Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 Good morning, Fort McMurry, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You have tuned into the Mac city morning show. I am your host, Elliot Pierre, and we're going to start it off the same way we always do with some gratitude. Thank you so much for tuning in and spending time with us. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time, so it truly, and honestly does warm my heart that you're choosing to spend it with myself Tanner and our great guests today. So on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:29 Oh, she caught me, loves near listen to the next anymore.
Speaker 0 00:00:38 All right. We're back now. I'm excited about today's guest because this guy is a straight up hustler and I've been following him for years. We've met once or twice, but we haven't really had an opportunity to have a solid conversation. So that's what we're going to do here today. As you're all pretty aware of at home, I don't introduce my guests. They can do a much better job at that than I can. So on that note, sir, can you please introduce yourself to the people watching at home?
Speaker 2 00:01:04 All right. Um, my name is Mike McCoy. I'm a fitness professional here in Fort McMurray. Um, I teach, um, personally I do personal training. I do, um, acro. I also do a salsa and bachata, so it's a lot of fun. I get to work with a lot of people in the city, um, and I have a great time doing it. So, yeah. That's awesome.
Speaker 0 00:01:23 Yeah. You are one of the guys in Fort McMurray. Um, one Facebook, social media person to another, like I follow you. I'm enthralled with what you do. And like from day one, you have definitely been able to like cultivate a great following. And the content that you create is just it's banging man.
Speaker 2 00:01:41 Thanks, man. I appreciate it. And uh, now I have a great opportunity to work with amazing people and, um, seeing people grow from, um, learning something and being open to learning different things, whether it's just regular fitness classes or athero or dance, and to seeing them grow and checking out their process process in the midst of everything has been amazing. So, and people like to celebrate people. Right. So, yeah.
Speaker 0 00:02:05 First and foremost, myself, a Tanner were born and raised here. Yeah. You're not alone. Let's hear your story. What brought you, where are you from? What brought you to Fort McMurray? What keeps you informed?
Speaker 2 00:02:15 Okay. Um, so I grew up in Toronto, um, specifically in Brampton because they're all people that if you're from Brampton for breath, but I grew up in Brampton. Um, I have a fitness background, so I used to work at the YMCA. I worked with kids sports programming and worked with at-risk kids in Toronto, in communities creating programs for them. I was a child youth worker before coming out to Fort McMurray. I actually worked in Toronto's youth jail facility and helped at-risk kids in the community, um, get back into the community through sports programming and healthy ways of building programming to get them interjected back into the community. So,
Speaker 0 00:02:52 Yeah. So that's what you're doing there. Yeah. How does that translate into you moving here?
Speaker 2 00:02:57 So, um, after a little bit, um, I try to run my own business and do some things on things weren't really working out. And then my cousins that lived in Fort McMurray at the time, um, she was like, you know what, come check it out. Fort mercy is like a great opportunity for things. So like, you know what, let's take a big life change. And I came out here and, um, it was, it was a lot of, uh, stress at the beginning. Cause I was like, man, there's minus 35 weather. I have no idea what this is about. Like when I first drive up to Fort Mac, I th I had no idea where I was going. I was like, man, there was a blizzard on the highway and the highway 63 only had one way in one way out with the two-way roads. And it was like, man, this is horrible.
Speaker 2 00:03:38 But I got here. And once I got connected with the community, I felt a little bit better and I got to meet some people. And, um, yeah, I got started off on site first doing some security work. And then, um, I worked for the school board, um, eventually doing, um, working with kids in the community and stuff, um, working at Mac Island, bringing kids that couldn't remain in the classrooms and I have to bring them to maca and to do some like workouts and fun things. And then I got connected with world gym at the time and did personal training and got certified and all that good stuff. So,
Speaker 0 00:04:09 Yes. See, that's what I'm saying at the top show. You're a hustler man. I was putting in work for what year? If it was a single lane highway, what year did you move to 2013. Oh, wow. So you've been here a long time then you're a local
Speaker 2 00:04:24 Definitely. Now I'm a local. Yeah. That's awesome. And yeah. And then like second part of your question is like, um, after being in the community and building up a brand and building a business and um, honestly this community has been so supportive from the jump from the time I started to where I am now, I've been getting so much love and so much support from all the different companies I work with. I have like really nothing bad to say about that. And that's really rare, um, in life, right? You go to big, big cities and stuff like that. Some, some people have some negative experiences and always a different negative experiences, but here man is so much love and Fort Mac. So I'm happy to be here. It keeps me here. And uh, yeah,
Speaker 0 00:05:03 That's awesome. That is awesome. Now let's get into, uh, something that I think you really passionate about. I know you're passionate about what you do, but you have a hobby or pastime that you're extremely passionate about. It's the Toronto Raptors.
Speaker 2 00:05:15 Aw man, you better believe it through and through. So I'm a diehard Raptors fan, as you know, um, man, I have so much to say, even down to the 2019 season when they're winning the championship, Lily, when they won the championship, my brother called me that night. He goes, you need to fly down here. And I jumped on a plane, flew down to the parade and uh, and uh, the night before the parade, I told my brother, Mike man, this place is going to be packed. We've never won a championship before we got up at two o'clock in the morning and we checked the news and the police was already filling up. So I told them my man, we gotta, we gotta leave. He's like just y'all one more hour asleep down there at like 4:00 AM. 4:00 AM place was already packed. I was like, man, we're close to I'm Nathan Phillips square, right. Where all the players were going to be. So we were there for nine hours and camped out to watch the parade and be a part of that. And man, it, I love the Raptors, whether they're winning or whether they losing, I'm always super supportive of them.
Speaker 0 00:06:16 So yeah. So it was a nine hour wait worth it.
Speaker 2 00:06:19 So worth it all 2 million people downtown, the energy was crazy. We didn't eat anything. One girl that was in front of us with, with a group of boys, she went to McDonald's. I bought like two hours until like 7:00 AM. And she's like, I know you guys are hungry and thank you for letting me back in into the spot. So here's a hash Brown. We took that house brother. We're like, Oh my gosh, hash Brown. We were so excited. There's people standing there and they couldn't move at, I think it was like 1:00 PM in the day or so if you left your spot, your, it was gone. So people peed themselves, craziest thing I've ever seen. Craziest thing just to be a part of an state, keep their spot in the parade. It was crazy. Yeah. It's wild.
Speaker 0 00:07:05 What got you into the Rapids? Just cause you were in Toronto.
Speaker 2 00:07:07 So yeah, I know. So because I played basketball as a kid growing up, I was actually a baseball player first and then my mom, I hated basketball in grade five and mum forced me to play it in grade six, just so I could be different and just like have multiple sports under my belt. And I was like, no, this is stupid. And I fell in love with Vince Carter and Colby Bryan. And I started watching them playing my, these guys are super athletes and I got really into basketball. Right. So I'd say about like great eight. I started taking a little bit more serious and I was playing it a lot in high school. Um, yeah, I took it from there and Ms. Ran with it. So
Speaker 0 00:07:41 Yeah, no, the Raptors are good team. They're a great team. And they're Canadian now. I gotta be honest. They're not my team and I don't follow basketball. Like I used to, I used to be a diehard it's because of MJ, Michael Jordan. And I know they're not what they used to be, but if you got your team, you got to stick with the team and the good and the bad. And since Michael Jordan left the bulls, there has been a lot of bad.
Speaker 2 00:08:06 That's so true.
Speaker 0 00:08:07 It's so cool to see. Like I, I remember when the Raptors first came into the league and same with the Vancouver Grizzlies where he had Vince Carter and he had big country going and I was fortunate enough to go to Edmonton and watch a, um, a pregame. I don't know what you call it, but the Raptors played the Grizzlies. And actually at that game, master P was playing a rapper. So yeah, it's cool that Canada has like a basketball team that we can get excited about cheer for exactly. Yeah. I know I've been following you. Like you are. You're on another level.
Speaker 2 00:08:42 I'm a diehard like, well we traded for DeMar DeRozen and for Kauai, there's a lot of people that are so sad about that. Mike we're winning the championship. That's the first thing I thought, because he was that level of superstar that we needed in Toronto. We've never had that level of a superstar since Vince Carter. Right. So I was like, you know what? We have that piece. He's already won a championship in San Antonio. He's bringing that experience that we need to take it there. And he, he did that even though he left us. But at the same time we took a chip. Right. We have a chip and there's so many teams that have never won a championship. So
Speaker 0 00:09:14 Yeah, they were Vince Carter and Tracy.
Speaker 2 00:09:17 Oh my gosh. That's so exciting. Oh, so exciting.
Speaker 0 00:09:20 When dunk competitions a year. That was an Epic. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Listen, we're going to run out of time here if we don't get to this, but we have a segment called the Mac city minute Tanner segment. Tanner hit him with the max. Any minute,
Speaker 3 00:09:36 Question. Number one for you today. What is your favorite dance move?
Speaker 2 00:09:41 Ooh, um, it's a Jamaican dance move called the Willie bounds. It is smooth exceptional. When you hear that beat and you roll with it, it just feels nice
Speaker 3 00:09:55 Question. Number two. What is your favorite place to get a workout in?
Speaker 2 00:10:00 Ooh, I actually love obstacle course racing. So being outside, um, doing the obstacles out in the forest is so much fun.
Speaker 3 00:10:10 Okay. Question number three. What is your favorite junk food
Speaker 2 00:10:16 Pizza. Pizza pizza. Oh, um, chicken, bacon banana peppers. But then you get the base as barbecue sauce and not tomato sauce.
Speaker 3 00:10:32 There you go. Question number four. What's one way you stay fit. That might shock people.
Speaker 2 00:10:38 Mm Hmm. It's not, I don't think it's, I think acro is a little bit of a shock because when they see a black guy doing an acronym, like what the heck is he doing? And I see someone gets thrown up in the air and caught that. Usually shocked people are like, yo, what's going on? So I said, I would say acro, definitely acro.
Speaker 3 00:10:56 And your last question, why is someone who isn't into fitness still contacted you?
Speaker 2 00:11:01 Um, they usually just contact me for motivation and to talk about life. And I'm a great person to talk to. And I'm a great listener when it comes to just being open about stuff. So yeah, that's, it's honestly, man, like so many people are going through things right now in life. And um, so many negative things are happening around and sometimes people just need a little bit of motivation or just a little bit of love and someone to talk to. And that's mental health is so important. I don't, I stressed out so much. Like if you're feeling, um, down and out and alone, feel free to reach out and talk. There you go.
Speaker 0 00:11:39 Nice. Now you talk about dancing. You're from Toronto. My parents, most of my family immigrated to Toronto and it's still there. There's a festival there. Not everybody knows about that. I have to assume you've had some memories at it's called. Yeah. You've been to Caribana.
Speaker 2 00:11:56 I've been to caravan. Uh, once, um, I grew up in a religious household, so my mom was like, if I catch you on camera, uh, I care about, uh, when I come home on games
Speaker 0 00:12:06 <inaudible> yeah. I grew up, uh, going to Toronto in the summers and being a very conflicted teenager in regards to caravan is wild and it's awesome. And it's cool. And then my mom and my aunts participated, Oh, they're in the costumes, dancing and jumping around whining and cave and all that. I'm like, it's cool. And it's not your mom and your ass different story. When I remember when I was 12, my mom come down to <inaudible>. Those are my favorite memories in Toronto are the wildness of caravan. Because growing up here in Fort McMurray, we just didn't have that type of energy or those parties. Um, because we just didn't have the, the population festival was off the hook. What are you talking about? It was cool actually right before, and it's a bit of a downside. Um, um, Edmonton has the Cary West stubble. I went through that.
Speaker 0 00:13:14 We were, uh, my company Greenlight. We sponsored a float. Oh wow. Yeah. We were super pumped, like a sponsor to float. We had an after party, we had this whole thing set up and then COVID happened so we didn't get to do it. So we did a video though. It's online, check it out, Carrie West video to help them out of bed, promoted it. But yeah, I'm excited for when we can do festivals and stuff again, to get back involved and carry West and maybe go to Toronto for a Caribana. Nice. Now, one last thing it's going to be on the traveling tip. I know you love to travel. Yeah. This isn't and you can't travel right now, but I know you're going to, as soon as you can, you will explain, cause I'm going to hijack, we talked about it before these fitness retreats that you were doing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:14:00 So, um, so a fitness retreat last time I did one was right before COVID happened. Um, it was in Costa Rica. So on these fitness retreats, uh, we wake up in the morning. Uh, we get a workout in, uh, we have breakfast made for us. Um, and then we have different activities that relate to fitness. So it's not necessarily, um, uh, crazy workouts all the time. Like we just do like tours on bikes or hikes in the rainforest. Um, and we have different things planned out, um, throughout the day. And because I do acro and because I teach salsa, I show people how to do salsa dancing and bachata dancing. Then we have a little night out in the community where we go and explore the community, talk to the locals about stuff. Um, we learn about the food in the community, spend time at their different restaurants.
Speaker 2 00:14:44 And it's, it's such a fun experience. Um, we learned how to cook from local chefs. Um, so, so many different activities to do. Um, and you have the choice and the power to do it. So some people went and like, I'm doing everything. I want to go on this excursion to excursion. And some people came in and said, you know what? This is my time to relax. I'm going to do two activities for the day and then I'm going to sleep. So you have the choice to do what you want to for your activities. And it's a lot of,
Speaker 0 00:15:12 Yeah. Awesome. Okay. Now the next and last question I have for you before you get your shameless plugin. Yeah. As far as shoes, what's your brand for shoes when it comes to working out and just for kicking it when you're relaxing,
Speaker 2 00:15:26 Man, dad is, it's tough because if I'm teaching fitness classes, whatever I'm matching in is what I rock. My favorite store is the Nike factory down in Edmonton. I love to, um, try different Nike brands. Um, the LeBron soldier, sevens are amazing for playing sports. Um, the Nike flights are really good for just like walking around, trying to be comfortable in. And the what's my other one, that's a great question. I like 86 for jogging. Jogging. New balance is good for jogging the road, running that kind of stuff. So I have different shoes for different things. You know what I mean? So, yeah.
Speaker 0 00:16:10 Nice. All right. The reason I ask, because I want to get a shameless plug in for myself. Yeah. I'm obsessed with these, a pair of Nike's they're called the Ben and Jerry dunks. I don't know if you've ever seen these things. Rages. The price point is anywhere between three to $5,000. So I am buying, I'd be sad if somebody at home wants to send it to me or he wants to hit me up with a pair, I swear. I'm not going to be a sneaker head and put it in a glass case. I'm going to wear it on every show. I'm going to wear these things out. I'm going to see the scuff increases. If you're trying to get somebody to buy you a pair of shoes like that, I feel like you shouldn't be telling me you're wearing them. Yeah. Fair enough. That SAC religious and I buy things to wear them.
Speaker 0 00:16:52 So yeah. I like Nike Nike's are cool, but I agree with you. It depends on what you're doing. Like when I run, I'm a big treadmill runner eighty-six so, and I've tried, I would love to wear Nike's, but for running, they just that Asics brand. It's perfect. They dial it in. Yeah. But for on point they're on point and then I wear a lot of vans too, for killing, but yeah, Nike is it. And if anybody wants to hook me up with some, uh, getting Jerry dunks, <inaudible> the address? Cool. Well man, thank you very much. This has been a pleasure. Um, it sucks. This is only 20 minutes long, but it's designed that way. So you can come back again and again and again, please don't be a stranger on definitely not. And before you leave, this is your opportunity, your time to get a shameless plug in and tell people again, who you are, what you do, how they can get in contact with you. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:17:43 Yeah, definitely. Okay. So my name is again, Mike McCoy. Um, I do personal training and group fitness. I also teach acro yoga and, um, and salsa dancing. So check out, uh, Y M M salsa for, um, stuff about dancing, uh, train with mike.info for training, any training information and then acro, uh, certainly, yeah, ACRA was blank.com um, for any ACRA related stuff and yeah, it's uh, thank you for having me on the show, man. Ella. You're amazing.
Speaker 0 00:18:15 That's great. Awesome. All love. There we go. Well, once again, everybody watching at home. Thank you so much for tuning in. I really do appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. We'll see you tomorrow. Peace.
Speaker 1 00:18:29 Oh, she caught near listen to the next <inaudible>.
