For many Cape Bretoners, outmigration is a rite of passage. They leave for school, for work opportunities, or just for the adventure of it. We see this as a loss for the island, but what if our so-called "lost" Capers (aka our “diaspora”) are actually an incredible asset that can open doors to investment, mentorship, and new export markets?

In this episode, Sean Meister of Global Bluenosers talks about the community of ambitious Bluenosers he’s building, and how they can help Cape Breton-based businesses go global. Whether you're firmly planted here on the island or a global Cape Bretoner yourself, it’s worth finding out how you can tap into this impressive network.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:20 What Global Bluenosers Does
• 03:27 Defining Diaspora
• 06:22 Why Cape Bretoners Abroad Are an Incredible Asset
• 08:22 How Other Countries Are Leveraging Their Diaspora
• 10:10 Who Global Cape Bretoners Are and How They Give Back
• 15:23 Who Can Benefit From Engaging With the Diaspora
• 17:34 How To Engage with the Network of Global Cape Bretoners
• 18:44 Helping People Go Abroad
• 22:55 Global Bluenosers Membership Options and Benefits
• 27:54 Final Takeaways and Credits

Find out More About Global Bluenosers

• Website: globalbluenosers.ca
• Memberships: globalbluenosers.ca/#Membership
• Podcast: globalbluenosers.ca/#podcast
• Connect with Sean Meister on LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com/in/seanmeister

About the Invest in Cape Breton podcast

Unama'ki-Cape Breton is on the cusp of an economic renaissance. Invest in Cape Breton is a podcast that will challenge your assumptions about the island’s economy through in-depth interviews with local changemakers. We go beyond the headlines to reveal the untapped potential for investors and entrepreneurs, and offer a preview of the island’s coming transformation. Right from the first episode, we’ll show you why there's never been a better time to invest in Cape Breton.

This podcast is an initiative of the Cape Breton Partnership. It is hosted by Michelle Samson and produced by Storied Places Media. The theme music is "Under My Skin" by Elyse Aeryn.

It's an exciting time to be in Unama'ki- Cape Breton.

2

We're having an economic Renaissance.

3

Sean Meister: The Cape Bretoners

I come across are doing amazing

4

things out in the world.

5

Michelle: Throughout the series we'll

show you why there's never been a

6

better time to invest in Cape Breton.

7

I'm your host, Michelle Samson.

8

Michelle Samson: For many Cape Bretoners,

outmigration is a rite of passage.

9

They leave for school, for work

opportunities, for the adventure of it.

10

We see this as a loss for the island,

but what if our so-called "lost" Capers

11

are actually an incredible asset?

12

That's the view of today's guest,

Sean Meister, the President

13

and CEO of Global Bluenosers.

14

In this episode, he makes the case that

our diaspora, more on that term in a

15

minute, can drive economic development

right here in Unama'ki - Cape Breton

16

by opening doors to investment,

mentorship, and new export markets.

17

Whether you're firmly planted here on

the island or a global Cape Bretoner

18

yourself, keep listening to find out

how you can tap into the impressive

19

network that Sean is building.

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Hi Sean.

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Thank you so much for joining

us on Invest in Cape Breton.

22

Sean Meister: Absolute

pleasure to join you, Michelle.

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Thanks so much for having me.

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Michelle Samson: Alright, so,

right off the top, why don't

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you tell us about what Global

Bluenosers is and how it came to be.

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Sean Meister: Well, I'm a Nova Scotian,

so I'm gonna try to keep this short,

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but, you know, it's a long journey.

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Global Bluenosers, what it is right now

we're a federal not-for-profit that's

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focused on diaspora engagement, which

is a word that not a lot of people

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know, but "diaspora" meaning sort of

the population away from a homeland.

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So I always say it's a community

for Nova Scotians by birth or by

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choice outside of the province.

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So we are very much focused

on reconnecting people back to

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the province and to each other.

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The way that we came about goes all the

way back to my own time living away.

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I was an obsessive Nova Scotian when I was

living away, always trying to find ways to

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reconnect and to find other Nova Scotians.

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So, when I moved home, I really started

to really reengage with that community

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through an economic development lens

when I was working for the province.

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And that just sort of fed an obsession

with this idea of diasporas and

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communities abroad, and led to, during

the pandemic, posting a lot about

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Nova Scotia, starting to really engage

with the community and then launching

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a podcast to introduce people to

the vast community of Nova Scotians,

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and Cape Bretoners around the world.

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That slowly evolved into hosting kitchen

parties around the world, 'cause why not?

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You might as well get on a plane

and bring Nova Scotians together.

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And then it just sort of became a

momentum thing where I just started

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to really realize Nova Scotians

wanted to reconnect with each other.

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They wanted to find their tribe

where they were living in the world.

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They wanted to hear what

was going on at home.

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They wanted to find ways to

reengage and stay connected and

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give back in any way they could.

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So that has slowly evolved from a

podcast and events into a full fledged

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not-for-profit that's focused on engaging,

celebrating, and activating that diaspora

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community for the benefit of them

and for the benefit of the province.

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Michelle Samson: As someone who

lived away myself, I would've loved

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to have this when I was in Ontario.

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I was like you, I was never an

Ontarian, always a Cape Bretoner,

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you couldn't take that outta me.

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But maybe for people who are

less familiar, can you tell me

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just a little bit more about

what is a diaspora community?

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And just explain that a little bit more.

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Sean Meister: So a diaspora

community, it can take on a

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lot of different definitions.

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I, you know, if you talk to some of the

people that are sort of the originators of

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a lot of the diaspora talk, and especially

diaspora communities as they are

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nowadays, they'd say there's definitions,

but not like a set definition.

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So it really is around the

concept of migration and mobility.

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The idea of people from a place

that expand out and leave it.

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For me, I define it as not just those

born and raised but sort of a broader

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definition of, especially in a place

like Nova Scotia where we have so

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many universities and post-secondary,

it's also people that have a strong

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affinity to the province or people

that are sort of heritage diaspora.

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So, you know, their parents or

grandparents left years ago and

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they've descended from that diaspora.

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Michelle Samson: Hmm.

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Sean Meister: One thing I think any Nova

Scotian, or especially Cape Bretoners,

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will understand is that if you've got

even the slightest connection to the

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place through a grandparent, even if

you grew up in Calgary or London or

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somewhere around the world, you're

probably gonna have spent some time here.

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So you have an affinity.

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So it really does come down to

individuals who share sort of an

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affinity or love for a defined

place, and in this case, Nova Scotia.

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So it's a hard definition.

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There's a lot of different ones out

there, and I find each jurisdiction,

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each organization that focuses

on it, takes a different angle.

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But I always sum it up, it's people

living outside the province who are

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Nova Scotian by birth or by choice.

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Michelle Samson: Hmm.

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Yeah, the ones with heritage is so

interesting, because I've seen it.

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Like those summer vacations

can go such a long way.

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And, you know, I think it says something

about the attractiveness of this place

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that they would almost identify, you know,

either as much, maybe even more, with this

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place than the place where they grew up.

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So that's really remarkable.

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Sean Meister: I think it's really

important to highlight that 'cause it's,

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for me, what I found through this work

is there's no real way to predict how

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someone's gonna feel about this place.

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Some of the most passionate supporters of

Nova Scotian companies that I've worked

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with are people that weren't born here.

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They fell in love with the place,

either through school or through work

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or just by a random vacation, then

slowly gotten more and more pulled in.

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Then maybe they bought a cottage and then

they started to spend more time here,

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but they got drawn in and through that

they developed a really strong affinity

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for the place and a love for the place.

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So it's one of the things I really try to

pound the drum on is, what's on a birth

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certificate is important in diaspora work.

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It's not the only thing.

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There's a lot of different life

experiences that can lead to a love

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for a place like Nova Scotia, and it's

important to foster and appreciate and

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recognize all of those various ways.

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Michelle Samson: Mm-hmm.

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Okay.

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So there's another angle I

wanna pick your brain on.

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So typically economic development

organizations like the Cape

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Breton Partnership, you know,

have focused on keeping youth,

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say, here or luring expats back.

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Why do you focus on those who

aren't looking to come home, at

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least not in the immediate future?

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Sean Meister: Yeah, it's a question

I get quite a bit, and for me, I look

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at it from a few different angles.

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First and foremost when I look at it from

the diaspora perspective is I want to

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make sure that people are feeling that

connection to home in an authentic way.

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So it's not just about the actual

mobility of trying to get people home.

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It's lots of people who want to stay

connected, and deserve to stay connected.

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And so for me it's always been about

just engaging with them in that way

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and in that point in their life.

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But I, I've always described it as like,

in Nova Scotia, we sort of view those

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two goalposts, like stop people from

leaving and then try to get them home.

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And we don't think about that in between.

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Michelle Samson: Hmm.

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Sean Meister: The reason I focus

on that is that's where all the

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power really is, especially from an

economic development perspective.

134

You want to engage people while

they're away, while they're gaining

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that experience, while they have those

networks, while they have instant access

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to all of those things and knowledge

and people that you want as an economic

137

development agency or as a company.

138

So it's really important to engage

them at that moment and not to

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engage them from the perspective

of, "I'm coming to you because I'm

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trying to convince you to come home."

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'Cause it's, you never really know

where people are in their life.

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If they don't want to come back, that

doesn't mean they're a lost asset.

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They're still really, really important.

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So, it's about really understanding the

journey of a diaspora and understanding

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that you have to engage with them in

a really authentic way, and in the

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way that their lives are being lived.

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And that means at that moment in time.

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So for me, it really is critical to

focus on between those goalposts, not

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on either one of them in particular,

but engaging people, bringing that value

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at that moment when they're out in the

markets that we wanna be working within.

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Michelle Samson: Right.

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Okay, we're gonna get more into the

specifics of what this engagement looks

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like and how this helps with economic

development and all that, but just I

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have one more question before we get off

this kind of economic development topic.

155

Is this something that other jurisdictions

are doing, leveraging their diaspora?

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Sean Meister: Yes, a lot.

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So this is something that I'd say in

Canada we're pretty far behind when

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it comes to diaspora engagement.

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Other jurisdictions have been doing

it for decades, generations almost.

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Michelle Samson: Wow.

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Sean Meister: I've always felt that

the leader in it are the Irish.

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Ireland has been, both Republic and

Northern Ireland, incredibly good at

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engaging a diaspora and recognizing

the importance of the diaspora.

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The Irish diaspora have played

such an important role in what

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Ireland has become, especially

from a, sort of a tech destination.

166

They played a really

important role in that.

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They've invested time and money and

they've created central strategies

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within government that drive

decision making, that keep diaspora

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at the heart of everything they do.

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So I always say they're kind of the gold

standard, but they're not the only ones.

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The Scottish do it, the New

Zealanders do it, the Vietnamese,

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all across Africa are incredible.

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India has a massive diaspora and

they leverage that incredibly.

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I mean, yeah, you can pretty much point

to anywhere on the map outside of North

175

America, and you can say they've got

something going on in the diaspora space.

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So it's not new.

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This is not reinventing

the wheel or anything.

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This is a tried and true playbook by other

jurisdictions, and from my perspective,

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it's been about how do we get Nova Scotia

catching up, but broadly, Canada just

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as a whole has not been great at it.

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So yeah, lots of people are doing it.

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Michelle Samson: Okay, so

let's get more specific.

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Can you tell us about the global

Cape Bretoners in your network?

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Sean Meister: They're probably

the most passionate, and I'm, I

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apologize to all the other regions

of the province when I say that.

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My fellow South Shore people

are gonna probably fill my

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inbox when they hear that.

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The Cape Bretoners are a unique group.

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And I say that with all the love and

affinity that could come from that is,

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it's really interesting, when I was living

away, the way I described myself was I was

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a Nova Scotian and then I was a Canadian,

and that's kind of how the tier was.

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With Cape Bretoners, it's they're

Cape Bretoner, then they're a Nova

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Scotian, and then they're a Canadian.

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And you could really see the importance

of identity based on how that is.

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And then when you really talk

to them, they'll get down to

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the county or community level.

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It's a strong level of

just passion and love.

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I don't think I've met a group quite

like Cape Bretoners when it comes to

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standing up for home, warts and all.

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I think that's one of the great things

about a diaspora is, you know, when

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you leave, you really can view the

place from the good and the bad.

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Often you've left because

of economic reasons.

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We're lucky in Nova Scotia and Cape

Breton, people are leaving for opportunity

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not because of war or conflict.

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So when you leave, you'll often

look back and say, "Oh, I kind of

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wish they did this at home, or that

at home to make things better."

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But you're looking at it from a place

of love, and the Cape Bretoners are

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sort of like the next tier up in that

they're very passionate, but they're

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also really, really accomplished.

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So, I mean, I think that's one of

the things that we don't talk about

211

enough is, the folks that have left

have done amazing things and the Cape

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Bretoners I come across are doing

amazing things out in the world.

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And I say that Cape Bretoners,

both by birth and by choice.

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There's, you know, with Cape

Breton University, there's lots

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of people that come and fall in

love with the place and go out.

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So it's a large group.

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They're all very passionate about

Cape Breton, and they're talking about

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it to everyone in their networks.

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They're always trying to drive

people to Cape Breton for

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vacations, wherever they live.

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So yeah, they're best summed up

as just very, very passionate

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and very accomplished.

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Michelle Samson: Yeah, where are they?

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What industries are they in?

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Is there any kind of concentration

or is it all over the board?

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Sean Meister: It is all over

the board in a lot of ways.

227

I mean, I think that's sort of the

nature of what I've seen through this.

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And we're starting to gather

some data that will hopefully

229

give us more clarity on that.

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At this point in our journey,

a lot of it's anecdotal.

231

The community that I deal with,

they're typically sort of in that

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middle to upper management group.

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So they're more established,

they're ambitious.

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They're working in everything from

tech to life sciences to manufacturing,

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oil and gas, you go across the board.

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There's gonna be people from Cape Breton

and from Nova Scotia in those industries.

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And they really are spread all over,

like you kind of, it's concentric circles

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in terms of where people are located.

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So you know, the largest group

would be elsewhere in Canada.

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Then you get into the US, that's

where the next biggest group.

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And then you start getting into areas

like the UK, very large populations.

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I've come across lots of Cape Bretoners

when I've done events in London.

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But then further and further out,

Australia into Southeast Asia,

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you can find them everywhere.

245

I've found people from Cape

Breton and from Nova Scotia pretty

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much in every part of the world.

247

And they really are across the board

in terms of what they're doing.

248

But again, like I said,

they're accomplished.

249

The ones I'm dealing with are sort of in

that management group, or even early in

250

their career going quickly up the ranks.

251

But that's what I've seen.

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Michelle Samson: Yeah.

253

Okay.

254

So can we get into more detail about

how these global Cape Bretoners

255

are looking to stay engaged and

how they're looking to give back?

256

Sean Meister: Yeah, so it is

a very individualized thing.

257

Our focus is to give pathways for people

to contribute back if they want to, but

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everyone's gonna have different ways.

259

It can range.

260

The range of contribution can be

anything from wanting to help a

261

fellow Cape Bretoner that's on the

ground in another market, either

262

moving there or traveling there.

263

So just very quick one-off help.

264

All the way through to wanting to help

companies access sales networks to get,

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you know, on the ground insights, to

invest in companies, to advise and guide.

266

But then also wanting to contribute

in from a philanthropic perspective.

267

So they want to, you know,

take what they've earned 'cause

268

typically a diaspora population

has fairly high earning potential.

269

That's sort of part of the

dynamic when people leave.

270

So they might have access

to a bit more capital.

271

They're looking to deploy that back home

if they can easily find the routes to do

272

that and are engaged in more of a, they

want to do more than just write a check.

273

They typically want to be able to

contribute but then also advise and guide

274

and add that knowledge and experience

that they've garnered from the time away.

275

So that's really what it is.

276

They're, when they're wanting to give

back, often it's through companies.

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They're wanting to support

companies, but also to community

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and initiatives on the ground.

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And then right to the individual level,

they want to help people, either in

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the diaspora or back home particularly

through the knowledge and experience

281

that they've garnered in their lives.

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Michelle Samson: So are there any

particular kinds of Cape Breton

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based businesses, professionals,

organizations that can really

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benefit from engaging with them?

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Sean Meister: The ones that

are gonna benefit the most are

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companies that are looking external.

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So if you're an exporting company, and by

exporting, again, I mean outside of the

288

province, it doesn't matter what size you

are, but if that's sort of your objective

289

is to grow and scale, that's where this

community becomes really beneficial

290

because then you can sort of access

the full suite of knowledge from them.

291

So any company, any business owner,

any entrepreneur could benefit

292

from the knowledge and insights

from the Cape Breton diaspora.

293

That's just a fact that I think

every jurisdiction has seen.

294

You're gonna learn something from

talking to other people, and you're

295

especially gonna learn something from

talking to people that have lived

296

and grown careers and businesses

away from where you've experienced.

297

But particularly if you're looking to

then sell and grow into international

298

markets, if you're looking to draw

in investment to help grow and scale,

299

that's where those knowledge and

insights become that much more important.

300

Because if you are a company in Cape

Breton, say you're a tech company,

301

you're a life sciences company, or you're

a consumer goods company, and you've

302

earmarked that you want to go to the

UK, not only can you get the strategic

303

guidance from people on the ground in,

you know, London or elsewhere in the UK

304

on how to build that plan, how to do it

properly, when you get to the point that

305

you're ready to go, they're also there

as a resource to start opening doors.

306

And when you get on the plane and

go over there, 'cause you need to

307

when you're an exporter, they're

then gonna be there to welcome you.

308

They're gonna take you out for

dinner, they're gonna introduce

309

you to people, they're gonna

tell you where to go, what to do.

310

So you really start to get that full

value of having somebody in your

311

corner who understands both worlds.

312

They understand your operating environment

in Cape Breton, and then they understand

313

the operating environment of the place

that you want to tackle as a business.

314

So those are the companies I always

say are best suited to get full

315

value from a diaspora population,

especially from sort of global

316

Bluenosers and global Cape Bretoners.

317

Michelle Samson: All

of this sounds amazing.

318

What are the nuts and bolts here?

319

How do they tap into this diaspora?

320

Sean Meister: Well, that's what we're

building right now, that's sort of

321

the stage we're at, you know, we've

spent a couple years building the

322

momentum of a community and building

the trust with the diaspora that we're

323

not, you know, just in it to take

that we focus on giving to them first.

324

So for companies that want access it, the

best place to start is to actually have

325

a chat with me cause we're developing a

few programs and initiatives for people

326

to really tap into it, but we're kind

of looking for the early adopters, the

327

ones that really want to help us dial

in what that program and support looks

328

like through the diaspora population.

329

So the best place to start is me.

330

Connect with me on LinkedIn

or I'll provide my details.

331

You can share with

anybody that's interested.

332

But have a chat with me.

333

We can learn about your goals and

objectives and sort of start to go from

334

there to tailor some support around how

to tap into some Cape Bretoners around

335

the world to give you the help you need.

336

Michelle Samson: Great.

337

We'll put those details

down in the show notes.

338

But as Nova Scotia's LinkedIn guy,

that's a great place to start with Sean.

339

Sean Meister: LinkedIn is

an easy place to start.

340

Yeah.

341

Michelle Samson: So, you know, you've

talked about how the expats that you're

342

working with have very successful lives.

343

It sounds like they have

very exciting lives.

344

If someone maybe is listening who

has been thinking about going abroad

345

to get some global experience,

can you help them as well?

346

Sean Meister: Absolutely.

347

So that we've seen happening quite a bit.

348

When people are looking to go, what we

can do there is when people are sort of

349

at the exploratory phase, we can connect

them in with expats and Bluenosers

350

in the places that they're looking

to go for sort of like pre-vetting.

351

We've done that where people are

looking at it, where we say, "Okay,

352

have some conversations with the

folks that have been there, done that.

353

See if it is everything

you think it could be."

354

Or if you're traveling someplace

to explore, we'll get you connected

355

to, you know, have dinner with four

or five of them to really go deep

356

and hear what it's gonna be like.

357

Similarly, if you're going abroad, you're

gonna be looking for jobs, you're gonna

358

be looking for a place to live, you're

gonna have to deal with whole new tax

359

systems and banking and everything.

360

These are all kind of the things that the

Bluenosers can help with on the ground.

361

And we see that all the time.

362

So there's lots of ways that we can

help there and we love to do that.

363

You know, we want to give a sort of

a soft landing if somebody decides

364

to leave Nova Scotia, that they're

gonna land and feel a sense of

365

community the second they get there.

366

Michelle Samson: Okay.

367

I just know that someone is listening

who's got their hackles up and they're

368

thinking, "No, don't help them leave!"

369

As a proud Bluenoser yourself,

why are you so comfortable

370

facilitating these kinds of exits?

371

Sean Meister: A few different reasons.

372

First of all, if somebody's

gonna leave, they're gonna leave.

373

So I don't think it helps to try to push

back against somebody's ambition to leave.

374

Usually if you've talked to enough people

that have left, the vast majority of

375

them have something in their mind, and

I'd say the best thing for us to do as

376

a community is to support them in that.

377

The other side of it, which is sort

of the bigger picture, the macro

378

picture, is we want people to go

out and gather global experience.

379

Those other jurisdictions I talked about,

like the Irelands of the world, they

380

encourage people to go out and gather

that knowledge and experience because

381

they see the value in having a network

of people that have gone out into the

382

world, gathered knowledge, connections,

capital, and then if they've already got

383

the ways to then bring that back into the

community, either through them moving back

384

or through them contributing as a diaspora

population, that makes us even stronger.

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So for me, somebody leaving

Nova Scotia, it's tough.

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I've done it.

387

You know, that was the thing

I heard was, "Don't do it.

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Don't leave."

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Where I've gotten to in my life is

like, no, we want people to gather

390

that knowledge because then we can all

benefit from it, those of us that have

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left and those of us that haven't.

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We all benefit from a population

that is tapped into the world.

393

So, yeah, I want that to be facilitated

and supported so that we don't

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have people off in every direction.

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If people are gonna leave, do it in a

way that they feel supported and then

396

they're gonna more easily give back when

they get to the point that they can.

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Michelle Samson: Yeah.

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And I'm not worried about this

creating mass exodus either, because

399

there are some people who absolutely

wanna go get that global experience.

400

And then there are other people

who are like, "I am very happy

401

here, thank you very much."

402

Sean Meister: It's true.

403

And the other reality is that

by design through every diaspora

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population, a percentage returns home.

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So people are going to come back too.

406

Are all of them?

407

No.

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And that's completely fine, but

a percentage will come back.

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So it sort of restocks the shelves

that talent does come back.

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And if anything, you know, we should be

having conversations with that population

411

to learn what are their motivations for

leaving, what are their motivations for

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returning, and then how can we take all

of that knowledge to better design systems

413

and policies here to be supportive, not

just of those that stay, but those that

414

leave and how to address the things that,

you know, there are gonna be problems

415

here that make people wanna leave and

things that make people want to come back.

416

So we just have to do better

at getting that information

417

so that we can address that.

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We control the things that we can control

and not control the things that we can't,

419

which is people's individual motivations.

420

Michelle Samson: Yeah, absolutely.

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Okay.

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So, you already kind of mentioned that

you're looking for your founding members.

423

Tell us a little bit more about

your memberships as they're going

424

to roll out over, you know, say the

next number of months or even years,

425

if you've got that planned out.

426

And who should consider

getting a membership?

427

Sean Meister: Yeah, so that's really been

at the core of our organization growing.

428

You know, we're a not-for-profit and we

don't take any sort of core funding from

429

government, so we needed a revenue plan.

430

The membership and that official

way for people to buy into the

431

community has been a key part.

432

A really light touch membership.

433

So we have launching this

week our founding members.

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So that'll be a group of 30 people that

are sort of through the gate first and

435

really help us dial in what the community

looks like from an engagement perspective.

436

And then we're just gonna have two

sort of core memberships that people

437

can join, a general and a premium.

438

Really, again, all focused on

people who understand the value

439

of networks in their careers.

440

It's a professional network, so there's

a large social component, but the real

441

focus here is about joining a network

in a community that's there to lift

442

you up on your professional journey.

443

So that's the first and foremost thing.

444

So if somebody doesn't need a network

in their career, if they're in a career

445

where that doesn't mean anything, they're

probably not gonna be the right one.

446

But if you really want to be surrounded

by a global network locally where you live

447

and in cities around the world, that's

really who it's for, and how to accelerate

448

that in a really Nova Scotian way.

449

So yeah, we're rolling that out.

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It's gonna be focused on bringing

people together through in-person and

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virtual events, really looking at ways

to facilitate connections amongst each

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other, how to support one another.

453

And then how to turn that into giving

back to the province through supporting

454

companies and things like that.

455

So that's the focus.

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It's for ambitious professionals

around the world with any sort of

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connection to Nova Scotia, who wanna

really build up their network and

458

contribute back to the province as well.

459

Michelle Samson: And you're also including

in your memberships, as an option, the

460

Boomerang Bluenosers as well, right?

461

Sean Meister: Yes.

462

So that's a fun one that we've

added in, which it, I don't know

463

why it took me so long, considering

that's who I am and that's, you

464

and I are both in that category.

465

Like I said, a part of a

diaspora population is that a

466

percentage of people return.

467

That's a unique journey in and of itself.

468

I've been going through it for

eight years now, where the return

469

back is not what you expect.

470

So we wanted to add in a way for

that community to join into Global

471

Bluenosers to support one another on

the ground here in Nova Scotia, wherever

472

they are in the province, to give

them access to that global network.

473

Most of them have lived internationally,

so they, in their careers, can then

474

tap into the Global Bluenosers in

a way that they really know how.

475

And then for people that do

decide to want to come home,

476

it gives a nice soft landing.

477

Just like we want to help people if

they're gonna leave the province,

478

give them that soft landing

in a city where they're going.

479

When someone decides they wanna return

home, we wanna give them a soft landing of

480

a community that understands that journey.

481

And so that's who the

Boomerang Bluenosers will be.

482

So those are the two categories.

483

The folks that have left and

are still away, and the people

484

that have left and returned.

485

And that's gonna make up Global

Bluenosers over the short and

486

medium and probably long term.

487

Michelle Samson: Yeah, I had the pleasure

of joining your Boomerang Bluenosers

488

event that you held in Halifax last fall.

489

And I really found this group just

so eager to help, which is so great.

490

Like I think sometimes people might

wonder, "Well I can join this thing, but,

491

you know, is it just gonna be crickets?"

492

Sean Meister: Yeah.

493

Michelle Samson: That is

certainly not the case.

494

Sean Meister: Well, I mean,

there's rarely crickets when

495

there's Nova Scotians involved.

496

So there, there's, I mean, I think that's

been the, maybe the thing that I've loved

497

the most of this journey for me is, it's

very much tapped into the human side of

498

Nova Scotia that I always knew about, but

you know, until you really purposefully

499

look at it, you don't recognize it.

500

I always say that pretty much everyone

that engages at my events or that I talk

501

to, or whatever it might be, the number

one thing they ask is how they can help.

502

And I think that just says so

much about who we are as a people

503

that the first instinct isn't

to say like, "What can I get?"

504

It's, "How can I help?"

505

And I think that's what, you know,

the Boomerang Bluenoser event, I

506

think we saw it in that is people

wanted to help each other out.

507

I see it in the events when

we host 'em around the world.

508

When we do things virtually.

509

Same thing is people want to

give, they want to give back to

510

each other, they want to help.

511

And, I don't know, I just find that really

refreshing in, in a world that sometimes

512

can feel like people aren't thinking

about how they wanna help each other out.

513

Michelle Samson: Right.

514

And for these memberships,

how can they sign up?

515

Sean Meister: Go to the

website, GlobalBluenosers.ca.

516

You'll find everything right there on

the homepage and under the memberships

517

tab, so people can go there, sign up for

the wait list, or go direct to purchase.

518

And once they get

onboarded, we get rolling.

519

They get to experience the

power of a diaspora network,

520

which is a pretty magical thing.

521

Michelle Samson: This was so interesting.

522

I'm exactly the kind of nerd to have

found this absolutely fascinating, Sean.

523

Any final thoughts before we wrap this up?

524

Sean Meister: I mean, my biggest thing I

like to reinforce is for any of folks that

525

are here at home, whether in government

or just living their lives, don't forget

526

about how big Nova Scotia actually is.

527

So it's like we always look at Nova Scotia

as like we're the small little underdogs

528

sticking off out into the Atlantic.

529

The thing I've learned is we have so much

power at our disposal when we think about

530

the amount of people that love this place.

531

So when we talk about ourselves,

let's maybe shake off a little

532

bit of the self-deprecation.

533

Let's realize just how amazing the

place is and how strong the province is.

534

And to really reach that

potential, we want everybody in.

535

So, you know, reach out to those people

in your network that have left and

536

make sure they know how much they're

appreciated and bring 'em in under the

537

tent because yeah, we've got so much at

our disposal that we still have untapped.

538

Michelle Samson: Great.

539

Yeah.

540

Share this episode.

541

Email your sons and daughters

and cousins and uncles and...

542

All right.

543

Thank you so much, Sean.

544

This was so great.

545

Sean Meister: Thanks

so much for having me.

546

If you'd like to connect with

Sean, you can find links to his

547

LinkedIn profile and the Global

Bluenosers website in the show notes.

548

New episodes of Invest in

Cape Breton are coming soon.

549

Follow us on Apple Podcasts or

Spotify to be notified when they drop.

550

Our theme music is Under

My Skin by Glace Bay's own.

551

Elise Aaron.

552

Invest in Cape Breton is produced

by Storied Places Media, and

553

hosted by me, Michelle Samson.

554

Thanks for listening.