In case you haven't had a chance to get to know me yet. My name is Brian Kwok (they/them) and I'm the owner of Guelph Market. I am part of the LGBTQ and BIPOC community.
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Whenever you buy through Guelph Market, you're not only supporting the dreams of that business owner, you're also supporting my dream. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Back in 2010, I decided I wanted to become someone who could provide opportunities for the most marginalized members of our communities to start self sufficient and thriving businesses. I did the whole "Get a degree and find a job thing" and realized I needed to learn more about different industries. With that goal in mind, I quit my job and started applying for entry level positions in a lot of different industries to learn more skills that I could pass along to others.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Flash forward to March of 2020, I was so pumped to actually start Guelph Market, I even had bookings with Silence Guelph to host physical events all planned. Then the shutdowns began.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I had to do a complete redesign of what Guelph Market would look like, creating an entirely new online business model so that I could still help small businesses, but also keep our community safe. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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With that in mind, GuelphMarket.com was officially launched in July 2020. This was honestly a blessing in disguise as an online platform allows me to do everything I wanted in one place.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I'm so proud to say that Guelph Market is not only a no upkeep/no monthly overhead platform. We now also publish a monthly guide promoting local and hold monthly fundraiser events for our community.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I would not have been able to get this point with Guelph Market without the continued support from you and other community members.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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When you shop through Guelph Market you are not only supporting one dream, but two and I honestly cannot say this enough. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Thank you so much.
Brian Kwok (they/them), Owner
