OUT for Business: The CGLCC Mentorship Program

[00:00:10] Calan Breckon: Welcome to the Business Gay podcast, where we talk about all things business, marketing and entrepreneurship. I’m your host, Calan Breckon, and on today’s episode, I have Idara Effiom and Eli Kriv from Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ chamber of commerce, also known as the CGLCC. Every year, the CGLCC runs its out for business mentorship program for 2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs. Since 2017, they’ve been empowering 2SLGBTQI+ business owners with mentorship from local leaders, plus networking and business education. I went through the program in 2022 and 2023, and I cannot say enough good things about this program and organization. I owe much of my business success to the folks over at the CGLCC. Idara and Eli are the dynamic duo behind the newly revamped OUT for Business program this year. They’re shaking things up, starting with no age limits for mentees and much more get ready for networking opportunities and personalized business growth sessions than ever before. Plus, they’re adding a wellness component to foster a supportive community of mentors and mentees across Canada. I’m really excited to talk about the upgrades to the out for business mentorship program with Idara and Eli. So let’s jump in.

Hello. Hello. I am so excited to welcome both Idara and Eli from the CGLCC to the podcast, which is also known as the Canadian 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce. How are you both doing? Let’s start with Idara.

[00:01:42] Idara Effiom: Oh, hi, Calan. I’m doing very well. Happy to be here. Thank you for having us today. It’s really exciting.

[00:01:49] Calan Breckon: Yeah. And yourself, Eli?

[00:01:51] Eli Kriv: Yeah, likewise. Happy to be here. Great to meet a friend of the program.

[00:01:56] Calan Breckon: Yes. So we are going to be diving in and talking about the out for business program.

I want to get right into it because I went through this program. It was amazing. There’s lots of exciting changes and things coming up, which is what we’re talking about today. So with that, I want to start with what challenges or opportunities does the program aim to address?

[00:02:20] Idara Effiom: Absolutely. And I could take that one well. Within general CGLCC and general, I guess, 2SLGBTQI+ business owners, there are specific challenges that arise. For example, we know that we have had some business owners that have purposely hidden the fact that their company has 2SLGBTQI+ ownership. We also know that 2SLGBTQI+ business owners believe that they have lost opportunities after identifying as and being part of the community.

We also know that 2SLGBTQI+ business owners have faced discrimination because of the ownership.

What out for business really hopes to do is through supporting these businesses, budding entrepreneurs, we hope to really create, continue to create employment within the community, help uplift people who are traditionally marginalized and drive greater social change. It’s also really important that we create community for people. So a safe and a brave space for people to be able to, like, show up as their fully authentic selves, like, even in business.

[00:03:33] Calan Breckon: Uh, amazing. So, yes, I can definitely attest to that. And I’m really curious, how’s the program structured? I’m going to go to Eli for this one. How’s the program structured? And, like, what are the expectations from both, like, mentors and mentees when they’re in this mentorship program?

[00:03:49] Eli Kriv: Absolutely. So we try to give a couple of different touch points for the mentees and mentors throughout the program. The, the primary, the big base of the program is one to one mentorship. So pairing a mentee, so a queer entrepreneur who is, they can be in various parts of their journey, that’s one of the big exciting changes, is we’re not just looking at people who just started a business or a one year in, but we can go all the way from people who are just now pre registering, just have an idea all the way to people who are in more of a growth stage. But we pair them up with a mentor who’s more experienced, a queer mentor who has navigated business and has something to share. And that one to one mentorship is the base. We also have opportunities for group mentorship, where the mentors and mentees all come together and can share experiences, ask questions, share wins, share challenges. And we also have tailored workshops and programming to help really address the challenges and help people learn about marketing and queer spaces and how to be authentic and balancing a lot of these different challenges that folks have.

As far as the expectations, the main thing is because the one to one relationship is really the core. We want to make sure people are meeting at least once a month with their mentor and their mentees. Those are usually, we suggest, like, at least an hour of a conversation. But then we also hope to have people really show up in our spaces. So we create some networking spaces for all the mentees to get together. It’s virtual because this program is national. So for everybody to get together, see faces, get to know each other. Entrepreneur, you know this Callan as an entrepreneur, but entrepreneuring is lonely and it can be isolating and then add a queer piece on top of that, add intersecting identities on top of that, where maybe you don’t feel safe, you don’t feel seen. So really creating those spaces and having people show up is another thing. So, in general, we ask mentors to budget, like, two or 3 hours a month for the program mentees, four to 6 hours a month.

[00:05:52] Calan Breckon: But, yeah, yeah. Thank you so much for pointing out. I want to. I want to nail down on that loneliness point. That was one of the biggest things that I experienced when becoming an entrepreneur is before I knew about the CGLCC. I didn’t know this amazing community existed. I felt very alone, especially as a queer entrepreneur, it was very difficult to kind of feel comfortable in those spaces. And I actually just experienced this at a conference I went to, which was a heteronormative conference, and there was inclusive spaces there, and it was one of the reasons I was specifically there. But I still felt like every time somebody asked me what I did or what my business was, the moment I talked about it, there was kind of this glaze over that happened on the eyes. This is, you know, this generalization. But it was mostly heterosexual men that the glaze over would happen. Women tended to be a little bit more excited, a little bit more open. Um, but being able to have this community and this group to plug into was such a game changer for my entrepreneurial journey. And I will also say, like, the group mentoring sessions or the group sessions that they have, um, you get so much information in those. I know I got a lot from them when I was going to them, and usually I think they would happen, like, what? Like once a month. Usually there’d be like a, you know, everybody can come to the webinar thing. Um, and then in last year, I actually did my own presentation, an SEO presentation for the entrepreneurs so that they could understand how important their website is and all of these things. So there is a lot that comes out of the program. I’m going to go to Idara for this one. Who is the program ideal for?

[00:07:31] Idara Effiom: So the program is open pretty much to anybody who is for mentees. I would say, like, anybody who identifies as a member of the 2SLGBTQI+ community that is an entrepreneur.

So when I say that’s an entrepreneur, one of the things that we’ve really tried to bring out in the new, I guess the revamp of the program is to really have that space accessible. So you don’t have to be a full time entrepreneur, because you know that everybody has, like, the privilege of doing that. So if you’re a full time or a part time entrepreneur, you’re welcome as a mentee or a mentor too, as well. The program is national, like Eli said, so it’s anybody who is in located in Canada, they are welcome to participate in the program as well. And it’s open to the general, to SLGBTQIA, like business community, for example, for mentors, you don’t have to be an entrepreneur if you want to be a mentor. You could be like a business, like, you could be an employee, an intrapreneur, you could be retired. It’s really just, the point is really just to create that like mentoring community and like bring whatever knowledge it is you have, like, to the space. Similarly for mentees. Like, mentees don’t need to be full time entrepreneurs either. They could, they could be part time as well. And yeah, so location isn’t like super important because it is a national, mostly virtual program with hopes of maybe bringing people together at some point. But we’re really, really hoping to keep the application processes open and accessible for this year. We’re also really extending an invitation to people who are transsexual or have intersecting identities within the 2SLGBTQI+A community because we would really love to win this program, like center the most marginalized voices and in that way like cover the rest of the community.

[00:09:29] Calan Breckon: Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing all those details. We’ve been talking a lot about mentorship, obviously, how important is mentorship when it comes to entrepreneurship? And I’m going to let you two decide between the two of you who wants to answer this.

[00:09:45] Eli Kriv: I could start and then I’m sure Dara can add on. But, you know, I think it has been, I am not speaking from personal experience. I have not been an entrepreneur. I have worked in businesses and have been mentored in those. But we have spoken with a lot of mentees, current mentees in the program and prior. And I think the impact of mentorship is huge because part of any kind of success is being able to visualize yourself there, right? Like, you have your goal and being able to see how do I get there and is it reasonable and what steps do I need to take? And it can feel very daunting and very, you have the normal kind of capitalism challenges of just like, how do I make this business work, but trying to do it as a queer person who is authentic in their identity and maybe navigating a lot of other different challenges to have someone who you can go to who doesn’t have control over whether your business succeeds or not. They’re not your boss, they’re not your funder, they’re not whatever. They’re just a safe person who says, hey, I have some overlap with you. I have been in some of these places that you are in now. I may be where you want to go in some ways. Come talk to me like, I’m a safe person for you to come and bounce questions off of. I’m here for you no matter what. I think, especially as queer people where we don’t have a lot of times accepting family, we may not have access or we may not feel a fit in a lot of professional type networks that are very cis and straight kind of focused. So having this person who says, hey, I’ve got you, and then on top of that, having it inside of a program with a bunch of other mentors who say, hey, we’ve got you. It’s a really beautiful thing. And we’ve seen folks who have identified changes in their business that happened during the mentorship program. So people who were very unsure about how clear to be that they were queer, they were worried about running off business or they were in more conservative areas or whatever, they noted that being part of the program and hearing from mentors who talked about how they had navigated that and hearing from mentees who have navigating that emboldened them to actually make their queer identity part of their story. Like, it’s part of their story anyway, but make it part of their business story. And I think when you talk about seeing the eyes glaze over, like, the opposite of that is seeing the eyes light up and feeling seen and like, oh, you get this. I don’t have to. I have so many challenges and obstacles that I have to face on my day to day as an entrepreneur, but this is one that I don’t have to do. And I think it’s been, I think, a beautiful and amazing thing, and I’m so excited to be part of it.

[00:12:37] Calan Breckon: I can attest to all of that. Mentors have completely, completely changed my life. One of my first mentors ever was from the future preneur program, which is another fantastic program. Um, and sue. Hey, shout out to sue. She’s still with me today. Even though we passed our two years technically together, we continued on together because we decided we’re like, no, we’re. We’re kind of in this for life now. Like, she’s so excited to see me succeed. She’s helped me on so many levels. I swear I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have a business if it wasn’t for sue. Um, and she’s just one of multiple mentors that have come into my, my life and it’s, it’s so important. Uh, Idara, I’m going to come to you with this next part.

There’s one important side to this is you need mentees. You need people who need to be mentored. The other side is the mentors. And you kind of touched on it a little bit about, you know, mentors, and they don’t need to be, you know, entrepreneurs specifically. But what qualities are you looking for when it comes to prospective mentors? Because you also need those for the program?

[00:13:40] Idara Effiom: No, absolutely. I think we can look at it as kind of like what the requirements are for the program and perhaps what could make a good mentor in terms of requirements for the program. Just like I mentioned, a mentor could be from any background. Entrepreneur, intrapreneur, retired, any background. As long as you have something that you feel like you want to contribute to the 2SLGBTQI+, like budding entrepreneurship ecosystem, that would be great for mentors.

More specifically, if you are an entrepreneur, for example, we do ask that you have to have your business two plus years. Or if you’re an employee, for example, we do ask that you have been in a corporate or a business or a nonprofit environment for about two years. There is also, of course, the time requirement for mentors. So we have about like 3 hours per month. And the program is a ten month program, so runs between September 2024 to June 2025. I do want to say we do ask for 3 hours per month for the duration of ten months. But again, accessibility is really important in the program. So what we ask like as a bare complete minimum, is to meet with your mentee or mentees at least once a month for about 1 hour.

And then of course, there’s the requirement to complete the outfit business training sessions. We will have like the orientation onboarding to get to know the structure and the inside of the outside of the program. But also we will have some trainings around like wellness and EDI as well, just to make sure everyone feels safe and it’s a safe, comfortable space for people to be in. And of course, location wise, you just have to be located in Canada. You could live anywhere.

And of course, I feel like if with mentors, anybody who is open really to the program, we want to hear from you.

We want to hear about your experience. Experience. We want to hear about the knowledge that you have and that you hold and that you’re willing to like pass on to the next generation of entrepreneurs. So yeah, those are some of the requirements. If that makes sense.

[00:15:55] Calan Breckon: Okay. You talked a little bit about a couple things in there, like the EDI and what are some additional supports or resources that folks are going to get who end up coming and joining the program? I want you to kind of elaborate on that a little bit more.

[00:16:08] Idara Effiom: Absolutely. So with the program, we have the one on one mentoring, which is the base of the program. Then we have business development sessions. So business development sessions are a resource in the sense that we are connecting with business professionals and leaders and facilitators within the 2SLGBTQI+ community who have specific topics that are of interest to the cohort. So before we launched this new application, we actually did a lot of extensive research with our community. And some of the topics that came out, for example, were like learnings on taxes or what funding is available or how to be your own cheerleader, how to take care of yourself, work life balance, etcetera. So we would be providing business development sessions to cover this as much as we can, and we would also be prioritizing queer entrepreneurs, professionals, business people to deliver these sessions as well. In addition, in terms of structure, we are hoping for this program to be a structured, predictable program because that is, again, something we have heard from our community. So we would have, like meeting templates, for example, suggestions of what to talk about with your mentee in the networking sessions. We like to keep them open, but we can also have some leading questions as well. And we are also hoping to have all of this information. So from the templates to the recordings of the business development sessions and to whatever external, where external resources are available within GLCC, all located in one spot where the. Exactly. It’s exciting. One spot where the cohort can reference as needed. So those are some of the newer supports that we’re going to be providing.

[00:17:59] Calan Breckon: Yes. This makes me so excited. Okay. So when I was going through the program and feedback that I gave, one of those things was, there’s all these amazing webinars and all these things we get provided, but then it kind of disappears into the Internet afterwards. Like it, I’m sure it’s somewhere, and we get sent links and emails, but there’s no place for then future generations to go and watch that same webinar, because if you’re already doing it, if you already have that information, and I suggested like, just create a library or like some sort of a membership portal where it’s like, okay, here’s past webinars, you can search and see if there’s something specific to your specific needs. And that, because that was one of the things that I looked for going through the program, I went, okay, nobody’s really in my specific kind of area or has my specific expertise this round, but had I had access to the, you know, previous rounds, maybe somebody from those groups would have had similar questions or similar things that I could have found through those webinars or through that. So that makes me. Me so freaking excited that that is coming about, because, like, I. That was one of my biggest feedbacks. I was like, please do this. Uh, if somebody’s listening and they want to apply, how can they do that? And are there any prerequisites for mentees looking to join it? You kind of talked about this a little bit before, but, uh, Eli, I want you to just dive a little bit more if somebody wants to apply.

[00:19:25] Eli Kriv: Yeah, absolutely. If. If you want to apply. We have our. The CGLCC website has a link to a registration form. Um, it’s going to be all over social media soon, but for now, it’s on the website, and the form takes, I don’t know, less than 20 minutes to fill out. But it is a bit extensive in the sense that we want to get information about where people are in their business, what they want from the mentoring relationship, so that when we facilitate the matching, we really have the info that we need.

Yeah. So that’s how they can find out about it. And what was your other question?

[00:20:05] Calan Breckon: What are the prerequisites for mentees looking to?

[00:20:08] Eli Kriv: Yes. Thank you. So this is a really exciting part of the revamped program. Before, the program was limited in age, so we called it, like, the youth entrepreneur program at that time, and we had an age cap. Now we’re recognizing that people start businesses at all ages, and they need help no matter what age they are. And so this is focused a lot more now on the age of the business or where people are in their entrepreneurial journey than on a person’s actual numerical age. So mentees can be any age from 18 and up. They need to be located in Canada, and they need to self identify as a member of the 2SLGBTQI+I plus community. But that’s it. As long as they can commit to the time commitments that we’re asking, then we want you. We’re really trying to have a low. I don’t want to call it a low bar, but we want it to be as open as possible to mentees so that we can really reach and plant these seeds and kind of nourish these. These businesses and these relationships.

[00:21:05] Calan Breckon: Okay. Awesome. Is there, like, a limit to how many people you’re allowing in the program.

[00:21:11] Eli Kriv: This time around, the limit is guided by how many mentors we have. So if we had 100 mentees and 100 mentors, we would love that right now. And this is historically the case with mentorship programs. Usually there are a lot more mentees who come in, ask for help than there are mentors who volunteer. So for you potential mentors out there, please. Also, the signup process is exactly the same. It’s all on one forum, all on the website. The more mentors we have, the more young in business entrepreneurs that we can reach. But, yeah, the sky’s the limit. And that’s part of the excitement here, too, is because we now have a platform that we’re running everything on, and so we’re much less limited. It doesn’t require as much person power to actually do the matching, which was something that kind of limited the numbers before, but now we really can reach a limitless number of people. We just need the mentors to help support it.

[00:22:07] Calan Breckon: Okay, I’m glad you brought this up because I actually, I think I heard a rumor, but I want to, like, set the record straight. How is the mentee mentor matching going to happen? Because that was a point of difficulty, I think, when I went through with my cohort. So I’m curious because I heard there’s a rumor that things are a little bit different this time around.

[00:22:27] Eli Kriv: Yes, I can take that.

[00:22:30] Idara Effiom: Pass it over to you. Yeah. So how it has been done historically is very much so, like, admin staff led matching. So we’re looking at applications of mentees and mentors and being like, okay, what matches. Essentially what we’re hoping to do this year and going forward is really utilize, like, automated matching that is also self. That is also, I should say, mentee led. So because of the introduction of this platform, we’re going to be building mentor and mentee profiles. And within this profile, mentors can identify, like, you know, how many mentees, for example, they were interested in taking on and what skills it is that they, you know, would love to, you know, to be able to provide support on. And a mentee can, you know, have eyes on these profiles and look at that and see what matches them and then request a mentor as their mentor for the program. Now, this is something that’s going to come, like, down the line because we are in the process of building the website, but that is what we are working towards. So for this cohort that’s open, I like to say mentee led with a little bit of, like, admin looking into it, but going forward, it is going to be mentee led and automated. That’s the goal.

[00:23:41] Calan Breckon: Oh, I think that that’s just going to be such a great asset to how it’s all going to be run. Being able to have those profiles and see who matches your needs and takes that. That effort and workload off of your shoulders, to be able to put it onto everybody else and say, okay, go out, try and find your matches. And then there might be a couple here and there that you need to maybe work on a little bit more, work with a little bit more. But I definitely think that that’s going to be a huge, huge asset to the program.

What are you hoping to achieve with this newly revamped update version of the out for business program? I’m going to. I want to kind of get this from both of you, but I’m going to start with Elijah.

[00:24:24] Eli Kriv: I think the main thing we’re hoping to achieve is to build on what has been a program that has done a lot of good since it was started in 2017, but fine tune it and expand it. So I think the goal of the program has always been to increase the number of queer people who are thriving in the canadian economy and to connect those people with other people who want to support queer people in business. And so I think a lot of it has been getting feedback from prior cohorts, getting feedback from the current cohort, and seeing what we can do to make changes, to really make sure we’re delivering on that mission. And I think if we’re kind of looking at the dream, the dream is that we get so many mentors and so many mentees and we get to just drop. We have these queer business people all over the country who are connected with the CGLCC ecosystem because that’s the thing.

Program is one piece of what the CGLCC does, but another huge piece is that we pair. Not we pair, but we vet diverse suppliers. So they are businesses that we certify as being at least 50% queer owned with other canadian businesses who want to diversify the types of businesses that they do work with. And so the kind of ideal world is that we take these sort of young businesses, we nurture them, we grow them, we connect them, they become diverse suppliers, and then they are doing business with some of the most impactful businesses in the canadian economy. And that diversity just kind of just runs through everything. So I think that’s the dream. And I’m super excited because I think this revamp is a big step forward in the direction.

[00:26:12] Calan Breckon: I definitely think that the revamp is a huge step forward, and I will say that there was a study done by StartOut, which is down in the US, but they’re an LGBTQ accelerator, and they did a study that found that 2SLGBTQI+ plus founders actually create 36% more jobs, have 114 more patents, and have 44% more exits than our heterosexual, heteronormative counterparts when it comes to business and growing as entrepreneurs. So that’s really exciting information. I just wanted to kind of throw that in there. Idara, what about you? What are your kind of hopes and dreams for this new revamped version?

[00:26:53] Idara Effiom: Yeah, I think, like, Eli summarizes, like, really, really great. I think I’ll just add a few points to that for how I see it in my head. I feel like there’s, like, a few aspects of it. So the main objective for alpha business, I would say, is creation of that community, creation of that connection within the 2SLGBTQI+ business like ecosystem.

I would hope for the program to create a sense of, like, safety, identity as well for the participants. I would also love for this to be a bit of reciprocity as well in the program. So weaving the mentors and the mentees into the larger CGLCC ecosystem and just to create that thriving environment. Also, the program would be providing training to, of course, training in form of business development to the participants and exposure, just like Eli said, hopefully to grow, nurture these businesses so that they can participate on, like, a larger or, like, more, I guess, a larger scale. To say if that is what they want or whatever it is that they want to get out of the businesses, they can get that. And also the creation of access and advocacy and to have somebody who can open doors for you, but also, at the same time, to maintain, like, your autonomy within the. This. Within this program as well. That’s why it’s. A lot of it is really led by the relationship is led by the people, the people in the relationship, the mentee and the mentor, like, on your own time, for example, and then also just to create structure and predictability, to kind of, like, bring some, like, I guess, some mellowness and hum to the busy lives that could be entrepreneurs. So people know what to expect and what to get out from the program. So that’s how I would summarize, like, the objectives of out for business.

[00:28:42] Calan Breckon: I love it. I love it a lot. We touched a little bit about future plans and how you’re going to let it be. Mentee led with the choosing of the mentors and such, but that might, pardon me, fully come into being a little bit later. Are there any other plans that aren’t necessarily going to be right for this next cohort? But they are in the pipeline for coming down the way. And I’ll let either one of you, you jump in.

[00:29:07] Idara Effiom: Perhaps I can start. Eli.

[00:29:09] Eli Kriv: Yeah, go for it.

[00:29:10] Idara Effiom: I think one of the things we would really, really love to work on is we really want to connect and engage with our indigenous community in Canada and indigenous entrepreneurs. It is Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ chamber of Commerce, so there is a primary indigenous aspect to it, I think, coming down the line, we really do hope to continue to build trust with that community, work with people in that community, like directly, like on a grassroots level as well. And we hope to really, really have that connection and that trust for the community. And of course, we also hope to continue to develop a more like robust, like, programming schedule and business development sessions, weaving people more into the ecosystem, hopefully, like Ila had touched on a little bit a kind of, like, how to say, process from a mentee or a mentor to a diverse supplier to whatever else you want to, however else you want to be involved with CGLCC.

I would say so, yeah, those are some of our future plans. And of course, potential in person regional or national gatherings will be such a fun time. So that’s something we hope to have as well.

[00:30:26] Calan Breckon: Nice. Yes, I will say I did have Bobbie Racette on the podcast from virtual Gurus, who is a indigenous queer woman in tech. And so, you know, she’s definitely heavily involved with the CGLCC. So would love to see a lot more, a lot more amazing people like that coming around.

What was I going to say? Okay, so we’ve gone over the program. We’ve gone over everything. We’re really excited.

Where can folks apply and find out more about the program? Like details on dates, like what dates are all these deadlines coming up? Because I know it’s coming up really close, so I’ll let Eli finish this off for us.

[00:31:05] Eli Kriv: Yeah, so our website is going to be the kind of home base. We’ve got all of the info on there. As far as time commitments, we’ve got the application link requirements, everything. As far as dates, though, we’re accepting applications now. The applications are open and we’re accepting them on a rolling basis until we meet capacity for the program. So there’s not. The program is slated to start in September, so that’s kind of the deadline to have in mind. But just get your application in as soon as possible, either as a mentee or a mentor, and it will up the chances, especially if you’re applying as a mentee, that will be able to make space for you if you can apply early. But the website is going to be it. We’re in the middle of relaunching a new and improved website also. So if you go today, it will look different than it looks tomorrow, but it will look better. And then we will have, as soon as the new website is live, we’re going to have on all of our socials on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, all of that. You’ll be seeing it. But for now, the website is going to be your home base for finding out the requirements and getting the link to the registration for.

[00:32:11] Calan Breckon: Okay, perfect. And I will make sure to have all of those links and everything that you need to know in the show notes for everybody. Is there anything we didn’t cover today that you would like to close off with before we end here? I’m going to start off with Idara and then Eli will go with you.

[00:32:27] Idara Effiom: I don’t know if there’s anything we didn’t cover. I think this has been such a fun conversation.

I would say if I was to close out with something, it would just be like looking forward to meeting and interacting with all of your listeners and subscribers and everything.

Yeah, very much so. Open to answer any questions that are available.

We’re working really hard to have the alpha business program be for the community and is continuing to evolve and it’ll continue to grow. Feedback is always, always welcome. And yeah, we’re just like really excited to walk this journey together.

[00:33:05] Calan Breckon: Magical. Eli, what about you?

[00:33:08] Eli Kriv: Yeah, likewise. Really excited. Thank you, Calan, for giving us the time and the space to share. I hope that people also understand that if you’re an ally and you can’t participate directly as a mentee or a mentor, we can still use your help big time in getting the word out. We also have speaking engagements, so if people want to share about a topic that’s near and dear to them that they think queer entrepreneurs could benefit from, we’re filling out our speaker slate for the year and welcome that. But otherwise, please just come ask questions, apply mentors, especially the more of you that are there, the more mentees we can reach. Thank you so much.

[00:33:49] Calan Breckon: Yes. And I will say whether you’re a mentor or mentee, if you don’t think you’re ready or you’re like, well, maybe I’ll try next time, don’t do it this time. Do it right now, because even if it’s not fit, not a good fit for right this second, it’s still going to set you up for that next round. So always jump before you’re ready because you’re going to figure out how to grow wings on the way down. I want to thank you both so much for being on the podcast. This is absolutely magical. I love the CGLCC. I try and support it whenever I can. So thank you both for joining and being on the podcast today.

[00:34:23] Idara Effiom: Thank you Karen. This is so fun indeed.

[00:34:27] Eli Kriv: Thank you.

[00:34:28] Calan Breckon: Make sure to head into the show notes and click the link to go check out things for the CGLCC mentorship program. Whether you are a mentee or a mentor, please get involved in this program. It is absolutely magical and you will not regret it. Thank you for tuning in today. Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button. And if you really enjoyed today’s episode, I would love a star rating from you. The business Gay podcast is written, produced, and edited by me, Calan Breckon. That’s it for today. Peace, love, Rainbows.