We’re proud to work with amazing entrepreneurs across the North American food, drink, arts, games, and entertainment industries. It’s about time we draw some attention to them!

In this new blog series, we’ll give you a peek behind the curtain into one of the many reasons Wavy experiences are so special – the humans who host them.

Meet Stef from Original Genes, who brings colour and creativity to our customers

Ever wonder how we’re able to offer so many hands-on arts and crafts activities for flexible teams, who often aren’t in the same room (or city, even)? Stefanie Furguiele from Toronto-based Original Genes is one of our favourite short answers to that question!

Stefanie started Original Genes with the sale of one, hand-painted jean jacket… and the rest is history. Since then, she has continued to paint and sell custom-ordered clothes as well as dedicate her time, talent, and materials to a few Wavy-exclusive events:

• Candle Making
• Painting & Planting
• Tote Bag Painting
• Canvas Painting Class

…and then some! Stef also hosts customizable, seasonal experiences, too, from Pumpkin Carving for Halloween, to Wreath Making for the Holidays, and even Egg Painting, which is live on our marketplace now through Easter weekend!

Original Genes offers kits for all of these experiences, which ship across Canada, the United states, and beyond. In fact, Wavers participated in one of Stef’s Tote Bag Painting experiences earlier this year, and we had a dang good time doing it!

Wavy and Original Genes have been working together since our early days, and we’ve gained so much from our partnership over the years! Our favourite thing about working with Stef is that she’s super thoughtful about the flow and timing of the experiences she hosts. One of her greatest strengths is turning what may seem like daunting projects into easy, fun, and accessible experiences for team members at all levels.

Stef thrives when working with customers who are looking to be on the next frontier of “corporate fun” – breaking any stigma associated with the term by paving the way for simple, fun, creativity and play across today’s distributed workforce.

You can learn more about Stef and keep up with Original Genes on their official Instagram: @originalgenes_to.

Help your team get grounded with Elaisha Jade from Your Mindful

Mindfulness is such a valuable skill, especially as the world continues to rapidly change around us. It’s a tool that helps us stay present, productive, and at peace throughout the day-to-day. It is important now more than ever to put this to practice at work, too! That’s why we’re so grateful to Elaisha Jade, owner and sole practitioner of Vancouver-based meditation practice, Your Mindful, for being a marketplace partner.

Elaisha is a three-time certified Dynamic Meditation teacher with several years of experience helping people slow down and get centred. She hosts some of Wavy’s most popular wellness experiences, including:

• Guided Meditation
• Work from Home Wellness
• Journaling

Elaisha started Your Mindful after discovering how much her own mindfulness and meditation practices helped her reignite her purpose and productivity, which had waned after years of experiencing burnout in the tech scene. Elaisha shared that she “felt called to bring this life-changing practice to other managers and workers in the industry.

We’re excited to continue working with Elaisha to create more rejuvenating, uplifting, and meaningful experiences that help teams connect on a deeper level – especially ones that are thousands of miles away from one another.

Don’t miss out on the mindfulness and meditation tips Elaisha shares on Instagram @your_mindful. We love scrolling through them!

Toast your team with Mark and Cea from Canadian Cake Hospitality

Whether your workplace is looking for mocktails, cocktails, or tastings, Canadian Cake has exactly what you need to enjoy a proper (and delicious!) team cheers.

We’re not saying that happy hours = great company culture… but we’re also not denying that happy hours can be a lot of fun for your team (when done right)! It doesn’t matter if you're raising their glasses in-person, from behind a screen, or mixing up a new creation asynchronously. No matter where your people are, they’ll thoroughly enjoy Mark and Cea’s presence, positivity, and of course, their indulgent beverage recipes. That’s the guarantee when you enjoy one of the experiences hosted by Canadian Cake, including:

• Beer and Wine Tastings
• Mixology (with seasonal options throughout the year, too!)

Canadian Cake’s Cocktail Kits are tasteful, elegant, and thoughtfully assembled, with shipping available across Canada. Plus, the way they teach mixology is sure to leave your people in a better mood than they started out in. We know so, because Mark and Cea built their business and team centred around a sense of adventure. They specialize in catering progressive and unique excursions, and are total pros at bringing that energy and excitement to the experiences they host for our customers.

Mark and Cea are amazing to work with because they do what they love and that shines through with every interaction. They’re always willing to work with our customers to make the experience match their vision.

As you can tell, we’ve got a lot of love for our Wavy partners and hosts.

We could (and will) go on about them. Stay tuned for the next edition of this series by subscribing to our monthly newsletter. We can’t wait to tell you more!