Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Wow, good morning, Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You've tuned in to the Mac city morning show. I am your host Elliot Pierre, and we're going to start the show off on the same note. We start every show off with a moment of gratitude. I know that 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 on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro. <inaudible>
Speaker 0 00:00:34 All right. And we're back. We got a good one today and I know I say it a lot. Maybe I should change the word. Good Tanner. I'm thinking about that. Excellent. Awesome. Great. But we got a good guest today. My favorite type of guests and individual, I have no idea who he is, so I love meeting complete strangers. So that's what we got today. So as per usual, I don't introduce our guests cause they can do a better job at that than I so on that note, uh, sir, can you please introduce yourself and tell people who you are?
Speaker 2 00:01:00 Hi. Hi Elliott. First of all, nice to meet you. Good to be here today. Uh, my name is Jason Sherman. Um, I've been a resident of Fort McMurray here. This is my second go-round. I've been here for a year now and yeah, I absolutely love it here. I love the community. I have, it took me about two weeks to convince myself that I had found a place I wanted to stay and ever since then it has just been a real fun ride. That's
Speaker 0 00:01:24 Awesome. So you said it's your second go around? When was your first go around? I came here about 20 years
Speaker 2 00:01:30 Ago, actually. Oddly enough, I had just started welding at that time and uh, I followed my heart up here. Okay. And yeah, it, uh, or one reason or another, it did not work out. Right. But the wall I was away, I always remembered this part of the community. And that was it. I got here. I'll never forget. It was May 5th when I got here. So we were just after the flood. Oh wow. You know, and yeah, it was crazy times. Um, uh, at that point in time, I was very new to the community. I was working at two stores. Right. So it was a lot to digest and yeah. You know, immediately just re was reminded that, that sense of community. Right. And as someone who has moved around a little bit, I grew up in a small town. Okay. And I felt that that's what's here is that small town community feeling where people still want to know your name, you know, and are willing to help you.
Speaker 2 00:02:21 And, and you know, you get that smile that you have right now. That's right. Yeah. So I remember, you know, I thought about it for a couple of days. Initially I was only here for six, six months was my plan. And I called my boss and I said, you know what? I love it here. I want to stay like, what can we do to make this a reality? That's right. And she kind of laughed. And then I called my family and they had a good laugh because I was adamant I I'm going to come here. I'm just here to help. Right. But yeah, I drove down that river valley road and it's so beautiful down there. I've got an apartment down there now. I love it. I absolutely love it. I looked at Mac island every day. I start my day with the sun rising over that. Yeah. And it's gorgeous. And I think that's what, that's, what I had forgotten about was the beauty here. And you know, and I tell friends about that all the time. Like they don't know what to expect, you know, I've posted pictures like, wow. Like I did not think it looked like that. And I, and I tell them like, that's why you need to come here and check it out. Like it's a beautiful place and the people are awesome. That's right. Yeah. Anyway,
Speaker 0 00:03:21 There you go. Yeah. The mentality of what Fort McMurray looks like. I think so many people hear about like the oil and gas component of it. Like it's, it's open mining. It, it looks like an oil and gas facility. However, the community itself looks nothing like that. You're lit in the middle of the boreal forest.
Speaker 2 00:03:36 It's gorgeous. It is, you know, and, and yeah. Like to see the stars again. Yeah. You know, like I remember my first nights sitting out on that pouch on my balcony and just being like, wow. Like I had forgotten about this after living in Edmonton and Calgary for so long. That's right. That's right. Yeah. It's, it's absolutely gorgeous. People have no idea. And yeah. I love the way the Mac island just lights up at night. Yeah. As a guy like me, who likes to go out and have a smoke in the evening time, you know, like, yeah. I just kind of get lost in the beauty of what I'm surrounded by. And yeah. I started taking stock in what I wanted in life and this place was it. That was beautiful, man. It really is. It's wild, man. It's actually wild. I'm very nomadic at heart.
Speaker 2 00:04:16 So it's been tough for me to, to really settle in and, and feel myself settling in. Right. You know, but I kid you not, I, I bought dishes and that was a huge commitment for me. And I think that was me saying like, I have found my place and yeah. Like I've started to tell my family like, no, this is it. I'm staying here. Like I love it here. That's awesome. So yeah, I, I, I look forward to what tomorrow brings and how I can get more involved in the community and I'm trying all the time. That's awesome. So yeah, this is exciting for me. Not, not aspect. Yeah. Right. So it helps me kind of get out of my shell. Yeah. No being new to the community and I don't have family here. So this has been new. When I got here, I met 10 people I work with. Right. You know, and they've all been awesome. And we've become this tight-knit little family that I have here, you know, but yeah. You know, getting to that because of COVID, you know, meeting people. But again, I work in retail, I sell a product I love to sell. So I meet awesome people every day. And that's just, it like the more of those interesting transactions I had, it was like, wow, like I do want to stay here. Like these are good people. Yeah. So yeah. I love it. I can't say enough. Great things about it
Speaker 0 00:05:23 When you got time downtown and it's beautiful there. But before we, before we came here, I was actually bike riding up in Sequoia. If you ever have a time Birchwood trails, man.
Speaker 2 00:05:33 Well, yeah, the first place that they put me up in, I was up in thick wood. Okay. And yeah, that was actually the first trail system I walked along. Now I have a little dog, Mary Jane, her and I, we go out all the time. Right. And yeah, it was just so fun. And then when I saw the past that were kind of into the trees like that again blew my mind. And again, someone likes to smoke and get outdoors. It's like, wow, the beauty. And at the same time, I didn't see the fire. Right. So to stand there and see how close it was to losing everything and then remembering what people lost. Yeah. Like you can't help, but be like, and again, the strength of the community. And that's another thing that I just feel like this is why I'm supposed to be here. Like I'm someone who needs that strength from time to time and this community is full of it. And that's it, man. Yeah. Those trails are phenomenal. They are. And the virtual
Speaker 0 00:06:22 Trails are nice too. Cause they weren't actually hit by the fire. So you get to see still the woods now over time since the fire they've um, not, they, they they've taken down some cheese to make it a little bit less dense of course. But still the, like the trees are still there. So different point of view. Yeah. I was literally just there beautiful community, man. It is beautiful. Now you've mentioned a few times in regards to smoking and being retail. Let's talk a little bit about where you work. You used to be a welder and now you've transitioned into a new career path. So what is it? Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:06:51 So actually I worked for Nova cannabis. Okay. I run the, uh, the downtown store. Um, yeah, I'm the store manager. So yeah, these days I sell legal cannabis. That's awesome. It's been pretty wild ride, no doubt. Uh, it was a huge transition to make for a bunch of different reasons. Um, but I kind of felt myself kind of lost for a while. There I hit 40 and didn't know what to do. I had just been divorced, moved back home, really struggling to find my identity. Right. And, uh, my brother had kind of threw the idea out there at this time. It wasn't legal, but it was being talked about. So I took a course online and found me, this is something that I do. Like I've always loved to smoke it, but this is interesting. There's so much more to it than just smoking it.
Speaker 2 00:07:34 Right. Right. And I had a friend who got in the industry very early and she kind of helped me with my resume to change it from, you know, I was a welder for 22 years. I didn't even know how to write a resume. You know, you walked in and he showed that you could, well, then you've got the job where you didn't dress it. Let's say trying to create a resume. And she was awesome and supportive. And my immediate family got behind this, you know, like, I think he's going to do this. Right. And yeah. I didn't know what to expect, to be honest with you. I didn't give myself a lot of time. Okay. I was kind of in an unusual place in my life. Right. I didn't have confidence. Right. So the idea of interacting with people was terrifying. My anxiety was getting the best of me.
Speaker 2 00:08:12 Right. And yeah. You know, a couple of days in, you know, I just started talking about the flower and people are, you know, they're buying into what I'm selling and I'm getting relaxed. And yeah, I went from, you know, part-time cer to now running a store and it's very successfully and honestly, it's so much fun. That's awesome. I don't have a strong background when it comes to cannabis. Right. But I have dove in with both feet when it comes to consumption, you know, and how I can help you as a consumer, you know, steer through it and what to buy, what am I looking for? Like legal cannabis is there's a lot out there, man. It's been a lot of fun. It's been a lot of fun. I absolutely love it. Very cool. Fun at 45 to be doing something I enjoy. Yeah. And the happiness that dad has brought me and now in the community, I love like it's great to start and just everything's lining up. That's
Speaker 0 00:09:00 It. And when I, I truly believe in it, hence, and I'm shooting a podcast for goodness sake, like doing what you love. Like you don't always know if it's going to work out. And it's a scary feeling at first, especially because you're doing something like what you're doing currently, which is not traditional. So it is new, that's it? And so you don't know where that lies, but if you're having a good time doing it, man just makes you feel good. And then when you feel good and you see success coming, you're just like, okay, here we go. You know,
Speaker 2 00:09:28 Absolutely man, you nailed it on the head. And, and you know, the first couple of people that came back and said, you know, that, that, that recommendation you had like, dude, that's exactly what I was looking for. Right. You know, you do, your chest gets a little puffed up and you start thinking, wow, like am good at this. That's right. And you know, people laugh. My dad laughs like, what are you doing while I'm at home smoking weed study in line. Like, I want to be the best at this. I can be. So that's right. If I'm not working, I'm at home smoking, you know, but I really try to figure out like, where am I going? Does this make me want to get up and do something? Cause those are the ones that I enjoy. I like smoking and getting outdoors. I like smoking and working out that's right. You know? Or is this one that's gonna make me want to just sit down? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And those like lots of people like those. So now when you come in and say, you know, and the first thing, what do you want to do today? That's right. A lot of people looked at me like I want to smoke weed. Well, yeah. But what do you want to do after you have that smoke? That's right. You know, and being able to help you understand it. So yeah. It's been a lot of fun, man.
Speaker 0 00:10:22 So how did this transition happen for you in regards to, uh, I want to talk to you a little bit about welding as well. Um, of course, but like you mentioned, this is not something that you had a lot of experience with prior to, and obviously not, if you're a welder, you go into plant sites, you do in drug and alcohol tests. This is not something that you could dabble with. So how did that happen? Like what, like how did you get do this?
Speaker 2 00:10:42 Well, so interestingly enough, um, I was very fortunate in my welding career that I didn't work for a lot of facilities that did testing. Okay. You know, and if a test was made available, you know, you did the responsible thing and you stopped smoking. That's right. When I stopped smoking is when the pain would come. Okay. And then, you know, it was narcotics. Right. And I always felt that every time I got involved in narcotics, like there was the side effects that took me in a negative way. If I started smoking, I start feeling better. I'd come out of my shell. I'd be eating, I'd look better. I'd feel better. And yeah, it just kind of led me to believe, like, I, I started really believing in the product. Right. And I struggled with, with some painkillers for quite some time. And cannabis really helped me get off of those. Yeah. And then like, it was just set, this is a product that I know people can benefit from. And I want to tell my story and help people understand that there are options out there. Right. So yeah. It just became something that I got very, very interested in and yeah. It, it, uh, you know, I dove into it, like I said, I really, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:11:49 It's so interesting to me. Um, I was out of town a few weeks ago with a, and he wanted some, um, CBD oil for his joints. Yeah. And so we went into a, uh, a cannabis store and I had never been in one prior to, so like my first entry point into the cannabis store was literally three weeks ago when we walked into it and it looked like a subway. Like, it just looked like a subway. Like here, I'm here to get my sub. And it was like, it wasn't at all. What I was looking for thought of it was very commercialized and I was just like, wow, this is so interesting because obviously the industry is changing. Absolutely. Then last week I walked into yours and once again, completely different. And so definitely the vibe of the stores differ from store to store obviously. Um, but you can see the level of professionalism in the stores is not what I would have ever thought in regards to like the stereotypes of cannabis prior to it becoming legalized. For sure. Sure.
Speaker 2 00:12:52 I can totally respect that. And like we were talking before, you know, cannabis. Yeah. Like before it was always weed, marijuana, you all, and yeah. It's become cannabis, you know, and trying to take away some of that, that negative stigmatism that followed it for so long. Not only that, but letting people know this is a safe product. And I think that's one of the things that I kind of forget about some days, but that's what I believe in the most is when it comes to legal cannabis versus gray market or black market, they're all great. There are some really great growers out there who are still doing black market. Unfortunately there are some shady people out there do things to their product. That's right. And now I know when you leave my store, you have a safe product. I believe in that. So that's, what's made it and you're right.
Speaker 2 00:13:36 The professionalism has been there from day one. Yeah. And that was one thing we really felt that we could offer all day. One price were kind of up there. Okay. You know, but yeah. You knew when you left, you were getting a safe product. That exactly what the package said, it was going to be right. You know, you, weren't going home and saying, okay, I want to do something after this. I want it to be very uplifting when I'm sitting on the couch. It's not what I wanted. I was right. And now you have a big bag of it and you're hoping your buddy next time comes with something a little more uplifting. That's right, right. It's just, that's kind of what kept me there. And again, the more I started to experience it, the more I realized there are so many facets to this from someone who doesn't want to get that high feeling. But that wellness feeling like you said CBD. Yeah. Well now who knows what CBD is and there's so many questions. Yes. It's a tough one to answer because I can't give you medicinal advice, but I can help you because I've tried the product, I believe in the process, right? Yeah. Well,
Speaker 0 00:14:35 Blew my mind outside of just the, um, the look and the people who were working there was the consumers. Like it was all different demographics. When I walked in to the place in Canmore, uh, there like a elderly couple, obviously retired, looked like your grandparents, you know what I mean? And there was like this nerdy engineer couple, and then there was two like stereotypical, I would call it like potheads. And I was just like, this is so weird. Um, and then you had another gentleman come in and he was in a suit and I was like, huh. So it really does go to show you how like mainstream it is actually.
Speaker 2 00:15:17 Oh, absolutely. And I know I've had lots of conversations with people in my family, for example, you know, that couldn't believe, you know, they, they asked me all the time, like I'm comes to your store and I tell them like every wouldn't believe everything, everybody from Emory, every demograph from your grandparents, your great grandparents to your brother, they all come in at one point or not. And that's, what's exciting now is you don't have to hide that anymore. You can say, I choose this product and this is why choose it, you know? And yeah, it it's, I love it when celebrities come out and say, you know, I'm a smoker I've been smoking for years. And I, you know, I needed that help. I was depressed. There's helped me feel a lot happier, you know, and it was a safe, alternative to what they were offering me. Yeah. Right. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 0 00:16:03 Let's rewind in your life a little bit. Cause I actually know a little bit about this topic. Let's talk about welding. Yeah, of course. What kind of welder are you?
Speaker 2 00:16:09 Well, you know, again, I was very fortunate. I I've, I've been able to do a couple of different things. Most of my career, I was more of an industrial mechanic. Okay. Um, went to plants, you know, and did a lot of shutdown work or construction, work maintenance, stuff like that. And, uh, spend about 10 years working with a company that did more millwright service. Okay. So yeah, it was a lot of it's broken get in there, fix it as fast as you can get it up and running again. Right. And I loved the challenge that, that had brought me, everything was new all the time. Um, but then it just like after 15 years of welding, I wasn't finding that satisfaction. Right. And I was starting to look for ways out. Yeah. Um, oddly enough, I ended up finding a job with a company in Calgary that did artistic features.
Speaker 2 00:16:53 Oh, neat. Well, that just re-energized me. No doubt. And I had so much fun working for them. We built some really, really cool products, you know, that I love to be able to show people and say like, yeah, I, I did that. Yeah. You know, and again, without alluding to what I was doing, you know? Yeah. Sometimes you got to get a little smoke, you need to do some of this stuff. And I was very fortunate that the company had no policies at that time, but yeah, that's cool. I've done a little bit of everything. Nice.
Speaker 0 00:17:20 Yeah. Yeah. Welding's neat. I used to be the, um, the chair for the CW, a, um, CWB welding association bureau here in Fort McMurray. My, in a previous life, I used to work for, um, a company called accurate. They do non-destructive testing. So they used to test welds and whatnot. And so that's how I became, um, involved with, uh, the welding association and boy, the amazing things you can do when you're a welder. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:17:45 It's for real, it was so much fun towards, you know, for, for quite some time I had a lot of fun doing it. I really did. And you know, it was just sheer dumb luck. I stumbled into it, you know, 18 years old didn't know what to do. Um, had kind of flunked out of college. You know, my dad said, well, get a trade trade, you know, take some time, figure out what you want. And you know, I kind of, okay, well this welding thing, like it's not a bad gig. And I, I took to it. It was a lot of fun. It took me to a lot of fun places. Right. Um, like I said, I got to do some really, really fun things. I met some fantastic people. Right. But yeah, I hit 40 and it was like, I don't want to do this anymore.
Speaker 2 00:18:24 Everything was starting to hurt. That's right. And yeah, I was looking for options and cannabis was a neat one because at 40 years old, like I really had to look for something, what can I do for the next 20 years? Right. And yeah, it just kind of provided me with an opportunity, meaning this is something I can do that can grow into something. And every day it's changing, it has become exciting because I don't know what else is going to happen. Yeah. I look forward to tourism. I really do. Yeah. You know, when the cafes and stuff are a thing, I know that that's where all I'll land, because I just love talking about it. I want to sit there, smoke with you, how you feel in mine. Like that's awesome. Cool one. Right. That's my gig. Yeah. I love that. There you go. All
Speaker 0 00:19:05 Right. Now we've come to the show. Tanner section of the show. We call it the Mac city minute. All right. Tanner is going to hit you up with some questions and best of luck to you. Cause I have no idea what he's going to ask. All right. Tanner hit him with the max 80 minutes.
Speaker 3 00:19:15 Question. Number one for you. What is the biggest change you've noticed between your first and second stay in Fort McMurray?
Speaker 2 00:19:24 Wow. Um, you know, I think the way I, the way I've embraced it, I took advantage of it the first time. I didn't appreciate it, you know? And now that I'm here and I love it. It is it's, it's a new found appreciation for what this community has to offer the people, the scenery, everything about it. Yeah. I definitely, that would be that
Speaker 3 00:19:47 Question. Number two. What is your favorite part of bringing Mary Jane to work?
Speaker 2 00:19:54 I love it. When guests walk in the store and asked to see her, you she's definitely become our mascot. She's been my support dog since the day I got her, you know? So yeah, when people come in and they say, Hey, I hear your dogs here. Can I meet her? That definitely is the highlight of my day.
Speaker 3 00:20:09 Question number three. What is your favorite part of working with Nova in Fort McMurray?
Speaker 2 00:20:15 Well, it, that it brought me here, you know, I did not know where this path was going to lead me. Um, I have been, like I said, a very nomadic person. So I think the favorite thing about working with Nova is it brought me to a place where I do feel I'm at home. You know, when I'm ready to set down some roots, actually one way or another, whatever that means for me. Sure.
Speaker 3 00:20:37 Question number four. What is one defining moment that made you want to stay in Fort McMurray?
Speaker 2 00:20:44 The first day I drove down the river valley, a hundred percent. I fell in love with that river valley, you know, and at that time it was, it was unfortunately flooded out, but I saw the potential, you know, those paths that were there, the trees that, the Foothill behind it, like everything about it, I was immediately sold.
Speaker 3 00:21:03 And your final question, what is your favorite snack to Muncho on when you're conducting your crucial work research?
Speaker 2 00:21:11 I'm a gummy fan. Okay. I'll eat gummies until my stomach aches. Yeah, absolutely. 100%. I like the gummies
Speaker 3 00:21:19 And those five questions. There
Speaker 0 00:21:21 You go. Yeah. I know the river valley, it's a unique part of Fort McMurray because a, they really developed that downtown core over the last few years. It wasn't always like that where you had like accommodations to live. It was very industrial back in the day. So yeah, it's a beautiful part of town and
Speaker 2 00:21:36 That's oddly enough, what I can remember is it not being like that? And yeah, that first drive down there, just remind myself what was this, but I know it wasn't, it wasn't that the road wasn't their fault. And I mean, I lived up in Dickens field when I lived here 20 years ago and I don't think we even went downtown. Like we just didn't, it wasn't a place to go at that point. Right. And now that I'm there with the scenery and everything, like, I think that's a huge selling feature of what Fort McMurray has to offer is that river valley. That's right. That's right. And like I said, I love getting down on them trails, having a smoke and just get the interpretive trail is my favorite place to go on a Saturday afternoon. That's awesome. I love looking at those art features and just reading it and kind of embracing what they're telling you. Yeah. I mentioned a Tanner, the humility one, I go there once a month, I sit down, I have a smoke and I look inside like, what can I be doing different? How can I help people? Like, what am I being a good person? Yeah. I I've become very spiritual as I've gotten older. That's awesome. And I think that's another thing, you know, like the beauty of cannabis, it allows you to just open some, some thought that you never really gave chance to before.
Speaker 0 00:22:42 Very cool. Well, listen, we're out of time. I want to delve deeper into what you just said in regards to getting older, because I am getting more spiritual because I am as well as you get older, it happens. It's kind of neat. So I'd love to talk to you more about that anytime, but, uh, thank you very much for coming on the show today. Really do appreciate it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:22:58 It's been a blast though. I would love to come back on again. Wait,
Speaker 0 00:23:01 I'm going to take you up on that one. Perfect. On that note, Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo. Thank you for tuning in. This has been another episode of the Mac city morning show. I've been your host Elliot, Pierre, and uh, yeah, from the bottom of my heart. Thanks for tuning in. I know you could be doing a million other things, so have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace.
