In the Club

EP 37: Stories of Collaboration and Growth

ClassForKids

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Ever wondered what your choice of hat says about your personality? Or how a background in stilt walking can lead to a life in the circus? Join us as we kick off the year with a whimsical blend of personal reflections, industry insights, and entertaining anecdotes. 

We'll take you through the buzzing "Running Start" campaign and our unforgettable online event with the dynamic duo, Rue Grant and Libby Langley, who are all about empowering businesses to hit the ground running. Prepare for a lively discussion that's as engaging as it is insightful.

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Speaker 1:

again. It is January Brian, january Stephen. It is the end of January. Well, as this goes out, end of January. I'm time stamping this. That's probably not the right thing to do. We podcast, but still you can be listening at any time. When are we recording this? It's January, we're recording this in. January. Uh huh, brian seems to just be saying everything I'm saying that's how it works.

Speaker 2:

That's a good conversation, isn't it? One person says loads of stuff and then the second person just repeats it.

Speaker 1:

That's probably how it goes. Yes, I had a nice Christmas and New Year. What about yourself?

Speaker 2:

So far away, so long ago, I can't even remember. I know.

Speaker 1:

I don't even want to say Happy New Year to everybody out there, because that's the wrong thing to do.

Speaker 2:

There's very, very strict rules on when you can say there is, I saw the 16th, the date, the date, the 16th. I don't know whether it was somebody being funny or it was a meme, or whatever. It was like the 16th of January. That's your hard cut off for saying happy new year to somebody right, okay, that sounds like a very arbitrary.

Speaker 1:

The 16th, okay, well, we're we are past the 16th.

Speaker 2:

We'll buy that. We'll buy that.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, we won't be saying happy new year. So we hope you had a nice time over Christmas. We hope you had a nice time new year and we hope, like us, you are hitting the ground running or getting off to a running start. Yeah, yeah, I made it wrong. We've got a campaign going called Running Start and I misnamed it there. But yes, I hope you are getting off to a running start, like we are here at Class for Kids. It really is that way. I mean, I am stowed already all good stuff but I'm planning today. I've been planning for September. Yeah, yeah, it's just what about your space?

Speaker 2:

it's been busy, so I've been. We were so busy the last three, four, five months of the year that I've just, this week, finished off ticked off the last of the projects that was working off before Christmas.

Speaker 1:

It was an insane amount it really was. It was like three, like a good two, three months of just editing as well. Come the end of it, it was loads, I mean. So same again this year, same this year double it double it, triple it. Yeah, we'll just work ourselves into an early grave that's it well, it's a good podcast for the first of the year.

Speaker 1:

It's a bit of an interesting one because we've just finished or it's just went out. You can still get access to it on demand, I believe soon, through the website, believe that's the case? Yeah, very interesting webinar. Webinar online event, as I'm trying to rename them these days because I don't like the term webinars, right.

Speaker 2:

It's too corporate, we're not corporate.

Speaker 1:

We do online events Exactly. We don't do webinars. We have just finished an online event with Rue Grant and with Libby Langley. Libby Langley worked with in the past. She's a business expert and mentor. Rue is an expert in all things social and Instagram. We paired them both together to run an online event that was about empowering businesses at the start of the year to get all their eggs in baskets, all their bricks in houses and Get the roof on. Get the roof on, yeah, because the marketing was the roof. You need to understand, you need to go and watch the online event.

Speaker 2:

Go and sign up for the online event, please do, and then come back and listen to the rest of this podcast.

Speaker 1:

Pause this bit, right, and we'll just we'll just wait a minute, right. It's not going back yet. What an online event that was. Whoa see? You now know what I'm talking about, so I'm glad that you experienced it. But you know what? We didn't just do an online event with them. We did not. We don thing. Brian recorded a podcast with them and I was in that podcast and I think we should go and listen to it.

Speaker 2:

I think we should.

Speaker 1:

Here it goes, enjoy. You may recognise these guys from the online event if you attended that Class for Kids put on, and it was fantastic. Lots of good learnings from it. But now we just want to find out a little bit more about both of you. Libby, as we said before, you've already been in the podcast. We know a little bit about you. Don't know as much about you, ru, other than we did cross paths in a previous workplace. We did.

Speaker 3:

I love that you're doing that for full disclosure. Yeah, full disclosure, we already know each other a little bit.

Speaker 1:

Just a little bit, yeah, in case anybody goes searching and they're like they two know each other. I know everyone, caitlin. I know who else Me, you, who else Three is everyone she knows three.

Speaker 3:

That's everyone in the office, okay that's fine, it's a lot, it's quite a lot.

Speaker 1:

Give us a little slice of your company which is called Pure Gallus, which, if you're not Glaswegian, basically means really excellent, kind of cheeky isn't it Kind?

Speaker 3:

of. It's usually a term that would be used for a person.

Speaker 1:

Can we hear my sentence?

Speaker 3:

I'd be like that bartender was pure gallus. He handed me his number with my cocktail.

Speaker 4:

It's gallus.

Speaker 3:

Really, I don't know is that a good?

Speaker 1:

thing, though, I know Well, yeah he's gallus.

Speaker 4:

You made that sound like it's not such a good thing.

Speaker 3:

I think it's a good thing. I think it's a good thing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it's a good thing. Yeah, no, it's a good thing. It's like cheeky confident. Yeah, she's gonna say it's more confident. You know what I mean? You can also say like it could be good and that's the thing. It could be really good. Oh, he's pure gallus. Or you could go he's pure gallus which means he's like sleazy or just overly confident, yeah, more like they're doing.

Speaker 3:

They're maybe more should be, potentially sometimes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but in my, in my way, I've used that it's more just like, not how you know, obviously she's very kind of yeah, you're not, you're not, yeah, I'm not out there quiet.

Speaker 3:

You're very quiet person, very quiet.

Speaker 1:

Always have been not and libby, give us a little bit about yourself again. Obviously it's a bit of a cap up. And Libby Langley the first time we spoke to me it's just a superhero name. Yeah, it's cool it's totally like there is an alter ego in there somewhere, so we'll maybe address that later in the podcast.

Speaker 4:

It's definitely a pants over tights name yeah, definitely isn't it, I think it is a pants over tights name so let the people know what you do you know, okay, um, so the fact, despite the fact that I didn't remember that I had to speak, yeah I'm a podcaster she has a podcast, has her own podcast.

Speaker 1:

Give it a plug I do.

Speaker 4:

It's called life in business and it's about business owners. It's for business owners who want to grow without hustling I'm very anti-hustle. Also written a book, so I'm a published author and day-to-day I'm a business coach again ever felt like the dumbest person in the room, so that's how I'm feeling right now clearly.

Speaker 1:

We started working with you last year after we met you at ICAP. Icap, you won't be aware, is the Institute of Children's Activity Providers. But since then, right, you've been on other stages, presenting other presentations, doing keynote speeches. Who was caught first stealing your ideas? I mean, that's the spin I've put on it well, let's keep that spin going, because I think you're going to be surprised as well.

Speaker 4:

Cheeky bosom. I spoke at an event, a franchise, the British Franchise Association event in 2024, and was one of the keynotes, and Stephen Bartlett was on stage directly after me and there's a fantastic video that my husband took of me on stage, stephen Bartlett on his phone, but standing watching me. He looks up, I say something, he goes back to his phone as if he's making a note.

Speaker 1:

Taking notes.

Speaker 4:

Although I'd just like to say only the good things he's learned from me, not all the bad stuff.

Speaker 1:

All right, okay, yeah, absolutely. That's the caveat, as learn from me not all the bad stuff.

Speaker 4:

that's the caveat as a time of broadcast yes, nothing to do with me, but still I mean that's a compliment, isn't it?

Speaker 1:

that's the guy that's meant to be a head of all businesses, sitting clearly taking notes from you.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, and certainly the early days of his stuff was great. People could learn lots from it.

Speaker 3:

I was never sure about the constant hat wearing, though, in his content. Do you remember he used to always wear a hat?

Speaker 1:

No, I only have really it's been the last two years. I've obviously known about Diana Vaseo. I kind of dip it in and out a little bit. It's not my massive forte. Do you think you can?

Speaker 4:

tell a lobster hat about a person by the kind of hats that they wear, then I love the way this is going.

Speaker 1:

Probably, I think so let's have an example of that. What could that be like if I came in with a Stetson?

Speaker 4:

yeah, I think you'd be really super confident in your own abilities okay maybe Gallus in the wrong way, maybe. Gallus in the wrong way. Maybe you would be sliding your phone number to innocent women at bars.

Speaker 1:

It would be in the hat I would just be like there you go, ma'am, I'll leave that with you, okay? What about a beret?

Speaker 3:

oh, then you're fabulously creative yeah okay you could always feel comfortable with a man in a beret walking you home at night really, that's the quote we're going to take away from this again.

Speaker 1:

This is not going the way I thought it would, but it's going a good way. What about your last hat? A sow wester. Do you know what that is? A? What A sow wester.

Speaker 4:

Prepared, prepared, really well prepared for every event.

Speaker 3:

I have no idea what that is. Do you know what a sow wester is?

Speaker 1:

It's almost like American. Imagine American fire helmets.

Speaker 4:

But it's Well, it's yellow but it's kind of like a big sun hat, we said rain hat looks like a big sun hat, but it's made of yellow thick waterproof material and you have the coats to match will it get you so wasted you imagine like an old lady fisherman or lighthouse

Speaker 1:

lighthouse keepers. They would have Southwesters.

Speaker 4:

I'm with you, so be prepared for every eventuality that makes sense. So we've done hats we're covering the important things.

Speaker 3:

Now we're going back onto you for a second I do like hats.

Speaker 1:

I know something about you, that you don't know. I know and I think it's true. Anyway, it's a anyway.

Speaker 4:

It probably is true.

Speaker 1:

It involves the circus yeah. So you've got a background in the circus, yeah Right, we need to dig into that and explore that. We've got a number of circus schools. On Class for Kids. One of my clients is my people In fact, one of your clients is one of the same people that we've talked to in the past a lot as well clients is the same one of the same people that we've talked to in the past a lot as well.

Speaker 1:

Um, because it's a big. How did you do it right? Where did you do it? Uh-huh, can you still do it?

Speaker 3:

talk on that for a bit okay, so, um, my main skill, uh in the circus was as a stilt walker and a stilt acrobat so I did paired acro with um, another stilt walker. I, yeah, I started doing it when I moved to, so I was a dancer, and then I moved to Glasgow and I just I don't even know how I bumped into this guy who owned a circus company.

Speaker 4:

What kind of hat was he wearing? It was a tiny little bowler hat and was he driving a big car with the wheels and his nose?

Speaker 3:

I don't know he was sort of half French guy and he was like, oh, if you're used to dance, like you probably have good balance, and I was like, oh yeah, I did ballet when I was younger, I've got pretty good balance. And I was like, do you want to come to this space? And like, have a go at walking on stilts? And I was like, yeah, sure, that's super niche, I'll have a go at that. And I was really weirdly naturally good at it. I literally just stood up and started walking.

Speaker 1:

You're quite tall. You are tall, quite tall, 5'8", 5'8" okay.

Speaker 3:

It's the same as me Medium tall.

Speaker 1:

Small for a man, small for a lady.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we are the universal average-heighted person.

Speaker 1:

All furniture is made for us.

Speaker 4:

Is that right? Yeah, because 5'8 is right in the middle. That's why my feet never touch the floor.

Speaker 3:

Kitchen units like this.

Speaker 4:

I meant when I was sitting down. I'm just saying that I'm on like a.

Speaker 1:

She's not a ghost. I'm sitting between a circus performer and a ghost yeah, that's the sound bite for this episode.

Speaker 3:

yeah, so I started doing that. So then I started it was like, oh cool, you should start doing work with us. So it was mostly corporate circus, which sounds like a made up thing. But you know, if you're going to like corporate events, like I performed at things like fire breathers and stuff, all those kind of people, but I was doing stilts, I'd be big stilt characters and did a lot of character work, as you can probably imagine, and it would be you know, x amount to turn up to. You know the Royal Bank of Scotland's Christmas party. That was X themed in an appropriate costume. Okay, and kick about themed in an appropriate costume and kick about.

Speaker 1:

So was it Super fun. So this Frenchman approaches you, Half French, half Irish. I was going to try and do the accent. I was going to try and do that one.

Speaker 3:

No, it was mostly Irish.

Speaker 1:

Where did you go? Like was it.

Speaker 3:

So it wasn't like so they had a space for their sort of professional troop. Yeah, you'd go and like train and do stuff together so that they and it was quite fun because you'd quite often go out and do jobs together. So it was quite cool when you did training and stuff together that you could like come up with little bits, like if there was like a juggler, they'd like, you know, have like a word and you could like take part in their routine like they'd they pretend they're going to drop the ball but actually they're pitching it to you to like bat back at them or whatever.

Speaker 3:

So you could do lots of fun stuff like that. It was great fun. And then actually my first big marketing job was for a circus company after that. What were they called? They were Circus Arts Scotland, so they were the Scottish sort of collective um, and I was like marketing and business development manager for them imagine their offices. It's a bit quirky.

Speaker 4:

Well, yeah, it's a little quirky, you'd think it would have to be otherwise pretty much everyone there were at least an ex-circus performer.

Speaker 3:

can you, can you go unicycle? Yeah, but not. Well, I used to be able to, couldn't tell if I could anymore. I can't juggle, please don't ask me to juggle?

Speaker 1:

I'm not a juggler.

Speaker 3:

Oh, we've got juggling balls. Can't juggle? I don't know if you can see them.

Speaker 1:

We've also got a unicycle as well, but we won't, don't test me, we won't test you. I'm breaking the set. Brian, it's a bit unique and I thought that it's not like you were part of some big circus school, like a Showtime circus or anything like that. No, so to you, libby.

Speaker 4:

I've never been in the circus. Have you been to the circus? Do you know something? I don't. I saw you in the circus once. No, I mean, life is a bit of a circus, exactly. Have I ever been to a circus? Yeah, that was just a kind of throwaway question. I mean, I've seen Cirque du Soleil a few times. Oh, that's more than a circus, isn't it? That's great.

Speaker 1:

What, if any, right? When you were a kid, what classes did you do? Kids' classes, activities, dancing.

Speaker 4:

Oh, dancing. Yeah, I did ballet. Tap stage modern. I know they're not called that anymore. Are they swimming? Life saving?

Speaker 1:

all of them, every activity that Class for Kids supports. You were in them. Were you, it sounds like you might not have been committed to all these.

Speaker 4:

I pulled the face at the piano because I never the practising. I think all these things have kind of fed into the way I support people now, because I just remember like being quite unhappy with a lot of the things that I did in the first few decades of my life and, like you know, I don't remember ever making the choice and saying I want to learn how to play the piano.

Speaker 4:

Maybe I was involved in the decision, I don't know. Okay, and just really hating the practicing and my mum like just getting so angry with me and it's like why didn't I just stop doing it? Yeah, why? Why? I know it's to make you a better person and all this stuff, but um, there's so many things like that. Just I just didn't like doing we've got the very same.

Speaker 1:

My youngest has just quit piano lessons and he's been doing them for a year and he's kind of like he's been telling me that he's not enjoying them yeah kind of telling his mum as well, but she's the one that's pushed for it a bit.

Speaker 4:

Don't get me into trouble if you're listening to this, but she's kind of pushed him into it and I've been loads of stuff and I think a lot of it was obviously as parents still do these days is just to keep your kids entertained so they're out doing something constructive and productive and all of this. But yeah, I liked dancing, I liked the gym, I really did enjoy that. The school that I went to actually, um, still exists, and probably a client of yours, and this is a long time ago, okay, and the um, my husband's kids, they all went through the same, through the same school as me, which is, which is funny.

Speaker 4:

But yeah, my teacher. She must have only been in her 20s or something when she started teaching, teaching me in this little old Jehovah's Witness hall in the back room of that that we used to. Now they have this purpose-built, amazing purpose-built school and do big shows and all of that.

Speaker 1:

So you'd done that for years.

Speaker 4:

I guess until I went to secondary school. So I guess until I was 11 or so.

Speaker 1:

So that's the retention fall-off for everything. Really it's kind of like you talk to any football clubs and academies and even if they're, they've got boys that they've identified has been really good and like earmark them and you hear like oh rangers have like or celtic or whoever or any other english team.

Speaker 1:

I'm not a football guy. Everybody listens to this knows this. I have no idea of football, barely know the shape of a football. Um. But if they're identified as going to be successful, they can quite often still just go awry because the minute they get in high school it's like girls yeah, I don't know, I don't know what changes actually at that age I suppose.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, I mean, I guess you just have for real, you knock about with your friends yeah maybe that structure when you find yourself in high school, don't you?

Speaker 1:

um, or so they say? And god no, you lose yourself in high school. And then you find yourself after high school, don't you? Or so they say? Oh, God.

Speaker 3:

no, you lose yourself in high school and then you find yourself after high school. I think so. I feel like you know yourself as a kid.

Speaker 1:

I've never found my tribe in high school, as they say. I can't believe I've said that term, but I've found the people.

Speaker 4:

Not those first three Primary school I loved, loved, loved, loved, loved, loved, loved. But then I went to we had three years at one school and then the next two years and then the sixth form were another school. So I kind of went to three, three schools through and um, those first three years in that middle school were really miserable, right, I think you know, and I think I was probably bullied. You know, when you look back and you see, things differently.

Speaker 4:

So what you said about finding yourself at school, I don't I think it was just later on. Yeah, that was just horrible, because I knew it wasn't primary school, because it was a tiny school of like 50 kids. You know, and then you go to this bigger school and it's just well I'm doing.

Speaker 1:

My eldest is about to go to high school next year and it's going to be a bit of a study, I think for me just to exactly that he's full of love for life just now super, super creative kid. Never known anybody that could put his hand in so creative. But I just wonder how that'll go when he goes in.

Speaker 4:

I think it's different now, though I mean it's a while since you and I were at school there is a little bit of time, but as Holden's in the room.

Speaker 4:

I don't think anybody looked out for needs that people had and this would be so relevant to the people listening to this that they will be trained to look out for things, because I'm autistic, adhd, and it wasn't until in my 40s that this was even a thing and diagnosed and all of that, and that probably is why some things were so difficult, whereas now at schools, like you know, your kids, they're looking out for this stuff and people your Class for Kids, clients in the classes that they run they will know what to look out for, and they all have measures in place, whereas we were just left to fend for ourselves.

Speaker 1:

In fact not shameless product plug, but specifically in the back end of the system there is areas for exactly that yeah, if you're, if you're and that's him from my eldest to call autism.

Speaker 1:

And when he's doing classes he tends to. We've tried everything with him over the years, like everything gymnastics, football not interested in physical activity. But you give him an art club, an art and crafts club. He's there every time and desperate to go, but when you're registering for it and things they use Class for Kids, it's just about putting in. Obviously you leave your contact details and all that in case you're there. But just a little summary of kind of triggers and things like that that can help immeasurably.

Speaker 2:

Oh god, it just wouldn't have been.

Speaker 1:

Yes, it's there but then going into school that's tenfold. There is documents that are. You know. We've got what was it called an enhanced transition, where we're having to meet two or three times before the high school with his teachers, with his year teacher and things. Yeah, he doesn't know what's going on because in his mind he's very kind of, he's extremely verbal and you wouldn't really know, he's just kind of no same. Yeah, he's very like you actually.

Speaker 4:

Well, he's going to do well in life, he'll be absolutely fine. Yeah, but it is, yeah, it's funny really, and I think that the shaping of you as you go through life is a lot down to your experience. But the thing with at school, which is why these extracurricular clubs are so, so good, because at school really for me certainly it was if you're doing well academically, then fine, you're fine.

Speaker 4:

It's like nobody cares what's happening inside, but it's often in clubs and external things where things get spotted, I think, because they're perhaps there for enjoyment and development rather than just the academic box.

Speaker 1:

You know, you just kind of open my eyes to that as well, because report cards are all particularly not so much now, but ours very much just cut through. They were good at maths, they were good at English and things but what was going on in their mind? We all got that, didn't we?

Speaker 4:

But that was seen, you don't, don't shut up was seen as as a negative, whereas it could be, would be really, you know. Let's enhance this to enable them to verbalize what they know and their opinion on things and like my brother.

Speaker 3:

My brother has autism and he, he would. He swings wildly between being silent and, oh my God, please stop speaking. And there's almost nothing in between. So if you're talking about something he's not interested in nothing, you move on to computer programming the stuff that he knows about, the stuff that he likes. He's off like a train, so his like reports would often be like oh, he's really quiet and he doesn't contribute, and you'd be like it's because you're not interested in him.

Speaker 1:

He's bored. That's my point. He gets very bored and kind of he'll go and he's not been flipping about it. It's too easy. Some of the things are too easy that they're talking about. His thought patterns are way beyond any of that, but he kind of captured that and he's thinking about 63 other things. Yeah, of course, simultaneously he's thinking about the sun exploding in 6 billion years.

Speaker 3:

No joke, all the time, all the time yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 1:

Well, we're solving, or we're solving or we're aiding all the grievances of the world here. That's it, so we'll wrap up quickly. Can I ask you guys to let us know how people can get in touch with you about your services so you can give a bit of a call to action? And yeah, see, if anybody wants to, we'll also put it in the comment sections. Not the comment sections, I'm talking minutes. We'll also put it in the description. Thank you, brian, off camera.

Speaker 4:

That's his second name off camera Brian. It's because you were thinking about the sun exploding. I'll put that in my head. Guys, I'm really sorry.

Speaker 1:

The sun's good. We're good for a while. We're good for a while. We'll see the summer. You go first.

Speaker 3:

If you want to learn more about Instagram, the best place to find me, unsurprisingly, is Instagram at PureGalusSocial.

Speaker 1:

Excellent.

Speaker 4:

And Libby. I am Libby Langley, so you can go to LibbyLangleycom or Instagram. At Libby Langley LinkedIn, I'm Libby Langley. My podcast is called Life in Business on any podcast platform and my book is also called Life in Business, which is on Amazon.

Speaker 1:

From the superhero Libby Langley and the circus clown.

Speaker 3:

I was a clown, don't worry about it.

Speaker 1:

Ru Grant, thank you very much and we'll thank you for coming along Absolutely have a good day, we'll have you again soon hopefully.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, see you soon.

Speaker 1:

Bye, bye, lovely podcast. What do you think of that?

Speaker 2:

Very lovely podcast. It was coming straight out of the online event. It was really nice to see them. You get to see them as their business persona, their business minds, how they've set themselves up as really successful business people, and then to come in on the flip side of that coin and see their personalities shine through and have a bit of a laugh with them and see the more human elements of personalities. It was really nice for us to get that experience all in the one kind of like go.

Speaker 1:

It was all the work and for those that have maybe seen both they they did happen just concurrently, straight after each other. I think the only thing I did was change my top yeah, to try and smoke and mirrors it, but obviously that didn't work, especially with brian giving away I know, sorry guys, that's all right. No, I totally agree with you. I think that it was um there was a business chat on the online event and um what we just heard there was just shooting the breeze shall we say, with two very successful female entrepreneurs exactly and really nice personalities as well.

Speaker 2:

To touch on that, they know their stuff when it comes to building businesses, when it comes to social media, when it comes to helping businesses grow, but they're just nice to sit down and talk to exactly, yeah, and I mean more power to them.

Speaker 1:

They've done amazingly well just in their own kind of spaces and lanes. They never met until that day. Yeah, yeah, we knew we'd kind of crafted the the topic and they were steered on everything that we're going to be talking about, but it literally did I mean that old finishing your sentences. There was a bit of that going on. There was there was things that, um, I was actually tasked with asking um rue about that. I was then going, oh, and actually this, you've just answered this. So yeah, it shows like the world of business we are in the kids activity business, that there, or sorry, the online event, not the podcast applies to pretty much every business. It's not limited to our industry.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely not, and it shows just how much of an opportunity there is for collaboration everywhere you look. Because these two people had never met. Their businesses kind of intertwined, but they're also quite separate. But they came together, had a really nice match up on the online event, had a really nice match up on the podcast, and it was just one of those things like if you look for collaboration, you'll find it absolutely.

Speaker 1:

If you look for collaboration, you'll find it Absolutely. I think that's a good way to wrap this and with Rebecca still gone, are we going to?

Speaker 2:

Still gone. One, two, three. Is it one, oh daddy? One, one, two, three.

Speaker 1:

Bye. He doesn't say bye.

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