would I settle for less that I'm that I'm praying for? And it doesn't mean, like I said, it's and I've said this before, doesn't mean that they're bad people at all. But we just might not be that compatible because that's not what I feel in my heart.  And so many people, right?  But I know it's not going to work. And sometimes I question, I'm like, am I shooting myself in the foot? But then I'm like, no, I don't want to settle for less than what I'm believing in God for.  I am picky, I'm very picky. But can I tell you why I'm picky? I'm picky because not only am I looking for a partner for me, I'm looking for a parent for my future children. I want somebody when my child is sick, will lay his hands on them and pray for them. Or when my marriage is going through a little bit of a funky time, he will sit with me and pray with me and pray over our marriage rather than going to seek comfort in another woman or seeking comfort on a website that he shouldn't be on. So that's why I'm picky. And it's hard. I want to give in all the time. But I know better. I know better. So to answer your question, dating as a Christian is hard. But you have to kind of keep the faith and like, you know what you're praying for. God hears your prayers. His word says that he will give you the desires of your heart. You just have to be patient and you have to trust him. And so I struggled a long time with the dating apps, too, because I was like, I hear all the time a man that finds a wife finds a good thing, a man that finds, right? He's doing the searching. The wife isn't doing anything. She's being found, right?  And like news flash, she's not going to show up at my door and be like, surprise, God sent me. I'm your husband. If that happened, I'd probably call the police. You know what I mean? So that's why, like I said, I'm open to the apps. I'm open to, you know, I'm open to everything because who knows how God can work. But dating as a Christian, yeah, it's it's hard. Like dating is hard. And then you add the fact that you want to find somebody of a similar faith who not only do you have the similar faith, but you also like there has to be attractions there. Your personalities have to match. You have to find them like somewhat attractive. You know what I mean?  Cool, perfect, done. You know what I mean? Obviously, if that was the case, I'd probably be married by now. You know what I mean? So it's hard. And I get tempted to settle all the time, all the time. But I know what I'm waiting for. And thankfully, I'm able to kind of pull myself back every time. And I also have, you know, friends that are also accountability partners and I think also like having this platform where I talk about these things online holds me accountable to because I never want to settle for less and then come on here and be like, hey, guys, so I actually didn't do that. Not just with dating, but just with anything. It's like, hey, I actually didn't do that. But you know, it's OK. You know what I mean? So it's hard, but I know it'll be worth it. And yeah, so if you're in a similar boat, I am with you and I understand. I understand. OK, let's see if there's anything. No, we'll take a little break from from dating for a second. Someone said, I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend. What is Luna's daily routine? OK, I won't talk about this too long, but I will tell you kind of her routine. So Luna is three and a half months old now. She is already quite big. So I am equal parts, nervous and excited to see how big she gets. She is going to be anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds. You add all of her fur on top of that. And she's she's going to be a pretty big girl. But she let's see her daily routine.  I remember when she first came home, she was getting me up at six thirty seven thirty seven thirty in the morning and get with my work schedule. I usually get out of bed around nine. So she will stay in bed with me until it's time for me to get up. I feed her. She eats twice a day now. I feed her around ten in the morning, nine thirty ish. I try to push it as close to ten as I can. And then she kind of she kind of chills. She'll kind of like clean herself, whatever. Sometimes we play if I have time and then she kind of she loves her cat tree now. I have it right here by the window. So she looks out and right now it's raining and I think the the sound of the rain actually kind of relaxed her because now she is like dead asleep right now, which is great. I try to spend as much time with her as I can. Like I cuddle with her in bed for like 20 minutes before I get up because I'm gone for eight, nine hours of my work day. So when I am home, I want her to see that I'm here and then I will spend time with her and that I love her.  So I brush her twice a day so that doesn't get all over everything else. And that's been working really nicely. I leave around to give her a little treat before I go to work. I drop her some dry food. I have an automatic feeder for her that I can feed her from my phone and I can watch her from my phone, which is great. I feed her around seven thirty, drop her some dry food. And then when I get home at 11, 11, 15, I give her the rest of her wet food. We play for 20 minutes at night so I can tire her out before bed. I wipe her down with a wipey before we go to bed because she she shares my pillow with me. And so I'm anal about the cleanliness. Brush her one more time and then we kind of just kind of go to bed. So that's her.  She's a little queen. Let's see. How do you get out of a dry season in your faith? That's a good one. So another way of saying dry season is like lukewarmness where like you believe but you're not super you're not feeling super close with God as of right now.  That was me forever. I was a Christian that didn't read the Bible for a long time. Right. I was going to church sometimes two three times a week and I didn't I didn't know the Bible stories. I didn't know who anybody was. I didn't know who Abraham was. I didn't know who you know what I mean. I didn't know anything. That's kind of lukewarm. And so in my case unfortunately it was like a bad experience and some pain that brought brought me back out of my dry season. And that is true for some people. Definitely. But the fact that you're asking this question means that you're already on the right track and that you're looking which is great. And the Bible actually says like seek me and you will find me knock and I will answer.  And there's many ways to do that. I mean I've said it before and I'll say it over and over again. The Bible is your place to do that. Reading your word is reading God's words. So if you want to get to know him that's how you do it. It's a great place to start. And I remember a couple months ago my pastor actually talked about this where it was like getting out of a dry season and he was like remember what it felt like when you first fell in love with Jesus when you first really started just being all about your faith. You were on fire. He was like what did you do back then that was like your honeymoon stage of the Lord like or with the Lord. What were you doing were you reading your Bible every day were you praying first thing in the morning were you doing this were you doing that go back to that go back to that everything that you were doing back then do it again the exact same way. It's almost like you know a married couple that's been married for years and years and years and years and years and they're not in their honeymoon phase anymore but they want to be they want to like re reignite their marriage so they always tell you date again right like act like act like you did in the beginning. So that would be that would be my advice the word you know there's plenty of sermons online or finding a local church really just surrounding yourself with the word and with God's presence and just search search and you will find and even just like be like hey God like I feel far from you but I don't want to feel far anymore so like will you help me and he will just I've said it before I'm a big proponent of it like just have a conversation with him and ask him for help and he will help you so I hope I hope that helped there's one person who asked like a couple of questions and it's all about my new church so like how did I find it what kind of church and how did how did I get involved there so I've always been like non-denominational so this church that I go to is a non-denominational Christian church they're very big on just like come as you are doesn't matter what your faith traditions are or we're growing up or if you've just never even been to church like they don't matter it's very much just come as you are which I love and I think is beautiful so I always just say I'm a non-denominational Christian I'm just a Christian right it's less about religion it's more of just like my relationship with God how did I find the church so the church opened actually a year ago but they were they were a church for years and years and years they were a traveling church but they never had a home and so they moved into the building that they are in now last March and I saw the building being built it's not that far away from where I live and so I spent a lot of time in that area where the church is and so I would walk by and I would see it being built it used to be it used to be a CVS actually the building and I remember peering in the window actually with my ex believe it or not it's funny how everything happens for a reason I don't know if I would have really found the church completely if it wasn't for my ex because he was the one that was like I think that's gonna be a church so I remember we crossed the street and looked in the window and I saw like there was nothing in it it was empty and I remember so vividly being like I want to I want to visit here I want to go here I want to check it out one day and I did just turns out that I went by myself and that turned out to be so much better so much better than I originally planned it's just funny that's how God works and I went to visit once in July of 2023 and that was it I went once and I then I went again a couple weeks later and I never left I never left so it kind of happened very organically it kind of just stumbled upon it and it was kind of one of those things or once I like saw it for the first time it like never left my mind which is how I felt like I like I knew I was being called to go there because I just I couldn't forget about it it was constantly on my heart it was constantly on my mind it just took me a while to go because it's scary when you go by yourself I went by myself for a long time I didn't talk to anybody and then I just kind of started saying yes to every opportunity I was presented with do you want to volunteer here do you want to do this do you want to do that do you want to get involved and I would just do it and that's how I met people and then the more people I met the more things I wanted to do because I wanted to do it with them and so it was really hard and uncomfortable at first and the things that are usually worth having are worth the work and the uncomfortableness so that's just a little background story of that let's see when things get rough how do you seek advice from scripture that's a good one and actually I I thought that for a long time like before I really knew the word I was like okay I have a book here and everybody says I need to read it but like how do I know what to read it's a big book I have literally googled if I'm sad or if I need comfort Bible scriptures for comfort Bible scriptures when I'm scared I just google it and it literally gives you a whole list of them and it gives you a place to start so hopefully that's that actually I really recommend doing that it's easy to google my motto in life is literally Google everything to Google everything okay let's see any advice for girlies approaching their mid-20s who feel behind in their career I think I could answer that I mean everybody's different but I can answer this not even just for the girlies although I love the girlies but this could be for anybody I mean listen the older I get the more you kind of realize that nobody really has it all figured out like even even your parents like the older you get especially if you're like the first child like I'm my mom's only child on my dad's first child the older you get the more you kind of realize that they didn't really know what they were doing either they were just kind of figuring it out as they went so none of us really have it all figured out I don't know where my what my forever career is gonna be I pray about it every day I still don't know and yeah it's scary you know I have friends that have been promoted in their jobs four or five times already and make a lot of money and I'm so happy for them but everyone's timeline is different just like in dating just like in you know people are buying houses at later ages you know it's everybody's timeline is different so don't you know kind of put your blinders on and just don't worry about what everybody else around you was doing because if you're not looking from side to side you won't know whether you're behind or not and that's no that there's no such thing as being behind or ahead it's just it's your timeline and take comfort in that you are where you are supposed to be at this time where you are now what your job is that is where you're supposed to be because say you were somewhere else the next position that you have coming your way maybe you wouldn't be at a place where you could take it or you would even maybe you would even miss you but because you're here right now when you meet it it's gonna hit you does that make sense so just take comfort in knowing that you are exactly where you're supposed to be and you'll be okay I promise I promise let's see dealing with fake friends friends that show true colors when you need them yeah I mean as you get older too sometimes your your friend pool also gets smaller I would just say be attentive and pay attention to who reaches out to you when you're a little quiet or when you're a little different who is it that's reaching out to you and being like hey you seem a little off what's going on you know those are the people that you really really want in your corner and like sometimes you'll have friends that you're like friends with you're like good friends with but then you'll have like your ride or die friends and honestly sometimes you only need two or three honestly even if you have one I think you're winning and I would also say you know be the friend that you would want to have so like me for example I try to be that now if I want that then when I notice that Sally over here I'm one of my good friends I don't have a friend named Sally but you get it when Sally I haven't heard from her for a couple weeks right or she's silent on social media when she's normally not or whatever hey Sally just wanted to know that I'm thinking about you and that I love you would love to hear from you whenever you're able be the friend that you want to have and if you feel like you don't have those friends I've talked about it many times on here like community find your community and I've talked about another episode so I won't talk about it too much but there are ways to do it community so important and having like-minded community is so important and I really believe that you will find that and I'm excited for you okay let's see what else do we have here I saw a good one is questioning your relationship with God a bad thing does it make you a bad Christian sometimes I struggle listen we're all gonna question things actually we just talked about it this past Easter weekend at church where when Jesus rose from the dead right he the tomb was empty his own disciples his best friends didn't even believe they had to see it for their own eyes they didn't they didn't even believe right so no it doesn't make you a bad Christian you can't be a bad Christian you have we also have to remember I think people forget this that being a Christian is no such thing as like a good or a bad Christian because it's not our actions that are making us a good or a bad Christian we're it's not our actions that are are making us closer to God or that are saving us it's that we are saved through what Jesus did it's not by what we do here on earth because we would never we would never go to heaven if it was just based on that right because none of us were all flawed we sin every day it's what Jesus did so there's no such thing as being a good or a bad Christian my opinion not even in my opinion that's like a thing that's a thing it's not just my opinion it's a thing so please don't ever think that a thought that you have or like you did one bad thing or you said one bad thing and like oh I'm a bad Christian God hates me impossible literally impossible I promise you it says it multiple places in the Bible okay and then if anything I think it's good to question it's healthy to question because it exercises your faith just like you exercise a muscle you're moving it around the more you move it the more you exercise it the stronger it gets the bigger it gets so the more you question things and you investigate for yourself the bigger your faith is gonna be the stronger your faith is gonna be and it's gonna continue to grow so no don't ever think that questioning it I question sometimes don't ever think it makes you a bad a bad Christian it's okay to struggle it's okay to question and if you want to pray also that God will strengthen your faith he'll do that as well you just have to ask him but there's nothing that you could do that would make you a bad Christian there's nothing that you could do that would remove his love from you okay this one I debated if I wanted to talk about but I'm gonna talk about it what is your take on sex before marriage I'm 26 and I want to wait for marriage dot dot dot but girl I get it this is one that I've never really talked about because I'm still learning and I'm still figuring it out full transparency I didn't wait I'm 27 years old I did not wait I believe that God designed sex sex is a great thing I think he designed it though to be best used within the confines of marriage and I had to do I have done a lot of soul searching a lot of praying a lot of I went back and forth for months and I'm still not perfect but it's one of those things where you know you hear people be like well you already did it so like just keep doing it who cares right but it's not about that that's not what it's about it's about honoring God with your marriage or your future marriage and the only thing I'm not gonna talk about this too much because I think one day this is something especially when I'm more confident in this I want to talk about more and like maybe have a whole episode dedicated to it but what I will say on this topic is one of my biggest pet peeves in the whole world is when people say you're gonna buy a car without test driving it now I get it but my response to that is you can test drive a Prius you can test drive a Honda can you even test drive a Jeep no offense if you have those cars I had Jeep I had a Honda okay you understand go with me here you can test drive those you can test drive those as many times as you want you can buy a car one of those cars that has been that has been test driven by five other people you know you can't test drive a Maserati a Lamborghini all those high high value cars you're not allowed to you're not allowed to touch them you're not allowed to drive around it's one of those things where you know that when you get them they're gonna be perfect so you don't need to test drive it because it's that high quality of a car of a machine that's all I'll say with that and let me just also say like you said you're 26 and you're just you're struggling with it I get it I'm 27 and I think it's even harder when it's something that you have done right and you know what it feels like you know that it's fun you know that it's that it feels good you know all the things and then you're like oh now I don't have it anymore that sucks but I want it I think it makes it even harder but I think honoring God by following his design in the end makes it so worth it and you have to know what your trigger points are too like I had to stop reading romance novels because that fills your mind with stuff with a lot of lust that is hard to shake it's different for everybody maybe watching certain movies maybe you fast-forward some parts it sounds stupid but I'm telling you those things really fill your mind and if your mind is not filled with those things then you don't think about it as often if you don't think about it as often then you don't struggle with it as much but it's a struggle I get it that's all I'm gonna say on that topic because again that's still that's I'm I'm not perfect I'm still learning and that's a really that's a really hard one especially because you a lot of times now you go to somebody and you're like hey I don't want to do this they're gonna be like hook bye I'm gonna go find somebody who will give it to me because that's the world we live in now and it sucks and it's discouraging sometimes but you know that's what we signed up for right so I can't believe I just talked about that one on camera but here we are I always pray before these videos and like Lord you know what these people need to hear you know what I need to hear just give me the words and so here we are um what else what else what else what else um have you ever I'm sorry no have you been learning to speak Spanish a little more hey no I actually have a lot of my new friends at church pretty much all of them most of them are like fluent Spanish speakers and I'm always joking I'm like joking but not joking and I'm always like can you like teach me please teach me some Spanish so sometimes like one of my friends like my friend Carlos will like give me a phrase or a sentence and I'll like try to repeat it but no no no it's a little intimidating for me to tackle now to try to learn the language but never say never right what are you most excited about when you become a mom and a wife oh man I have such a passion on my heart to have a husband that I can serve with like serve the Lord with you know go to church with serve at church doesn't mean we have to serve together be glued to each other 24-7 that's not what I mean but just to be a good example of what it's like to to have a relationship rooted on faith it's something that the world is lacking so much right now and I just want to be a good example of it and I think God knows that I think that's why he's kind of keeping me hidden for now until my time comes um and to be a mom oh man I just to have a little me running around like it makes me want to cry it's just like like you're half of me my body made you like God's design is crazy where I can grow a human in my body and give it my nutrients and give it my genes and my husband's genes and then it's gonna come out and be such a blessing and my best friend just had a baby and we were talking about it and she was saying like because I was asking like how does it work like the milk production and like how much he needs to feed and blah blah and she was like my body is learning to make enough milk for him so as much as he needs my body is producing that much and I remember I was just sitting there listening to her say this and I was like look at God like that's amazing you know what I mean I just think it's so amazing and I have it like it makes me emotional every time I talk about it because I just have such a heart for just wanting that like I've never been I guess career is important I love my YouTube platforms I love my job I love all the things but my passion passion is to have a family and to be a mama and you know just to live that lifestyle and I know it's not going to be perfect white picket fences all the time and all the things but you know it's going to come with some real trials and a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of you know building a relationship is hard oh man but I think it's going to be so worth it and I'm just really I'm excited for when the day comes and we'll come back to this episode and we'll we'll watch it and be like remember when you said this and now look you have it I really believe that um okay let's do a few more what are all of your past jobs just for fun I actually have an ASMR video about this but I'll see if I can do them really quickly I worked in a fro-yo shop I was a waitress for years and years uh one at a country club another one for a catering company I worked at a community center in the front office so I was like a host slash I did paperwork and things like that um directing television I've been doing that for like seven the past seven years now I babysat for a while what else did I do I did a lot of volunteer like photography and stuff for years at my old church um but because tv has taken up my past seven years um I think that's pretty much it but the fro-yo one was the first one actually waitressing at 15 was the first one but then once I was able to get my working papers um I worked at a fro-yo place so I was a senior in high school or junior so I was pretty young my parents were very much like yeah you're getting a job so those are just a few of them some are plans um I'm going to Vegas in June for a bachelorette party terrified um and that's something I'm gonna very have to I'm gonna have to carefully navigate but we'll see um but it'll be fun it's for one of my best friends and then she's getting married in August I am in her wedding so that's gonna be cool I think I'm going to Colombia it's not nothing's booked yet but it's looking like I'm gonna go to Colombia also in August for a long weekend never been excited very excited um what else my best friend Marissa and I we might do a trip no idea where yet uh that's really it I did a lot of traveling last year and this year I need to kind of like chill I also have Luna now so I can't travel as much as I used to you know I've had family to help me watch her and stuff but you know she's my child I don't want to just pass them along to pass her along to them just whenever I want you know what I mean I have to be a little more considerate but um those are a few of my plans so nothing nothing too too crazy but I'm really really excited for summer for sure any collaborations coming soon I don't know collaborations as far as like not with any other podcast that would be cool that's like my dream one day um my best friends from church they have asked if they could be in a podcast episode and I really really want to do that I just have to plan it I also have to figure out what the heck the setup would be because it would be one two three four five six of us I don't know how I would set that up technically technically speaking but I really want to do that hopefully at some point by the summer I'd love for you guys to meet them I would love for them to share their testimonies my friend Carlos may I let him tell you but he has such a testimony and God has just done such a 180 in his life in just the last eight months he got baptized last year he reads the bible every day he knows more of the bible than me and he just he's so encouraging and he has such a passion for it and he just man like I have never seen a 180 in a person like that that quick and it's just amazing to witness and yeah that's gonna be a good episode I just like I said I really have to figure it out because I'm a little stressed about it but well there's a way there's a way even if we have to sit on the floor and sit on top of each other we'll make it we'll make it happen but I think that's gonna be I'm really excited for that I also want to do a mother's day episode at some point I've not asked my mom yet she also doesn't really like being on camera too much but if I kind of like coax her and be like let's to honor you from Mother's Day maybe she'll do it let's do one more could you see yourself as a guest evangelist you have a great communication style I've never thought about it honestly I don't like I said like I don't really like labels I just will I just want to be an example of Jesus to anybody that will that is there that you know that they're like oh there's something like different about her like you know I will say it is on my heart to do a missions trip I almost went on a missions trip this summer but just with the wedding and with everything going on and and being newly with Luna I was just like it's on my heart but I think I'm gonna do it in 2025 so next year that is my goal I want to either go to South Africa or I'm not really sure yet but my church partners with a lot of different missionaries and a lot of different organizations and sends a couple people out with every trip and I think they're doing they're doing a lot there's like six of them or something to choose from so that's really on my heart to do that I have learned in the past year that I have I really have a servant's heart I love just serving people not even just sitting and talking about Jesus or being like have you read this in the Bible like not even that just going and serving them people that are underserved people that are in need just to be there and be a light for them and just make them feel seen and make them feel loved and smile at them and hug them and that's just it's really yeah it's really on my heart so stay tuned for that because you know I'm gonna I wouldn't vlog it because that feels disrespectful but I would definitely come home and like make a whole video about it and so that would be next summer so you know like a year and a half from now but it's something that I'm already thinking about so um but yeah guys there are more but yeah I answered most of the really big ones couple of them were repeat I saw a couple that were like how do you begin a relationship with Jesus where do I start reading in the Bible my last episode episode 19 is literally all about that and I don't want to sound like like I'm like I'm trying to plug it go watch the video and just so I can get more views out of you that's not what I mean but it's just there's so much to say that I don't have time to say it in this video but if you go watch episode 19 it's literally all about that how to get started where to start reading in the Bible what to do to to get to know God and to get to know Jesus and all the things how do you get involved in a church community that it's literally that whole episode is about that so I will point you into the direction of that it is on this very same channel it's the video right under this one um and I hope that that will help you but thank you guys so much for your questions I'm sorry if I didn't get to yours but I do think I got to a decent amount of them um but thank you because you you fueled this episode I wouldn't have been able to do without you literally so thank you for being here thank you for your support as always with this podcast it's like my little baby I have so much fun with this podcast and I will be here as long as you guys are here wanting to hear more so again thank you for the millionth time and I will see you guys in the next episode bye guys


r priority-based budgeting process. That's it. All right, great. So that's it for the presentation for tonight, Harold, the budget. That's it. All right, Council Member Redauga-Fairing. Yeah, I have a question on, well, and it also goes back to the early childhood, the 50,000 for the early childhood and daycare. How many people are tapping into it? And do you find that we're kind of reaching out to different levels of community? So we haven't really started that yet. We're getting prepped in order to do it. So what I can tell you in terms of the work that we've done thus far has really been, I know you've heard us talk about the COVID world and the PPE needs that we were seeing and trying to facilitate that. But in terms of this next program and what we're hoping to do, we will show you what we're aiming to put into those and then really building a program to very quickly and very aggressively market throughout the community in terms of what we can do with those dollars because once again, we have to have it spent by the end of the year. And there's some questions about can we spend it now and it extend into next year? Because the reality of many of the things that we're looking at using CARES funding for and CV funding is that the impact that people are facing, we know is going to extend into next year or at least until vaccine and other changes take place. And so we're trying to figure out how to bridge that gap. So to the points that many of you have brought up, we're hoping to have all of those answers next Tuesday. But there's not a lot of guidance and so we're having to ask a lot of questions. Okay. Okay, thanks. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Lago-Farring. All right. Then let's move on to Mayor and Council Comments. Anybody? All right. Then let's go on to Harold. Any comments? Comments, Mayor and Council. All right. City Attorney? No comments, Mayor. All right. Glad to see you're still with us Eugene. All right. Do we have a motion to adjourn? I moved. I'll second that. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. All right. Motion carries unanimously. All right. Thanks guys. Bye.


If you're making a refugee claim in Canada and you have two country of citizenship, meaning that you have two passports or you have a claim to citizenship of another country, it's very important that you mention that in your basis of claim, as well as at your hearing if questions are asked, because the Refugee Protection Division needs to assess your risk for every country of citizenship that you have.


We have a very interesting panel here and the diversity of verticals getting represented on this Dias is amazing. So I think I'll quickly give an intro to this panel With the increasing demand for consumers attention brand needs to enhance their consumer journeys as they have a plethora of options to choose from Creating and deploying fresh content regularly is the key to keeping your audience engaged today Uncertainty and volatility have been the most used terms in terms of business arena over the last few years To the pandemic Well, this a number of brands are adapting the agile approach to marketing to keep pace with constantly changing consumer sentiment Agile marketing is believed to be is believed to leverage and help brands lead the next wave of growth For the business of future. I Got this by the way, so it's quite nice I'll move on to the question and I think I'll pose a very generic question to all which is the world has gone through a Trastic change. I firmly believe so in the last few years. I think most of us as marketers are we're gonna be in the era of pre-pandemic and post-pandemic and Predominantly, I think the outlook towards marketing or business in general itself has changed a lot, right? As the topics desk building agile building a playbook for agile brands has taken a newer meaning in lieu of consumer shifts in terms of marketing outlook business outcomes or marketers for view as well What are your thoughts on this topic in lieu of today's dynamics specific to your brand and we can go Sequentially starting with you on a trend repetition of agility that consumer expectations have changed quite a lot last few years especially post-covid and You are not looking for a functional solution you are looking a lot more from you as a brand and What can prepare a brand for future in terms of agility is the importance of purpose Importance of going back to the roots and staying relevant It's not just about a typical 30 seconder in 360 campaign. There's plethora of brands They are new D2C brand which have opened up and a lot more going to come. It's democratize the way digital is done for the Go to market for the consumers and each D2C brand or smaller niche brand has found their cohort of consumer Who's relevant there and they are talking about purpose and now the owners is on the traditional brands to keep up Not just talk about typical functional benefit of the brand But what are you going to do to stay relevant for the new age of consumers? What are we going to live and not just talk about in terms of purpose and that is what going to keep you relevant for future generation and Multiple cohorts of consumers rather than just pure simple pure play the way used to happen earlier I think from that lens where you define symphony has a Traditional brand or a modern brand. I think we're in transition to be very frank We're a legacy brand who has been there for 35 years in the industry. We're the one who launched the whole branded coolers category and Fortunately for us we're in the business of green cooling right Look at the temperature look at the global warming. It was raining few days back in bomber I spent 16 years never heard rains in March and it's just hot and fed What is show the world is changing and we all as community as brands need to start doing something to contribute for the better Good to leave something better for the future So symphony as a brand what we are doing is one way in the business of green cooling which helps us to talk about it Second is in terms of what we are doing. So we just recently changed our brand tagline from refreshing lives to thinking of tomorrow We sing Kalki Soch right because we all need to do something Right now for a better future for the generations symphony as a brand is doing something on its part And we are working with MSMEs We're working with consumers to create that kind of awareness for future So yeah, it's a transition and I think it's a good transition to have we recognize the need to change and adapt ourselves to the New future and the journey is just great. I think really I think that's a great start to this Panel as well agile marketing you're thinking about tomorrow.  So great We move on to you but how does the attic ecosystem look at this from your perspective? I think You know firstly It's exciting to you know really talk about my category Especially when you're surrounded in a room where people are only interested in hearing about a B2C business Okay, so largely I think from us from a point where we come we are in the space where we deal with marketing technologies Our whether we call it Martek or we call it at tech and as a business what we do is We're building a business where we are basically saying that listen, you know what? How do we democratize intelligence? How do we help enterprise go ahead and leverage that? So we are dealing with a sensitive topic like data. Yeah now from our perspective being agile or Constantly evolving okay is something which is considered very essential, you know because in in the nature of what we do and we cater to Stakeholders, you know we cater to CMOs we cater to publishers we cater to digital marketing managers Yeah, and as a business, you know, you are Competing with global brands you're completing with global technologies and in the process You're also trying to say that listen here is a differentiated technology And this is how this differentiated technology will resonate with you. Yeah so Whilst we are doing massive amount of innovation and and that gets great adoption But I would like to also make a point out here. I think the point on agility One part of it is that okay as as product creators as technology creators, you know We are building some agile solutions efficient solutions on and so forth and very interestingly when we look at the other side When we talk to the marketing teams or when we talk to marketing organizations Sometimes And pardon me for you know pardon me to say this Whilst I've seen marketers speak about being agile from the consumer perspective Okay, I would say that when it comes to adopting marketing technologies when it comes to dealing with that change management Okay, because it's it's finally human behavior. You know and they struggle to Be agile themselves or their departments struggle to be agile and it's not easy I want to make that a point, you know, it's not easy because you know, you have to take some decisions You have to take some shifts you to take Some risks in the process to to really appreciate that so I believe that You know It's one thing where we want things to be agile Okay, and get better and it's another thing when the onus falls on our mindset to be agile, you know so so that to me is something which Is really been an interesting thing and we've seen all kinds of codes of people who are very agile in their mindset and people who are Who are eager to be a child? I would say a great point. I think Deepak I think sometimes within at deck we have seen that While you have been very stiff about how you look at marketing There will always be a disruptor which will be around the corner Which will force you to change the way we think I mean today if you look at global tick tock has one of those Examples which has come in the last four years and completely changed the way people have been spending on their marketing budgets They have introduced products. They have forced marketers and to really look at how their media planning is and obviously They are banned in India, but I'm sure there are other great at the ecosystems which will keep pushing the barrier How is the what weather on agile marketing down south and what are you guys doing? You do a lot of interesting initiatives. Tell us more your thoughts on this First I'd like to add on to what Deepak said. I think it's absolutely right. It's more about a mindset I would also say it's to do with the bandwidth, you know the marketing team's bandwidth a lot of times It's on the agenda, but sometimes it doesn't happen because the bandwidth has been But just to take a step back like one of my ex bosses who seated here in the audience always says You know for marketers I think our lives were far more agile than the rest of the functions all through Because one of the things we always say is the reason I'm sure most marketing heads would agree The reason why we all love our jobs is because no two days are the same Every day there's a new challenge and sometimes the urgent takes over the important All of that happens and we've learned to live with it So I would say on a relative scale. We've always been a bit more agile than other functions I'm sure everyone agrees But that apart I think post pandemic things have really changed a lot to quote one of my mentors It's no longer about 360 degrees your campaigns It's more about 365 days of marketing and we feel the pinch more so in low-involvement categories like tires So it's not really something about down south. I think it's a national phenomenon today You need to have you know, so it's not like you don't have a playbook anymore Of course, you have a playbook the playbook kind of gives you gives you the guardrails and the frameworks Within which your brand needs to operate, but I guess it's about developing those templates developing those You know kind of frameworks within which your brand communication will operate building a content calendar all this I'm speaking in the space of agility in brand communication and Of course, you know feeding in those moments where you want to market for fun So all of that has to happen that is agility in brand communication But that apart I think companies across the country are also trying to implement an agile way of working Which means it's no longer about just the large projects which run into six months or nine months It's also about breaking them down into smaller milestones about sprint meetings Not having like a rigid project framework So I think that agility we all are experiencing in our lives and in our brands I think I completely agree. I think I've spent a fair amount of time on the marketing side No two days are the same But I think me and the book would propagate the come-on-the-eye tech side and I think the no one day is also the same There's so much happening here. So I mean, Vijay, what are your thoughts?  I mean obviously PNG with its diversities across so many categories And there is obviously a mindset. It's a market leader positioning that you always maintain in most of your markets How does agile marketing or a playbook for agile marketing or thoughts towards agile marketing playbooks get discussed within PNG? Thanks, thanks for the question Nikhil. So See at PNG let me start with what constitutes a playbook in the way we look at it, right? So in a playbook There are some elements which are definite and fixed that you want to maintain and continue as they are Which are for example your brand purpose which are like your brand equity and the character or the tone of voice of your band Then there are there there are some elements which are like a variable components where the agility comes in Which is like the key communication messages that you need to evolve based on the latest insights and the market trends that you get from the market and You know the kind of optimization that you do Within your media mix modeling or you know the different touch points that you go and meet these consumers Right. So that is how I'd say that from our lens that we look at at PNG health You know, I'll just give you a simple example We do have a plethora of brands Mostly into the health supplements right vitamins and mineral supplements. So Pre-pandemic era we used to go via the health care professionals where a certain doctor has to prescribe You know your product and then only you know the sale happens, right? But during the pandemic what we saw is because of the evolving Involvement of the consumers more and more into the health sector There is this habit that got created that consumers are now looking for more and more information online and have become a You know, they are directly going into the health supplements So that is something that we looked at as a market trend While we kept our brand purpose on driving the awareness of and improving and touching and improving the health of everybody at the core We went direct to consumer as one of the change in strategies So that is how I would look at in terms of bringing the agility as you build the brands Like I said stay something that is core to your brand But at the same time evolve based on the marketing trends and the latest learnings Thanks, Vijay. Rath, AutoCard How does that define the playbook? Hi Nikhil. Thanks. Thanks for the panel. Yeah, so I mean I agree to some of the panelists here a lot of the Stuff that has happened in the last three years has actually taught not only marketeers but sales folks and finance folks a lot of new things While the agile Marketia playbook What I found I think it itself wasn't agile enough to be very frank It says that the agile marketia playbook starts from an idea and let me tell you the last three years a lot of the work A lot of us have done did not start with an idea. It started with a situation so The agility itself has been transformed and I'll give you two contexts of agility which have been transformed not only for cars But also for other categories the context of time It has never happened before that in one day You're all India showrooms got shut It has never happened that in the next month half of the country is working and half of it is not working It has again never happened that print was not getting delivered, but TV was getting delivered So and these things were happening Almost at the touch of a button So the context of planning with respect to time management completely turned on its head for marketeers and this made a lot of our systems our tech Our platforms agile to handle situations like this. So agility in time got transformed over the last Say three years. What has happened in the last year is another context of surfaces Now the agility for a market to handle surfaces has completely changed in the last say 36 months or 24 months I mean the meta team tells us that you have to parallelly advertise on six plus surfaces on their platform to have some level of recognition or salience Now, where was this five years back? Where was this ten years back now to deliver context on each surface Requires your communication to be programmed vertically or horizontally six second or 30 second have a have a big take CTA at the front or at the back So the the agility that a market here requires on handling surfaces is also very very different And all of this ultimately also lands not only on engaging with the consumer But land lands on a very different context that we learned in the last three years is empathizing with the consumer You know, sometimes you're not just selling or not just marketing There is a dimension of empathy that came in in 2020 in 2021 and as a brand who's Who's a high involvement brand a big part of the household you had to deliver empathy as part of your communication And let me be very frank in saying that all these three parameters that I told you the ROIs are evolving So a lot of us love crunching numbers that you know, what is the CTR the BB blah blah blah But a lot of the stuff that I just said may not have an ROI that is definite and may be syndicated for a long time to come So yeah agility is I think making still some of us sit on these seats. If not, then, you know, we would have been passing So yeah, thank you. I think great great thought I think For a category like yours which went through a phase of 2021 and 2020 it surely required some form of agility And I think you brought a very interesting point at a certain point of time You didn't have to sell you just have to empathize and just that fact itself is a great example Of how the brand was thinking about being agile at that particular point of time not Completely disowning its marketing Acumen or looking at things differently. I think phenomenal example. I think good for everyone to sort of recall or remember Yannick, I move to you. I think very interesting category fastest growing in India. We are a cricket loving nation. We love sports What is agile marketing playbook mean for you or for your team when you guide them on increasing your Scale increasing your daily active users monthly active users and obviously a very different dynamic, right? We're always chasing the rut of what is the scale? What is a monthly active base? What is and you know, we're always trying to chase that number versus the active user base How do you how do you look at it? And what do you recommend to your teams? Yeah, you know, I've had the The good fortune of having worked in sport for a long time And I think they're kind of two examples that I always look at which are most reasoned to me Which kind of also reverberate with what some of the panelists have been saying So I work with the sports brand called the NBA which is great global sports brand which Again to a lot of what Vijay was talking about it has a certain thing that they have to stand for a certain set of Certain playbook which is non-negotiable and then over ten years. They actually realized that the audience was changing They had to get to younger audiences. They had to get to users or Consumers who are actually consuming pieces of games rather than they were extremely agile even for such a large Organization and actually building and now most of the audiences come from younger from younger demographics I think they've done an amazing job and I was glad to be a part of that with them and The other extreme is well not the other extreme but also in the sports this is a product tech company right to consumer company that that I co-founded fan code and the challenge that we have and I mean agility is It's you know something talked about not having anything not doing the same thing every two days or the same day It's a train. You don't you don't know, you know, you have to have agility almost literally every hour Because you have two challenges in brand one is fan code as a brand is very very focused on sports fans They're very clear about we build brand boys and we keep evolving that we have to constantly be agile on But the product the co-product that we have on our on our platform Has different sets of audiences So the audience who we are addressing to it for golf the VGA masters and the audience We are dressing to for cupboard to the audience We are dressing to the Caribbean Premier League to the Pakistan Super League each of those audiences the communication to them Needs to be tailored and that's a challenge because at some point of time We have 20 different live events going on on our platform at the same time with different audiences So how you communicate the language you use That is something that is an it's a it's a large it From a brand purpose, it's a it's a massive challenge but even from a performance marketing perspective how the you know We're not was talking about how you use different surfaces how you're able to actually Reach those audiences and keep modifying your communication I think the amazing thing and the amazing advantage of being a tech company is that you accept the fact that Nothing you do will be a hundred percent right You also accept the fact that everything you do will tell you how to do something else better And I think that's where you know the ability of to use meta to AV test stuff to be able by using different kinds of CTS colors and to constantly be evolving. So I think from our perspective. It's almost I mean agility is not not like an option. It's like something that you know It's a question of survival even not a gel and everything we do and how we market our product will essentially fail I think very thoughtful. I think today. We are moving as a country. I think India is one of the most dynamic countries I mean if you look at sports You are a sports fan is the most generic Probably question that somebody will tell you and that that means that your marketing efforts cannot be the same for a cup of tea fan versus a golf fan versus a cricket fan versus and so forth, so I think Complete resonate and I'll quickly jump back to you, Vijay I think you know some of your recent campaigns like Feel life and let a break free receive multiple recognitions and obviously a tremendous consumer success Which obviously comes at the back of great recognition Can you throw some light on what made this campaign successful and some of the exceptional work that you guys are doing to create We spoke model for other categories or a particular category that you've been doing which is quite exciting right now Sure, so I'll probably take one campaign and talk it at them in depth because probably wouldn't be able to do justice for the other So let's I'll talk about the field life campaign, which is something that we had done on one of our No care supplement brand called neuro beyond So a lot of times agility comes from understanding a marketer's boss in depth and Don't get me wrong. A marketer's boss is consumer No matter what marketer. We are talking about so Understanding your consumer in depth is something that we had started this campaign, right? so we have done a nerve health survey and Alarmingly, you know the prevalence of B2L deficiency, which is the primary reason of you know, no care symptoms or neuropathy symptoms is pretty high and also it was you know, startling to realize that 62% of the Indian population don't even understand the difference between nerves and blood vessels That basically means that they are they tend to ignore, you know The basic symptoms like tingling and numbness which could be signs of nerve damage as something. That's very trivial So this is the data and research that had given us a product insight that you know People are not aware. They are ignoring symptoms. We need to you know Get this campaign out there, which will enable people to understand and let them not ignore these symptoms Then we went into a further consumer work or a consumer research with 30 consumers Getting them into one-on-one discussions to understand. What does it mean from a life standpoint? I think one of us had talked about the being Empathy or empathizing with the consumer. So we went into what is that life insight that we can garner from these consumers and You know the basic symptoms like tingling and numbness will prevent you from enjoying the simple choice of life It could be like, you know, somebody driving their car to you know on a long drive or playing a simple playing with your kids So these are the articulations that we had gotten from the consumer. So we converted this into a Mix of a product insight plus a life insight and that has what led to the field life campaign Now what has made this campaign? You know a phenomenal success out in the market is because at the root of it We had a very heartwarming insight that you know You would want to get back To enjoying the daily simple joys of your life By believing the tingling and numbness then second is You know trying trying to get this campaign with a phenomenal KOL strategy So we've had some of the leading influencers like Karina Kapoor Khan as well as you know millions woman and among others And we got them to do something that has become a viral sensation recently called the ice bucket challenge So we've gave them a task of doing an ice bowl challenge So you dip your hand in a bowl of ice and keep it there for ten seconds or so and Then you start to do any basic work that you do with your hand You will not be able to do because your hand will be feeling that numbness, right? So taking that something that's viral again like an ice bucket challenge and Using that to tell a story to make consumers realize the impact that a simple basic tingling and numbness could do is The other piece that had led to the success the third piece is Simplifying and articulating this in a manner that the consumer can understand Again this came from the research and mining right we've asked the consumers what what do you feel when you know Tingling how do you describe it right?  So that is what has led us to simplifying the articulation even in our campaign So we had mirrored the current norm in the society by showing you know Working independent women in our campaign who is not able to you know Drive car to her office simply because of the tingling and numbness and that has again Gathered huge reception from the audience overall We state true to our brand purpose neuro beyonds brand purpose is ensuring that we bring back You know everybody the touch of life to everyone So that is what we state true to our brand through the entire campaign and through this simplified articulation powerful Insight with us, you know strong KL strategy That is what has led to this and these things came from learning being agile learning what is working and what our consumers Listening to what are the latest insights? So that's where the agility came into play Thanks, Vijay. I think we have limited time. I'll quickly jump to With our your products such as protoc tire are specially designed for sports bike and have a very niche audience How do you reach the right consumer right channel? It's always very intriguing. What's your thought process? What's your strategy from awareness to action? Give us some insights and the audience is how do you guys do it? Like how do you find the guy who wants to buy the next tire? Obviously you advertise, but how do how does the research like? He had a very thoughtful Tingling sensation twice.  So ours is a very different category all together. I mean to take Step back the tires category as a whole is extremely low involvement I'm sure amongst all of us here over 50% would not remember the brand of tire that is fitted in their car or bike more so in the case of bikes we believe and You know it being so low involvement It's kind of challenging because you need to be in the consumers consideration set at the right time So we work a lot on the top of funnel and also because you know our brand TV as Euro grip is relatively new in the category So when it comes to a product brand like protoc It's actually one step easier than the master brand itself only because protoc is a like you said It's a sport bike tire and it's more on performance and adrenaline So the consumer there or the rider there is a little more discerning He's researching online sometimes purchasing online in our category e-commerce is very low It's less than point five percent, but a lot of research happens online So what we do at different stages of the funnel is first of all in the at the top of the funnel We get into strategic partnerships in the racing arena and in the adventure biking arena For instance, we built our own endurance racing property We've also been technical partners for the TV is one make championship for the last four years Then middle of the funnel. It's more about Like Vijay said, you know engaging with the right influencers. So in our case, it's auto journalists reviewers auto influencers as well and Also the mechanic community engaging with them because the source credibility is high in that case and getting Authentic genuine reviews when you know your product is good You happily reach out for reviews share it through social media promote it so that's pretty much what we do in the middle of the funnel and Bottom of the funnel. It's very important for us to have a very dominant presence in the marketplace in the digital market marketplace and During COVID one of the agile moves we did was we started our own D2C e-commerce For two wheeler tires along with doorstep delivery while, you know, the numbers aren't massive It's something we take pride in because it's something none of the other brands are doing today And you know, we believe we are investing for the future there. So that's what we do with pro talk Perfect. Thank you. And I'll move to Rod. I think I heard D2C. I don't think that's happening anytime soon But you never know with Hyundai. I think the dawn of new Hyundai and Brand like your set yours. It's always active. It's always doing something exciting whether it's with new Technologies that you're exploring or launching your new cars in a certain way within the meta words Always something exciting. I even saw some of your 3d doh That you guys did which are super successful. You guys are always at the helm of doing exciting things within the marketing spoke How does that put pressure on your own playbook? Right, I mean because you're continuously striving for innovation and your country's to continuously trying to do Something exciting now. Obviously, you are a brand that is recognized and it's never going to be delivered at home I hope so Why not but why say never but How does it affect because the amount of investment that you guys do to create that kind of recall? Now, obviously, I'm talking about it. So hence job well done But how do you think about it and what are the do's and don'ts for? operating such a high level of You know innovation category within your ecosystem Nikhil so I Like the statement you make you guys a brand that continuously strives for more and more innovation We'll settle it outside. Thanks. Thanks for that. Yeah, so I mean, we are in the car business. We are in the B2C business We are second biggest company in India for a while Just two stats to tell you why we have to innovate differently Every year our average buying age of our consumers We sell about 550,000 cars a year Every year the age is dropping the average buying age of 550,000 customers is dropping That means our consumer is actually becoming younger and I'll give you an absolutely different corollary The average ticket size or the average price at which we sell our cars Has doubled in the last three or three and three to four years. So the age is going younger The average ticket size is becoming 2x So we are getting more affluent consumers more younger consumers into our buying into our kitty Now, obviously, we know the car ecosystem in India. It's been a bumper year last year But yes, there are multiple brands from multiple manufacturers from multiple organizations So there is no other way to sustain than to deliver impact and then to deliver innovation now as I said in my in the earlier Conversation that we have to be in the surfaces where my consumer is so if I have to target a 35-year-old or a 25-year-old I'll have to a go to a streaming platform or maybe we go to an e-sports arena And we have we are now trying to fix the brands that we have maybe from an ionic 5 To a Greta to a venue to maybe a I-10 Based on these cohorts and trying to innovate in each one of them because if we don't innovate in each one of them There are so many brands all of you are seeing today You may not remember even one of us by the evening if you are in market for that category Maybe you will if you are out of the market for that category you will definitely want So the task that we have from innovations like the 3d outdoor that we did last year for the launch of our venue is Not only to make an impact from the features or the price to the in market consumer But also inform the passerby on cyber hub or the Impressions we serve to our audiences online on the differentiation. We are doing at a brand level So today maybe the consumer is not in the market, but tomorrow he will be Next year he will be how will I try to attract him different state in a differentiated manner From the other 10 players that are in the market that are in the segment Now based on that they will be very different KPIs on top funnel and very different KPIs of bottom funnel We try in headquarters to only focus a lot on brand building doing top funnel work and Because of that I am able to sell much bigger segment cars from a brand like Hyundai in the past three years and Have waiting on a lot of those cars and sell also cars that are more connected more safer You know to have better driving and handling capability. So to do a lot of this We did things like the 3d outdoor. We've already done two big launches on Roblox For a car category to do launches on Roblox was also unheard on and I'm using the word Roblox And I'm not using the word metaverse because metaverse is used very casually nowadays, but we actually launched Where there are nine million people in India. So we actually launched on Roblox We are we did the motor show We did the Delhi motor show in January a lot of the brands participated, but we had no domestic cars on display We only had robotics. We only had future mobility. We only had smart cities Because these are opportunities to build differentiated brand space in the consumers mind of tomorrow and also of today So if we believe in this super hyper Concentrated media space not only cars, but all categories are advertising together if you don't innovate You're just going downhill. There is no other option Great to hear that but I think with the kind of great top funnel marketing you guys do I think on your site you can have next to the book a test drive Deliver the car button. You never know man You know people might just not need that kind of influence anymore with your kind of marketing I know what are your thoughts? I think you summed it up really well I think I'm not going to deep dive into the question of agile marketing because just your thought process shows Are you're transforming and you're thinking ahead and thinking for the problems that globally we're facing in terms of? Many many factors you've just launched a very interesting First cooler in its category called the BLDC technology. You would like to share a little bit more about us What was the thought behind it and why is it there? Yeah, so simply always has been associated with innovation with of too many firsts that we have Internationally, we have done cooling for stadium in Mexico. A lot of people don't know that and The inspiration behind launching and it's worlds first not just India world's first range of BLDC enabled Coolers, what does it do for a consumer? It saves you electricity bill by 60 percent Versus our own existing product of similar spec. That's the kind of impact that you can bring to the consumer and that's an Thing that we always striving for that how we can bring more value to the consumer by innovating and by string true to the whole philosophy of thinking of tomorrow and that's what we are working across so many more innovations on the pipeline and Completely agree with Virat on the point of innovation if you don't innovate you will die and One of the part about agility during COVID for everybody who has don't know how much is a marketing budget going to be The moment I see a new headline about COVID I say It's not a budget cutting. We don't know that something all marketers have seen through different rounds of COVID Everybody will agree to it. So which means agility is even more important You need to be more sure of the choices you want to make They're good to have medium and they must have mediums But what is important is always to keep some percentage of budget for innovation so that you know what new you can do for Future that is important and again going back to the basics drive product innovation Marketing in our communication only do a certain extent beyond that product has to sell but what has to be the hero Thanks, I think organizes. I hope you're listening 60% electricity give a recommendation to Taj. It's a good one to have Save the world world peace But I think quickly Yannick You guys have collaborated with I know I'm running short on time. We have two minutes and I have another question But you guys have collaborated with Google and obviously you're building Google Cloud and obviously you're building a very interesting Directive and approach would like to share some thoughts on that On how how you guys went about it and what's the thought behind it and the longevity of that I think the principle is exactly the same problem I spoke about earlier We're trying we have all this different quotes or sports fans and our goal is as soon as they get onto a platform How do you get them to the content that they want as fast as possible? And then how do you make sure that we are able to engage them with content which is relevant to them? So obviously a lot of the stuff that we've done with cloud services like Google Cloud is to be able to understand that Consumer better till we start building audiences an audience profile around them So we've you know as a sports fan platform for us being able to understand the fan being able to use Third-party data to be able to start understanding them and then start creating their own profiles within fan code is something which is about most important for us Authentication is is one layer But because we're a direct to consumer product and you know we charge consumers for content And obviously we also target third-party advertising under them It's really important for us to actually build those profiles very very strongly around them And that's something that the partnership with Google has allowed us to do both for new customers to come onto our platform as well as for existing customers How do we build more value build better experiences them? Superb and that gets me to obviously the book you and I think you guys have been a pioneer when it comes to mobile solutions I saw some interesting stuff on board I saw some interesting thing that you guys done for parking when you obviously you work with a plethora of brands What are you guys thinking when it comes to the agile marketing playbook which you want to create for the? Partners agencies brands that you work with Anything exciting that you guys are brewing that people should know about Okay, great. So basically what we are trying to do here is that To simply put from market perspective today They go to platforms like a Google Facebook or certain platforms and they choose the native filters when they are looking to really select Audience segments out there. So that's one way in which Traditionally marketers or any ad tech company, you know has really been offering solutions on targeting Okay, what we're trying to do out here is that we are basically decoupling customer intelligence from publisher platforms So what you're basically doing is put out a customer intelligence cloud which is sitting outside and It conceptually imagine that that it is sitting Adjusting to your CDP. So if you have first-party data or you don't have first-party data, but you need access to some Customer intelligence at scale. So so you get a lot of customer intelligence from our platform And then using that platform, you're able to do in sighting and you're able to orchestrate your Your your campaigns or let's say that you're able to orchestrate all this intelligence beat into growth channels So you could take it into a Facebook. You could take it into a YouTube Or potentially you could plug that into retention marketing channel So if you want to make your WhatsApp marketing smarter and so on and so forth whether you want to make your email marketing smarter So largely our endeavor is really to democratize customer intelligence and take that out in a way that marketers can in a very agile way do planning choose it and really Laid, you know use that across any digital marketing Perfect, I think a time is up. So I'm gonna skip one question that we had on connected TV But I think I'm gonna wrap this Wonderful panel with something which I call the rapid-fire round Which I obviously did tell you about because it defeats the whole purpose of me being the moderate otherwise So the purpose is as the man himself does it I'm not gonna do it as well as him And I don't know if e4m has a hamper that is also as fancy as current yours But I'm gonna ask you a question and hopefully you can answer in short time I don't want to put you in a spot, but that's pretty much what it is. So I'll start with you, Yannick. I Hope you're watching the IPL this time I just wanted to know whether you're watching the IPL this time on Geo connected TV or star sports Hi, I mean, I'm I'm digitally native right and I think TV has got its place Absolutely, but I haven't had a cable connection for four years now So it's Geo is where you're watching it wherever it's available on digital Superman good answer. I hope everybody's listening and the other people too But Again, not putting you in a spot. We have been looking at the new one and everybody is just going mad about it if you had to Connect that personality the ferocious new one with a personality of a cricketer within the IPL. Who would it be? I think Pandya, I hope his manager is listening. I don't know if that's an offer, but you never know Okay, Vijay Which team do you most associate with as a brand with an IPL and you can say none also Yeah, I mean obviously can't take one or the other but I think as a sports and energy take You know, we play the role of supplements We are there to provide energy for all brands all the all the teams Very PNG answer very nice. Okay Kavita Favorite team outside Chennai Super Kings for TVS Very tough one. I Think I'll go with Whoever gives us the highest and best performances this season. No wonder you both are sitting next to each other, right? You should have changed your seats Okay, another diplomatic answer. No points in the rapid fire Okay, I know I'm gonna ask you a really weird question because that's what's what is the craziest place that you've seen someone use a symphony air cooler Sure, you do market visits and consumer visits. Yes, sometimes you get to see things you want to see Yeah, so let me put it this way in every room in the house I think you I think Okay, that's every room in the house is not crazy But I feel it's a good thing because we're all saving 60% multiplied by four rooms, which is great Every place we just got a dose of just not the room Yeah, I think people got the hint and now they get the right answer Okay, last question for you Deepak. I think tip-tok versus Instagram. Who do you think is winning the battle globally? Yeah Globally, you mean to say yeah, India they got banned so they lost that battle Somebody had a hand to play in that That's a tough one, you know, but but I probably feel that I think both have their own place Wow Okay guys, that's all from us and thank you for this panel. Thank you guys