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THE LINK UP COLLECTIVE

@thelinkuptoronto

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A monthly dinner series for people building, rebuilding + figuring out what’s next. A digital collective with 120+ builders | Toronto + 🌎

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5 days till The Link Up, version 3. You can still apply for a seat at the dinner. Link in bio.

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The Link Up is back Friday October 23rd. New format. Same energy. Dinner, good people, and conversations that keep going after the plates are cleared.

Request an invite at www.kaisoshop.com. Link in bio.

Tag one person in the comments who you think would benefit from a Link Up dinner.

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Building, rebuilding or figuring out what’s next? Come to a Link Up dinner in Toronto, join our wellness community, or connect with our digital community from wherever you are. Link in bio, or DM us for dinner and membership details.

#TorontoEvents #TorontoCommunity #TorontoEntrepreneurs #TorontoCreatives #TheLinkUpToronto

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Yesterday I talked about how much I appreciate good feedback. This summer, a close friend told me to start with a smaller version of Kaiso and show what it could become. Today, that advice feels very real.

Thanks to @tokinesiology some of the programming I thought would wait until 2027 can start now. We can also explore Kaiso Women earlier than planned. The Link Up audience data says the audience is 51.7% men and 48.3% women, with 35–44 our being our biggest age group. The women showing up deserve a say too. So grateful for all of your early support.

People keep saying your friends aren’t your audience or supporters. I so disagree. Some of the people who helped me get into advertising are still mentoring me, answering my questions and making my ideas bigger.

After my first day at R/GA, I went straight to a friend with my notebook: “This is everything I was told today. What does it mean?” I was scared and didn’t want anyone to know how much I didn’t understand. He told me to get good insights, let them inform the idea, then figure out the execution.

I have strong insights around mental health. The idea is Kaiso. Now we have somewhere to start figuring out the execution. 😭🫂🫶🏾

We only started putting this out in June. Now we have somewhere to grow The Link Up and my baby Kaiso. Thank you to everyone who came to a dinner, made an introduction or believed in us. To @mrsteele1 and @heylissamonet , our first two guest speakers. To team Hong Shing and my boy @clemanfung for giving us the space and encouragement for where this began.

Today, Sadiq and I are grateful, a little overwhelmed, and excited for the people, the food, the laughs and what we get to build together next.

🫶🏾

Building, rebuilding or figuring out what’s next? Come to a Link Up dinner in Toronto or join our digital community from wherever you are. Visit www.kaisoshop.com through the link in bio, or message us directly for dinner and membership details.

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I love great feedback and Ironically, I ended up listening to everybody.

After the first few dinners, people told me to try different spaces. Make the night longer. Move it to a Friday. Find a room with couches and different areas where people could actually settle in and talk. Give people more time to actually get to know each other. Switch up the food experience and stop thinking The Link Up always has to be a dinner.

So… we did all of it.

Friday night. Private chef. More time. A completely different kind of space and this time, music is part of the experience too. Sadiq will be on the decks throughout the night, low enough for people to actually talk, then we turn it up a little when dinner’s done and let the night become whatever it becomes.

The crazy part is the new space has a private gym, pilates and performance studios, recovery rooms and space to create content, which means we can start doing a lot more than sitting around a table.

I was planning to do KAISO “cut and run” pop-ups in 2027. Might be able to hit goal sooner now that we have this spot.

We’re only a few dinners in, but this is starting to feel like an actual thing now. Not just an event I’m throwing. Something with its own identity, its own people and a lot more room to grow.

10/23 is the next dinner. Capacity per dinner is 30 persons. November, December, and 2027 dinner applications are also open. You can join the digital collective before the dinners too.

A big thank you to our new partners 🙏🏾

@officialcocoskitchen is joining us for the long run, bringing a new story and menu to every dinner, starting with a Trinidadian themed menu for October.

Thank you @tokinesiology for opening the doors and giving The Link Up a new home to grow into. We’re excited to build this together, month by month, event by event.

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Building, rebuilding or figuring out what’s next? Apply for an upcoming Link Up dinner or join The Link Up digital collective. Toronto, Canada + global. Link in bio.

♎️ ♏️ 🫶🏾 … bday turn up!

♎️♏️ bday turn up!

video - @mannyrair 👆🏾🤍

S/O @liianjeon.. 👆🏾.. 🔥

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Thirteen years in education. Then advertising, social strategy, cultural strategy, account leadership, creative work and now entrepreneurship.

I’ve worked across China, Japan, the United States, Canada and the UK. I’ve helped teams create global marketing campaigns for Beats by Dre, Nike, Converse, Timberland, Amazon Prime Video and more.

But the titles and brands are only part of the story. This is really about becoming a multi-hyphenate, surviving more than one career pivot and realizing that none of the experience was wasted.

Here’s my visual resume. Part one.

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If you enjoy topics like these and want to discuss more, there are 120+ members inside The Link Up digital collective, sharing opportunities, culture signals and helping each other build. You can also apply for a seat at our September dinner series. Link in bio.

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Drake said, “Nobody’s coming to save you,” in his FOMO post Monday night, and I understood that sentence for reasons most people can’t see.

The first time someone said those words to me was the day after a really bad day that ended up with me in a hospital bed. Back then, they felt cold. Today, I understand it differently.

It doesn’t mean nobody cares. People can love you, support you, open doors and sit beside you. Community matters. Therapy matters. Friendship matters but eventually, you still have to make the next decision that moves your life forward.

That lesson has shaped how I think about mental health, personal growth, resilience and the kind of community we’re creating through Kaiso in Toronto. You don’t have to fix your whole life today. Choose who you trust, then take the next step.

“Nobody’s coming to save you”. In the past two years I’ve said numerous times out loud that, that’s the best advice I ever got in my life. I hated the day I got it, but when I lived enough life past that day to understood what it meant, it was a game changer for my brain. I helped someone to understand it also, and that led to them quitting drugs. As I stood beside them as they embarked on that journey the three messages i constantly reminded them of was no one is coming to save you. You have to give up your old life for your new life, and my favourite advice to give, “figure it out”.

Depending on what stage / what you’re dealing with in life , I also believe it can different meanings. The line means something completely different to me, if the discussion is about organized religion or your finances. The underlying message is still the same though. You are the star, director, executive producer, and even the studio of this thing we call life. Nothing moves, unless you do!

Loved the entire post and big congrats to dem Toronto boys on FOMO..(🔥) .. another ☝🏾

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THE LINK UP - AUGUST 26TH - RECAP

To be continued..

📸 🎥: one of this worlds finest humans, an invisible but very present camera man. I can’t believe you captured such human moments and no one noticed or felt uncomfortable ( bravo 👏🏾👏🏾) . I’ve also had the honour of being best friends with him since grade 9! @tik_capture @chris3stephenson 🙌🏾..we 🔐4life 🤞🏾

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Building, rebuilding or figuring out what’s next? Join The Link Up digital community. Toronto, Canada + global. Link in bio.

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