Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Pulling me in. Well, good morning, everybody. Thank you for tuning in my name is Elliot Pierre, and this is the Mac city morning show. We'll start this off the same way we do every morning with some gratitude. I want to thank you so much for taking the time to tune in to either watch this live and or the prerecorded versions or the mini clips. There is a million other things you could be doing with your time, and the fact that you choose to spend it with us really does mean the world to me. So on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro,
Speaker 1 00:00:35 Welcome to the Mac city morning show
Speaker 0 00:00:42 And we're back. All right. So something that's also pretty, uh, formulated into these shows is I never introduce the guest because they can do a better job at saying their name and talking about themselves than I ever will be able to. So on that note, let's meet today's guest. I'm really excited to have her here. Uh, who are you? What do you do? Introduce yourself to the world, please.
Speaker 2 00:01:05 I'm Lisa Hardigan. I'm a realtor with Coldwell banker Fort McMurray.
Speaker 0 00:01:08 Okay. Right on now, Lisa, you've been in this community for a long, long time. So let's talk about your duration of time spent in this community.
Speaker 2 00:01:18 Well, actually I've lived in Fort McMurray for 26 years. Um, but I used to spend my summers here since I was 13 years old. When my father moved here, my parents were separated. So I actually grew up in Fort St. John with my mom. Um, but I would spend all my summers in Fort McMurray from 13 going forward. Uh, 95 is when I moved here, um, uh, to, to live and stay.
Speaker 0 00:01:42 Okay. Now in 95, when you moved here, were you still in school or where you graduated?
Speaker 2 00:01:46 No, actually I had moved here with, um, my former husband, Mike. We both were living in Vancouver at the time we had gone to school there. So I had actually gone to school to do, uh, um, something people probably don't know about me is that I was, um, uh, I didn't special effects makeup for movies and films in Vancouver. And then actually Mike had, uh, got a job here with, uh, a telecommunications company. So we didn't want to stay in Vancouver. It was just wasn't our jive. We were used to small town, so we wanted to come. So he applied for jobs in Fort McMurray. So we ended up here.
Speaker 0 00:02:18 Cool. Yeah, let's go. Let's rewind special effects and makeup. Yeah. That's cool. So like, are we talking about like strictly makeup? Are you doing explosions? What does special effects mean?
Speaker 2 00:02:29 Uh, you know, doing, you know, uh, bruising cuts, things like that also. Yeah. So I was trained in every level. So maybe between like, you know, TV, uh, makeup to do crazy stuff, doing, you know, mask and creating, uh, fun things that you see on fictional movies.
Speaker 0 00:02:47 That's awesome. So you, like, I didn't even know you could go to school for that. So what's the duration of time you have to spend in school?
Speaker 2 00:02:54 I was there for 18 months. I went to school there. So obviously you have to go in with a little bit of creativity, your, you know, so it's not something I always find you can't teach people certain things, but you can, um, add to it. So it was a, I went to a school there. It was called blanche MacDonald and downtown Vancouver. And, and so it was a lot of fun actually. So, you know, I drive some days and I'd come home from school, having a bald cap on my head and things like that. So
Speaker 0 00:03:19 That's awesome. Yeah. Were you able, like once you finished, were you able to get any experience on any like shows or
Speaker 2 00:03:27 We had actually finished school at the same time, so, and then we decided we wanted to leave, but when we came to Fort McMurray, I kind of played around a Kiano theater, just, you know, helping them when they would do their, their shows and stuff, just doing some makeup there and, you know, helping them out there. So that was a lot of fun. So, but, uh, did I ever work on a TV set? No, I did not. No.
Speaker 0 00:03:45 You gotta put your skills to use that Kiana then. Yeah. That's really interesting.
Speaker 2 00:03:51 And Halloween and stuff, so that was fun. And so
Speaker 0 00:03:54 You probably like do all the makeup for all the kids in your family members make them look really like bloody and beat off
Speaker 2 00:03:59 Fun things. So yeah, when the kids are younger, so yeah, I have the skill. I mean, I have, it's been a long time since I'd done it. So, I mean, I'm not doing it all the time and growing from it, but I mean, I can do it.
Speaker 0 00:04:09 That's amazing. Yeah. So I'm going to stay on this topic for a bit, because it's really fascinating to me. So what was your passion to get into that? Like obviously you went to school for that specifically. How did that all come to?
Speaker 2 00:04:23 I was in Vancouver and I was trying to find out what I wanted to do and I was going to college at the time and I was trying to find something that, you know, I really took my attention and I always enjoyed makeup and things like that. So I had done some research about it and found out about the school. So I went there and really met some cool people. Like, you know, it was a small class. I think there was 12 of us in the class, but, uh, you know, everyone was super creative and we just had a lot of fun there, but it was, it was just something I always enjoyed them. Intrigued me.
Speaker 0 00:04:50 Awesome. Amazing. Okay. So now you come to Fort McMurry, you transitioned into real estate?
Speaker 2 00:04:56 No, I actually, well it's actually, when I came here, I was searching for a job and I ended up, uh, working with, uh, shallow for appraisals it's now, now it's, um, uh, shallow for in Denny appraisals. But, um, actually I worked with Rob Rob, who owns it now. He's still there. And I, I worked with him and it was a small office. It was just me, him and Roland cello for, and actually Mary and Barry who runs the Royal page. Yeah. So I worked there for a few years and then I got pregnant with my daughter. So I, my twin daughters, uh, Emily and Mallory. And so I I'd left for a year. And then after that year, I was like, well, I gotta do something. But it was for our family. You know, when you have small, small children like that, I was like, what can I do?
Speaker 2 00:05:36 So I actually would, I decided to go work at Earl's restaurant here in Fort McMurray. So I waitress there for years and, you know, I became the night leader, there was a manager and stuff, but then I went back to, we preferred the serving side of things. And so I did that for several years before I became a realtor. Okay. Yeah. That was a lot of fun, but you know, people, when I was there, I people thought I was a good waitress and people would encourage me like, cause they always say, if you're a great waitress, you'd make a really great realtor. So, uh, I think from a multitasking kind of a point of view, so, you know, I had a few people ask me and then finally my brother call and had said to me, you know, why don't you take the real estate course? And I said, well, I couldn't really afford to at the time. And he said to me, well, I'll pay for it for you. And when you sell your first house, he can pay me back. I don't think I ever did pay him back.
Speaker 0 00:06:25 And nor should you, that's what big brothers are for? Yeah, my sister, uh, we were joking about this a few months ago. I don't think she's ever paid for a meal that we went out for. And then she's like, no, no, no, no. One time I did pay for McDonald's and I'm like, okay. Yes. And you're 34 years on the planet you've paid for McDonald's once. Like, so yeah, I don't pay them back. So you've transitioned into real estate and you've done an extremely good job at that transition. You are like one of the top real estate brokers in or McMurry year after year after year. What do you attribute that success to?
Speaker 2 00:07:06 We enjoy building relationships, but, um, something about me is I'm most really competitive person. So I really think to become a really good real estate agent that you have to be competitive. Um, and that's really what drives me every day to get out of bed is just to stay on top, is just being competitive and you know, it's working hard, but uh, you know, just building good relationships, relationships with people being friendly, you know, um, you know, for me, I love going out and seeing people I know or people I've sold houses for and, you know, just hearing from them or, you know, or someone giving my name, someone I always ask, you know, who gave you my name? And they'll say, Oh, you sold her. You know, I love those relationships, you know, so, but you know, all in all for me, I think it was just that my, a competitive drive and it's something that's instilled in my brothers. And I like, as you might know, my younger brother played in NHL hockey and you know, my brother, Colin's very competitive as well, you know? So that's our drive to keep going.
Speaker 0 00:08:01 Yeah. Nothing wrong with that. What's wrong with that at all. Now in regards to real estate, obviously this year is a little bit more different for somebody who's interested in potentially like purchasing or selling a home in this climate, what are some tips or recommendations you can give to them? Well, you know,
Speaker 2 00:08:20 I mean, obviously challenging, but it's also been a really kind of learning curve too, because you know, the thing about real estate is it's always a bit of a roller coaster ride. So every day is not the same thing. So that's always what keeps me going too, because it's always changing, something's changing, but you know, this is, you know, for sellers, you know, we we've kind of lay it on the line, just, you know, you know, what are you, what are your wants? Here's, what's required? Um, you know, but what, is there something over and above that you want to keep your family saved? And, you know, some people are, have some things that they want done. Others don't have any, you know, so everybody's kind of on own, uh, feel for the whole COVID thing. I'm assuming that's what you're asking, but, um, you know, with buyers, you know, again, it's just, you know, asking the questions, you know, if they've been out of the country, how are they sick?
Speaker 2 00:09:07 Things like that. So just keeping everybody safe, you know, so we were required with buyers that, you know, to wear masks, um, you know, we're only allowed bringing two people into the home, um, at the same time. So Jeff and things like that. So it really eases a lot of the sellers mind, you know, every realtor in this town has done just a fantastic job. I think of keeping everyone safe and being professional about it, you know? And that's the key, you know, and that's one thing, you know, that, again, I love about being a realtor here is that actually yes, all us realtors in Fort McMurray have a really, uh, good relationship with each other. Um, which I think is super important, you know, uh, you know, I like getting along with everyone and you know, we're a small knit community, so it's always great, you know, you can have a chat or, you know, even go for a coffee with someone else just because they don't work at Coldwell banker doesn't mean we can't be friends, you know? So, so, you know, uh, that's what I love most about it, but yeah, everybody's here has done a really great job of keeping everyone safe and protecting sellers and buyers,
Speaker 0 00:10:06 Both sides. There you go. Now you chose to move to Fort McMurray. Most people, if you said they were in Vancouver and say like, what are you doing? You shouldn't stay there. Um, but you moved here for opportunity and you had a family, um, and you've done well in real estate and you're still here. What about Fort McMurray keeps you still here?
Speaker 2 00:10:26 Oh boy. You know what it's, you know, again, when I came, I did have a, you know, a really a two year plan in the, you know, like most people come, um, you know, w I wanted a smaller town. I was can thinking that I maybe I'd go back to, uh, you know, a place where I grew up Fort St. John, you know, another smaller town or grand Prix where my mother was at the time. Um, but you know, it just grew here in flourished and, you know, the opportunity and what Fort McMurray has given me, my family, I could never have gotten anywhere else. You know, I love Fort McMurray, Fort McMurray was my home. Um, you know, it, it kind of bothers me a little bit when people speak, uh, not well of Fort McMurray, because it's just not true, you know? And in my real estate career, I see so many people like people coming to town and then, you know, they're coming in, they say, you know, Fort McMurray, Oh my God, I've heard so many horror things, but now I'm here. I'm, this doesn't make sense. And, you know, I have also had people when I'm selling their home and they're being transferred out of Fort McMurray. Either most of them are saying, I don't want to go, you know, we love the community. We love the people here. You know, often I hear so much when people come to town, they're like, the people are so friendly here.
Speaker 3 00:11:40 Yeah. Like, it's, it's crazy. Like, people are just so friendly. He go to the grocery people wave, you know, if, you know, somebody needs a spot, they can go ahead. You know, it's, you know, and I just love that, feel about it.
Speaker 2 00:11:51 And for me now, I mean, my daughters are grown. I have adult daughters are 22 years old. I have a granddaughter that is five months old. So her name's Dior, you just lose a button. So, you know, that keeps me in Fort McMurray. Plus I love my job, you know, so this, you know, we're where else can I go? And
Speaker 0 00:12:09 Yeah. So true. Yeah, no, I might be ruining one of Tanner's questions. He has a segment where he asks like random stuff, which I love, but, uh, you said you worked at Earl's. Yep. So Earl's hands down is one of my favorite restaurants to go to so much. So when I leave the community, I find myself at Earl's outside of Fort Macquarie. Didn't we run into each other in Western. Which of that is correct. So my question, Tanner, I apologize ahead of time. If you wrote this down as one of yours, what's your go-to meal at Earl's Oh
Speaker 2 00:12:44 Gosh, the food is so good, you know, and that's what always comes, come back, you know, and again, like to, you know, honk their horn, like the fresh food there, their food is incredible. I even have the Earl's recipe cookbook at my house, but my favorite, uh, is definitely probably the black and Cajun chicken, whether I have it on a Caesar salad, or if I have the chicken and ribs with the warm potato salad. Right. Delicious, amazing, delicious, amazing. They have so many, so many great things on their menu before that, you know, aren't there, but I love, I have it in the cookbook that I cook it at home. So, you know,
Speaker 0 00:13:19 Is this a cookbook that anybody can get their heart,
Speaker 2 00:13:23 The recipe cookbook, they were selling it at one point there at the front, but yeah, you can get, it has all the recipes there dips everything downtown Elliott.
Speaker 0 00:13:32 Yeah, exactly. I did not know this. Like you said, they menus evolve obviously. And there are some things from years ago, like they had this like seafood pasta back in the day. Amazing. If that's in there, I got to get my hands on his cookbook. Okay, cool. All right. On that note, we're gonna do our segment. It's Tanner segment. It's called the Mac city minute. All right. He's going to ask you some questions five in total. All you gotta do is do your best answer them, right? Okay. Sweet. You're up and down.
Speaker 2 00:14:05 All right. Question number one. Why should people buy a host from you rather than your brother?
Speaker 4 00:14:11 Okay.
Speaker 2 00:14:11 Uh, you know, Paul is a great realtor too, and I learned a lot from him. So in saying that you could, you know, you'd have the best of both worlds, but using both of us, but, um,
Speaker 4 00:14:20 Uh, Colin, I I'm I'm
Speaker 2 00:14:24 So we're hurrying and Colin, I find, so, you know, I often, if I've looked after Colin's work, I go into people's homes. They're like, Oh, you know, I'm a call my brother call. If you ever met him. And he's, uh, he vibrates, you know, he's like, we're, you know, I'll sit and have a cup of tea, you know, you know, I'm also a woman. So I think there's a big difference between women and men, because a woman is more, Oh, you know, I care about your life. I want to hear what you have to, you know, a lot to learn about you, you know, how was your day? You know, whereas you, Colin strictly he's, you know, he's business. He's great at it. It's, uh, you know, but I guess that's why, but you have the woman's touch. Yes. Thank you.
Speaker 5 00:15:00 Question number two for you. What is your favorite place to shop in Fort McMurray that doesn't exist anymore? Oh,
Speaker 2 00:15:09 Actually I would have to save, uh, Bob Barrett's men's apparel because, you know, if I'm looking for a gift for my brothers and stuff, that was always a great go-to for me. Unfortunately, it's not here anymore, but I always loved going in there. Nice. Men's clothes, clothing, even though it wasn't for myself. Uh, you know, I enjoyed that store.
Speaker 5 00:15:30 There we go. Question number three, spending your summers up here. What is your fondest waterways memory?
Speaker 2 00:15:37 Uh, you know what, it's definitely doing a float. Yeah. A float is amazing. Like, you know, it's, if you've ever done any, I mean, it can be super quick or it can be it long. And you know what? I always tried to do it on my birthday. My birthday's in July, July 14th. So it's usually nice weather, but man, that's so great. And you float by people, you know, and, and stuff. But it's, if, if, if you haven't tried that, it's definitely worth a try here.
Speaker 5 00:16:02 Question number four for you. What is it like being part of a family that's synonymous with Fort McMurray?
Speaker 2 00:16:08 Yeah. It's fun. You know, um, you know, it's, uh, you know, I look back and so many people, I go to people's houses, they talk about my dad. They're like, Oh, I knew your dad, your dad used to be on city council. You know, your dad was this. And you know, and so we've kind of evolved through the years, but we've carried still a legacy. And I think, I think that's awesome. And you know, is that w we're good, honest, ethical business people in town, you know, and that we really care about the community and support the community. So, you know, I think it, I think it's neat.
Speaker 5 00:16:37 The last question for you today, how has raising kids in Fort McMurray now, or when you did different from being a kid in Fort McMurray?
Speaker 2 00:16:46 Oh, you know, there wasn't a lot of changes because my girls were born in 98. So to be honest, um, my options for, to take my kids anywhere in Fort McMurray at that time, cause infrastructure just wasn't as good as it is now because there's so many options. There was just the Y MTA, um, you know, Mac Island hadn't even been expanded and built. Um, so, but one of our favorite places to go was a community built a park down in grayling terrorists. I used to take him down there all the time. They had the little spray park there and that was built directly from the people in that community. And we used to love that park. So that's where I spent most of my summers with my daughters. That park is still there. Yeah. That's great. That was the venue five questions. All right.
Speaker 2 00:17:27 See, that was painless. Yeah. Yeah. No, that water park is a banger. That was a whole thing when they implemented it. For sure. Yeah. I was, I was waiting for actually someone's, who's come along and say, we were allowed to come in here. We used to go as a, you know, one of the things when I had my daughters, what I loved is that we had a moms group. I met so many great people in that group, but we used to all Corgan congregate to that park and yeah, we loved it. Yeah. Cool. To see all the neat
Speaker 0 00:17:50 Things at Fort McMurray over the years is implemented. I remember, uh, that was one, the water park, but then, um, the Haxtun center down by Borealis park, and then they put like the vault outdoor volleyball, core basketball court. And I not anymore because I'm an old man now, back in the day, the skate park that's there. Like, I just remember it that come to town being like, man, we're official to have a skate park in Fort McMurray. So yeah, over the years, definitely some great expansion in this committee.
Speaker 2 00:18:16 There's so many things like, I mean, you know, now I'm going to be able to enjoy it with my granddaughter and you know, but it's, we came so far and, and, you know, even then it was great. We had, Gisselle had a good time, but yeah, for me, Murray has so much to offer families.
Speaker 0 00:18:31 Yeah. For let you go. Let's talk about your granddaughter for a second. Okay. So my parents who are definitely watching this, that they tune into every episode. So thank you, mom and dad have really supportive parents shout out to all of our mom and dads. They're all great there. That is true. Thank you. Um, yeah, they, uh, when they raised me, I'm going to say they raised me under a dictatorship. They were super strict to say they were strict as an understatement. Now I have a child and this kid can do no wrong and gets away with murder. And sometimes my dad in particular says, Hey, easy on the kids. And I look at them and being like, excuse me, it's shocking. So as a grandparent, do you feel you've lightened up a bit or are you on the same page as you were, as, as your mother?
Speaker 2 00:19:24 I was always a pretty lax mother. You know, I'm always live a give and take. So, you know, if you, if you follow the rules, but if you break them and you, you know, you need to be reigned back in, you gotta build that trust again. Um, so I was always pretty locked in with my kids. Also. I was a, quite a young mother, but, um, you know, my granddaughter. Oh, I'm sure he, you know, she melts my heart. So I mean, it's, she's, she can have whatever she wants. So, you know, there's no worry that no, there'll be no yelling at Dior.
Speaker 0 00:19:53 Okay. She's spoiled. She's grandma's girl for sure. Awesome nanny. Or you can call me glamour. Oh, I like that everybody has their, uh, their different name that they want. So did you inherit that name or did you choose it?
Speaker 2 00:20:07 My mother was a nanny and then my mother's mother was my nanny to me. So I've cause we're from born in Nova Scotia. That's kind of a know Nova Scotia thing. You know how, uh, Newfoundlanders they use Nan and Nova Scotia and new Brunswick. A lot of times it's nanny.
Speaker 0 00:20:22 Okay, cool. Yeah. There you go. I love it. I love it. Okay. On that note, we are at the end of our time together. Thank you for coming. So what I want you to do before you leave though, is please, uh, you have a business in town, obviously you're a real estate agent, tell people at home how they can get in contact with you.
Speaker 2 00:20:40 Uh, well, my number is, uh, (780) 714-4156. I do have a website which Lisa sells YMM YMM being Fort McMurray. Of course. Um, also feel free to send me text, email, whatever works. Um, but do you remember everything I touch turns to sold?
Speaker 0 00:20:57 Ooh, I like that. That is good. I thought is really good. That's that's good. Okay. I like, yeah. Long story short. That was awesome. Little. Yeah. Okay. Well everybody at home, once again, Elliot, Pierre, the Mac city morning show. I want to say thank you for tuning in. I want to thank Lisa for coming and being a guest. I really do appreciate it. I have some happy to be here. We'll be here tomorrow and hopefully to see you then as well, have a nice day. Peace.