A Week In Review: Lessons From The Steam Whistle Brewery

We have barely had time to catch our breath since we arrived last Sunday in Toronto, yet we had an incredible week working with the crew at Steam Whistle Brewing. We were so warmly welcomed by everyone from the start and I can't say enough about the kindness and generosity that was shown to us. For example, on our first day at Steam Whistle, one of the co-founders, Cam Heaps, offered the use of his high-end video camera for the year after finding out that ours doesn't support wireless microphones. And Greg and Sybil invited us up to their cottage for the weekend. It's just a continual reminder with this project, of how many genuinely kind human beings there are in this world. This week, we were among some of the best.

People here like to work for this company and it is easy to see why after a few interactions with the company's co-founders. I think the corporate culture they have managed to create is one of the major strengths of the Steam Whistle brand and one of the reasons that has allowed them to be so successful.

We were on Greg's boat yesterday up at the cottage and I was speaking to one of the sales reps, Brian, about what he does for the company. He didn't even consider himself in a specific position, as he feels more like family than an employee.

It was great to work in each department this week and see how everybody must work together as a team in order to achieve the company's goals and objectives:

The company's vision must be effectively conveyed to all the employees by co-founders Greg and Cam, the marketing department must take this vision and accurately express it in its marketing efforts to create awareness and generate interest in the product. This in turn helps the sales reps who must continually generate sales in order for the company to continue. The employees in retail must convey this vision in creating a positive experience, when customers come into the brewery for a tour.

And, of course, all this is irrelevant if you do not have a great product produced by the production team.

I will be in Toronto for the next couple of weeks - chances are you will be able to find Ian and I at the brewery a few more times when the steam whistle blows at 5pm. If you live in Toronto, hope to see you there!

Ian is working hard and the first episode of One Week Job will be released this Wednesday.

Stay tuned!

-Sean

Sleep Is Overrated Anyways

Things just keep getting better each day here at Steam Whistle. It's been a really busy week and although we are operating on about four hours of sleep a night, we are having an great time. I am positive you could ask any employee here and they would tell you that they really enjoy their job. Today I went on some sales calls with Richard, one of the sales reps at Steam Whistle. It was great to get out and see different areas of the town. We met up with some of his old clients and made some contacts in order to generate new ones. It was pretty interesting to see the sales process - it is almost as if they are running their own business, making their own hours, directly accountable for their income, meeting with lots of different clients, yet it doesn’t have the associated risk that a business owner would have.

Although I do enjoy the changing tasks and interaction with others, I don’t know if I could be a salesman, as I am not too sure if I would be able to handle all the rejection it takes in order to finally secure a sale.

Ian is getting some great footage and things are going really well for our first episode. If you can think of anyone who would be willing to sponsor the first episode, please pass on the link to 'The Show' page.

Time for bed. We are being picked up at 4:45am â€" definitely looking forward to sleeping in this weekend!

-Sean

Whistlin' While You Work: First Days At The Steam Whistle

Sean and I have a new favourite beer. It's true. We've converted. And it's not just because our first few days at Steam Whistle Brewery, located in downtown Toronto, have been surreal. Elizabeth, our Steam Whistle rep and big CN Tower fan, picked us up at the airport and drove us to our accommodation for the night: a condo on the pristine downtown waterfront, mere steps from the Tower itself. It was a quiet evening, spent unpacking our gear and getting Sean pumped for his big introduction at the brewery.

Sean spent his first day meeting the staff, all the way from the brewery floor to the office. The most surprisingly thing for me was the fact that everyone in the office sits together in a big, hardwood space - including the brewery founders Greg and Cam. No corner offices here. In such an environment, the creative vibe is easy to feel, and it comes across in the interactions between all the employees. They really seem to enjoy their work.

A brief interview with Toronto personality Jojo Chintoh from CityTV livened up the afternoon. Since we're from Vancouver, we'd never actually heard of him, but the Steam Whistle staff were buzzing during his visit.

That night Sean's bartending skills were put to the test at a silent auction fundraiser for cancer, held in the adjacent event space in the brewery roundhouse. It's a beautiful room with high ceilings, massive windows, and plenty of Steam Whistle on tap.

Early this morning we were driven out to Hamilton, ON for a radio interview at Y108 Rock FM, where Sean got to talk about his intimate dealings with cows during his stint as a Dairy Farmer. After returning to the brewery, Sean spent most of the day out on the line, packing fresh bottles of beer for delivery.

City TV reporter (and CommandN) Amber Mac dropped by for a quick interview.

Everyone here has been so incredible, it's actually difficult to convey the experience accurately through writing, (which is mostly why we're doing the TV Show). Steam Whistle's business mentality, fusing your passion with your work, is exactly what the One Week Job project is all about.

Greg and Cam, the Steam Whistle founders have a wealth of knowledge about what it takes to envision and find your passion - after all, they did it. They built their brewery from the ruins of their previous workplace, combined the best of the old and the new, and now find themselves living their dream, everyday.

Anyway, it's only Day 2 here, so Sean has plenty more lined up for the week, including an appearance on Breakfast TV tomorrow morning, a sampling at a yacht club, and a few client visits out on the road with the Steam Whistle sales team.

Until next time!

-- Ian

Week Nineteen Announced - Brewmaster (in training)

This week I will be working with "The Good Beer Folks" at Steam Whistle Brewing, one of the few independently owned Canadian breweries around. They are located in the heart of downtown Toronto and apparently brew an incredible Pilsner (I will be sure to do some research and get back to you on that one). Elizabeth, who works in the marketing department at Steam Whistle, was really awesome to take time out of her Sunday to pick Ian and I up from the airport yesterday. She had a schedule all made up for the week and it looks like it is going to be pretty busy. I have heard only good things about Steam Whistle and everyone that works there, so I am really looking forward to the week and I am sure it will be a lot of fun.

Today I will be helping out with the tours of the brewery and then bartending tonight at an event sponsored by Steam Whistle. Throughout the week, I will also get to do some brewing, bottling, deliveries, sales... and of course probably the most important, remembering to take time for the necessary tasting to ensure quality control;)

We started filming for the first episode of One Week Job which will be coming out next week. We are currently looking for sponsors for each weekly episode - get all the details on our 'Show' page!

If you are in the Toronto area, I will be on Breakfast Television Wednesday morning talking about One Week Job and my week at Steam Whistle. Better yet, if you do live in Toronto, make sure to pop in to the brewery, say hello, and jump on a tour!

See you there!

-Sean

My Bags Are Packed, I Am Ready To Go...

Ian and I are almost all set to head out to Toronto tomorrow. We bought a new camera on Thursday and have most of what we need for the show - thanks to Fiddy who set us up with some great equipment he used when set a goal to hitch hike through all 50 States in 50 days last year. Was he able to do it? Well, see for yourself - Hitch50 We are still in need of a wireless microphone which we are hoping to pick up in Toronto. If anybody out there has one that they are looking to get rid of, please send us an email or give us a call.

These next few weeks are going to be pretty busy and will be a lot of fun. I am really excited to start shooting footage and get the One Week Job show going. It will really help to show what I am up to each week and the experience I have been having so far.

It was great to be home for the week, see family and friends and finally get some sleep. It's incredible how easy it can be to slip back into that comfortable feeling of being at home so quickly. I had gotten used to living outside of my comfort zone, constantly changing locations, changing jobs, continually meeting new people. I have only been here a week and already I feel a sense of nervous excitedness about leaving the comfortable feeling of home and heading back out on the road. Though, I guess that's what it's all about.

My friends wedding is this afternoon, then we will be on the plane bright and early tomorrow morning on our way to Toronto. Do you live in Toronto? Myself, Ian and some of our new friends from the week will most likely be going out somewhere next Friday night, August 3rd - you should come!

-Sean

Too few Dare to Search for the 'Perfect' Job

Mark Anderson recently wrote a provocative column for the Ottawa Sun, examining Sean and the One Week Job project from a new angle. He writes:

"To a greater or lesser extent, we're all defined by what we do. Worse yet if we're not doing what we think we should be doing, if we're not "living up to our potential" (an angst-ridden phrase if ever there was one). Young people in particular struggle with issues of identity and career, of who they are and what they should be doing with their lives."

I believe this partly explains Sean's own decision to strike on the road, searching for that "perfect job" that could define who he is in life, and what he has accomplished.

But is Sean the guy to do it? As Mark continues:

"You can argue that Aiken is not an ideal role model for today's youngsters, that by age 25 he's no longer a child, but a man, and men work at careers, and careers, by definition, involved a degree of stick-to-it-ness and stamina, and sometimes even clenched jaws and indigestion."

That's not to say you should mistake arbitrary hard work for an inability to explore your options. Says Mark,

"If you graduate high school and know in your heart of hearts what it is you want to do with the rest of your life, by all means get on with it. Few, however, are in this rarefied position."

In the end, does anyone really find their purpose in life? And can it be combined with their passion? One reader defined the idea of purpose in a unique way, that certainly fits the idea for One Week Job:

"Like so many of us who believe we don’t know our “Purpose” and need to find it - our purpose truly is more of a guide or compass than an actual destination. "

What do you think about purpose and passion? Share your thoughts in the comments!

What Leads To Success?

I am currently in Vancouver for a good friends wedding this weekend. I am not working a One Week Job this week - Ian and I are trying to get things all organized to head out to Toronto this Sunday where we will start production of our new Internet TV Show. Here is something that Ian brought to my attention a while back that I thought was pretty cool.

There are so many definitions of the word success, and so I don't really like using the word too much. But, no matter how you define it, here is great video describing what some "successful" people have said on how they got to where they did.

We are always told these things, just a matter of starting to believe in it I guess.

How To Subscribe To The One Week Job RSS Feed

Greetings everyone! This is Ian here, excited to add my first post to the blog. I thought I'd kick things off with a brief reminder and description of the One Week Job RSS feed. Basically, an RSS feed (which stands for 'Really Simple Syndication') is an easy for you to stay updated on all the One Week Job blog posts. You can subscribe to the feed, and your feed reader automatically grabs the latest.

Here's a short video "RSS In Plain English" (thanks to Common Craft) that will help demystify the process:

Make sense? If you have any questions, let us know! Otherwise, if you scroll down you'll see an icon and a link to our RSS feed on the right hand side. Or just right-click this link and copy the feed into your reader.

Voila! Until next time...

-- Ian

New Show, New Team Member, New Look

NEW SHOW As of July 30th, One Week Job will become an Internet TV Show/video podcast!

A new episode will be released after each One Week Job and will begin production next week in Toronto, ON when I am working with Steam Whistle Brewing Company. Part reality-tv/part adventure series, each episode will run approximately 10 minutes and will document my journey, what jobs I am doing, interviews with my employers, what I am learning, the people I am meeting a long the way, how I am getting city to city, where I am staying, etc.

I am pretty pumped about the start of the new show! It can be difficult to accurately relate the experience I am having and all that I am learning simply by using blog posts. With the show, it will be easier to share the experience as others can join me for the journey, feel a part of the adventure, be inspired, and hopefully learn with me.

Check out 'the show' section to find out more!

We are currently looking for sponsors for each weekly episode, so if you, your company, or anyone you think may be interested in getting some publicity and would want to get involved, we would really appreciate if you could pass on the word about the project.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, you can contact me through email, oneweekjob@gmail.com , or call me on my cell, 416-735-9335.

NEW TEAM MEMBER

Ian Mackenzie is my best friend. He has been helping me with One Week Job since I decided to go through with the idea and start working on the website in January. Ian will be coming on the road with me starting next week Monday, July 30th in Toronto - he will be filming and editing our weekly episodes, as well as contributing to the blog.

If you are a Survivor fan, you may have come across Ian before - he started a campaign a while back in which he was trying to convince the producers at CBS to let him on Survivor. He made an online petition, received over 5000 signatures including the endorsements of many past Survivor contestants. However in the end CBS didn't budge and would not open up the show to Canadian applicants.

As of this week, you will see Ian contributing to the site - writing posts, musings, updates from the road... etc.

It is going to be awesome having Ian on the road and he will really be able to contribute to the project. He is a great writer, has amazing web skills, and pretty much just an amazing guy.

If you are in need of a great website marketing consultant - looking to improve your company's online identity, change your websites look, increase traffic, search engine optimization, lay out, basically anything web related - check out his website.

NEW LOOK

If this is your first time visiting the site, then you won't notice a difference. But if you have been here before, then you may have noticed the site has a new look.

I am not a fan of the photo in the header but Ian insists it was the best he could find - I am not convinced. Anyways, let us know what you think!

It Doesn't Get More General Than Agnew's

A store to end all stores. I have never seen a store before like Agnew’s General Store. The variety of things in there is really quite remarkable, how they keep up with all the ordering and dealing with that many distributors I have no idea. You could find anything you could ever possibly need in that store, and then to top it all off, you could head across the street when you are done shopping and pick up an ice cream cone for the road.

I spent the week doing a bunch of different things, I got to fold t-shirts, sort mail, work in the garden center, price and shelf items, help with deliveries, cut a key… well, it’s a General Store so pretty much a whole lot general stuff.

I realize the best part of all my jobs is all the cool people that I get to meet week after week. I really enjoyed getting to know the Barker family here in Wilberforce and that was a huge part of my experience here. We spent a lot of time visiting, we went to this old house that was turned into a movie theatre, played restaurant with the kids, and my week in Wilberforce would not have been complete without going Geocaching. Wilberforce, Ontario is the Geocaching Capital of Canada. So, when in Rome…

Basically, Geocaching is a treasure hunt for adults with GPS equipment. Geocacher’s hide what are called cache’s, usually some kind of container and inside you can find a log book a long with various trinkets. The co-ordiantes (longitude and latitude) of the cache are placed on the Geocaching website, a long with clues on how to find the cache and people can set out to try and find them. Once you find the cache, you can sign the log book, and trade one of your trinkets for something that is in the cache. You would be surprised how many caches are in your neighbourhood, probably alongside a path that you regularly walk on, it is like an underground secret society of Geocachers. Put in your postal code on the site and you will be surprised.

I am going to make things a little more complicated now â€" in some caches people will place something that is called a travel bug. A travel bug can be anything such as a small teddy bear, some kind of trinket, and this travel bug is given a mission by it’s original owner to complete a certain task. For example, in the very first cache that we found, there were two travel bugs (two small toy pirates). These two pirates are on a race to see who can reach all three oceans that surround Canada and make it back to their original cache. I have one of the pirates. I will be taking him to Vancouver when I go this week and will meet up with a local geocacher who can then place him in a cache on the West Coast - one ocean complete!

This is "Bloody Sam Roberts" - the travel bug:

Are you convinced yet that Geocaching should be included as an Olympic sport in Vancouver 2010?

Anyways, now that you know where Wilberforce is, that it is the Geocaching Capital of Canada, and what Geocaching is, set your GPS to Agnew’s General Store (N45`02.267 W078`13.383) and ask for Mary, aka, “Sticky Moose” in the Geocaching world. She will set you up with all you need to try it out for yourself.

It was a short week as I didn’t get into Wilberforce until late Monday night and then left on Friday to Toronto so that I could catch my flight to Vancouver for the week. My friend is getting married next weekend, so I am heading home for that and to prepare things for when I start my next One Week Job in Toronto Monday, July 30th.

What am I preparing for you ask? Well, I got a pretty fun announcement that starts my first week in Toronto, but have to hold off until Monday to let you know about it - I promised a reporter with the Canadian Press the exclusive on it.

Until then,

-Sean

Globe and Mail - Article 3

GEN Y JOURNEY: ONE WEEK JOB 18 jobs, 18 bosses: insights into a great employer

SEAN AIKEN

July 20, 2007

Last week, I was the race director for a triathlon in the Northern Ontario town of Marathon. Essentially, I helped co-ordinate the logistics of the event and made sure everything ran smoothly. The week before, I was in Ottawa serving breakfast and cleaning rooms at a bed and breakfast. Before that, in Montreal, I was working with a distribution company in which we picked wild plant products, processed them and then sold them to high-end restaurants in town. Before that, it was helping to match people and employers at a recruiting agency ...

In the past 18 weeks, I have held 18 jobs, and, along the way, have had to work for 18 different bosses.

In my search for an ideal career, I continue to discover characteristics of a work environment that I believe will help make me happy. Obviously, one of these characteristics is a great employer.

I am sure at some point we have all had bosses who, for whatever reason, just didn't click with us. Maybe they didn't communicate effectively, did not share the same outlook, or perhaps they were simply not that nice.

So what makes a good boss? Reflecting on the past 18 weeks, I have been able to identify key traits that I found consistently apparent in the employers I have had the opportunity to work with.

Mentorship A good boss shouldn't horde the knowledge from the rest of the employees. He or she should be passing along their experiences to others. This is quite important to me as I am continually presented with a different work environment each week. I have found that I learn the most when I have been in a situation where my employer took a mentorship approach; openly sharing their knowledge and expertise of the particular position or industry with me. I have noticed that a boss who is constantly challenging and educating staff earns the respect of myself and others.

Provide direction When I show up for a new job every Monday morning, I have no idea what is expected of me or how I can effectively contribute to the organization. It is difficult to be successful in a situation if expectations are not clearly defined. Simply by providing proper direction, this frustration can be avoided.

As such, a boss needs to be a leader. While he or she should not have to micromanage every employee's tasks, it is important to provide overall direction for reaching the organization's goals.

I want to be in a situation in which I feel like what I am doing is contributing to a greater good; that a particular task I have been asked to do will make a difference in helping the organization achieve its goals. I believe a good boss will always explain the reasoning behind why he or she needs something done and relate it to the company realizing its vision. Without knowing where they're going, staff will feel that their tasks lack impact.

Grace under fire A boss needs to remain cool and calm under all conditions. He or she needs to be a source of strength for employees, especially for those whose find their job conditions stressful, or have personal problems to deal with.

Last weekend, in the hour leading up to and during the triathlon in Marathon, things were quite chaotic: volunteers were unsure what was expected of them; some barriers were not where they should have been; the mandatory lifeguard was a no-show - the situation easily could have spiralled out of control.

All members of our event team, including myself, looked to the other race director as if to gauge the severity of the situation and how we should interpret it.

Although I am sure he felt quite stressed on the inside, he managed to stay calm under the pressure. This allowed his team members to follow suit and think rationally about what needed to be done.

There's nothing that saps motivation more than a boss who cracks under pressure.

After all, if the boss can't handle the working environment, how can he or she expect the employees to.

Inspire others A boss always should be striving to point out the positive qualities and accomplishments of employees. This doesn't mean that he or she should gloss over their faults - but the priority should be inspiring employees to do their best work.

One of the most important roles of an employer is to identify the strengths of each employee and place them in a situation in which they can employ these skills and be successful.

Trust employees I am constantly in a new environment that requires a willingness to learn - and make mistakes. I have found that if I know I have the trust of my employer, I am more confident and open to try something new without the associated fear of a negative consequence.

This sense of trust is an essential quality to a great employer and will elicit a higher level of performance from the employee as a result.

A boss should have faith in their employees that they'll do the job they were hired to do. If the boss trusts someone's abilities enough to hire the person, then that person should have the opportunity to develop ideas without the boss hanging over their shoulder.

There will come a time when I will be looking for a job that will last a lot longer than one week. I can only hope that my future boss(es) will have some of these characteristics.

Sean Aiken will write occasionally about his career-discovery journey as he takes on a new job a week across Canada. He is blogging about his experience (and taking job offers) at http://www.oneweekjob.com.

Week Eighteen Announced - Storekeeper

I received this offer quite early on in One Week Job and I am pretty sure that I decided I had to go immediately after I finished reading it. So, here I am - Read for yourself!___________

Hello Sean!

Bring your hard working self to Wilberforce, Ontario to Agnew's General Store and experience the retail business in cottage country. A family owned and operated business since 1921, we're five generations deep. In fact, until Grama passed away just last month, you could have easily found four generations standing side by side on any given day!

Located at the centre of the Geocaching Capital of Canada, Wilberforce is a small community that grows in size with the arrival of the cottagers and outdoor enthusiasts in the summer. Looking at a map of Ontario, you'll find us at the southern tip of Algonquin Provincial Park, a great place to canoe/kayak, horseback ride or hike.

Agnew's General Store has grown since 1921 with the addition of the Garden Shed, Eileen's Ice Cream Shop and the Cache Stash so there's no end to the action around here. Just when you've finished helping Elsie find the butter and have Larry's plumbing needs all figured out, Eileen's Ice Cream shop needs an extra scooper. And when everyone is happily licking their cones, away you dash to load 30 bags of cow manure into someone's little Mazda.

Enjoy talking to the different groups that gather to chat, linger over the giftware or ponder whether they need one half or three quarter inch screws for that new deck. Some people rush in to get steak for the BBQ and others spend hours strolling through the outdoor Garden Shed but each one has a story to tell.

In addition to above mentioned daily action, you may also have the pleasure of: wrapping produce running the cash register finding someone a toilet plunger filling the milk case unloading the hardware truck talking to the locals watering the flowers sampling the fudge (yep!) dusting the giftware talking to some cottagers sweeping the floor cutting a key talking to some campers mixing some paint grinding some hamburger talking to some geocachers weighing some grass seed filling the coffee pot dead heading the petunias talking to some visitors putting together a wheelbarrow re-folding some shirts or pricing the eggs (but no grass cutting, that's Harley's job)

By Friday you'll know the difference between a Porterhouse and a T-Bone steak, you'll wow your friends with your knowledge of cottage plumbing solutions and in the future, you'll know exactly which flowers to put in that planter on the end of your dock!

And as if that wasn't enticing enough, we have a spare room at our house and could use a good dishwasher/baby sitter. We even have a trampoline!

For fun, after hours we swim and kayak in the many lakes, ride our bikes and hike the surrounding forests. And to really top off your stay, we'll take you geocaching! (Treasure hunting with a high tech twist... a GPS!) A man with your sense of adventure is sure to appreciate a good cache and the Geocaching Capital of Canada has just that!

The "Ice Cream" On The Cake

I am currently in a very small town called Wilberforce, ON and haven't really had access to internet which would explain my recent lack of posts. Anyways, I made it here eventually after quite the long haul from Marathon - a 9 hour overnight bus to Sudbury, then had a bit of difficulty hitch hiking the rest of the 4 - 5 hours to get here, although I did meet some interesting people a long the way. It took me about 6 rides and I had to do quite a bit walking with all my bags. A cop pulled over to register my name and he said that he recognized me from an television interview or segment on One Week Job. He actually made a good suggestion that if I make a sign saying something like One Week Job guy, it might be easier to get a ride - not a bad idea.

I ended up being just over an hour outside of Wilberforce, a long the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, and it was getting dark. Lucky for me, two guys (Tony and Sylvester) who happened to be heading right through Wilberforce were kind enough to stop and give me a lift before the mosquitos ate me alive.

It was funny. I was getting worried, not too sure what to do, thinking about finding some nearby homes and knocking on doors, then an hour later I was in a town called Wilberforce and eating one the largest ice cream cones I have ever seen. Mary (one of my employers for the week), met us in town, brought the keys to the shop and treated Tony, Sylvester and myself once we arrived. It was pretty awesome!

Time to go do some Geocaching! Afterall, Wilberforce is the Geocaching Capital of Canada. I will tell you more about it soon, but check out www.geocaching.com to find out more.

-Sean

Only Triathlons In Marathon

I had a great week in Marathon and really felt welcomed to the town by everyone I came in contact with. In case you were wondering, the weather did work out for us and it managed to stay sunny whenever the race was in progress. Here is Joe, Andy, and myself just after the triathlon on Sunday.

Everything with the triathlon went smoothly, definitely a little chaotic at times with lots’ going on and trying to sort out all the logistics, volunteers, timers, the course, etc. This is where I was able to exercise the “honourary” that was included in my job description before the title of Race Director. It worked out well that there were two of us, because a lot of things were going on at that the same time. And ofcourse because I needed some time to take some random photos like this:

We held a charity BBQ after the race with all proceeds going to support the Make Poverty History campaign. I was able to sport a pretty stylin’ apron and we had a lot of fun with it.

After the triathlon had finished and everything was cleaned up, we headed back to Andy and Bevs’ place where we had our second BBQ of the day with some of the volunteers, organizers and participants. It was a great finish to an awesome week and I am glad that I was able to stay around to be a part of it.

Joe had his bag pipes out, everyone had drums, and we were making up songs as we went. A favourite was, “Sean is going on the bus” and “Hit the road Sean” â€" if only we had recorded it, I think we were really onto something.

As you may have guessed, I took the bus out of town shortly after and headed East on an overnight bus towards the town of Wilberforce.

Thank you to everyone in Marathon for your kindness and generosity! I can’t wait to return one year and this time compete in the Penn Lake Pursuit Triathlon. Perhaps I could even perform at the Concert in the Park(ing) lot series out front of Andy’s Pizza Hut â€" though ofcourse I would need my multi-talented right hand man Pipin’ Joe McGill.

Take care,

-Sean

Longest Day Ever, Longer Than A "Marathon"

Warning: You can probably expect to see at least one more cheesy blog post title incorporating the word "Marathon" before I leave town. Today was quite the day. I was picked up at 9am to start setting up and preparing for the triathlon and I didn't get back to where I am staying until 10:30pm. I had some candy, a beer, and took a shower then was out the door again to go to the bar, well it is kind of more like a bingo hall - the kind of place where you are just as likely to be hanging out with your parents friends as you are with your own, yet that's what makes this town great.

It is another early day tomorrow (Sunday), with the second leg of the triathlon. I will post some pictures hopefully tomorrow afternoon.

Still not too sure how I am getting to Wilberforce as of yet, but I am sure things will come together!

-Sean

Marathon, ON - The Coldest, Warmest Town In Canada

Well the Concert in the Park(ing) lot Wednesday night went really well. I was hosting the event which I was kind of nervous about coming into it, but after having arrived in town and met some of the people it was easy to feel comfortable. All the proceeds from the concert are going to be donated to the Make Poverty History campaign and everyone was very generous and supportive!

Joe and I were the last to perform in the concert and I made sure to lower all expectations that the crowd would have for my congo drumming skills when I introduced our act. I managed to keep a beat and allowed ‘Pipin’ Joe’ to work his magic on the trumpet and the bag pipes. Afterwards, I thought I would put it out there if anyone was interested in taking some lessons from me, surprisingly there were no takers.

Our focus has now shifted to preparing for the Penn Lake Pursuit triathlon this weekend and the last two days have consisted of: setting up the fencing, talking about how unusually cold the weather has been, cleaning the triathlon route, removing rocks from the lake, running errands, talking about how unusually cold the weather has been… It actually has been quite cold and I have had a permanent chill since I arrived. It will make things interesting when it’s time for the particpipants to start the swimming leg of the race tomorrow!

It’s been a great week so far and everyone has been so kind to me. Especially, the family that I am staying with - Andy and Bev. Andy owns the Pizza Hut in town and so I have been able to satisfy my craving for breadsticks on a few occasions. Earlier today we went into the kitchen and I invented a new creation for our lunch. Look for it on the menu next week available only in the Marathon Pizza Hut, just ask Andy for the 'Sean Special.'

I also got to go for a ride around the town in the Fire Truck today which was also pretty cool!

After Marathon, I will be making my way towards the town of Wilberforce, Ontario to work at Agnew’s General Store. Apparently Wilberforce makes Marathon seem like a big city, so should be a pretty cool experience. I am not too sure how I will be getting there as of yet â€" it takes about 14 hours by car and by bus they take some ridiculous route that takes 22 hours. Anyone heading that direction?

-Sean

Congo Drums, Bag Pipes, And Triathlons: A "Marathon" Of A Week

I arrived into the town of Marathon, Ontario yesterday after flying into Thunder Bay from Toronto. Marathon is situated about 3.5 hours East of Thunder Bay. If you have never heard of Marathon before, check out this map or find out more about it on their towns website. It is a great little town on the shore of Lake Superior and everyone has been so kind and very welcoming to me. It will be a busy week with the concert tonight and the triathlon this weekend, but is definitely going to be a lot of fun. Last night after dinner with Andy (the concert organizer), Joe (the triathlon organizer) and their families we played some ultimate frisbee in town and then headed to Joe's place so we could practice our set for the concert tonight.

As well as hosting the concert tonight, I will also be banging on some drums alongside Joe with his trumpet - trying my best to look as if I know what I am doing. It took me a while to get the beat down last night on the congo drums, but I did get it eventually with the help of some repetition in my head - "paradiddle, paradiddle, paradiddle... bop bop" I think today we might be throwing some bag pipes into the equation, so it could get quite interesting!

Today I have some media interviews to promote the concert tonight and the Penn Lake Pursuit Triathlon happening this weekend. There is still space available for the triathlon, so if you are in the area and want to come out, you can register up until and including race day. If you don't feel like racing, make sure to come on out and watch as it's going to be a great time!

Early start to the day this morning at the local radio station, CFNO. I got to do the weather again which is always fun. Unlike last time the host wasn't fllirting with me which made it a bit easier to focus on the task at hand!

Okay, time to try my hand at those bag pipes!

-Sean

Week Seventeen Announced - Race Director & Concert Host

After finishing up on Sunday at McGee's Inn in Ottawa, I headed towards Toronto and I fly out today to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Not too sure exactly what the plan is as of yet - I think I am being picked up at the airport to go to my next One Week Job in Marathon, Ontario, but I guess we will see. For my next job, I will be the Race Director of a Triathlon, called the Penn Lake Pursuit. The triathlon is on the weekend, and I will also be the host for a concert in the park[ing] lot series they have going on Wednesday night in town. I am really looking forward to the upcoming week; I love small towns and the people that I have been in contact with just seem so friendly and excited to have me. They even referred to me as the "celebrity" race director in the brochure that was sent out for the triathlon, so thats pretty cool:)

If you are anywhere near the town of Marathon, Ontario this upcoming week and want to participate in a Triathlon or just to check out whats going on, stop on by and give me a call, 416-735-9335, it is sure to be a really fun week so stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Sean

My Life As An Innkeeper

I had a great week working as an Innkeeper at McGee's Inn in Ottawa. It's a great atmosphere to be a part of and everyone here has been so kind to me... not to mention the breakfasts are great! Could I be an Innkeeper as a career? Perhaps for some time, I really like the idea of having all those rooms available so during holidays you can bring all your family and friends together under one roof. I think it depends on what you value in life, what you are looking for in terms of work life balance. Being an Innkeeper, it seems like a career in which your social life and work tend to merge on its own. As in, you are just living, doing your thing, but you just happen to always have house guests.

In any business, there is always something you could be doing. So when you live where you work, I think it can be difficult to put everything down and stop for the day. Especially in a business such as a Bed & Breakfast - you are up at 7am getting ready to serve breakfast and your last guest could check-in sometime late evening. As was the case last night, poor Jason.

Jason is one of the owners and is a pretty awesome guy. He was in the military for five years and for a time he actually used to be one of the guards that stand in front of the Parliament buildings, and so at a certain time every day he was a part of the infamous and life altering 'changing of the guards.' Anyways, here is a picture of Jason and myself out front of the B&B.

I have taken some video clips of what I was up to this week, so I am going to try to edit them and make a short video for Monday. Tonight I am heading to Bluesfest to meet up with some friends and see some concerts: Manu Chao, and Sarah Harmer.

Tomorrow it's off to Toronto where I will fly out to Thunder Bay on Tuesday, then make my way to a small town called Marathon, Ontario where I will be the Race Director of a triathlon. Should be pretty interesting - considering how I just had to look up the proper spelling of triathlon!

Anyways, if you are in Ottawa tonight and want to go to a concert, give me a call, 416-735-9335.

-Sean

Guest Post: Denise Mosawi

I’m addicted to finding stories of people who’ve changed their lives to pursue their passion. This obsession has led to me collecting many inspiring stories over the years and I’ve drawn some key insights in what goes on when people decide to do what they really love for a living. You can read some of these inspiring stories on www.destineering.com. No stranger to life transformation myself (I originally worked for Microsoft as Head of Organizational Effectiveness and ditched the desk (and prospect of future stock options) in favour of pursing my passion â€" namely ski instructing (at $9 an hour). As you can imagine, life took on an entirely different meaning and spurred my enthusiasm to seek out those who made similar life changing decisions.

Ultimately, my experiences resulted in me creating Destineering â€" a company aimed at inspiring people around doing what they really want with their lives. We provide Personal Envisioning (one to one telephone coaching using envisioning techniques to help people visualize what they want to do with their lives), retreats in stunning locations around the world and hundreds of ideas on pursuing your passion, making a difference and living where you love. We also make documentary films of people who pursue their passion and make a difference. We’re all about inspiration.

I’ll share with you one key insight that I’ve drawn from all my interviews and that is that most people I have listened to, who changed their lives to do what they love, do not have a cunning action plan. Rather, they have this compelling need to act from the heart. There’s a certain amount of uncertainty that comes with this and they learn to get comfortable in that uncertainty and have faith that if they create a compelling vision of where they want to be, they’ll get there.

It sounds corny I know, but it’s true nevertheless, we never know how much time we have on this earth, why not find a way of doing what we love and enjoying our time here to the full? Good luck Sean â€" I wish you every success on your voyage of discovery.

~Denise Mosawi Founder â€" Destineering.com

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