In this episode, I talk to Bernie, Florido CEO of Cocoflo Innovations.

In our discussion, we cover:

• What was Bernie's “ah-ha moment” when coming up with the idea for Cocoflo.

• How his background in law enforcement and construction lead him to create Cocoflo.

• What advice he’d give to aspiring tech entrepreneurs.

• What is a smart city?

• What it's like to have a relatively new business during a pandemic.

• What is a positive lesson he has learned during COVID?

COPING 19 is an optimistic look at entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 Pandemic. What are small businesses and freelancers doing to pivot their businesses into this new world? Don't forget this is the time for business owners to be creative. There is no roadmap for this situation; the possibilities of how people run their companies are endless. Technology gives entrepreneurs chances to adapt their business to this new reality. One day we will take a step back and see the new ideas, new companies, new career paths that emerge from COVID-19.

City halls produce a lot of paper during a year—everything from parking tickets to building permits, etc. There is a lot of paper that goes in and out of our municipal halls. However, COVID 19 is starting to change that. Different digital solutions are on the rise to limit face-to-face interaction with city halls closed to the public. One up-and-coming tech company in the digital space of lessening city halls' day-to-day paper tasks is Cocoflo Innovations. Their app helps cities like Fort St John and others minimize the in-person tasks, like pay parking tickets and utilities, etc., allowing the residents to pay for municipal fines and documents over an app. 

"For the community having the convenience of being able to conduct any city hall business from your phone. You no longer have to get in your car and drive to city hall and line up." 

This company was created before the Pandemic and has been running for over a year. So it's still a new company, and I wanted to know how they are dealing with the Pandemic since they are still a relatively new business. 

"People are resilient; we adapt, we overcome, and people seem to re-access their priorities."

That's why I had to interview Bernie Florido CEO of Cocoflo Innovations. I wanted to know more about their revolutionizing software, and more about their journey as a new business during COVID.

I wanted to know more about their revolutionizing software and more about their journey as a new business during COVID.

COPING 19 is an optimistic look at entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 Pandemic. What are small businesses and freelancers doing to pivot their businesses into this new world? Don't forget this is the time for business owners to be creative. There is no roadmap for this situation; the possibilities on how people run their companies are endless. Technology gives entrepreneurs chances to adapt their business to this new reality. One day we will take a step back and see the new ideas, new companies, new career paths that emerge from COVID-19. 

Now we have all been in this for a year, and I would like to know the answer to this question: how are parents with busy careers still coping with COIVD? Many parents have to change the way they do their jobs and the way they parent their children. We have learned so many things about ourselves about our jobs and close contacts. Let's face it; this has been a learning curve for everyone. We are adjusting to new restrictions constantly, and then we have the added pressure of our jobs and families. So how does one person handle their job and family being home all the time because of the pandemic?

That’s why I wanted to interview my next guest, Pam Bhatti lawyer, mother and wife. I wanted to know how she deals with the pandemic and what it is like to do her job from home. A lot of industries have changed how they have conducted business through COVID-19. How has COVID-19 affected the sector of law? I find all this out in the next episode of COPING-19.

Real estate is always a hot topic in Vancouver. Even before the pandemic, this was the number one topic everyone talks about. Real estate is continuously featured on the news. Now that we are a full year into the pandemic, Vancouver's real estate has not slowed down. The market now is HOT! HOT! HOT! So if a pandemic can't topple the real estate market in Vancouver, then nothing will. This was a topic that I had to have a discussion about. So that is why I talked to Brandon Blue from the Rennie Real Estate Group. He is a very experienced realtor that knows how to guide his buyers and sellers through this crazy market. I wanted his opinion about the real estate market during COVID. What trends is he starting to see, and what type of practices are he and the other real estate agents putting in place to keep clients safe. Join us for this hot topic that everyone is fascinated by in another episode of COPING 19.

After being in the pandemic for over a year, many different industries have had to adapt and develop creative solutions. Film festivals are events that can not happen in person at the moment. Too many people grace these global stages, so there has to be a different way of hosting these significant events for the time being. I'm so glad we currently live in a technology era where many of these industries can continue to go on. For film festivals, they have held their film festivals online, which is great because people can still witness beautiful independent films. I know online film festivals are not the same as being there in person and seeing a crowd react to your creative work. However, as we move into a post-pandemic world, there will hopefully be a combo of in-person and virtual because virtual film festivals allow more people to see these beautiful films created by very talented people. So it's very nice to have both options to include more people in the world of film festivals.

I wanted to learn more about the online film festival world and know what the future looks like post-pandemic. In this episode, I talk to Shanyn Maguire, former Broadcaster turned Film Producer. She is President of Pendulum films and her fantastic team, and they have a short film called PLATONIC gaining a lot of buzz. The new film is directed by the very talented Krit Komkrichwarakool. Please find out more on their Instagram @pendulumfilms

TikTok exploded during COVID-19. People became more and more interested in creating a podcast or video YouTube Channels during the Pandemic. In this episode, we explore content creation mediums. I brought in video marketing expert Rami Mikhail who is the owner of Rami Films. He has a self-serve YouTube Studio where business can record their videos. He also produces and edits videos for various companies. We discuss how he pivoted his company during COVID-19 and how technology continuously improves, and more people become their own videographer and editor. Does he worry he will lose business? Because if people can do it themselves, they might not need his services. His answer will surprise you!

During COVID, many people created videos and podcasts because they had the time, and it kept them going during restrictions and was a form of entertainment. How does someone like Rami generate a business around these creative content endeavors and keep it going post-pandemic? We find out in the next episode of COPING-19.

Rami and I examine how social media continues to change our lives and influence how we market ourselves and companies even during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Social media is here to stay and will continuously evolve. We will all adapt to the various new ideas and technologies as the world continues to figure out the virus and re-build after the Pandemic is over.

As we all know, the Summer Olympics 2020 in Tokyo didn't happen. This large global event is to occur in July of this year. As we get closer to the summer months of 2021, the big question is whether they will happen. The answer right now is yes. Today March 9th, it was announced Tokyo is going ahead without any world spectators. Which makes sense because we know a lot of countries are only allowing travel for essential reasons. Even though there is a vaccine, it's probably not a great idea yet, to have a whole bunch of people travel into one country for an event. At least it looks like the Olympics are going ahead. I know Florida was willing to help out if Tokyo could not host them this year. Many possible solutions were being looked at so the Olympics didn't have to cancel.

I feel watching sports is something we need in our lives right now. We need something to look forward to; there is only so many Netflix and other streaming services you can binge. Sport is much more than just watching a team or individual compete, it's about crowds coming together and supporting those athletes. That is a major simple thing we haven't been able to do during this pandemic is to gather. Without crowds, let's face it the Olympics won't be the same. But at least it's a solution for now until the world returns to some state of normal.

In this episode, I talk to Mark Hatton UK Winter Olympic athlete, about what it's like to be a part of the global event, what he feels will happen with these upcoming summer games and the future of this world sporting event post-pandemic. So many questions to ask, and I'm fascinated by this topic because, in my life, I have never have witnessed an event of this magnitude be postponed. After seeing an Olympics in my hometown of Vancouver, I have been hooked on the games ever since. I have so many questions for Mark, and I know this will be a great episode.

Jennifer-Lee interviews Jamilah Jackson who has a BA in Psychology and a Bachelor of Education from UBC. In this episode, they discuss racial discrimination in the workplace and how we can work as a society to prevent it.

Jennifer-Lee talks to model and film producer Therés Amee about how the film and fashion industry will carry on during this pandemic.