Be Kind to Yourself

👩🏻 Top insight to share from me, Co-Founder Weiting

Rewinding back to Volume 1 (Jan 2025) of this newsletter series, I asked 13K readers: “Have you or someone you know ever experienced a mental health condition?”

90.77% of you replied with YES.

Let’s let that sink in for a second.

I’m curious, does this percentage change with a larger audience?

We’ve just crossed 40K readers 10 months later (wow!) and it’s time I ask you the same question again.

With World Mental Health Day (set out by World Federation of Mental Health, October 10th) and Canadian Thanksgiving landing in the same week this year, it feels like a good time to pause, breathe, and check in - with ourselves and with the people we care about.

I’m checking in on you! How’ve you been doing lately?

If reading this is the little pause you’re giving yourself today, I’m so honoured to be part of it!

In this edition, let’s take a break from rental housing stories.

Instead, I’ll show you a glimpse into behind-the-scenes at Openroom and how I did a bit of self-care last week.

I’ll be very honest. Running Openroom isn’t something glamourous. There are far easier things to build than this. No one starts a company in this space for fun.

Not even competitors.

I wrote about my first pay check after 502 days of running Openroom. At minimum wage. I mean, if that’s not wild, tell me what is.

So I got pretty excited last week when I found myself scrolling Facebook on Wednesday night, and saw a mom’s group post about an “album listening party” at a professional recording studio for Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl.

It was for Thursday - aka the next night.

It starts at 11 PM EST.

Now please allow me to fangirl a second.

Ms. Swift inspires me in many ways from her storytelling to her personal integrity, to her business smarts. I love the way she appreciates her mom, her fans, and the world. You don’t have to love her music but for me, she’s a real role model.

I was thoroughly disappointed that I didn’t get to go to Taylor’s Eras Tour when she was in Toronto. I really should have sat outside the Roger’s Centre to just catch some beats. I don’t know if she’s going to tour again.

Well, I bought the ticket to this recording studio listening party.

After I bought it, I told my spouse (who also happens to be my Openroom Co-Founder) that I’m heading out tomorrow night for a good time - without him.

Aside: I’m very thankful for Co-Founder Vishal’s support. Running Openroom together while raising two young toddlers is equal parts chaos and joy. If you don’t know by now, we like to play life on hard-mode.

I was kind of skeptical as I drove to the studio late Thursday night, but nonetheless, I showed up to Abstract Studios — a recording studio in Vaughan known for its recording, mixing, and mastering setup.

And oh my goodness, I’ve never seen equipment like that in my life.

Just look at this high tech stuff!!!

I learned so much with owners Ante and Ioanna about music production in a short couple of hours.

The next day, I was volunteering at a Seniors’ Information Fair. After I finished, I had a little extra time. I drove to the closest Cineplex to see the official release album movie about the making of this album.

A common phrase, attributed commonly to the Buddha says: “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

For me, no matter how many jabs come at me on the internet - it’s okay. Over the years, I’ve taken a lot of time to learn more about myself, my flaws and my strengths. As I build Openroom with my team, I know why we do what we do and how we do it responsibly.

I’ve seen a few misconceptions about Openroom out there, and I welcome the opportunity for real conversation.

As always, I’m happy to walk through how we operate as a legal and compliant Consumer Reporting Agency, and more importantly, how we support both great renters and landlords.

Even critique, in its own way, shows that people care about this space and that’s something I respect. The skeptics continuously remind me of why our work at Openroom matters.

As Taylor Swift sings in Actually Romantic (The Life of a Showgirl):

I want to see a better future in rental housing!

Thank you to each member of the Openroom community for following along this journey.

Thank you for supporting the work we do in building for a transparent and connected rental ecosystem that supports responsible renters and responsible landlords.

As you gather with family this Thanksgiving, take a moment to check in on your loved ones but if you don’t celebrate in the traditional fashion, treat this as a gentle reminder to appreciate yourself.

For Mental Health Resources in Canada

Please check out the Canadian Mental Health Association’s website.

If you are in a crisis, please call the Community Crisis Response Service at 1-855-310-COPE (2673), Suicide Crisis Helpline at 9-8-8 or call 9-1-1.

Please reply back to this email as I’d love to see how you took a moment for yourself. Being kind to yourself goes a long way.

• Sipping coffee and reading this on the sofa? ☕️

• Meditated or exercised today?

• Treated yourself to a Tim Horton’s ice capp?

I’ll gather your responses and share it with the Openroom community in the next newsletter.

I’ll ask our kids to do random draws of names from responses as I’ve got a few self-care goodie packages ready to ship out to readers courtesy of my good friend, Charlene, CEO at Eatables - Gourmet Popcorn!

psst - Eatables is part of our Rewards Network. Newsletter readers and residents enrolled in the Rent Rewards program can use code “OPENROOM” to get 20% off!

Until then, take care. 💜

Weiting Bollu
Mom, Rental Housing Provider, Rental Housing Advocate, Educator, and Openroom Co-Founder & CEO

What does my team at Openroom do?

At Openroom, we aggregate tenancy court orders across Canada, extract information from them, and put it to public use (e.g. public record search for tenant screening, rental debt reporting to Equifax, legal research for all, reduce delinquency risk while renters get to build credit).

We also educate about rental housing, provide free resources, and we advocate for a more transparent and connected rental ecosystem to support both responsible housing providers and residents.