We started our little company in the early 90s and used computers as the core of our infrastructure. This was a quite unusual at the time; but, it paid off over the years.
Slowly we added people. First there was an Art Director who had recently arrived from India. She had worked for a multinational agency there and we liked the quality of her portfolio.
Slowly but surely, we added people to our gang. A Spanish IT guy, a gay Media Director and so on. Because Toronto became a magnet for immigrants, we were lucky to have hired a lot of well qualified people even though they didn’t have a lot of Canadian experience.
As a result, we had plenty of diversity, not intentionally, but it happened. And diversity was one of the best ideas that we never had.
Different backgrounds brought a richer environment. We had Filipinos, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Indian, Pakistani, Mauritian, Romanian. Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Koreans, Chinese, Burmese, Icelandic, Caribbean, Emirati, American, even Italians. For a company of 20 people, there was a majority of immigrants.
Our personnel policy was written to include an extra personal day for a legitimate holiday. People took Ramadan, Chinese New Year, Ukrainian Christmas and others as their special days. Which prompted discussion and explanation and additional cultural learning for everyone.
Did we do it on purpose? We never gave it a thought. We just looked for the right people for the job and found them.
Once I got an emailed resume from a Filipino Art Director in Singapore who told me he was moving to Canada. I replied that he should contact me when he arrived. He did and it was just after another Art Director resigned. He joined us the next week and was a stalwart in art and production for many years.
Our year end holiday pot luck parties were the best because everyone brought food that was indicative of their cultural background. It was a treat and a real celebration. It was also a learning experience for everyone – we learned about life in other countries and gained an appreciation for what other people could bring – new and different ideas.
It makes me wonder about all the anti-immigration rhetoric and anti-DEI talk. Why are people afraid of others who can make their society a better one? Our interaction helped all of us learn about each other and other customs became demystified. It was a huge advantage for a small company.
We celebrated it, enjoyed it and even used it as an advantage in new business presentations because we actually reflected the multi-cultural profile of the city we all lived in.
Here’s a snapshot in time of our crew. Bill, in the lower centre, was the whitest, small town Ontario guy we ever encountered.