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Eradicating Harassment in Creator Communities with Communyco's Bar Kirshon

Eradicating Harassment in Creator Communities with Communyco's Bar Kirshon

Episode 42

Spotify | Apple | Google | Stitcher

Bar Kirshon is the Co-Founder and CEO of Communyco. Communyco is a new platform that helps content creators who teach their craft to connect with their online communities in a group-based environment, allowing both sides to engage in productive and creative discussions.

In Episode 42 of Create Community, Bar shares her journey of growing up with creative roots, moving from Israel to Canada, and starting and growing Communyco.

Bar and Marsha chat about how to keep communities harassment free, how to find work-life balance, and how to find your community in a new city.

β€œCommunity means that I'm safe and understood.”

β€” Bar Kirshon

Listen To The Episode:

Spotify | Apple | Google | Stitcher

Connect with Bar:

Instagram | LinkedIn

Learn more about Communyco:

Want to check out Communyco’s beta? Sign up on communyco.com using code "communyco-family" + check out their upcoming event - The Creator Series.

A huge thank you to Origins Media Haus for producing this podcast. You can find them at: 

Website | Linkedin | Instagram | Twitter

Connect with Marsha:

LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Website

Episode Transcript:

Marsha Druker 1:11

Hey Bar! Welcome to Create Community. 

Bar Kirshon  1:13  

Hi!

Marsha Druker  1:15  

I'm so excited for this chat. I'm so happy that Tahsin introduced us. How's your day going so far?

Bar Kirshon  1:22  

You know, working our asses off. But yeah, it's good. It's good. It's really exciting time for everyone. We've been getting a lot of support. And yeah, so like Tahsin introducing us was really, really cool. 

Marsha Druker  1:35  

Awesome. So to dive into it, I'd love to kind of get an understanding of how my guests actually became community builders in the first place, and what some formative experiences were for you growing up. So I know that growing up both of your parents are creatives and this is definitely something that has shaped and influenced you. Can you share a little bit more about what they did and what your childhood looked like growing up? 

Bar Kirshon   1:58  

Yeah, absolutely, so with my parents, it's kind of a funny story, actually. Because when I grew up, my dad used to be a chef. He had a couple of restaurants. And my memories are a lot about that. So me, running around the kitchen and you know, eating stuff that I'm not supposed to eat. And my mom used to work in an art gallery. So my parents are actually divorced, they're best friends until today. But they're not together since I was four. But our lives as creators were very much like that. So my mom was in the gallery, which I have a lot of great memories from. And then when I was about, I think six or eight, something like that, my dad actually lost his memory, a little bit younger than that I was five. And he sort of, you know, searched for himself as a new person, like literally a new person. And he found his way through art, he became an artist, he was painting a lot and working with dead trees. So it was really interesting for me to see that because it's it's a whole new person that is finding his way through something he's never done before. But he doesn't even know it, right. Around the same time I was I think I was 10, my mom decided to leave the art world. And she became a pastry chef. So they basically switched, my dad went from the kitchen to art and my mom went from art to the kitchen. But it's actually my entire family. My grandmother is is an amazing cook. That's how my dad learned how to cook himself. And like we all have, you know, roots in art, and in different ways. So a lot of art history and stuff. And then from there, I ended up going to an arts high school. So it was a private high school in Tel Aviv in Israel, that you need to get accepted or whatever. And it's all about art. So we had, you know, visual arts and we had cinema and dance and music and my entire life was about that.

Marsha Druker  4:07  

So what were you like when you were in high school, like outside of-

Bar Kirshon  4:11  

You don't want to know!

Marsha Druker  4:12  

I want to know for sure!

Bar Kirshon  4:14  

I was a wild one. I was a very, very wild child, my name actually Bar, in Hebrew, it means wild. So I always told my mom that she brought it on herself, naming me wild. I was very free-spirits. And, you know, artists, that's that's totally the way we live through some, you know, bad stuff, but also a lot of community building. So it's something that is very natural for you to look for when you're in the arts because people want to create together a lot and, you know, like to support each other. And also mentally, it's not easy to be around artists. So it's something that shaped the way I see the world.

Marsha Druker  5:01  

Okay, I have to ask. So when you say that you were wild, is there a story that stands out or something really wild that you did that you'd want to share?

Bar Kirshon  5:09  

So in high school, they took us every year to an arts camp. So each major has their own things. So it's like, you know, theater, go to a theater camp, and art goes to art camp. So it's four days of just arts, which is amazing. It's something that you can't even imagine, they used to take us to this really, really small, I don't even know I don't, I don't think it's even a town. It's just a small community. And we live there for four days with around the clock workshops. So you had nude painting, you had history of art you had, you know, landscape and sculpture, everything you wanted, with no stop. So you sort of, you know, make your own schedule, decide what workshops you want to do with your friends or alone. It's very, it was very spiritual. After that some alcohol, you know, because you're in high school, and why not? But yeah, it's something that I remember until today as one of the most amazing experiences I went through as an artist.

Marsha Druker  6:18  

That sounds really incredible. Did you serve in the army in Israel? 

Bar Kirshon  6:22  

Yes. 

Marsha Druker  6:23  

Cool! What was that experience like?

Bar Kirshon  6:25  

So in Israel, you have to go to the army, no matter what, unless you get pregnant. That's like, that's the one thing that they let you go if you get married as a woman or get pregnant. girls do two years, boys do three years, unless you become an officer, and then you can keep going. I was actually there for six months. And it didn't work out very well. So I was out of there pretty fast. 

Marsha Druker  6:52  

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I lived in Tel Aviv for about a year, I worked over there. And I obviously met a lot of Israelis. And I've heard so many stories about the army. And you know, whether it's it was a bad experience, or like a really formative experience that definitely kind of influences how you see the world and how you sort of see community and how you sort of like relate to people. So what did you end up? Like after that experience? Did you take any time to like, travel to, you know, think about what you wanted to do next? Or did you jump into your post secondary studies?

Bar Kirshon  7:25  

In Israel, you have a very specific way, right? So you go to high school, from high school, you go to the military. And then what happens is that when people finish the military, they go work, as you know, temps like waiters, or whatever, bartenders, they work like crazy for one year, they save up as much money as they can. And then they go traveling the world for about a year. And then they come back, they work for a year or two, and then they go to university. But for me, it was very different. First of all, I always wanted to leave Israel, I don't want to stay there. I didn't want to, I didn't want to stay there. I wanted to become a filmmaker and an artist and I wanted out because I never felt very connected to the place. So I wasn't in a rush to travel. I was in a rush to find out what I want from my life. One thing that my parents taught me is no matter what you do, you should be able to enjoy it, even work. So for me, I got out of the military and I went to university pretty fast. Like a couple months later, I had already enrolled in university and I went to study film history. And I want to study screenwriting. So that was my next sort of adventure in the art section of my life. I wanted to learn how to write. I've been writing my entire life short stories and stuff like that. I actually wrote my first book when I was 11. Yeah, so I went there for a couple months, I realized I'm not very much of a university person. And I started working in retail, in Topshop. From there, I actually went and worked in a food magazine.

Marsha Druker  9:16  

All over the place - That's really cool.

Bar Kirshon   9:18  

So in the food magazine, I worked as a social media manager, I managed the website and I also did some photography. So food photography was a huge thing for me. Some product photography, you know, for the magazine, whatever. And my wife actually enrolled me in a university in the south of Israel. So we were there for a year, which I took as a break from life. Then after that, we started talking about moving and then I found school here in Canada. I went to Toronto, Toronto Film School.

Marsha Druker  10:08  

So you moved to Toronto, you started school here? What was that transition like? Did you kind of like to feel right at home? Or was there sort of like a period where just like, felt different to you and you didn't feel at home?

Bar Kirshon  10:19  

Well, first thing, the moment I got here was very scary. But once I started school, I've never felt more at home than I did. When I moved to Canada. It was amazing. It was like my entire life. I felt like I didn't really belong. And then I came to Toronto, I felt like the city was hugging me, I felt like, this is where I am supposed to be. And I went to school, and immediately I found my circle of friends. And you know, like everything else in my life, I went all in. So I was in school all the time. And we were doing side projects, and you know, like getting your creativity on 1,000% with a bunch of amazing people that were there for the exact same reason, you know, most of my friends from Toronto Film School were immigrants as well. So we all came here and didn't have any family. So I ended up you know, doing holidays and cooking for them, inviting them to my home for dinner, because they didn't have anywhere else to go. Of course, it was also hard. It was scary. Mainly because people here are super nice. And it was like, Why is everyone smiling at me? Are they crazy? Because in Israel, it doesn't really work that way.

Marsha Druker  11:41  

That's the culture shock, yup - I feel like that really sums up Toronto really well. Well, I think it's like, it's one of the most multicultural places that you can find. And people are definitely very accepting. I think it's all about finding your community, as cheesy as it sounds, but really like what makes us city is the people that you surround yourself with. And until you have that support system in place, that it could feel really lonely wherever it is that you are. 

Bar Kirshon  12:06  

Everywhere can be cold. It's just like, up to the people you meet and the people you invite into your life.

Marsha Druker  12:14  

Absolutely. So let's jump into Communyco. I'm super excited to learn more about what you're building. So can you share a little bit about what Communyco is? And what inspired you to create this? 

Bar Kirshon  12:26  

Yeah, absolutely. So first of all, comunicato is a creative platform. I know that's a new term that we came up with, because people are always talking, you know, creators’ platform or social media, things like that, that are very excluding. And when we build Communyco, we built it for every creative person out there, no matter if you like painting, or baking, or gardening, or whatever it is, you know, meeting for, for reference for that. But every creative person out there should feel at home and have access to a community that supports that. And that's Communyco. So we have a platform for creators who have creative hobbies, just like I said, home related creativity type of hobbies. They need to get vetted. It's a very simple process, nothing too major, we just want to see that they are engaging with our audience, and they do have this passion that we're looking for. Once they get better, they then can open their group that becomes their home base. So they can invite people to join their group as members for free. So it's free for all to use, very accessible, very easy to use, as well. And from there, the creators can share content and tutorials, but also the audience can share back. So for example, one of them is one of my favorite creators, her name is Nellie. She's an amazing baker from Israel and through Communyco, she just opened her first group in English, which is a huge, huge thing for her. And she shared a recipe for color. I went and I made it. And I shared back a picture of the results that I got with questions because something went wrong in the process, whatever, was just like a stupid thing that I did. But I was able to ask her to ask her a question. And to also show her, you know, and support her through saying, "Hey, I did it". I looked at what you do when I found it so inspiring that I went and did it myself. So that's basically Communyco from there. We do give monetization options for the creators because we believe that there is a line that some of them choose to cross to become more business oriented, and we want to give them the opportunity to control that without taking too much from them. And giving them the space and the choice to whatever option they find most effective, right. So if I like writing more than I like taking videos, I still have space to share and communicate. And we give them spotlight, regardless of how many followers they have. So we don't work like the other platforms where they have, you know, this algorithm that says, okay, they have more than this type of users, then I will give them more exposure, communicable became what it is, because last year when COVID started, my wife and I both lost our jobs due to COVID. And we just moved to a new house, and the backyard is in horrible condition. And my wife decided she wanted to learn how to plant grass to make our backyard really nice and warm. So she went to YouTube, and she found a bunch of tutorials on how to do it. But because it didn't really match what we needed, it didn't work. And more than that, when it didn't work, she didn't have anywhere to go to to ask questions and be more specific. And then during that time, I also wanted to learn how to bake sourdough bread, which I know is like the most common thing during COVID. But we just wanted to get creative. You know, we have a lot of free time, we have two dogs, we wanted to get creative and have fun in the least fine time of our lives. Because I think nobody has ever experienced in our generation, this type of, you know, depression and anxiety. So that's why most of us turn to the creative side, you know, because we need an outlet. And then because we saw what's going on out there and how today's platforms are big, giant monsters that are basically taking advantage of the users. I don't know if you watch the social dilemma, but that was like the gist of it. We decided we wanted to build something different. And we wanted to actually make a positive change through that, and not just build another empire, social media, whatever, that nobody remembers their name and the end, one of the main things that we want to implement is equality. And if you look at our platform, now, we have a majority of female creators, and LGBTQ presence including trans queers, gay, whatever you want to call it, we have it, which is something we're really, really proud of, because we think that community is all about that accepting everyone, no matter what, 

Marsha Druker  17:38  

For sure, I think it's so important if you're building something in the community space to actually be reflective of the community that you're trying to serve. So that's, that's really amazing that you were able to kind of build that from the very start. So I know that's something that's really important to you and to your team is to really create a place that's safe from harassment. Can you share a little bit more about why it's important to and what are some of the ways that you're doing that? 

Bar Kirshon  18:03  

So first of all, the numbers today are insane. I think last month, when I checked, one out of five people get harassed or cyber stalked on social media and online presence in general. And you can only imagine the numbers for women, I was talking to a lot of creators about that, especially female creators, because I wanted to, you know, I wanted to learn what they experienced to really understand what we need to focus on and the stories that I heard or heard. I had a creator who told me about her sick father, she got a threat from one of her followers on Instagram, about her sick father. It's like "Who does that? It's insane". And I'm not even talking about nudes, and you know, dick pics and whatever. And you also have the small stuff. I know a baker that whenever she posts something, she gets messages with the word recipe, and you know, exclamation mark. Because she didn't post the recipe or if she says no, because she also sells her stuff. So she won't post the recipe, obviously, that's her living. She gets, you know, harassed about it and yelled at and gets really, really horrible messages only because she won't post a recipe. I mean, you know, it's just like, what the hell is wrong with people? 

Marsha Druker  19:28  

That's crazy. That's really shocking. But also it's kind of not. 

Bar Kirshon  19:31  

It's not shocking, but it is shocking. And you want to say you're surprised just because you want to believe in the human race. After all those conversations, my wife, Ronnie, who's also my business partner, obviously, and myself, we sat down and we were talking about like, okay, how do we not just take care of it, but prevent this from happening on Communyco and we came up with a few things. So first of all, we don't have private messaging. If you want to say something to someone, it's only in the group speed, which is a public thing, and everyone can see it, which means that those cowards that use the messaging options as a tool for them, they don't have it here. And also we were really trying to focus on being active. You know, you know how in the usual social media as you go and you can report someone, and then maybe after a month, they will check it out and maybe do something about it. I can tell you that most likely they won't, from my actual personal experience, and we said, okay, how do we make it the opposite? How do we protect the victim instead of, you know, being patient and understanding with the victimizer?

Marsha Druker  20:50  

I can't even think of it now either. But I know what you mean, that's all good.

Bar Kirshon  20:54  

Evil person. Yeah, evil person. I'm going to call them victimizers just because it sounds like you're, like a superhero villain. So we want to really be active and protect people and not just say, yeah, yeah, we were a safe place, blah, blah. So what we do is that if a content creator reports to us about a user, they are immediately suspended from the group, immediately, no questions asked. And then we can go back and see what happened and see if we can resolve that in a different way. But we immediately put a protection wall in the way to make sure both sides are separate, and the content creator has the power to, you know, maintain their group in a peaceful way. If a user gets recorded more than three times in different groups, they're out of Communyco.

Marsha Druker  21:47  

It's so different from other platforms that are out there. And I love that that's such a big focus for you. 

Bar Kirshon  21:53  

I understand for other platforms, I have to say, I understand business wise now that I actually own a business, I own a company that is growing, I understand the thought behind this, because we are going to lose users. And for platforms that are mainly building on rapid growth, without monetization without being very careful or selective about what they present. I understand that because they don't want to lose users, they just want to, you know, hit the millions and have high valuation and sell their company for a lot of money. And that's exactly it, like I understand this side, but Communyco is not it - Communyco is, is, is an intimate place. You know, we don't care if we grow slower, or if we make less money, I live in a basement unit. Okay, we want to make sure that our company is humble and aware of other people's needs before our own. 

Marsha Druker  22:48  

That's such a good way of looking at it. So speaking of the business side, can you share a little bit about how you guys actually operate? And how do you keep what you're doing sustainable? 

Bar Kirshon  22:57  

First of all, we just launched our closed beta two weeks ago, which was very exciting.

Marsha Druker  23:04  

Congratulations!

Bar Kirshon  23:05  

Thank you! So the business way that we took it was, like I said before, slow growth, what we did is that we connected with five amazing creators that were inspired by Communyco and wanted to join us and try to build something meaningful together. So we took them, and we opened groups with them on the platform. And we brought in 100 testers, very simple. Everything is done by invite only. So we made sure that we can control our growth and that we can stay in touch with our users. We tried to take it really step by step to make sure that we are fully aware of what we can deliver for our users to enjoy. And not just be like, you know, okay, Facebook has this and that. So we need to add this and that, no, in the short time that we've been doing it, we learned that you need to trust your gut, and you need to trust your instincts. I think especially as a woman, you have really, really strong instincts. 

Marsha Druker  24:10  

And I think what you thought about listening to your users and listening to your community is so key, as well. And that's that that's really how you're going to like to create it and create something that's really meaningful, and that's really useful to the people that you're trying to serve. 

Bar Kirshon  23:05  

Yeah, when we decided to do the beta, you know, closed beta invites only things. Clubhouse just came out. Big time. So they came out a while ago, right? But they came out like what December November, something like that. And we were just like, Whoa, this is the plan. This is the right way to build a huge thing with an invite only everybody wants if everyone are fighting to get in. And so we planned right so we went and we were like okay, they know what they're doing. We're gonna do the same and succeed and we reached our beta version, the middle of March, it was testing in the end of February, but in the middle of March, and we started doing the invite code. And really quickly, I think a week after we stopped, we were talking to one of our advisors, Moshe who was also an ex Israeli. And we just tried to like, really think about why we're doing things. So not what you want to achieve. But why you want to do a specific step that you're taking right now. And we were talking about the beta. And we said, like motion, and as we were asking ourselves, why are we doing a beta? Why does a beta exist? Like, what is it for? And the answer is that a beta is the simplest version of your vision, which gives you the opportunity to test with strangers and adjust because you're not committed yet. Your beta is not your final product, which means that you can change it much more, and play with it and have the opportunity to learn from it. And then we said, okay, so the whole, you know, clubhouse fantasy, whatever, it's not real. It's not, it's not a real thing. And it's not what we want. We don't want to be Clubhouse, we want to be Communyco. So why are we doing the same thing? And we said, Okay, so let's take it one step at a time, like we did, you know, with a few mistakes we've done before we did the same process, we stopped, took a deep breath, and said, "Why are we doing it? Let's take it one step at a time".

Marsha Druker  26:47  

That's really incredible. I love that definition of how you're thinking about a beta. And I think a lot of people, you know, whether you're building a tech startup or a community, that's such a good way of looking at the initial things and experiences that you put out, I think, like, I didn't really think of it that way. But when I like when I just launched Fuckup Nights in Toronto, like my first event was was definitely also like a beta like it was, you know, it was a test and we had to see what resonated, and what did I anthem, you know, really listened to the people that came out to that first event, and just like, continue improving it. So yeah, hopefully that inspires folks listening to you know, not think that it needs to be this crazy, big thing.

Bar Kirshon  27:29  

Yeah. And I think that you always when you start a new thing, if it's a community, a company, whatever, you always think that the next step is going to be less stressful than the step you're in right now. Because you're like, you always like I do, I always say to myself, you know, there's no way it can get more stressful than what it is right now. Or more scary, or, you know, more exhausting until you get to the next step, and then you realize that it always happens. 

Marsha Druker  27:55  

Yeah, it always happens.

Bar Kirshon  27:56  

Yep, totally. And then now, what I tried to do is think, look at what I'm doing right now and think, Okay, how can I enjoy this, just like everything else I did in my life, but right now, because of all the stress, I don't see the fun. So stopping and saying that out loud, and being able to be like, Okay, how can I also, you know, have fun with it. So we make sure that our meetings with our team, which is a really small team, our meetings are always super fun. We always like you know, laugh our hearts out and talk about our feelings. And, you know, yesterday, we introduced to the team the next feature coming up, which is really exciting, and they got so excited, it was so much fun, I didn't even think they would react this way.

Marsha Druker  28:42  

I love that it's so important to just like being in it and just really appreciate what's special about where you are right now and really like to take the time to celebrate your achievements and your milestones. I think you know a lot of people who are entrepreneurial or you know who are building something, you just kind of rush to move on to the next goal or the next thing that you could achieve but you really do have to try to be in the moment and enjoy where you are today.

So how can people get involved like how can listeners who are you know, interested in helping or like being on this platform? How can they get involved?

Bar Kirshon  29:28  

Right now like you said, we are in closed beta. I am going to share the invite code here with you because you know, I'm already here and it's nice. So if you go to Communyco.com so Communyco first of all with a y not with an i. So it's c o m m u n y c o, there is a space for an invite code. The invite code is Communyco-family. And you can simply join from there. Keep in mind that we are in beta, we are changing things. We have bugs. Also, if you do find a problem, or if you do want to ask me questions, you can also email me directly. My email is Bar@Communyco.com you can totally talk to me, I would love, love, love to hear your experiences after you log in.

Marsha Druker  30:19  

So I want to get some of your advice for listeners. And I think it's really interesting that you've worked with your wife. So I'm curious if you have any tips for listeners where maybe like working with their partner or their families on building their community or building their business? How do you sort of like to make it work? Do you sort of draw a line between professional and personal or like, what sort of works for you?

Bar Kirshon  30:41  

First of all, in the first few months, we drowned in this, my wife, Ronnie, who is the most clever person I've ever met, she can contain and learn so much information so fast that it's insane. But it doesn't stop, it doesn't stop, you know, the information doesn't stop, the learning doesn't stop. And at some point, for me, because I'm a very creative person, I need breaks, I need time to think I need time to be sad, I need time to be happy, I'm very much this type of person. And at some point, it went to fighting, you know, it was like that. I'm not, you know, I'm not ashamed of saying that out loud, we were fighting a lot about just like, you know, just like shut up for a second. And it's like, you're not listening to me or whatever. And then we made some rules. So that's my advice too, no work stuff during cooking time and eating time. That's my rule. And that's my one advice. And it really, really helps. Because when you cook, and when you eat, that's sort of the time for your soul to relax, and to enjoy your food. That's a major thing. And, and sort of, you know, finish up with, with whatever thoughts you had about work, or stress or whatever, and just enjoy a meal with your loved ones. I think for me, that was like a major thing. And I still sometimes, sometimes we still mess that up. Sometimes we're cooking, and we're still talking about work. And then in the middle of making dinner, I'm like, wait, we're cooking right now, no more, no more work.

Marsha Druker  32:27  

My boyfriend and I, that's something that we've kind of implemented, as well. And for me, like I work with a lot of people who are in the Pacific Time Zone. So it's like my day, I'm still getting messages kind of like late into the night. But I like to try to shut it off while I'm making dinner. And then during dinner, as well. And it makes such a difference when I can do that successfully.

Bar Kirshon  32:48  

Yeah. And I think that when you do that you sort of unplug and you become a family again, because during the day, I'm the CEO, she's the CEO, obviously, we have some differences and you know, business decisions. We're not wives anymore. And in those moments, we're not partners, we're co workers. And we're bosses. So when you cook together, just like you know, your family, again, you can talk about something else. Talk about your family, talk about your feelings.

Marsha Druker  33:16  

That's really great advice. Thanks so much for sharing. So I want to jump into your personal community. I think it's really fascinating how people who you know, building something in the community space or building a community actually navigate their personal lives and their personal communities. So outside of Communyco and outside of your, you know, creative interests. Are there any other communities that you're part of?

Bar Kirshon  33:40  

I'm part of the Jews in Tech community.

Marsha Druker  33:43  

Oh nice, I'm part of that one too!

Bar Kirshon  33:47  

No way. There's so many people there. It's insane. Like, it's so many messages that I'm getting. It's crazy. But yeah, that's, that's fine. I only recently got to know this because of one of my mentors. And also, I am still in the film industry. So my closest friends and people that I talked to every day are in the film industry. And that's something that is really, really close to my heart. Because it's my dream. I'm never gonna give up on doing Communyco and I love it. And it's also my dream. But being a part of arts communities. It's something that I like, I have to have this creative outlet. I still write sometimes I paint a lot. So I'm also in groups that are about watercolor paintings. And in the baking community lately, I'm very active in the sourdough baking community to be precise. Yeah, and I think that the variety is what does it for me, that's what makes me tick. I need a variety of different places that I can be at once So I can expand my creative knowledge. And that's how I enjoy life.

Marsha Druker  35:07  

Yeah, I can totally relate to that. I feel like I also need a variety of different interests and different types of people that I, that I have in my life. So speaking of having people in your life, how do you choose your people, you know, like the five to six people that are closest to you? Do you feel like you look for certain qualities in them? Or is it just something that kind of happens organically?

Bar Kirshon  35:28  

I feel like it happens organically. But I also feel like that's not true. Because we all choose our people if we want to or not, we see things in people that remind us of ourselves. And that's how we choose them. I do have my two best friends here in Toronto, Jenny and Arison, who I also introduced to each other, and now they're getting married. Oh, yeah. So they're, they're our best friends. Me and my wife, we always go there for dinners. They were our COVID friends and everything with them is just like a very daily relationship, sort of thing or friendship. And I have my you know, from back then friends in Israel. Those are the friendships that I find most interesting and most rewarding and most amazing in my life, because those are people that I actually have like five or four good friends that we talk like maybe once every few months. And like we see each other once a year ish because I live here now. But every time I see them, it's like I saw them yesterday. That's the type of people that I connect with the most those that can love from afar. You know, it's I think it's good to have both things. And I'm very, very grateful that I do have that. And also my dad is kind of my best friend.

Marsha Druker  37:04  

That's so sweet. So my last question for you is and I ask this of everybody on the podcast, what does the word β€œcommunity” mean to you?

Bar Kirshon  37:12  

Community means to me that I know that I'm safe. And that I know that I'm understood. That's, that's what it means to me.

Marsha Druker  37:25  

I love that. That's such a great definition. Awesome, Bar. Thank you so much for joining me, this was such a great conversation.

Bar Kirshon  37:33  

Thank you very much. I'm very happy I had a chance to be here. It was a lot of fun.

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