[00:00:13.220] – Speaker 2
Well, hey, I’m Chris Tompkins, and welcome to the Shaping Our World podcast. My goal is to invite you into a conversation that will leave you more confident in understanding and inspiring the young people in your life. Each episode, we talk with leading experts and offer relevant resources to dive deeper into the world of our youth. Today, we have Mercedes and Anastasia Korngut on the show. Mercedes and Anastasia are the teenage sibling duo behind Small Bits of Happiness, an online community whose mission is to help people of all ages, but especially teens, find small bits of happiness in everyday moments. Through their blog, their shop, and their Hack Your Happiness podcast, the girls aim to help teens build happy habits and boost their connection with their parents. The sisters-turned-cofounders were inspired to start Small Bits of Happiness after their own experience with the struggle to feel happy and the growing pains of teendom. As a result, they have a thriving business based right here in Canada, in Calgary, Alberta. Mercedes is a co-founder and CEO of Small Bits of Happiness. She’s the producer and co-host of the podcast and the editor of all Small Bits of Happiness media videos.
[00:01:25.070] – Speaker 2
In addition, Mercedes is a contributor to various magazines across North America, writing on the subject of happiness and parenting connections. Anastasia is co-founder and COO. She is also a passionate and talented fashion designer and is the head of Small Bits of Happiness Design Department. Her work focuses on intentional innovation creating products that elevate one’s daily mood. In addition, Anastasia heads social media and co-hosts the Hack Your Happiness podcast. I’m really excited to have Mercedes and Anastasia on the show today because not only is their entrepreneurial spirit remarkable, especially at such a young age, but we love having the opportunity to hear from teens themselves, especially when it comes to fostering a stronger parent-teen relationship. I think a lot of parents and older adults will appreciate their insights as well. Let’s jump into this inspiring conversation. Before we meet our guest, a quick word about an opportunity at Muskoka Woods. Starting as a staff member here, I found it to be more than just a job. I discovered a pathway to personal and professional growth. We are committed to intentional staff development, providing training, and building a network that can propel your career forward. Imagine working where you’re nurtured to grow, with access to amazing facilities and staff care events.
[00:02:48.840] – Speaker 2
If you’re seeking a role that prepares you for what’s next, visit jobs.muskokawoods.com for more details. Now, let’s get into the heart of our show. Welcome. It’s great to be talking to you today.
[00:03:01.420] – Speaker 1
Thank you so much for having us. Yeah, we’re so excited to be here.
[00:03:04.860] – Speaker 2
Yeah, and I’m really excited to this because you both set your minds and hearts to some pretty inspiring things, and I can’t wait to unpack it for our listeners and to hear more about who you are and what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, and to take away some really practical things, even for us as adults who are listening. But before we get into that, to build off of the intro and your bio and all that, I’m just really interested for both of you because part of our goal is to better understand the world youth live in today. So what shapes your world? What are the biggest influences? What do you do in your free time? What are you listening to, watching? Who shapes your world today?
[00:03:44.950] – Speaker 1
Yeah, I love that question. I really do believe that we are a product of our environment. And so for myself, I strive to surround myself with people who make me feel happy and who I like the version that I’m around. So I spend a lot of time with my family, with Anastasia, obviously, with my mum and my dad. And outside of that, I’m really passionate about happiness and business and psychology. And so I love listening to podcasts and reading books about self-improvement, business, the stories of other people, and so incorporating all of that into my daily life, into small bits of happiness, into our own podcast, Hack Your Happiness. I love to just learn about what other people are doing and constantly improve upon myself and all of my projects, my business, and all of that.
[00:04:41.270] – Speaker 2
That’s great. What about you, Anastasia?
[00:04:43.710] – Speaker 3
Yeah, I know Mercedes and I also love to watch movies with our family that are very inspiring and business-centred. I know that TV shows Super Pumpt were really amazing for Mercedes and I too, like Mercedes said earlier, learn more about other successful entrepreneurs’ stories and be able to, again, take inspiration from that. And I think that definitely has shaped a lot of our world, especially as our dad also has some business and has been really inspiring us since we were younger to explore and try new things. I also love listening to uplifting music and spending time around friends who elevate and inspire me and are motivating as well.
[00:05:34.870] – Speaker 2
That’s awesome. I’m sure all of that fed into what you’re doing and what we want to talk about. And we’re going to dive into small bits of happiness in more detail, but from a high level, what is Small Bits of Happiness?
[00:05:50.550] – Speaker 1
Small Bits of Happiness is Anastasia and I’s company. We started about three years ago now. Our overarching mission is to help people of all ages, especially teenagers, find more happiness daily, build happy habits, and boost parent-to-child/teen connection. And so we’ve got a number of different ways that we are pursuing our mission to help reach as many people as possible. We’ve got a product collection of activities, clothes, jewellery to help people build happy habits and look for the happiness in daily life. We’ve got a digital learning platform for schools and educators. Our products, both digital and physical, are currently in over 150 schools, which is super exciting. We’ve got our own podcast, Hack Your Happiness, where we interview people, best-selling authors, Olympic athletes, business people on what brings them happiness, to shed some light on what teens want to know. From people that they aspire to, as well as we’ve got… Anastasia and I do quite a lot of public keynote speaking at teachers conventions, happiness summits, schools, to talk directly to teens or to talk to educators or just people who want to learn more about happiness from a unique perspective or from the youth perspective.
[00:07:07.600] – Speaker 1
We’ve also got our blog, Bits on our website, and lots of free daily happiness content, like quotes and fun facts on our social media pages. So really a bunch of different avenues towards finding that happiness in daily life.
[00:07:20.920] – Speaker 2
At Muskoka Woods, the place where I work, we have a definition of leadership that says that leaders are people who look at their world and say it doesn’t have to be this way, and they do something about it. And so I think that it’s amazing that you’ve literally done that. You’ve looked around at your world and you’re like, okay, even at our young age, we can do something about it. So tell us, right as we get going, how did you decide to start small bits of happiness? What were you doing? How did you think about creating a business? Where did it start? How old were you? Give us the beginning story of small bits of Happiness.
[00:07:59.730] – Speaker 3
Yeah, Yeah, totally. So when Mercedes was 13, and I believe I was 11, we started small bits of happiness because we looked around. It was around the pandemic, and we realised that we weren’t feeling super happy as well as kids our age also weren’t feeling super happy. And we were thinking about different ways to feel happy ourselves. And with our families, we decided that we were going to look for those small good things in every day to feel happier, like watching the sunset or watching movies together or going on walks. And all these things really helped me and Mercedes feel happier, as well as connecting with our family. And we really wanted to promote this connection as well as promote these small good things every single day. So we started online on social media because we know that that’s where a lot of teens and individuals spend a lot of time. And we know that it can also be a very dark place. And we just wanted to bring a little bit of happiness, a little bit of and connect and reach those individuals and share our message. And then eventually, that led to us starting our website, smallbitsofhappiness.
[00:09:10.010] – Speaker 3
Com. And we built our tangible products because we know that sometimes we just need something hands-on. Mission Small Bits of Happiness has 100 unique activities to do every day to find more happiness, to help build that happiness habit of looking for small good things to do and having activities to spend time and connect with loved ones. Then we also built a calendar with 365 days of mood boosts, as well as we have a clothing line and jewellery all to inspire you to look for the small good things in every day.
[00:09:45.370] – Speaker 1
Really, what started Small Bits of Happiness was just Anastasia and I, like you said, Chris, looking around, realising we’re not super happy and our peers are not super happy. What can we do to feel happier? And I think sometimes there’s this misconception that we need to go on a massive trip or transform our whole lifestyle in order to feel happier. And while those things can definitely boost our mood, there’s much smaller ways to really build happiness into our lives. And that is focusing on all the good that’s already happening. And so as soon as Anastasia and I shifted our mindsets towards appreciating the sunrise or appreciating watching a comedy with our family at night, those things started to fill our lives with more happiness. We really just wanted to share that with our peers because I think we can all relate to wanting some more happiness.
[00:10:38.810] – Speaker 3
Yeah, as well as I know for me is I love having things to look forward to. Like Mercedes said before, having a big trip to look forward to is great, but then once that’s over, you feel sad. But if you have those constant small things that will be reoccurring, once you finish that comedy, there’ll be another one that you can watch with your family. Or if your mum makes your favourite dish for dinner, then chances are she’ll make that still another night. So you have things to look forward to, but you’re not incredibly sad when they’re over because you know that they’ll happen again soon. Yeah, that’s great.
[00:11:14.170] – Speaker 2
That’s so good. We’re going to talk about some of these healthy habits and different things about your products in a second. But before we dive in, I’d love to know even… Because I think the word happiness is an interesting word in our world, right? I think sometimes we talk about it as just something simple that makes us happy. Why is happiness significant? How would you define it? Why is it important for us to be aware and intentional around happiness?
[00:11:43.480] – Speaker 1
Well, I think there’s so many different types of happiness, and obviously Anastasia and I are not psychologists or anything like that. But I think from what we’ve learned, and at least from my own personal experience, I think happiness is really the small good things that happen every day, and it’s focusing on those small good things because there’s a lot of negativity at all times. There’s uncertainty, there’s challenges, be it a pandemic or political uncertainty or a war somewhere in the world. There’s always going to be bad things that we can focus our time on. But there’s also just as many good things that we can focus our time on and people doing good and good that we can do ourselves. I think to put it in short, for me, happiness is the small good things that happen every day.
[00:12:28.390] – Speaker 3
Yeah, I would have to do that. I feel like everything that Mercedes and I have learned on this journey has just been that there are so much good around us, and feeling happy is just taking the time and noticing that.
[00:12:42.070] – Speaker 2
And I think what’s great about that is I think there’s some universal things that make people happy. But then there’s also some very specific things that something might make me happy that wouldn’t make my wife happy. And so for us to just be aware and paying attention to what gives us those hits of all the positive emotions and the biochemistry stuff that happens in our brain when things are good and we recognise them, I think that’s really cool. And you both have put together this idea, which is really awesome, that it’s like the small things. Like you were saying, it’s not the big trips and the things that are monumental are going to be really significant, but it’s the small things that add up every day that contribute to feeling happy and that feeling of well-being. So can you tell us what some of those habits are or the hacks that we can build into our lives that allow us to pay attention to experience those things daily?
[00:13:46.130] – Speaker 3
Yeah. So I think some of the most significant ones, for me at least, are, firstly, being grateful. I think that there are so many amazing things that happen to us every single day. And just stopping and noticing them is is so important. And the more we focus on what we have, the more we see we have. And secondly, I think that this is a really underrated happy hack. But just smiling, there was a study done that found that adults smile only 20 times a day while children smile 200, which is such a significant increase in being able to focus on just smiling more, which can actually change our brain to think that we are happy and then makes us feel happy. It’s the hack where it’s like, if you want to feel confident, then put yourself in a confident pose and do a Superman or Superwoman pose. But it’s the exact same thing with feeling happy is just smiling will convince your brain that you are feeling happy in this moment and therefore making you feel that way. I know sometimes when we’re in a bad mood, we’re like, I don’t want to smile right now.
[00:14:54.830] – Speaker 3
I’m not feeling it. But just giving ourselves a bit of a push, a bit of motivation to do can really help us as well as boost those numbers from 20.
[00:15:04.460] – Speaker 1
Also another hack that I constantly love to use is drinking a warm beverage, be it coffee, tea, even hot water with some lemon in it. Science shows that we have the vagus nerve, which is the longest nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system. When we stimulate that nerve, we actually can feel calmer. When you drink a warm beverage, it stimulates your vagus nerve, helping you feel calmer. So Sometimes when I feel really stressed, maybe I have a big exam tomorrow or things at school or just friends at school are stressing me out, whatever it might be, I have a chamomile tea because first of all, chamomile in its end of itself has a lot of calming benefits to it. But then you add the fact that it’s a nice warm beverage, and it really is just a really nice easy hack to calming down. Same with box breathing, another really great hack used by Navy Seals in high pressure situations. They imagine a box to help them slow their breathing and get their inhales and their exhales in. And that’s a great unnoticeable hack to calming down and focusing and feeling happier.
[00:16:10.670] – Speaker 2
I love that. I’m smiling. Well, I’m an adult and I’m smiling because I’m actually drinking a warm coffee as we talk right now. So I’m calming myself and enjoying our interview even as we’re talking. So that’s fantastic. I love that. Yeah. So I think as you’re saying this, I think we all can recognise that there are a lot of things that can and do happen throughout our day that maybe we’re not aware of that can bring happiness. We’re just not really paying attention. And then conversely, sometimes we have to be intentional and choose to put ourselves in those. You chose to make the drink or you chose to do the box breathing. I know one for me is when I’m feeling a little struggling through the day to go outside, and especially if it’s sunny, I think there’s moments where I just stop and just close my eyes and let the sun get on your face. But you have to be intentional and choose those things. Can you talk a little bit about how we pay attention more and how can we choose to put ourselves in positions where the things that bring us happiness are more likely to occur or we’re more likely to pay attention to them?
[00:17:22.710] – Speaker 1
I think it’s realising how much control you have over your happiness. Of course, some of our happiness is going to be genetic and based off of our environment. But once you start to realise, yes, I can control my happiness when I think about the good things or I do those things that are proven by science to boost my happiness, smiling or drinking a warm beverage or going out doors, I can feel happier. And so knowing that will make you feel happier, knowing that a lot more happiness is in your control, which I think is important for teens and youth to realise because we feel like we have so little control at times. And so when we know that we can control our happiness and know what we can do to feel happier, which is one of our biggest points at moments of happiness, is sharing the simple things to do to feel happier daily, because a lot of the time, like you said, those go unnoticed. But as soon as we uncover them, we can be practising them on a daily basis.
[00:18:18.930] – Speaker 3
Yeah, it’s very empowering to know. I feel like oftentimes, teams feel like a loss of control in our lives because there’s so much going on all at the same time. But noticing that we actually have so much control over something that we feel like we may not have control over is, like I said, very empowering and can help. It really helped us as well as we know lots of other teams and individuals feel happier.
[00:18:45.410] – Speaker 2
I’m just curious. As you’ve gone on this journey, what’s one thing that each of you have discovered that brings you happiness that maybe has surprised you or you didn’t think of it before that you’re like, oh, that’s interesting because until I paid attention, I never really discovered it.
[00:19:03.560] – Speaker 1
I think for me, it would be exercise. I try to exercise four to five times a week, like going on the bike or going for a walk or doing some workout video with my mum, I never realised how much I enjoy exercise. Obviously, there’s so many obvious benefits to that, but I never realised how being intentional in that and connecting with my mum or my sister while exercising can help me feel happier. And so I think that’s one of the things that I’ve started to incorporate into my daily routine, as well as how much calmer I can feel when I get some movement in.
[00:19:40.150] – Speaker 3
Yeah, I think for me, I’ve always loved music. I know that it’s commonly known that music can help you feel happier and can make your feelings feel heard. But I think that what I realised is that when you surround yourself with uplifting music, it can really help yourself feel happier. And I know that, of course, sometimes you want to listen to some sad music when we’re feeling a bit sad, and that’s totally okay. But if we’re constantly surrounding ourselves with sad music, we’re more likely to feel that way as well, because that’s what we were talking about earlier, it shapes our world and we start to feel that way. While if we surround ourselves more with that uplifting and happy music, we can feel a lot happier as well. Also, I love sleeping in. It’s one of my favourite things to The other day, I woke up at noon because I was just really tired after the week. But I find that sleeping in is so important and it really helps your brain function better as well and you’re able to perform better and think better. And also, I know sometimes when we’re tired, we may say things we don’t mean.
[00:20:48.270] – Speaker 3
So it also helps us have better and stronger connections with other people.
[00:20:53.390] – Speaker 2
Yeah, those are all great ones. And they’re ones that I think I can resonate with, too. I’ve discovered just how much exercise does for my feelings, and especially outside. I used to exercise inside, and now I try to get outside because it gets both of those things. And music, who can not help but think back to those moments in the kitchen or with friends where you just crank up that song that you can’t help busting out into a dance party with, right? Exactly. It does something to you, so that’s awesome. I’d love to dive a little bit into some of the things that you’ve developed. And on your website, you sell a bunch of products that help kids feel happier. And I’m really intrigued by the game Mission Small Bits of Happiness. So in this, I understand there’s cards that contain interactive activities for teens to do with their family and friends. Can you tell us a little bit about that game and then also build on after you released it? I understand you then had a request for a kid’s version. And is there a difference between the design for kids and teens?
[00:21:57.060] – Speaker 1
Yeah. So basically, like Emcee just said, we started off on social media posting quotes and fun facts and funny videos. But very quickly we realised online content is great, but really it’s important to have something physical and tangible that you can do together, do around the dinner table, do it in the mornings before you leave for school and for work. And so that led us to developing our first product, Mission’s Melvents of Happiness, that has 100 unique fun things to do to feel happier daily, build happy habits, connect parents, kids, teenagers, all of that fun stuff. And it’s got conversation starters, reflection prompts. It’s got QR codes that will take you to different games or blog posts on our website explaining why X will make you feel happier, why sleeping will make you feel happier, why listening to this certain music will boost your mood, etc. And so that is our original game that is super popular, and we sell at a bunch of different stores across Canada and the US. And then as we were selling it, we do some pop events throughout our city. People would come up to us with younger kids, like six or seven or eight-year-olds, and say, We really want to play this game, but some of the activities are a little too complicated for our six-year-old or our seven-year-old child.
[00:23:17.610] – Speaker 1
And so from that, we created our Mission Small Bits of Happiness Kids Edition for ages 6 to 12, whereas the regular, the first Mission Small Bits of Happiness is for 12 to adult. Really, it can go for any in between there. But the 6 to 12 Kids Edition is a little simpler. It’s got adorable characters, unicorns and sheep and dinosaurs on there. And it’s to help younger kids build the habit of looking for happiness in daily life with just a little bit simpler of activities. And so that’s just the main difference. But realistically, the whole purpose of the Mission’s Moments of Happiness game collection, activity box collection, is to build the habit of doing something daily that brings you happiness. And that’s why it’s like a mission. And inside the box itself, there’s like a to-do and a Mission Accomplished tab. And as you do each card, you’ll place it behind the Mission Accomplished tab so that you can work through this box, learn specifically what brings you happiness. Because like you said, Chris, some things will make the bulk population feel happier. Like going outdoors is proven to help us as humans feel happier, but some activities will resonate more with us than with others.
[00:24:27.380] – Speaker 1
And so that really between those 100 cards and those 100 activities, we can really explore ourselves and our family and learn more about all of us and as such, build the habit of happiness because to build a habit in general, it takes about 66 days. And so we’ve got plenty of room in that 100 cards to build that habit up.
[00:24:47.300] – Speaker 2
That’s amazing. Why do you think it’s important for kids to start building it, these practises early on in life?
[00:24:54.330] – Speaker 3
Yeah, I think that building these habits so early on in life is really important because it can really build such a great foundation for the rest of your life. A really great example that I have for me is I love looking forward to things. Like I mentioned a bit earlier, I started looking forward for small good things when I was really younger, and it really helps empower kids at such a young age to then carry with them into teenagehood and adolescence and then adulthood. And I think it just sets them on a very good tone very early on. It also helps them identify things that make them happy. And it also helps create that good connexion from a young age. And having that connexion with your family, with your friends, can really also help them feel happier. And we spoke with Sonja Lubromyerski, and she said that teens are one of the most unhappy groups. And just helping kids younger identify that and feel happier can help them through that period time.
[00:26:00.920] – Speaker 2
And connecting to helping kids through this period of time, I want to talk a little bit about what you do around helping the connexion between parents and kids. And I think that’s so significant. Can you tell us a little bit from your perspective why it’s really important to build the connexion between parents and kids? Why is it important? And how has having that connexion even benefited both of you growing up?
[00:26:27.840] – Speaker 1
So I would say one of the biggest things is connexion in general, be it to parents, be it to friends, be it to maybe your aunt, your uncle, whoever. Human connexion is one of the keys to feeling happier. Again, in that interview on our podcast is Sonja Lubermier-Ski, who’s a professor and a psychologist, she talked about one of the top ways to feel happier is connexion. We’ve really incorporated that into our business because it’s such an attainable thing that so many teens, I think, they want to be independent, they to make up their own minds. I mean, I get it. Obviously, we’re both two teens, we get that. But connecting with others, sharing our stressors, talking about what we’re excited about, exchanging what we’re thankful for in life, all of that early is so essential to feeling happy, feeling less lonely feeling like we’re going through it together with someone else. In my life, at least, I know that Anastasia and I’s connexion has grown so much with our mum because she helps us out a lot with the graphic design components, especially. She’s also a photographer, so A lot of the pictures on our website are taken by our mum.
[00:27:32.300] – Speaker 1
We’ve really built a large part of small to happiness with her, and we’re so lucky and thankful for that. I think that we’ve all learned a lot about connexion and the value that that brings to our lives in the relationship that we’ve built with our mum and our dad and how we’re all very passionate about business. And so finding a common ground, things you’re all interested in and realising that nobody has to walk through life alone, I think, is something that is super, super comforting and brings a lot of relief and happiness.
[00:28:03.970] – Speaker 2
And I love even the game that you’re doing, that’s built for you to do with other people, right? With your family and your friends. It’s not something you just pull out your own card and read it and do it. The interaction and the connexion, because those moments of happiness we experience are coded and ingrained in us when they’re often… You can do a lot of them independently, but when they’re done with and around other people, that just continues to reinforce our emotions and continues to build those significant relationships. As we move forward with today’s episode, I want to highlight an experience that reshapes the way students and teachers see each other. Mascoka Wood’s overnight trips offer more than just outdoor fun. They’re a catalyst for personal growth and classroom unity. Teachers become mentors, students become leaders, and together, they discover potential they never knew they had. With comprehensive safety measures and engaging curriculum connexions, it’s an overnight trip that makes a difference. Explore more at schools.muskokawoods.com. I know you’ve talked a little bit about the connexion with parents and even how it screen use. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
[00:29:33.130] – Speaker 3
Yeah, totally. So I think that when you’re connecting with other people, but you’re going on your phone, it can break that connexion because you’re not really giving your 100 % to the other person. If they’re speaking to you, it might seem like they’re disinterested, and that can definitely be very difficult. So when you’re spending time with family members or or if you’re hanging out with friends or something, just making sure that you’re maybe putting your phones away and you’re actually making sure that you’re connecting with one another and not maybe sitting next to each other and just being on the phones. Because I think that our phones have such amazing things on them. Social media is such a great way to connect to people who aren’t here with us right now. But if you are here with a friend, if you are here with a family member, just put the phone down away for a second and spend and give them all your energy because that can really help reinforce that connexion and make that bond with that other person closer.
[00:30:39.970] – Speaker 2
And I know screen time is such a big topic for parents as they’re navigating the realities their kids are facing every single day and how do we connect and put your phone away. And so I think even some of the tools and resources you provide can give parents additional support and things to think about and do to increase connected and relational connectivity and continue to promote that. It’s not internet bad and relationships good. It’s how we balance those and use them for our own benefit. As you’ve developed all of this, I think it’s amazing to think about it, how you’ve put all this together and parents and youth workers, and teachers, and other people can go to your website and check out all the stuff that you’re doing. What surprised you or and/or encouraged you about the feedback you’re getting from kids, parents, educators, the guests you’re getting on the podcast? What’s really encouraged you and/or surprised you about the work that you’re doing?
[00:31:44.620] – Speaker 1
We’ve been so fortunate because we’ve gotten so much positive feedback from people across different avenues. Some of the most common feedback that we get, especially at schools, when we give presentations for teachers conferences or at events when parents and moms will come up to speak with us directly, one-on-one, is that they say, Thank you for sharing the teen, the youth perspective, because I think it’s hard to understand exactly what’s going on in the mind of a teen at times. That’s what we strive to shed some light on, what we really want out of relationships with our family, what we really worry about or think about, and what makes us happier. We also want to inspire others, obviously, to look for that happiness because it really is attainable. But some of the feedback that we get from that really is super meaningful is they come up to us at pop-up events we do, and they’re literally in tears, crying because of the opportunity that our product, and Small Bits of Happiness, gives them to connect with their children in a way that they haven’t really seen before. And that just keeps us going because it really is such a mission-oriented cause that we’re working towards to really help people find just a little more happiness in every day and seeing the moms and parents recognising, this is a problem for my teen, but this is a tangible solution that we can work towards together.
[00:33:05.630] – Speaker 1
So thank you. And then people coming back and saying, we’re sending us messages or emails saying, thank you. I did this activity with my daughter or my son, and it’s really helped us. We do it every day. They pick a card or we love listening to your podcast together. It’s so meaningful just realising that there are real people out there benefiting from something Anastasia and I are so passionate about.
[00:33:27.600] – Speaker 2
So encouraging. You’ve had some pretty prominent guests on your video podcast, like Astronaut, Ellen, Achoa, Olympic Beach Volleyball Players, Tara Cloth and Kristin Nuss, authors like Angela Duckworth, psychologists, the list goes on and on, which is, first of all, congratulations on that. That’s amazing. Can each of you give us maybe an example of something that one of these guests said that really stuck with you?
[00:33:53.390] – Speaker 3
Yeah, totally. I mean, to start off, all of our guests are so amazing. I mean, we’ve learned so much just listening to them. But I would have to say one thing that has really stuck with me from our interview with Julia Landauer. She’s amazing. She used to be a NASCAR racer, and now she’s a keynote speaker. And she shared this mindset shift that has really stuck with me and Mercedes a lot is never tell yourself no, because you never know what will happen. And I feel like there’s so many times where we feel like, Oh, I want to try this, but Maybe it’s not for the best or maybe I should focus my energy on something else. But just remembering, don’t tell yourself no, because there’ll be lots of places where other people may tell you no, or maybe something just doesn’t work out, but that doesn’t mean that that should stop you. You shouldn’t be your barrier. You should do something if you really, really want to try. And don’t tell yourself no. I love that. That has stuck with my whole family so much. How about you, Mercedes?
[00:34:58.550] – Speaker 1
One of our latest guests was Malcolm Gladwell. And from him, we learned so much. But one of the greatest takeaways I have from that conversation was how little we know and how we just have to be curious about everything, even in a field that you’re an expert in. By no means around Anastasia and I are considering ourselves experts here. But even if you have a lot of experience in something, always strive to learn more, because as soon as you think that you understand something to its maximum, you are essentially quitting and you’re stagnating. And the goal should always be to consistently learn from others, learn from every conversation, learn from every interaction you have with someone, and seek out ways to learn, be it through listening to podcast or audiobooks, reading books, watching videos, watching movies, really just questioning everything, always just having an open mind to learning. Be curious.
[00:35:55.020] – Speaker 2
Our producer, Roz, and I always talk when we’re done the podcast because we feel like we learn so much in the interviews ourselves, and we’re scratching down notes. So I think that’s really awesome that you get that opportunity. And even at a young age, to be face to face on screen with some really inspiring people. I think that’s really encouraging. And for our listeners, the podcast is called Hack Your Happiness, right? Yes. Our listeners can go and pick up some really encouraging conversations on your podcast as well.
[00:36:28.330] – Speaker 1
Oh, thank you.
[00:36:29.730] – Speaker 2
Now, We’ve been going through so many things, and as you’ve listed all the things that you’re doing, I’m just even curious for both of you, what’s next for you? How has this shaped your future, your careers, the next projects you’re working on? What are you dreaming about for each of you as you move forward in life?
[00:36:50.280] – Speaker 3
I know that me and Mercedes both just want to continue working on small bits of happiness. We love it so much. It has grown so much, and we love working on it. As for future, I’m only in grade nine, I’m only 15. So I mean, I’m not really thinking too much about university yet. I’m just really focusing on doing good in school as well as just focusing on learning from small bits of happiness as well as putting so much energy and watching it grow and do amazing.
[00:37:21.870] – Speaker 1
And for me, I’m finishing up my grade 11 year, so I’m starting to think a little bit more about what I want to do post high school. But I think most teens can probably relate. It’s hard to know exactly what the future holds, and I’m just trying to figure out what the best path would be for me for post-secondary. But I know for a fact, I want to keep building small bits of happiness. I want to keep helping people out there and just growing it more products, bettering our podcast, the quality of every episode we strive to improve on, learning from more and more guests, and just more exciting things that we have coming Coming down the road for some moments of happiness that we can’t quite talk about yet, but they’re definitely coming, and we’re very excited.
[00:38:07.040] – Speaker 2
Oh, very intriguing. We’ll have to keep an eye out for that. One of the things at any stage of life that people struggle with is how to balance all the things that we’re taking on, work and our extracurricular things, and just keeping up with everything that’s there. How have you both managed managed school and friendships and all the things that bring you happiness and building a really successful business at the same time? How do you do it?
[00:38:40.160] – Speaker 1
It’s definitely a constant shifting. Right now, we’re on spring break, so we’re trying to load up on all the recordings and the podcasts because we have a lot more flexibility throughout the day, and that’s so nice. But really, I think it’s about prioritising. And so for me, I love to wake up really early. I’ll wake up 5: 00 AM every day and do my work before school. And then I’m lucky enough to have a spare in school right now, so I’ll try to get all my schoolwork done then or finish up extra small bits of happiness stuff at that point. But really, I think it’s about focusing on what needs to be done at that moment. And we learned that in one of our podcasts. And it’s just the fact that if you have, say, a big exam tomorrow, you should study for that, or if you have a big work deadline, study for that or prepare for that. But then if you have some more flexibility working in, how can I make a little bit of progress in each area? How can I work a little bit on the next product that we’re developing?
[00:39:44.360] – Speaker 1
Or what can I prep for the questions for our next podcast interview today? And then tomorrow, we’ll finish the questions. Then the day after that, I’ll edit the podcast, just working towards things a little bit at a time rather than going all in on everything because I don’t think that that’s sustainable.
[00:40:03.430] – Speaker 3
Exactly. As well as taking breaks sometimes. If you finish your work, you’re not like, Oh, I’m going to start on tomorrow’s work, being like, Okay, well, I can help my mum with dinner or I’m going to go on a walk. I know what Mercedes and I love to do to break up the day on a school day is after we go to school, we come home and we do an hour of a workout, which is just such a nice way to refresh your brain and calm down and get a good new mindset, and then we’re able to focus on doing some work.
[00:40:39.250] – Speaker 1
Exactly. So I think it’s just really about focusing what’s in front of you and not getting overwhelmed by the daunting amount of tasks. How can I work on what I need to work on at least a little bit every day? And then in terms of time with family and friends, I think it’s being really intentional in the moments that you do have. For instance, when I’m at school, I’ll be really present my conversations, and I’ll be really present with my friends at lunch or during my spare. Then with my family, I love to… At dinner time, we obviously try no screens, no phones, no devices, just being really intentional in that time. Scheduling, I know for us, and I think a lot of adults can relate to this, we schedule time to hang out. For instance, this Friday, we’re going to go and do a coloury mind painting thing. We are so excited for that. We’re very excited for that. And we plan for that ahead. We’re not going to have meetings then, and we’re not going to do any work then because that’s going to be our time to spend together. And we’ve planned up ahead for that.
[00:41:36.770] – Speaker 1
And it’s also good to have something to look forward to.
[00:41:38.550] – Speaker 3
Exactly.
[00:41:40.540] – Speaker 2
Well, I have so enjoyed this conversation for a couple of reasons. Number one, I think so often, adults can get sucked into the latest research about Gen Z and young people. And so much of it is alarmist. And sometimes in your generation. Number one today has been such an encouraging conversation because as representatives of your generation, I’m pretty sure the future is in really good hands because you’re both really inspiring young women. I think you represent the best of your peer group. That’s always encouraging. We often talk to adults about kids and young people, and now we get to talk to young people about your world and how you see it it and how you’re living in it. And that’s just super encouraging. So I do want to ask you just because we get a lot of parents that listen who love their kids, are working through what it means to parent young people today, children and youth, and I think are really mindful of that. And so we don’t often get to hear from young people. So would love from your point of view, what can we do as parents or older youth, like teachers or youth workers, or when we have young people or kids that we really care about, how can we deepen our connexions, relationships with young people in appropriate ways?
[00:43:10.820] – Speaker 2
Not over functioning, but not being disengaged. Can you help us Give us good tips or insights into that.
[00:43:18.660] – Speaker 3
Yes, totally. So focusing on creating those activities, like we talked about a bit earlier, that you can do that you know you have a shared interest with and then reinforcing that connexion and focusing on having those conversations that are deep and insightful and also just being open to listening to what the other person with the youth has to say and just having an open mind when speaking to them and spending that intentional time in doing those activities. And again, trying what the youth, what the teen likes to do. I know sometimes we’re like, Oh, but that’s not really what I want to do. But putting yourself out there and saying, I’m willing to listen, I’m willing to learn and engage with them in the means that they like to do.
[00:44:14.350] – Speaker 2
It’s really good. And those people that are listening will know that I’m a Taylor Swift fan simply because I made that choice to listen to music with my daughter. And the rest is history, right? You got to enter into the world. And so at first I was like, What am I listening to? But over time, it gets at you. So I think that’s a great encouragement, and I love hearing that. As we wrap up the conversation, I’m wondering if you have some words of advice or other resources for parents or kids who really want to make an effort to recognise those small bits of happiness in their day? I mean, obviously everyone should go to your website, Small Bits of Happiness. They should get the, I’m still waiting on mine to arrive, the Mission Small Bits of Happiness game. But is there any other tips or tools or resources you can encourage parents or kids who want to bring in those small bits of happiness into their day?
[00:45:10.490] – Speaker 1
Absolutely. I would just say, do things together, do activities together. Even simple things like going for a walk together, cooking a meal together. Yeah, I think that’s one of the top keys to connexion is you don’t need to go out of your way in order to spend that intentional time together. And the very, very important value of not being on your devices. Totally. And not having Airpods. I think Airpods are… I love my Airpods, but there’s a time and place for that. And that’s not when you’re trying to connect because it ruins conversations. And even if you don’t have anything playing in them or it’s really on a low volume, I think it makes people seem like, Oh, I don’t want to interrupt them or something. So really not putting your Airpods in and telling your teen, Let’s just leave them at home or let’s leave them in our rooms, or something like that, because we really want to connect one-on-one. And It becomes fun and doing things that each other loves. And I know Anastasia mentioned that previously, but maybe playing your teen’s favourite sport or playing their favourite video game or cooking a favourite meal together.
[00:46:10.970] – Speaker 3
Yeah, or if you’re driving in the car together, playing a song you know they like or like an artist.
[00:46:15.530] – Speaker 1
That’s great.
[00:46:17.130] – Speaker 2
That’s super encouraging. I know for me, one of the things that has helped me, you mentioned gratitude earlier, and I keep a little bit of a gratitude journal so that I actually am paying attention and then write it down so I can come back and remember that and try to do that as much as I can throughout the course of my day, because I think sometimes writing that down makes you aware and makes you recognise the things that you can be grateful for. Because as you mentioned way at the beginning of this interview, every day, there’s lots of things that all of us encounter and get to experience that we can be grateful for because they add to our lives. They help us feel great about ourselves and the world us. I’m just really inspired by our conversation today. Mercedes, Anastasia, thank you for that. Really encouraged by what you’re doing, and I’m really excited to see what you get up to with small bits of happiness and the other stuff you’re going to set your mind to as your path unfolds. So thanks for this conversation today and really appreciate all you’re doing.
[00:47:23.680] – Speaker 1
Thank you. Yeah, this was amazing. Yeah, we really appreciate you having us on. So thank you so much. This is awesome.
[00:47:30.250] – Speaker 2
What a fantastic and inspiring conversation today. I think you’ll agree with me if these young ladies represent the next generation, then I think our future is in really good hands. If you want to keep the conversation going, or maybe you’re interested in another guest or topic we’ve had on the podcast, head over to maskokawoods.com, where you’ll find a blog post for every episode, full of highlights, key takeaways, and a link to listen again. While you’re there, explore more about how Muskoka Woods is creating life-changing experiences for young people. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and we’ll catch you next time.
