Happy Pride Month!

Posted by: Bret Klarenbach Post Date: June 29, 2022

What does Pride Month mean to you and those around you? What kind of emotions does this month elicit? Let’s talk about them.

Balsom has been lucky enough to work with a diverse group of individuals — within our internal teams, sponsors, clients, and beyond. These have all brought new perspectives, emotions, beliefs, values, and newfound energy that was sculpted into something brilliant. We have been blessed by individuals that identify as LGBTQ+ and will continuously implore those around us to gracefully embrace difference. In doing so, a few of our team members were posted up at the Pride Festival over the weekend in Fort McMurray alongside one of our clients, our friends at Imperial Oil. There was an immense sense of community from the games and giveaways to the magnetic Drag performances. There’s nothing quite like it.


Enabling these safe spaces that create inclusivity is paramount. It is ever more important to enter these safe spaces as allies to let our communities know we are here long after the tents and flags go down. When we involve ourselves as allies, these safe spaces exist in perpetuity through our welcoming smiles in the 11 other months of waking up exactly who we are, unafraid to express it. We only accomplish this by doing, and consistently showing up with the right mindset.

#Pride Month is more than awareness. Go to that Pride Festival. Grab some friends and catch a Drag show. Embrace the energy this month holds because it’s some of the most fun-loving, passionate, sincere, and welcoming energy you will ever experience in your life. Feel awkward. Put yourself outside of your comfort zone, because only as we confront those feelings of awkwardness and uncertainty is when we realize that maybe we should continue on without them. Consider that maybe we don’t need to try reasoning these differences at all. Maybe it just is, and we just are.


Balsom is a proud sponsor through Your McMurray Magazine and YMM Parent of the Fort McMurray Pride Festival, and we understand the hard work that goes into making this event possible. Thank you soo so much to the Pride Festival Committee who made this wonderful event such a joy, and allowed the rest of us to simply embrace all of its goodness. Happy #Pride ❤️🧡💛💚💚💜

Author

In April 2021, Bret graduated with his B.Comm. from Edwards School of Business, UofS. Throughout his undergrad- he worked with the National Lacrosse League, RedBull, competed in Western Canada’s largest business case competition, and created a social media management and consulting agency strategizing brand with a Netflix TV personality for their 600k+ followers. Prior to working at Balsom, Bret was the Marketing and Communications Coordinator at Vendasta. He’s developed a wide assortment of marketing initiatives including email, newsletter, social media, webinars, broadcast, etc. He was also the Producer of Vendasta’s Apple top 10% business podcast “Conquer Local”. In this, he connected with business thought-leaders around the world to have them dissect relevant topics for an audience across 50+ countries. Some notable projects included creating content with: Gretchen Rubin: NY Times and international bestseller Mark Hunter: Top 50 Most Influential Sales and Marketing Leader in The World Heather Monahan: Top 50 Keynote Speaker in The World 2022, Best-selling Author, and TED Speaker Rishad Tobaccowala: TIME magazine’s “one of 5 marketing innovators in the world” Bret continuously involves himself in his community and strives to facilitate the success of those around him. Most recently, he coached the entrepreneurship team at the UofS for 5 months in preparation for Western Canada’s largest business case competition. After-hours, he loves staying informed with the marketing atmosphere and is very active on LinkedIn. Bret is most likely at the gym, watching The Office, creating content on social media, or having fun with his friends and family.