Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 You've tuned into the Mac CD morning show. I am your host Elliot Pierre, and we're going to start the show off the same way we start every show off with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time. So the fact that you're spending with us truly does mean the world to me. So thank you on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:19 Oh, she caught me loves you're listening to the next anymore.
Speaker 0 00:00:28 All right. And we're back. Okay. We've got a fun guest today. I spent hours and hours and hours chatting with this gentlemen over the years. So I have no doubt that this conversation will flow quite nicely. Um, as you guys are pretty used to, at this point, I don't introduce my guests cause they can do a better job at that than myself. So on that note, sir, can you please, uh, tell everybody at home who you are and what you're about?
Speaker 2 00:00:49 My name is Dale penny and, uh, I'm co-owner and TLC disposal services. We've been here in Fort Murray now since 2000. And one of the things that we're really focused on over the years is giving back as much as we can where we can.
Speaker 0 00:01:02 That's awesome, man. So one of the things that you guys give back to, we're just going to jump into it is a, you like supporting rib Fest. He likes supporting some golf tournaments in town. I see your names always out there. So, uh, tell, uh, tell the people at home, how you got involved with rib Fest and, uh, uh, guests that's been here once or twice Dennis.
Speaker 2 00:01:22 It was, it was interesting actually. Um, I got a call. It was mid week, uh, just a couple of days before Rebekah started and it was Dennis who called me and he's got such energy it's attractive and gets your attention. And he said to me, you know, Dale, he said, I know I'll work with, uh, with the competitor in town. He said, but this is something I think that we can get together and do. And this is my plan. Right. And I said, okay, I'm in a, what do I need to do? So he told me one of the Porter, washrooms and garbage bins delivered and he said Friday, and I said, this Friday, right? He said, yeah. And I go, wow,
Speaker 0 00:01:58 Okay. That's not a lot of
Speaker 2 00:02:00 Notice. And he goes, well, actually, if you can get them tomorrow evening, that would be great. Cause Friday it actually kicks off. That's right. So we got things together and got them delivered down there and, and start rolling with rib pissed. It was a great turnout. I think a lot of people showed up and enjoyed themselves and it was fun.
Speaker 0 00:02:18 There you go. Now for the people at home, in my bed and like you and I have just known each other for so long, I'd take it for granted. You touched on it a little bit there. What does TLC do?
Speaker 2 00:02:27 We're a wasted spousal company. So we, we provide, uh, uh, waste, uh, services for industrial commercial, residential, uh, uh, areas. Yup. And we supplied portable washrooms fencing. We helped with demolition, uh, major contracts, that sort of thing.
Speaker 0 00:02:43 And you guys have some pretty interesting equipment when it comes to like, uh, collecting some of the garbage, uh, some of the trucks you guys have, it's not just like a dump truck, come to dump it in like the what's that truck that you guys have that like picks up the bags. And then, because that whole system, that rig is fascinating to me.
Speaker 2 00:03:00 Well, that's a rig actually that we got a couple of years ago, my partner and I, John, uh, went and took a look at this rig. Uh, it had a roll-off deck on it, so we can move around. Equipment has got a roll-off system so we can pull garbage bins on it. Right. And we had the idea that we wanted to put a picker unit on as well. Right. And because we want it to be able to have those totes that we could deliver to people's residents who didn't have the room for a bin and didn't want to go through an expense of a bin and only a small amounts of garbage that's.
Speaker 0 00:03:29 Right. Yeah. That tote system is really neat. It's something else. It's a pretty cool piece of equipment. So how did you get involved in this industry? Dale?
Speaker 2 00:03:39 Uh, a friend of mine out of Edmonton. We were, we were talking in, uh, I go to waste expos whenever possible. So we get to see new technology and new ideas coming out. Right. And that's one of the things we've seen in the waste, but expo when we were in Toronto. Yeah. I thought that would work well here. That's right. Cause we have different, different sizes of projects, major projects to minor household renovations. Right. So initially you, you moved to Fort McMurray
Speaker 0 00:04:05 Years and years ago, so you didn't always have the business TLC. So let's start at the beginning. What brought you out here? Where are you from and why did you come before?
Speaker 2 00:04:13 Well, I'm originally from, uh, Newfoundland, um, my partner, John we're from neighboring communities. We went to school together and we pretty well grew up together. Yeah. And, uh, we were in the Bush cutting firewood for, for heating sources for our families. And uh, you know, I'm, I was working there, but I was working two jobs at times and still getting laid off. And I didn't like that idea, John didn't like it either. So he said, uh, I'm out of here. He goes, well, where are you going? He said, I'm on the Fort McMurray and uh, east near Coleman to like, okay, I'm going to, I knew no anybody here. I knew one person, Bob reader, uh, John had a cousin here and we just decided we're leaving and coming here. And that's what we did.
Speaker 0 00:04:58 And so when you got here, you just decided you're cutting. Wouldn't a Bush. You come out here, like what, what skill you got skill sets obviously, but I don't know what they transferred into. So when you came out here, what did you first get started?
Speaker 2 00:05:11 I got, my first job was with the cross construction running equipment. Well actually labor work for the first five days. And then we rolled into equipment. Right. And again, when December came, uh, we got laid off from cross. Yeah. And, uh, I got a job then, uh, uh, uh, working at a plant site at Syncrude. Yeah. It started out in an explosive program. Right. That's a labor that's. Right. And, uh, so we did that and then we rolled it into working with, uh, glossy and we did that for six or seven years until I got hired with synchrony.
Speaker 0 00:05:44 That's right. And so you had like a very long career with Syncrude? I had over 14 years. Yeah. Yeah. And so then, like after working for Syncrude for so many years, like a, it's a pretty secure, secure gig when you get out there, um, how did you and your partner, John decide, you know, what B w how did you see the opportunity in waste disposal and then decided, okay, this is kind of where we want to spend the rest of our time.
Speaker 2 00:06:06 Well, we had friends, Terry Graff, and Roy Holloway who were into the waste management business. And in 1998, I had four or five days off in a stretch. Right. I was like, okay, I need something to occupy my time. So we started TLC recyclers, and that was taking care of used oil and oil containers and filters. Right. That quickly started to grow really fast to the point where I couldn't handle it anymore. John was working for Terry at the time. And then when he sold the waste management, he started working there. So in 98, we started the recyclers. Yeah. We worked it for two years and it was extremely busy to a point where I couldn't handle myself on my days off and vacation time. Yeah. So John said, okay, I'm going to quit waste management and let's start our own waste disposal company. Right. And a lot of our customers that we had through recyclers also wanted us to take care of their waste disposal. There you go. That's how we start.
Speaker 0 00:07:02 One thing led to another and that's awesome. It's been, and that was back, like you said, in two, well, you started in two or in 1998, but then TLC officially disposal 2000, 2000. That's it. It's a great run.
Speaker 2 00:07:14 It was good. It is good. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:07:16 And you guys are kind of known in town for, uh, having the yellow bins. So that's cool. So that must like, that. That's a big signature for you guys. People know when they see the yellow bins. That's TLC. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 00:07:26 Yeah. Uh, when we, when we got things going, um, we were trying to figure out a name and our TLC recyclers and spoils rolled around as we were going to, to start buying cars and trucks and fixing them up and selling them. Right. So TLC was supposed to be tender, loving care about me body worker or something like that. Right, right, right. So we never had much time. So we just went with TLC and disposal recyclers. Yeah. And, uh, so John and I had the conversation about what color are we going to go with? And John mentioned yellow and I'm thinking, okay, that's going to be kinda stand out. So it was kind of funny. Uh, we bought our first used truck and John went to BC and picked it up. And when we unloaded, uh, in Greg quar, uh, McKinsey Boulevard, I go see all the way up to the end of the strip. I could see this big yellow square. Right. And I'm like, oh my God. Is that our truck? Yeah. And so it was, it was bright and stood out. And then after just a few minutes there, I was
Speaker 0 00:08:24 Like, okay, this is, this is, this is the way there you go. It's not bad to stand out if you're trying to get noticed for work. Yeah. Not a horrible thing. No, not at all. So, um, one story that I want to talk about a little bit, cause I know you're very passionate about you put a lot of work into it and I don't, I know a lot of people don't know the full story, but, uh, during the fire, um, you and your company and your employees, you guys put a lot of time and effort into the community right up until like when, when we were all evacuated, you were here. Um, can you share a little bit about that story for the, at home?
Speaker 2 00:08:56 Uh, Dana, everybody was evacuated, evacuated. We waited until 11 o'clock that night. Right? Until we were forced to leave. Yeah. We moved around a few things that shop, and then everybody left, um, myself and a couple of my employees went to white court where my sister was living. And unfortunately that's that spring, early that spring, I had laid off one guy because work was short. Right. And he was on the highway. So, uh, we called him up and said, Hey, come down to white court to stay at my sister's. As soon as we got there, I started calling Ms. Do you want me to get back in? And I want to get back in for several reasons. Obviously you want to check in on your company and take care of things, but we also wanted to give back yeah. Do whatever we could do. Whatever was necessary, wherever anybody needed, any help get things rolling. Right. So within 36 hours, we were given the, okay, we drove back to white court. We got here about 10 o'clock, Friday night. Yeah. And we rolled in about two or three o'clock in the morning. Right. And we started
Speaker 0 00:09:54 And you guys are here for the full time. The whole time. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:09:57 When we came back, we came back with like 20 something cases of water. And cause we didn't know what we had here. Right. So wherever we went, we always had extra cases of water. So whenever you had checkpoints where it was fire department or RCMP, if they were getting low on water, we dropped things off. That's right. We work really closely with RCMP so we can get access to areas. Yeah. Yeah. It was. So it was, uh, it was challenging time for everybody, but, uh, it was rewarding too. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:10:23 No dose. Yeah. No, that was it. When I remember when we first met and you were like, some, one of your colleagues was saying, oh, I steal about this and you were like, so humble about it. I was just like, man, you should tell people this story. It's pretty cool how you were here. Like the whole time helping out and doing work by like, I know you're not wanting to brag. So I was like, I got to get that out there for you. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:10:42 Well, you know, we were part of a larger group and everybody that was in there worked hard and contributed any way they could. Right. Right, right.
Speaker 0 00:10:52 So you kind of touched on this earlier in regards to used to be at site, you had your days off and you got bored. Now you're a business owner. Uh, the business is going well so many years in business, but you still find yourself from time to time getting bored. So you find a bit, you found a bit of a side hustle, uh, to occupy some of your time, um, in the financial world. Yes. So talk a little bit about that for the people that are, that
Speaker 2 00:11:14 Was, that was a, quite an extreme switch. I go from equipment, operate into explosives to a garbage truck. And now I'm into finances. Yeah. A good friend of mine and bill Ramsey and Brad Enstrom. Uh, I met with them and we talked several times. They asked me to, to take a look at it and uh, I wanted to get some more insurance. So I went down and I seen a bill yeah. At our WFG office on Franklin. And uh, we talked for about 15 minutes on insurance and Denny started talking to me about the business side of it and, and how we could actually help people and give back to the community and that my attention. So right away, I, I signed up and challenged the exams and did that and got my license. There you go. It is a very rewarding, uh, path and a career as well. Because especially in these times when people are struggling with debt yeah. We're really, really able to help people manage that aspect of it and get them and get them sorted out and get them situated. There we go. I love that part too.
Speaker 0 00:12:17 Cool. You breezed over something really quick there, and I totally forgot that you used to be in this industry. Used to be an explosives, used to blow things up. Yeah. Like tell, like, I know there's this, some gentlemen now watch watches show that would like to be in that industry. How did you find yourself blowing stuff up? And what kind of things were you blowing up?
Speaker 2 00:12:35 Well, uh, when I first got into the explosive industry, I was 23 years old as a laborer. And I w I worked at winter as a laborer, the, um, the blaster in charge, every chance we got, we sat down there and I drill them and drill them and drill them on different, different perspectives in a, in a, when you're putting together an explosive, uh, pattern. Right. And there's quite entailment. Yeah. And, uh, east, just to meet them, why don't you just try and get your blasters license? So I did some research and talk to occupational health and safety and I quit challenge the government exam. So that's what I did. So I challenged the government exam. I got my blaster certificate and I did my quarry forms. If you get done I'm in my manager's certificate, it was, it was a great career. I actually love it. It was very challenging mentally, right. Made you think. But Hey, you know, you're, you're 23 years old. You get a chance to blow, blow everything up and never get in trouble for it.
Speaker 0 00:13:33 Love that. No, not at all. Very cool. So, Dale, uh, at the part of the show where Tanner has his segment, it's called the max 60 minute timer is going to hit you up with some questions. Best of luck. I don't know what he's going to ask you. Tanner hit him with the Maxine minute.
Speaker 3 00:13:47 All right. Question number one. What is your favorite events to partake in, in Fort McMurray?
Speaker 2 00:13:54 Ooh, that's a good one. Um, I would say right now it's the rib Fest that I was sold on the first rib Fest we did. It was absolutely a thrill
Speaker 3 00:14:05 Question. Number two. What is the weirdest thing you've had to dispose of? Oh,
Speaker 2 00:14:13 Well, no, it's not that weird, I guess. But, uh, we had bins up when they were building the apartment buildings behind, uh, the independent store. Yeah. And they were all supposed to be, uh, construction, waste wood. And my driver calls me and he said, Dale, he said, do we have a steel been up here I go. No. Why? He said, well, there's been here with steel in. And I said, what's in there. He said, there's a full-size van. Someone picked up a van with the hole
Speaker 0 00:14:41 And stuffed it into. Then that would probably be the weirdest doubt.
Speaker 3 00:14:46 Question number three. What is your favorite part of owning your business in Fort McMurray? Uh,
Speaker 2 00:14:55 Freedom of time and giving back. I think it's too, as an owner, you have the opportunity to really give back and make a difference in, in other areas. I really liked that part.
Speaker 3 00:15:06 Question number four. What is your favorite part of golfing in the city meeting other people and your final question. What is your favorite way to spend a day off informing Marie
Speaker 2 00:15:20 With some friends, whether it's golfing or just sitting and chatting,
Speaker 3 00:15:24 And then those have been your five questions.
Speaker 4 00:15:26 Are you a big golfer? I used to be
Speaker 2 00:15:29 Years ago before the businesses, obviously the businesses, uh, took a lot of my time. Right. But I want to get back into that. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:15:37 I was kinda surprised cause like, I didn't know you as a golfer and you're so busy with like the two different worlds that you live in, um, your company and then financing them. When I saw you at the golf course a few days ago, I'm like, huh? Yep. Where does Dale find the time to go golfing? So you getting back into it. All right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:15:56 Getting back into it last year. I, I played golf twice outside the tournament, so I'm going to try and do a little more this year. Sure. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:16:04 Yeah. So in regards to golf, I know you have traveled a lot around the world. It's the coolest place you've ever golfed. Hmm.
Speaker 2 00:16:14 Coolest place I ever golfed the, um, all the same red deer. And we did an of course in red deer, uh, that, um, there was one hole there. It must be over 600 yards. Yeah. So I did that. It was pretty cool. And part of that course was really narrow. So it was really challenging. And I got to be with some of my friends in red there. So it
Speaker 0 00:16:34 Was cool. There we go. Now your profile a few years ago, you, uh, you met a, a pretty big Canadian celebrity and he was on your profile picture a very fast man. Who was that? Donovan. Bailey. And how did you tell the people at home that little
Speaker 2 00:16:49 We were in BAMF uh, with the world financial group. Yeah. And he was a guest speaker there. Okay. So, uh, we got a chance to go up and have a conversation with them and, uh, he told us his story and it, which was really intriguing for us and, uh, the amount of work that he had to put into just getting one thousands of a second faster. Right. And you think about that 1000 of a second is it's nothing, you don't blink that fast, but it was a struggle and it was a long road to get that much faster. So it was pretty interesting to sit down with this guy and have that conversation. And you would talking about somebody who's really humble.
Speaker 0 00:17:29 Yeah. Yeah. Rested, it's interesting. In regards to professional athletes, it's funny you bring that up. Like you think about something like that in regards to that small amount of time and the effort in regards to like the training and the eating and the sacrifice just to make up like that minute of a time. Like they definitely have to be like laser. Yeah. To figure that out. That would have been a good guest speaker to listen to no doubt as your girlfriends, who else like you've, you've had the fortune of having a few really good speakers at your conferences you think has been the most impactful Franco day. Who's that? I don't know who that is. Franco de
Speaker 2 00:18:05 Uh, was the co-owner in second cup until they sold out. Um, he came to one of our conferences and we had that on, uh, he told us the story as well, when he was younger, he was down and out on the streets in Toronto, uh, living panhandling. Right. And some issues. And, uh, I remember he told us one day that, um, a guy came in and put some changes, hand, and he said, make good use of this. And that's when he decided he was going to change his life around. Oh, wow. And he grew from that to having a little bit of a little coffee shop and just grew it into second cup.
Speaker 0 00:18:43 Oh, wow. Impressive. That is impressive. Wow. All right. Well, Dale, that's it. Time flies. I just got the watch tab from Tanner that we're, uh, we're done. So, uh, before you take off today, everybody gets a shameless plug though. Please tell everybody at home, um, about your businesses again, how they can support you and, uh, they can find you
Speaker 2 00:19:04 Okay. Uh, TLC, disposal, we're locally owned and operated. Um, you'll see our bins all over town and the numbers have plastered all over that. If you give us a call to we've got great staff in the office, that would definitely take information and help you out, uh, world financial group. Again, a phenomenal group work with, uh, we really focused on our clients and want to put them on the right path to getting some financial reprieve. If they're having a trouble with death with debt, if you want to invest where they, where are your guy to as well. And, uh, give me a call 7 8 0 8 3 8 3 8 9 6.
Speaker 0 00:19:36 There we go. All right, Dale. Thanks for coming on the show, Matt. I really appreciate it and hope that hopefully you come back again very soon for sure. Cool. All right. Well Fort McMurray wood, Buffalo, that's been another episode of the Mac city morning show. Thank you for tuning in. I really do appreciate it. It, it truly does mean the world to me on that note. Hopefully you're having a great day. We'll see you tomorrow. Peace.
Speaker 5 00:20:14 Talk about quenching your ugly thirst.
