Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Good morning, Fort McMurry, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You've tuned into the Mac city morning show. I'm your host, Elliot Pierre. And we're going to start the show off the same way we start every episode with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time. So the fact that you're choosing to spend it with us truly does mean the world to me. So thank you on that note, Tanner hit him with
Speaker 1 00:00:21 You. Oh, she caught me, loves near listened to the next then morning shower. All right. And we're back.
Speaker 0 00:00:33 We got an excited one today. My favorite type of guests, somebody I don't know, never met before, never talked to before complete stranger. So it's going to be a lot of fun as you guys already know. I do not introduce my guests because they can do a better job at that than I, so on that note, can you please tell the people at home who you are and what you're about?
Speaker 2 00:00:50 Yeah. So my name is Elena NetIG. I'm formerly Elena Chisholm. For those of you who know me previously, I got married this year, but I am a financial advisor now, but previously I was a heavy equipment operator, pastry chef. I it's been quite the interesting experience for sure. I also have a podcast called pursuit of relentless, and I've been interviewing entrepreneurs about their journey through entrepreneurship and just like trying to teach new people. I love teaching. So teaching people how to be financially savvy, how to run a business, all of that kind of stuff. But yeah, that's a little bit about myself. It's it's been quite the journey. That's for sure. I'm writing a book now, too, so that's good. Nice.
Speaker 0 00:01:33 Now have like, I know we've never met or had a conversation before, but you look so familiar to me
Speaker 2 00:01:39 Have met. We have met. All right. You came to one of my presentations. Oh, your presentation on financial literacy. Yeah. So group financial yeah. World financial group. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jaylen. Yes.
Speaker 0 00:01:56 Okay. I knew it as soon as you walked in today, I was just like, I know this person, but I can't pinpoint where we
Speaker 2 00:02:03 Met. Oh, okay. There we go. We're up to speed. So,
Speaker 0 00:02:07 All right, there we go. So now you have done a whole bunch of different things like you have just outlined. So what moved you away from the traditional Fort Macquarie job of like something in oil and gas?
Speaker 2 00:02:19 Well, they told me all my friends told me, Elena, go to site. It's a good idea. You're going to make lots of money. I was a hundred grand in debt at that time. And I was like, okay, well obviously I need to go to site. And so I kind of just like, started thinking about that lifestyle change. And at the time I was working at Fasinol as a, um, industrial sales rep and I met a guy named Bob and he worked at Clearstream contracting and he's like, okay, well, I'm hiring 80 operators. And I was like, me, please, please. And thank you. Because at that time I had just the company switched ownership and I started losing about three to $4,000 a month in commission. And I was like, Nope. So, um, he offered me a job out on site as a heavy equipment operator.
Speaker 2 00:03:07 And I had had no previous experience of that, but I have good work ethic and he's like, Hey, yeah, come work for me. Within three days, I had done my drug test, gotten out all my CSTs and everything like that and was on site. And then I just remember like looking up at the truck, just being like, oh my goodness, you want me to drive that thing? Yeah. And so I did that for three and a half years. And over that time I got laid off four times and everyone's like, oh, that's so great. And I was like, there's no job security. Like, yeah, you do make good money when you're working. But at the same time I am, I'm an introvert. So I thought I'd like it, but I didn't like, I, I use the time to, uh, read good books and listen to good podcasts and audio books and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 00:03:56 But it was like so difficult for me to be alone on a haul truck for 12 hours a day during the six on six off rotation. Uh, there was multiple times during my career that I would almost fall asleep at the wheel. You know, like stuff. They don't tell you, oh, they time your breaks to go to the bathroom. And you're like, oh, or like you get off your whole truck and there's a coyote coming towards you. And you're like, Hmm, this is dangerous. And I just, I had so many experiences where I almost killed somebody or I got myself into a really bad situation where my truck almost blew up up. And then I got myself into a situation where I almost fell asleep at the wheel. And then there was a guy coming towards me, fully out cold at the wheel, fully loaded haul truck, like 800 ton haul truck.
Speaker 2 00:04:45 And I was like honking at him, calling him on the radio and he wouldn't wake up. And I was like, Hmm. In a day to day. Yeah. I have life insurance. Right. Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this for myself for money? I'm like, I'm not willing to do that anymore. And so my now husband, um, got on with synchro directly right about a month before I quit. But we got put on opposite schedules. So I literally didn't see him for a whole month outside of like two days on our short change. And, uh, I was like, I can't do this anymore. And he said, Elena, you're miserable. Like I'd never been so overweight in my life. I'd never been so depressed in my life. And he said, quit your job, go full-time with your business. If you can make 30 grand part-time, you can make 50 grand full-time. We can pay our bills with that. And I was like, Hmm, perfect. So I took that month and got as many phone numbers as I could. And I just said, all right, let's do it. And so I went for it and went full-time with my business. And ever since then, it's been an incredible journey. That's
Speaker 0 00:05:50 Awesome. So how long has it been now?
Speaker 2 00:05:52 Uh, I've been in business for five years now. Full-time for three. That was congratulations. Congratulations on getting married recently. A COVID wedding. Yeah. Um, it was interesting. So a lot of people didn't come, like some of my best friends were like, no, I don't think you're going to be doing things right. And I was like, we're going outside. Like there's, there's nothing that can go wrong. My absolute best friend has kidney disease. And so she's like, it's a little risky, no one got sick. You know what I mean? Like everyone was fine. We did it outside and it was lovely. We just couldn't have more than 50 people. So we had to stay seated. We didn't get our first dance cause we were not allowed to dance at that time. So Kyla and I danced in our living room and it was lovely because like he's shy and he probably would have been really uncomfortable, um, dancing in public and stuff.
Speaker 2 00:06:49 So it was actually really nice for us to have those moments just together, the two of us. Um, but yeah, it was beautiful. And I ran a half marathon like a week later. Oh, wow. It was cool. So you got married here in Fort Macquarie now actually BC on Vancouver island. Is that where you're from? That's where my husband's from. Yeah. I'm from Palo river BC. Okay. Yeah. What brought you guys here to form port? Ah, so we met up here actually on site. Uh, it's been, we've been together for six years now and I moved up to Fort McMurray in 2010. Right. To be a pastry chef right at the salt Ridge. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's what brought me up here. My best friend was living up here and she's like, Elena, you got to come up here. It's awesome. It was during the boom.
Speaker 2 00:07:38 Right. And I was like, okay, well I'm going to put out one resume. And if I get the job I want, I'll go. I literally got the job. And I'm like, oh no, here we go. Oh, you gotta go. Cause I was working in Whistler at the time. Oh yeah. Yeah. So go from Whistler to Fort McMurray. I'm like, what am I doing? But it just, it just worked out for me. And I was like, okay, well let's go figure it out. Right. Because I was $7,000 in debt at that time. And I thought it was the end of the world. Right. And then I got up here, started making big money, started spending big money. I didn't understand money at all. So when I got an opportunity to be a financial advisor, I was like, yeah, that makes no sense. But what I've learned is that when you learn to get out of those kinds of situations, you're able to really teach other people how you did it. Right? Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:08:27 Don't uh, don't uh, or learn, learn from my mistakes. Basically. It's kinda like this podcast when people come over and they say, Hey, I'd like to do something like this. We're just like, oh, do it, do it. And here the mistakes that we made, there was a lot of them, there still are some mistakes and you just, you just figure it out. But yeah, it's, uh, it's the best way to learn is by, by failing. That's why it's not a bad thing to fail if you learn from your mistakes. Exactly. Yeah. So with the world group financial year with them, so there's a whole bunch of financial stuff. Um, but before we get into that, I want to talk to you about your pastry background. So you like years ago I used to be in human resources and I went to a career fair because I was speaking.
Speaker 0 00:09:11 And one of the people who was also speaking was a chef and I had no idea about like the career opportunities and like what that could, what you could do in that field. And it's mind blowing. Yeah. It's crazy. How good of a like opera, how many opportunities there are and how many like job prospects you can find. So when it comes to baking, can you talk a little bit about that for the people at home who were just like, oh, you know, I like to bake, but there's no career in baking. Yes. There is.
Speaker 2 00:09:41 There is. For sure. The only thing I would be cautious about is the fact that you don't really make very much money. Right? That's the thing it's backbreaking labor. They don't tell you that you're going to, um, end up scooping a thousand cookies a day and get carpal tunnel. Like there's little things like that, that they don't go over. But that's how I started. That's what I went to school for. Like I did three years in the professional baking program at Malaspina university, which is now Vancouver island university. And, uh, that was my passion. Like I got an opportunity to go to university while I was in high school. So I was working full time at Tim Horton's like seven days a week. I barely ever got a day off because I was just working like four hour days, uh, going to school five days a week.
Speaker 2 00:10:28 And then after I would do my grade 12 online. So it was crazy, but I got an opportunity to go and work in the middle of nowhere from my chef that put me through pastry school. And he's like, Hey, he called me at Starbucks when I was working at Starbucks. And he's like lane, I'm looking for a baker, uh, in a place called Toba inland, which is literally the middle of nowhere, no cell service, no people, nothing. There was a dry camp in the middle of nowhere. And uh, he said, I need a pastry chef. And so I got an opportunity to go out and make the most money I'd ever made in my life. I was making 18 bucks an hour, which was a big deal when you're 18 years old. And so I was currently making like nine bucks an hour and my boss was like, have fun.
Speaker 2 00:11:13 You know? Like you can go do whatever you want. And I was like, see ya. So I quit my job and I ended up going up there. But, uh, then I ended up four years later transitioning to Whistler, worked in Whistler. And then I came to Fort McMurray, but there are jobs everywhere for bakers. It's just, you make almost no money. Right. I was living in Squamish commuting to Whistler that the 40 minute commute through the mountains every day I worked four days a week, 10 hour days. And I would bring home, my wage was like 14, 50 an hour. Right. Right. And I was like, I'm literally spending that much in fuel. So what am I doing? You know? So when I got an to come up here, I thought it was going to be the best thing ever. I lasted five weeks and had to pull things out of, oh, they told me to make pies one day.
Speaker 2 00:12:02 Okay. So Lena go make pies. Meanwhile, I'm making pie. And they're like, what are you doing? Yeah. I was like making pie. They're like, no, go pull it out of the freezer. I was like, oh no, like that's not me. That's not baking. And then they'd charge $90 for a six inch cake that they'd pull out of a take mix. And I'm like, no. Yeah, no, no. Yeah. That's when I ended my baking career. Okay. Yeah. Still bake on the side. Um, for my friends and stuff. Yeah. Like for my, my clients and stuff, I'll do like birthday gifts and stuff sometimes. Uh, or the odd wedding cake. It's a great wedding favor. So yeah.
Speaker 0 00:12:43 What's your go-to jam if you're going to bake for yourself.
Speaker 2 00:12:46 Um, I love doing like croissants or Danish and it's like a two day process to date. Oh yeah. Really? Yeah. It takes a long time to make that kind of stuff because you have to laminate the dough it's called, but like fold butter into the dough and yeah. Yeah. It has to sit and then, or else you'll break it and it's very tender. It's a very challenging thing to make. It's worth it. It's worth the two days. Just do big batches when you do it. Right. You just freeze it, but that's awesome. Okay.
Speaker 0 00:13:18 Yep. Now you've transitioned into world group financial and we found one or two individuals on the show. Who've talked about finance at this point, but I'm always interested on people's take about that. So kind of what's your approach when it comes to financing finances?
Speaker 2 00:13:33 Yeah. So world financial group really taught me a lot about money. Um, mostly the thing that I think that people struggle with is the mindset around money because they think it's always coming until COVID hit. And then it's like, oh, okay. We need to figure this out. So like during COVID, it's actually been a huge blessing for our company because we've been able to go fully virtual. Uh, we've been able to still continue to teach financial education classes, but people don't have to leave their house. Right. Right. And I can work from home. So I own a house in BC as well. It's been great for me to, uh, get to live the lifestyle that I want to have and not have to focus on the fact that I have to stay in one place and be there to do meetings in person and whatnot.
Speaker 2 00:14:18 But I think the biggest thing is people think that money's going to continue to come and continue to come and they just spend, spend, spend, spend, spend without checking themselves on where their money's actually going. Right. So budgeting is so huge. And like, you don't have to sit there and be like, I have $17 for this meal. No, it doesn't have to be like that. But it's like the, the advice that I like to give people is if it's not worth five times as much money to you, don't buy it. Because if you look at what it's going to be worth to you in the future, and that's another thing is almost no one's ready for retirement. So you're sitting here and you talk to these 30, 40, 50, 60 year old people and they're like, I'm going to retire early. And I'm like, with what money where's that coming from?
Speaker 2 00:15:06 And it just blows my mind that there's such a disconnect between who's paying for their retirement. Right. Because a little bit comes from the government up here. We have good company pensions. Right. So a little bit is going to come from the company if they get that opportunity. But everything else that's coming has to go from you. That's right. So people need to be saving on a monthly basis because compound interest is either working for you or it's working against you. And if it's working, why on for me, it was working against me for a long time until I learned, okay, I'm paying so much money in interest on my credit cards that I'm never going to get out from under that if I don't do it strategically. And so I downloaded an app called mint and it's a budgeting app that's free. And it's, uh, I learned that I was being super wasteful with my money.
Speaker 2 00:15:55 I was spending about 500 bucks a month at Starbucks. And I had no idea, no idea. I've had clients download that and call me and be like, Alaina. I'm so ashamed. Like I was spending $1,200 a month at Tim Horton's and I'm like, okay, great. And it's so easy, easy. And it's just like, oh, how much do you spend on Amazon? How much do you spend? You know, but people don't really take into account, like how much is coming in and how much is going out. And it's so easy to spend it. So I see people all the time go and buy brand new vehicles every couple of years. And I'm like, don't do it. Just don't do it. And, uh, there's just a big disconnect there. So doubt. Yeah. Getting advice on your finances is a big deal. Yeah,
Speaker 0 00:16:43 For sure. Yeah. No doubt. There's um, financial literacy. It's not something that, uh, you're really taught as far as school or university. You of have to figure that out on your own. Um, if you have parents who are into that and you find out, or like, you can find financial planners to help you do that, it's a big deal.
Speaker 2 00:17:02 It's crazy. Cause like they don't necessarily teach us all that much in school. There are some programs that we learn, but we don't know how to buy a mortgage. When we come out of high school, we don't know how to look for a vehicle or what to buy or how much we need to save or what kind of bank accounts we have or what kind of investments we should start looking at, what kind of insurance we need. They don't teach us that kind of stuff. Because if we don't know it, they make more money on taxes.
Speaker 0 00:17:26 Yeah. Right. That's
Speaker 2 00:17:28 Where it's messed up. So now I'm building courses to get into the schools and teach the 15 to 17 to 18 year old kids about money and finance. And then I hope they go and take it back to their parents. That's awesome. That's cool. Yeah. I want to help kids, man. I'm like, I wish I knew that stuff. No doubt. And think of how much we can change that generation coming up if we just teach them how to do it properly. That's right.
Speaker 0 00:17:52 Yeah. Cool. Yep. Well, we're at the part of the show where Tanner has his segment. It's called the Mac CD minute. I have no idea what tender's going to ask you. So I wish you the best of luck. Thanks. 10 minutes.
Speaker 3 00:18:04 All right. Question number one. What is your most memorable moment from filming your show?
Speaker 2 00:18:10 Oh, well I did the real COVID-19 show and that one was really interesting because when I first started my podcast in 2019, I didn't know what it was going to be like, but during COVID I was like, man, the real COVID 19 is us checking our mindsets. Right. So I gained like 20 or 30 pounds during the last year. And I was like, where did that come from? Like, I was so confused as to where that came from. So it really just helped me understand myself a lot better when I was recording that show because I really dug into my mindset around how things have shifted and how things have changed. Um, but yeah, there's been, there's been a lot of really cool moments in my show where, oh, there's so many little nuggets that you're just learning from all these people. And it's really, really interesting
Speaker 3 00:19:04 Question. Number two. What is one reason you were inspired to write, write
Speaker 2 00:19:08 A book, to share my story with others? Because I think that when we share our stories, when we become vulnerable with others, they can learn from our mistakes. So, um, there's one photo in my book and I was doing a program called 75 hard and it's a 75 day program. You got to drink a gallon of water, do two workouts a day, take a progress picture, no alcohol, no cheat meals. And one of the workouts has to be outdoors. And I did it in January, which is really a terrible idea, but I did it anyways. And it's those moments where you're in those times. And I literally did a live about this this morning, but you're doing the things that no one else is willing to do. And that's when you build the ultimate confidence. So I watched the people around me changing and shifting and um, multiple people would come up to me and be like, Alaina. I just lost 75 pounds because I've been watching your journey. And I'm like, what? That's insane. So now I'm writing a book to just share my story and teach people how I did it.
Speaker 3 00:20:12 All right. Question number three. What was your favorite thing? You got to bake in baking?
Speaker 2 00:20:18 Mm cakes. I loved making wedding cakes. Cause I loved watching the look on the bride's face when they got to see their wedding cake, because that was like a big deal to me. Um, growing up is I always wanted to have a beautiful wedding cake. So I actually made my own rice cakes.
Speaker 3 00:20:37 Question number four. What is your favorite way to spend an evening in Fort McMurray with your husband?
Speaker 2 00:20:43 Oh, well I normally like to be outdoors, so we go for hikes a lot. Um, we're going tomorrow to go for a river float and then go out for dinner. I like to support local restaurants. So we'll go out and try new beers or we'll go out and um, try new food and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 00:21:03 And your final question, what is your favorite thing about running a business in Fort McMurray?
Speaker 2 00:21:09 Freedom, absolute freedom. Um, you get to control your life. You don't have to answer to anybody. I used to get up at six in the morning or earlier for someone else. So why not do it for myself and run a business? That actually is meaningful to me where I'm helping people. Yeah. Those have been you five questions.
Speaker 0 00:21:27 There you go. Good job chatter. Always stellar questions, bro.
Speaker 3 00:21:31 I try my best. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:21:32 And your best is excellent. There you go. Um, in regards to your podcast, what, uh, pushed you or motivated you or inspired you to start doing a podcast?
Speaker 2 00:21:42 So I'm in a group called the RTA syndicate and they just said do something that you're not doing right now because it'll help you get out of your comfort zone a little bit more. So I started writing the book and I started doing the podcast. Um, the book I've been working on for a couple of years and I just, I haven't found my story yet, if that makes sense. Like there's so much more to it that I feel needs to be uncovered before I continue to finish it. But I'm six chapters in now of writing it and I'm like, okay, if I had just buckled down, I can get it done this year. So the goal is to get it done this year. But the podcast I started just to try and inspire people to do better and have a bigger life and trust, help them be happier.
Speaker 0 00:22:28 Well, that's it, 20 minutes. It's and I thank you very much for coming in. Really appreciate it. The chat feel free to come back as many times as you want. Cause we only scratched the surface. Obviously there's so much more to talk about, but that's why we keep it 20 minutes short and sweet. But before you leave, this is a shameless plug. So please tell everybody at home how they can get in contact with you, where they can find you, how they can support you, your business, your podcast, everything else that you're doing as well. So shameless plug time. All right,
Speaker 2 00:22:57 Well on Instagram you can check out pursuit of relentless, uh, or Adelina NetIG either. Or um, you can look up how to spell my name for sure. Same with my Facebook is on there. Um, it's pursuit of relevant pursuit of relentless podcast on all major podcast platforms so they can get access to me there.
Speaker 0 00:23:16 Sweet, awesome. Well Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo. That's been another episode of the Mac city morning show. Thank you very much for tuning in it truly does mean the world to me. Hopefully you're having a great day and we'll see peace.
Speaker 3 00:23:48 Talk about quenching your ugly thirst.
