Toronto Love: My Heart Beats T.O. ... Does Yours?

“We know we grew up privileged and we have access to resources... We want to set this out now because we know there will be other young adults in the next generation who also want to do this”.

My Saturday was quite exciting. I won $20 on Lotto Max plus a free ticket (Come on $50 million.. It has my name on it!) and spent most of the day with one of my best friends. I got to enjoy a cold but sunny day and it ended with an interview with 2 of Toronto's most laid back and determined people I have yet to meet.

Samia and Madiha Mirza are two sisters out of five siblings that are out to conquer Toronto by setting out their brand “Heart Beats T.O.”. They promote Toronto culture and want to show you what this city is all about.

Growing up in the Bloor and Dufferin area, the two sisters found Toronto to be culturally welcoming. “We're Pakistani and were raised in Toronto... I don't think that [culturally] you could feel singled out in this city”.

I don't think words ever sounded more true. In a city of 2.48 Million people and 5.5 Million in the Greater Toronto Area, how could you?

Conversations about culture were traded back and forth between myself and the two sisters. I found them to be well aware of Toronto's population and they seem dead on about how to get a movement started. Their brand and their idea were inspired by a TV show they were watching called “How To Make It In America” on HBO that had Samia and Madiha question themselves, “Why are we just sitting here?”.

Initially, they wanted to leave the logo just on the tag of their shirts and make it a clothing brand. A friend suggested that they should put the logo actually be on a t-shirt. 

And they did... They began by creating T-shirts with a simple (yet, my favourite) logo of a heart rate monitor (think electrocardiogram) with an outline of the CN Tower. Their slogan?: "My Heart Beats T.O. ... Does Yours?" ... Good question. The two sisters wore the shirts themselves and received numerous comments and questions... “Hey, where did you get that shirt?”

Sisters Samia (left) and Madiha (right)
Founders of Heart Beats T.O. 

Samia went to York University for Management and Public Relations and Madiha went to Seneca College for Graphic Design. The pair used what they knew and created something that I thought was going to revolutionize Toronto's culture and basically spread the word. That is exactly what the sisters said,

“We don't have a goal in sentence form exactly, but we know that if and when people from Toronto end up moving, there is something about this city and still holds them here. That is where we got 'My Heart Beats TO'. We know that so many people still have Toronto Pride, even if they live elsewhere”.

When I asked what their future plans were, they bombarded the question with so many ideas that I even began to make suggestions as if I was a part of the crew. They have more accessories and clothing with the logo on it to be made, they hope to attend events and market their brand and in the near future they hope to be affiliated with charity organizations (Thumbs up from me!). Once they become more established, they hope to give back to the city by sponsoring children's sports teams and focus on organizations of literacy and art, “We know we grew up privileged and we have access to resources... We want to set this out now because we know there will be other young adults in the next generation who also want to do this”.

Toronto is a great place to start this as it is usually the centre of attention with the MuchMusic Awards, Caribana, TIFF, Juno Awards and Toronto's Raptors and Leafs drawing in tourists outside of Canada into the 416/905 and now 647 and 209 area codes. Samia added, “We want the image of Toronto to be alllll LOVE” while Madiha loves the diversity and even the weather out here, “I know its cold, but I love that we get a break from each weather!”

This baby has some swag huh...? :)

Heart Beats TO began in the Summer of 2010 but will relaunch with full force in this Summer. They have copyrighted their brand and already have planned summer events to be involved in. They hope to be apart of the PanAm Games sometime in the future as well. In the really really really long run, they're going global (“Pinky... we're gonna take over the world!”) and might even have “My Heart Beats” as a brand and distributing to each city all over the world.

It's a representation and pride thing. These two sisters were proof to me that there are people out here other than my own group of friends who are truly proud to be a part of Toronto.

If you ever wondered what Toronto was like, you'll learn from these two sisters.

My heart beats T.O. ... Does yours?

Thanks to Samia and Madiha for
hooking me up with my Heart Beats
T.O. shirt!! :)

>>Twitter: Follow Samia and Madiha on Twitter now [ @MissSamia and @TripleO_7]

>>Website: Click here for Heart Beats T.O.'s Official Website (and get your tee!)

>>Facebook: "Like" Heart Beats T.O. on Facebook here

You can also contact Madiha and Samia at info@myheartbeatsto.ca

It's the T dot OOOOOOOOOOO! *Kardinal's Voice* :)