The Eclectic Connoisseur is a total of almost everything that reflects my passions and pursuits throughout my life. My name is Drew Farion, the founder of the Eclectic Connoisseur, and this is my story. To put this into perspective, I need to pull back the curtains and share with you my road less traveled: To say that the most significant cultural shock I ever suffered in my life was my return to Canada would be an understatement. For the most part, the people who I thought to be my friends because my global experiences only reminded them of all the things THEY had not done with the best years of their life. One comment made to me was that all I brought back to Canada after ten years of my walkabout were the clothes on my back. My walkabout helped remotivate me to not adapt to a status quo life but rather reject these principles. This motivation put me back on a path of walking down the road of life, moving and grooving to the sound of my own ‘Funk Beat’. Finding people with a similar mindset is much more interesting anyway. So, for almost my entire life, I have been a serial entrepreneur. For those of you who do not know me, I am: The Connoisseur Club An international Import / Export business (where I created the motto ‘Add more Life to your Lifestyle’) Pac Fast Freight Systems The first company in Canada to configure how to package personal goods and ship with traditional Freight carriers The Capitalists A corporate communications and stock promotion company Sherwood Capital A closed Investment Fund Kaleidoscope Capital Partners Ltd Capital advisor/ Intermediary to projects looking for Infrastructure Funding Enter the intervention of COVID-19 and how that set me on yet another new path in my life. Therefore, like many other people and small businesses, COVID-19 put Kaleidoscope Capital Partners Ltd on its knees. Personally, if not for the help of the Canadian Government, my family would have been in trouble. During the first stage of the global pandemic, I noticed that life was about to change. What we had taken for granted was soon to become the new normal. I predicted the coming paradigm shift in people’s behavior, and I started to explore a new world of affiliate and digital marketing. I never knew that you could virtually represent almost any company in any jurisdiction and that they would allow you to market for them. All while the companies handled their shipping and customer service, allowing you to make a healthy commission while essentially taking on ZERO risks. This looked like an interesting business model to me, especially as it is what I have been doing for most of my professional career: promoting someone else’s services. So, I applied for Federal Funding through CEPA and the Western Diversification Fund, and the next thing you know, I had $80K of working capital. My next step was to apply Federally & Provincially for subsidy programs and hired two astounding students on a Co-op basis. Under these programs, I have been able to procure 100% funding for them. As a side note, without their help I would not be writing this blog and certainly would not be nearly as close as I am now to officially launching the Eclectic Connoisseur website. Perhaps that’s an idea for the next blog… we’ll see! Definition of Eclectic: deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources. Eclecticism: a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, and or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject or applies different theories in particular cases. Definition of Connoisseur: Noun; An expert judge in matters of taste (For example, Food, Wine, Music, Art) Meaning: ‘To be acquainted with’ or to know someone/something is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts, cuisine and/or is an expert judge in the matters of taste. By Drew Farion Eclectic Connoisseur. Now there is a mouthful. I often struggle to use $100 words, but rarely do I ever see them back to back. When I first told someone the name of my new company he asked me “Can you even spell those words?” Fair question and the truthful answer is spelling ‘connoisseur’ properly caught me out the first few times… but hey, at least I know spell check is working! So why did I choose this name for my company and, for that matter, what does it even mean? The straight-up answer to this question is that I choose this name because I wanted to brand a Life Style. The words Eclectic and Connoisseur are almost counterpoints of one another. Someone Eclectic ‘does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm’ while a Connoisseur is someone who does. This is the foundational story that gave rise to choosing to brand our company the Eclectic Connoisseur: To me, the equal sign of combining these two $100 words is an Eclectic person who encapsulates wanting to add more life to their lifestyle and has an aspect of a being a Connoisseur that would, in our case, be someone who claims authority, efficacy, and advocacy to promote the gourmet life! So, who is an Eclectic Connoisseur? Find out in my next post. “The Branding of the Eclectic Connoisseur”? By Drew Farion, Founder In early March 2020, I held a logo contest through Logo Arena to find representation that best suited the overall concept of the Eclectic Connoisseur. You may recall in one of my last blog posts, “The Eclectic Connoisseur? What Does That Even Mean?” that the conclusion was: Eclectic Connoisseur encompasses the mindset, the foundation, and the parameters that I gave the logo designers when I hired them to perform this most important branding exercise. The response I received over the period the contest was open was phenomenal; we must have had well over 200 designs submitted. Moreover, the logo designers were also a dream to work with, even though I requested multiple revisions. Invariably, what came as a final decision to go with the top hat was the simplicity, elegance, and sophistication of the design. To me, the top hat symbolizes ANYONE possessing a penchant for wanting to add more gourmet life to their lifestyle. It ultimately conveys the message ‘If the Hat fits YOU… Wear it!’ So, my question to you is “Are you an Eclectic Connoisseur?” and the answer is…. Of course, you are! If you don’t believe me, watch this video ‘Let’s Get the Party Started,’ and you can ask yourself the question again at the end of it. In closing, I would like to give a special shout out to Softoeca for his unbelievable… and I MEAN unbelievable stalwart dedication, patience, and perseverance that he demonstrated throughout the entire logo contest process. He made over 100 revisions, and even after he won the contest, he probably made another 20 changes for me. Softoeca, if you are reading this, from the bottom of my heart: THANK YOU. During this COVID period of isolation, I have spent a lot of my time in the evenings being an avid Netflix consumer. What I have found interesting is a massive resurgence of Top Hats showing up in various movies and series. Seriously, these are just some of the titles where you can see what I’m talking about: Mr. Sunshine, The Noble Intentions, The Alienist, The Cadaver, The Grand Hotel, La Revolution, Murdoch Mysteries, The Peaky Blinders, Sherlock Holmes, and Mansfield Park. By Drew Farion I said in my article ‘The Birth of the Eclectic Connoisseur’ that this venture is the sum total of almost everything that has reflected my passions and pursuits throughout my life. I gave you a dissertation, peeled back the onion, exposed virtually my entire life story to share with you all where I came from… to take me to where I am today. What I did not share, were the multiple life lessons I’ve learned through life that helped me form the pillars of this business. Please, without further edification, please allow me to elucidate & elaborate on these 10 principles: Many of my most memorable moments started in the kitchen and finished at the dining room table To provide a platform to launch social media marketing careers for parents looking to provide a new revenue stream for their families That you cannot put a price on sharing the finer things in life with the ones you love the most. Like Mastercard says: These moments are simply PRICELESS I believe that the ‘greatest gift is the gift of giving’. An example of this is posting my music playlists on YouTube for you all to listen for free To create a ‘Culinary Crusade’ that gives voice to individuals that want to re-invent themselves in the COVID-19 era We want to be your gastronomic guides to help you create many new dining experiences with those you care about most To adjust with the new normal of COVID-19 by bringing food and groceries to your doorstep To focus on the finer things in life because we have all had to sacrifice so much already. When you can find time for a moment with your loved ones during these turbulent times… make the most of it To provide you all with an online directory where we have done all the hard work for you, and all you have to do is let your fingers do the walking Lastly, in the immortal words of James A. Mitchner: “Do not put off tomorrow what you can do today, because if you enjoy it today… You can always do it again tomorrow.” Sadly, as Bob Dylan so famously put it, ‘The times they are a-changing’. We advocate being the ‘rolling stone that collects no moss’ and invites you to join our culinary crusade as we hold hands to try and rise above the miasma of this global despair. Let us collectively try to find some peace in this world of chaos and create our own new normal while maintaining focus on what is truly important in life: our friends and family.
A COVID-19 Culinary Crusade
Success Story in the Making
Companies I have Created Since my 30’s
Present Day
Eclectic Connoisseur: What Does It Mean?
Eclectic or connoisseur?
The Branding of the
Eclectic Connoisseur
My question to you is “Are you an Eclectic Connoisseur?”
Let’s face it, the Top Hat is back in vogue.
The Founding Principles of
the Eclectic Connoisseur
Eclectic Connoisseur
Add more gourmet life to your lifestyle!
