#MogoLife interview: Meet Melissa Bolduc – fashion designer for every body

Ladyboss and Canadian clothing designer Melissa Bolduc is the brains behind Melow, her ‘accessible and comfortable’ fashion line based out of Montreal. We sat down with the inspiring entrepreneur to find out more about what inspires her, what keeps her hustlin’, and what Adulting advice she has for all of us. Melissa Bolduc – Ladyboss and designer at Melow So...what’s your company all about? Melissa: At Melow, we are all about feeling good in your clothes no matter your size, shape or age. Our clothes are designed to adjust to any body shape, and to ensure this, we always do two fittings: one on a small-fit model and one on a larger-fit model. By doing this, we know our clothes will fit seamlessly on all body shapes. What made you decide to be an entrepreneur instead of joining another fashion brand? Melissa: I have always been an entrepreneur in some way. I used to sell flowers and raspberries on the side of our cottage road as a kid. When I was teenager, I began making jewelry and dream catchers that I sold at festivals and in various stores. At 20, I started making figure skating dresses that I would

Meet Mary Young - one of our financial models (pun intended)

A local success story from Ontario, Mary Young, CEO & Designer at MARY YOUNG, is making a statement with her lifestyle and lingerie line. After starring in our latest ad campaign (Finances with benefits, y’all), Mary sat down with us to answer a few questions on her #girlboss style. So… what’s your company all about? Mary: My company is a women’s lifestyle lingerie and loungewear clothing line that focuses on encouraging women to embrace their natural shape to feel comfortable, confident and in turn, sexy. Every garment is designed and made in Canada using extremely soft jerseys and elastics to ensure the most comfortable wear. Image from Mary Young That’s pretty sweet. How’d you come up with that? Mary: Honestly, I fell into this journey and never once had a plan for where I am now. I produced a double thesis in my fourth year at Ryerson University, half of it being a lingerie and loungewear collection. We dig your entrepreneurial spirit! What made you decide to start your own company? Mary: I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I never knew what that would look like. After having many women ask

Amber Rose Collection Pop Up Shop at the MogoLounge

If you haven’t heard, Amber Rose will be in the 6ix to present at the MuchMusic Video Awards... But the MMVAs aren’t the only place you’ll be able to see her. That’s right, on June 18th from 4 to 7pm, Amber Rose will be doing a pop-up shop at the MogoLounge for the Amber Rose Collection. For us, it’s pretty much a match made in heaven. Yes, Amber Rose has courted controversy, but she’s also a strong woman who’s notoriously unapologetic about who she is. And she’s got a wicked sense of humour too. We dig it, and we identify with that. If you’re in town, drop by 797 Queen Street West! And keep checking back for more MogoLounge pop-up collabs—these will be ongoing events with both local and international creators. #JustGettingStarted Sign up to be a MogoMember to keep up with Mogo events at the lounge (and elsewhere)! SIGN UP NOW

5 ways to make sure money doesn’t ruin your marriage

Our Financial Fitness Coach, Chantel, just wrote an article on the Ottawa Wedding Journal about how to keep it together with your boo while navigating your finances. Check out her 5 Marriage & Money tips: Sorry to break it to you, but when it comes to money honey, you’ve got to bring a business mindset to your marriage. Money issues can be a major reason why marriages fall apart. Like businesses, actually. So while you’re still in the honeymoon phase (aka. when the waters are calm and things are going awesome), you need to lay out a solid plan for how you’re going to handle your finances. The Plan Image by giphy.com 1. Self assess your money situation. Do a credit check on yourself and look into your report in detail to get an idea of where you stand. Identify any issues you’re having and make a plan to pay them back so you’re not bringing them into the relationship. Lead by example. Image by im-hoplessly-devoted.tumblr.com 2. Have an open discussion with your partner about your current financial situation. Have an understanding of each other goals and make sure you’re on

Surprise! Millennials are the #1 fraud victims

You’re more likely to be a victim of fraud than your grandma. According to the Financial Post, “50% of suspect and highly suspect credit application frauds in Canada in 2015 were against Millennials or Generation Y… regarded as anywhere from age 16 to 36.” That’s crazy. Millennials are supposed to be the ones who are on top of technology and know things. (On the other hand, people born before 1944 comprised only 3% of these suspected frauds.) How to protect yourself from fraud Don’t put your real birthdate on Facebook. Fraudsters can start credit applications under your name—sometimes they only need your name, birthday, and address! You can still say your actual birthday because who wants to miss out on all the bday love (obvs) on your wall?? But to prevent someone from getting all of my personal info, I deliberately put the wrong birth-year (1976). CLEARLY I don’t look a day older than 21. But the fraudsters don’t know this lol. Make sure you read before you provide info in apps. For example, like before you buy a filter on a photo app. Sometimes, “in-app purchases” are just a scam to get your

When Art Meets FinTech: Ola Volo

When you have a giant white wall in the office, it means only one thing: time to get yourself a kickass mural. Well, we happened to have a giant white wall in the office. So… we went and got ourselves a kickass mural. Meet the amazing Ola Volo, (who’s also done murals for Lululemon, Translink, and Save-on Meats). So how did you get into art and mural-making? Ola: I studied design at Emily Carr, moved to Holland to study there for a bit. I was also really inspired by street art and murals that I saw in New York. What I love about murals is that they’re accessible to a lot of people at once. Right, it’s more inclusive as opposed to being limited to people who hang out at art galleries. Ola: Yes! Which leads to starting conversations, especially when you have this very public art that can offer a narrative, bypassing language barriers and cultural differences. It’s like storytelling—but on a large scale. Very cool. Where do you find inspiration for your art? Ola: Oh everywhere. Eastern European, Russian, and Canadian nature folklore, symbolism... I’ve been fascinated by Gustav Klimt’s work

What went down at the Maxim x Mogo All-Star Party

So you may remember that back in February during NBA All-Star weekend, we threw a party with Maxim with Snoop and Shaq in attendance. (Shaq’s actually a pretty good DJ.) We’ve got a cool “Adulting with celebs” video series coming, but in the meantime, check out some of the night’s highlights. SWAG For the Mogo VIPs Ambiance on fleek These streets will make you feel brand new, Big lights will inspire you “So Shaq, what’s your advice for being an adult?” Stay tuned for our red carpet interviews with Shaq, Rick Fox, and other celebs and ballers who’ve got their own Adulting advice to share. Keep up with the latest in exclusive events and finance tips with our MogoMember newsletter! SIGN ME UP

Re. Those ads

So we’ve just launched our new ad campaign; you might have seen it online and in the paper. We expected that it might be risky. When we decided that we wanted to make finances relatable to millennials, we knew a few moms and dads would cover their eyes. The thing is, we’re not talking about sex just for the sake of talking about sex. We’re talking about it in a very specific way that plays on the taboo nature of the topic—because that’s also how people tend to approach conversations about their money... which does nothing for financial literacy rates. A PricewaterhouseCoopers report found that "compared with other Americans, the millennial generation—those born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s—has the “lowest level of financial literacy.” We think $45 NSF fees and bank CEOs’ salaries are more offensive, tbh. Sure, talking about sex can be difficult. But that’s just like talking about finances. It’s not always easy to talk about debt and credit and managing your money. But like any other serious issue, sweeping it under the rug doesn’t help. Being transparent and addressing it honestly, even if it gets a

How to travel on a budget: 8 tips for students

Thinking of taking a trip for Reading Week aka. Spring Break? Don’t plan to blow the last three months’ paycheques on it because you’re a responsible adult and stuff? (If so, we’ve taught you well, young Padawan.) Check out these 8 ways to save your wallet from unnecessary pain while you’re abroad. 1. Book in advance. One of the most important things you can do to save money can actually be done way before you leave on your trip: book your stuff in advance! Accommodations and plane tickets (any tickets, really) are generally cheaper if you can buy them months before your trip, and if you plan to go to a tourist hotspot, you’ll probably want to get tickets to tourist sights before they sell out. 2. Don’t stay in a hotel. Seriously. Stay in a B&B or hostel instead. You’ll save so much $$, meet more people, have better conversations, and definitely get a better feel for the local scene. If you’re antsy about staying at a hostel, it’s not that scary—there are so many reviews and ratings on Hostelworld or Hostelbookers. If you really need your own space,

YOUR BEST. SHAPE. EVER.

So we surveyed a bunch of 18–35s because we were just that curious about the top new year’s resolutions for millennials... and the top two answers were actually really close: • 26% of you want to pay off your debt • 27% of you want to lose weight In light of these two super popular resolutions, I’ve put together the four must-do things that’ll help you achieve both — well they’re key to any regime, really. New year, new you, right? Set goals To make sure that you have a target to hit, you’ve got to set your sights on something — and we prefer our goals lofty. Whether you’re setting savings goals or a goal weight, try to aim just beyond what you know you can realistically do. Hey, if you shoot for the moon, you’ll land among the stars even if you fail. Or something like that. Get edu-ma-cated Now that you know what you want to shoot for, how are you going to get there? (Without getting suckered into fad diets that have no positive effect on your body AND make you feel like sh*t?) Same goes for your money. PSA: Our