Episode 44 - No Fixed Address with Tyler Melnyk
Tyler Melnyk is addressing food insecurity in Calgary through the power of amazing food. Tyler is a social entrepreneur making real change in our city through his businesses: No Fixed Address YYC. He is a full time teacher with a business degree who loves bringing the idea to life and making a difference while doing it. Tune in to learn about the mission, visit No Fixed Address and most of all enjoy a wonderful soup or pie. Tyler shared a beautiful quote: “No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come” ― Victor Hugo
https://www.nofixedaddress.ca/
https://communitynowmagazine.com/
Olympic Plaza, 8 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB
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Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Positively Charged Podcast. I'm a certified coach who's innately curious and loves discussing life, work, family, and everything in between. My guests and I are sharing how we step into our power and live a positively charged life. Let's dive in.
[00:00:24] Hello and welcome. Welcome back to Positively Charged. I am your host, Lindsay and Holy guacamole. I have a special guest here for you today, listeners. I have a local entrepreneur, teacher. Social giver to back to our community here in Calgary. His name is Tyler and he runs a beautiful business called No Fixed Address.
[00:00:52] He is a teacher and so he's shaping the minds of our younger generation, thank goodness. And Tyler, I would love to hear more about you and why you said yes to the podcast and tell us about your life and just give us all your secret sauce. Oh, awesome. Thanks for having me, Lindsay. It's, you know, it's great to be on a podcast.
[00:01:12] I've been on the other side of the mic on a podcast. Listen to them. Uh, this is my first time being interviewed on one. Um, yeah, so reaching out, it's been cool. It's been, it's been a really interesting time. Thank you. Yeah. Oh, my. Sincere pleasure. And Tyler, can you just start by telling us a bit about yourself, A bit about what no fix address is and how you're making a difference in the world.
[00:01:38] Yeah, I'm gonna have a hard time with these pauses because I, my mind is just so busy right now with like, you pause away. You do, you, I've, I've heard these things called loaded questions and uh, and the loaded questions can be the most simple ones. I find that, you know, when someone says to you, how are you feeling today?
[00:01:56] A lot of people just say, fine, and they walk away with that. But if you are really going to answer someone truthfully, then they kind of get. Puzzled, you know, at work. And that if I say, well, you know, blah, blah, blah, then they're like, they don't know what to do with this information. And it's like, but I really answered your question, so if you wanna know, I'm gonna, sometimes I tell you, uh, so yeah, hang in there.
[00:02:18] Uh, the no address soup truck or soup trailer, uh, is a social entrepreneur. Venture. So we call it social purpose business, and it specializes in something called radical hospitality. And radical hospitality could be broken down to a few basic ideas from my research and what I've seen. Um, did some field research and some reading on it.
[00:02:39] Um, but I really believe in it and it's that you're going to provide a quality product regardless of somebody's ability to pay. And why it's radical is because it defines the perception that we have to be making money off every sale to maximize our revenue. And, and it is a business. So let's, you know, be very clear.
[00:02:57] It's a business and I hope to grow it. Um, but it has at its heart a mission. And that mission is to deal with food insecurity. Transparency of issues of those amongst us. So we really see who we are around. Like, I mean, homelessness is easy to see, um, people sleeping rough in that sort of, um, marginalized population in our society.
[00:03:15] But food insecurity often goes unnoticed because it happens mostly in walls. And, and so because of that and someone who, who has experienced food insecurity, I, I, um, I just really wanted to bring that to the light so that people could see it, and then we could respond to it by offering, um, basically really high, high quality nutritious food products at a pay it forward model.
[00:03:37] And we do this on the street and we do it in three models. So one is you can book us for private events where we will go to the events and there's no gratuity charge, but at the end there's an ability to raise huggable and the huggable are then destined for, uh, Outreach basically. Um, the second one is when I'm doing my street vending.
[00:03:54] I've worked out seasonal permit with the city of Calgary to operate at Olympic Plaza till mid-June, and then we'll be negotiating, hopefully a second site where I'll move to for the summer, maybe somewhere along the below, uh, somewhere with a bit higher traffic, um, you know, self-powered pedestrian traffic in that.
[00:04:09] And, um, and then I'll come back hopefully to the Olympic Plaza, uh, in the winter. So I, I tend to move the cart to where the need is greatest. Depending on the season and then the products and the foods I serve can also vary in change. So I've got great partners like Pie Junkie, uh, supplying me their sweet and savory pies, and I've got a few other ones on the go.
[00:04:27] I've got a chef who works at Saffron Catering. He owns Saffron Catering. His name's Dean Mitchell. He's been in Calgary for 30 years working. Uh, and he is, we're also working with other organizations known. Like leftovers and, uh, Calgary Veterans Food Bank to procure and save food from waste. Um, perfectly good food, as we know, is often just being discarded because it's, um, it's too costly to keep on the shelf or keep it in the freezer and new stock comes in.
[00:04:53] So what do you do with it if you don't have a place for it to go? It goes in the compost or the waste. And so there are optics that need to be, in my opinion, over. Um, come that we have and challenges we have with these, these, these dates on products or these, um, this perceived obsolescence. Yes, it's not a real obsolescence, it's perceived.
[00:05:14] And if we can address that perceived obsolescence, and I can give you an example, one of pies. Um, and, and this might answer the question here is what's happening. My relationship with Pie Junkie is based on day old pies. Now someone might hear that and perceive it as a product that needs to go in the waste.
[00:05:32] It's like the red solo cup. Why would you wash a red solo cup? This happens in school all the time. I, I wash red solo cups and I say to the students, well, why wouldn't you? And they say, well, they're, they're made to go in the garbage. And I said, well, conveniently yes. But environmentally we can do better than that.
[00:05:47] And the red Solo cup as an example, I don't know how many times it's safe to use it, but to me it's 50 times. Yeah, yeah. Um, more than, than once. Let's just say it's definitely more than once. Right. But if you buy into that marketing right, then see then, then all of a sudden it's like totally. Well then the perception is something's wrong with you cuz you're washing the red solo cup.
[00:06:04] So I overcome that challenge with students. But with Pie Junkie, um, the idea is that they're, Their pies are very high quality. I argue they're the best in the city and I'm biased. I know, but I really believe they are. They're butter crust. I'm all about it. Let's get it Fresh made pie junky best in the city.
[00:06:18] You heard it here first. That's here. Four locations. And, uh, they're a great social purpose business as well. Like they're running a business, but they also have huge hearts and wanna give back. So when I approach them, I said, well, where's your food waste going? And then most of it was being donated to different, um, outreach groups like, uh, St.
[00:06:32] Vincent de Paul Society and other groups dealing with food insecurity. And I said, well, You know, that's, they're charities, but I'm a business, so could we work something out where maybe I divert just a bit of it to me, and then we work out a deal where I can buy it at a price that I can afford, uh, to maintain my business.
[00:06:48] And, uh, we work something out. But then the optics on it where, well, what are these pies? Well, every day pies are made fresh. And then the pies that aren't sold, unfortunately, like because of the business model, they have to have a place to go, right? Mm-hmm. So there's a period of time. Whe then if you were to buy a pie in a store and then take it home and put it on your counter, and have a slice the next day.
[00:07:11] That's exactly what I'm serving. Yeah, no kidding. Yeah. So why would we perceive that to not be good food? It was made yesterday, so wait a minute. How could something made yesterday be good today? Well, like overcoming some of these un un unfortunately our industry has our fast, super fast food service industry and our quick service restaurants in that have, have done a lot to perpetuate a cycle of wastefulness through thought of perceiving food as having these dates.
[00:07:39] Because that's how they sell it. Um, and so I really wanna sell, just say there's a profit, like, like they're benefiting from ultimately like every organization that's goes with that model is benefiting from you coming back the next day to get something fresher. They're right. Ultimately, like there's more money being made that way.
[00:08:01] Right. So we've become conditioned. Yeah. We become conditioned to want it Totally. Or to expect it. And with that, in looking at the rising cost of foods and inflation and mm-hmm. Just what's happening in our city pre and post co covid, um, I just saw a huge issue with this. And the food delivery from outreach, like mean, they're doing great work.
[00:08:20] Outreach groups really, really do great, uh, work. So to go back I did do some outreach during covid. I reached out to my counselor, Joe tk, and I asked her at the time, um, how I can get involved. And she had a few connections downtown. So she put me in touch with some outreach groups and I went and helped them in many facets.
[00:08:34] I was on the street, I was in the back room, I was rising r writing and write writing and raising grant unease for them and so forth. And I mean, commendable work we were doing. But in the end I kept saying, this isn't sustainable. Like these volunteers are getting, um, giving burnout. They're just like, you know, um, and also with that, and it's a shame if you're gonna volunteer for a group and give something that you and the end, end up health.
[00:08:57] Compromise because of your giving. Like that should never be an issue. The people who are giving should never come off worse than they go in. But unfortunately that's happening because when you get in there, you see such a great need and such a limited amount of resources. You just, you, you're compelled to say, well, if I don't do it, who will?
[00:09:12] Right? Um, so then when I walked away from that, I said, look, you're doing harm reduction clothing, food service agency supports, warehouse grant writing, logistics, hiring. Proposal writing, strategic planning. I said, all of this is great, but you can't do it all. So where can I help out more? And that's when I sat down and started thinking about a way to distribute Food with Dignity that has a high nutritional content, but can work as a business because people support it in a way.
[00:09:40] And this is kind of that example here of, um, the huggable token. So this is a button that represents the free bowl of soup. I, I don't like to use the word free because someone paid for it. A superhero made it possible, I deliver it. So, you know, if you look at my cost, the token represents basically the cost of a deliverable bowl of soup.
[00:10:00] Um, beyond that, if I sell one at regular price, that's where the business mind comes in, right? So I wanna generate sales through. Outreach, um, I mean like private bookings and on street sale bookings, because with that, there's the margin that allows the business to continue to grow and, and, and reward that.
[00:10:17] But the huggable is always aimed to be round costs so that there's nothing being made on it. It's just. A delivery that goes along with operating the other side of the business. Yeah. And, um, then there's pure outreach events where I will show up and I, and I will just feed however many people I, I can with what I have generated.
[00:10:35] So the token is a representation of that soup, and I really want to create a brand. Where when someone is at a red light and someone walks up to your window and they have a sign and they're looking for something and you're like, well, what am I gonna give someone who needs something at a red light? And my mother-in-law has little care packages she makes and she hands them those.
[00:10:51] They have hygiene products, toothbrush that, and she keeps a couple in the card all the time. But that kind of got me thinking about how these tokens could also be in that bag with that. So if you're walking around, you wanna make sure someone can only use it for. For what its intended purpose was, was you wanna help them make sure they're healthy and safe.
[00:11:09] Well then you give 'em a huggable token, they put the token in there and then they recognize it and say, oh, I know what to do with this. I'll pin it on my shirt, or I'll put it in my bag. I don't wanna lose it. And when I go buy Olympic Plaza or wherever he's set up, um, I can redeem this for a hot, nutritious meal.
[00:11:24] So that was my intention, was to create that transparency and those layers. And the way that works is that I'm the business end bringing the soup. I do all the background work. I get all the partners together. I make it happen. I get the permitting and I deliver it myself right now. But it's possible because of two people beyond me, well, many more.
[00:11:42] But the two that make the huggable possible, it's the superhero who backstops the huggable with 60%. And then it's the person at the point of sale who's buying a regularly priced soup, who decides to add on. Like a gratuity bit, which is an extra bull, but they're not paying the whole cost. They're paying 40% of it, and 60% is backed up by these superheroes.
[00:12:07] And superheroes can be organizations, philanthropists, um, foundations. Anybody who has a willingness to give, who wants to say, look, we wanna put a set amount into your, uh, huggable account. And then I will draw from it every time someone purchases a huggable so that there's a matching happening. And that way.
[00:12:26] We're creating more circles around what's happening. We've got people who can give and have the ability and want to, but then, then I have the point of sale conversation where I offer someone the chance to put $2 extra onto their meal and that creates that token, and they don't necessarily need to know about the backstopping.
[00:12:42] But they think $2, oh, I fed someone. Well, that's not the whole story, but yes, whatever. They're part of it, right? And then I have people come by and just wanna buy huggable. I got people online buying them on no fixed address. There's a token ball. You can buy as many as you want. People are coming by and saying, I came in 45 minutes from outside of the city just cuz I, I wanted to meet you.
[00:13:02] And, and they're handing me, you know, uh, a purchase. So they're buying just huggable. And then those get tallied up. And obviously when there's a. An embarrassment of them around that I can't hand out on a shift. They go into a outreach category where I then contact one of my partners and I say, look, I have X amount of huggable to hand out.
[00:13:21] What events do you have coming up? And they tell me the list and then I show up. And then those are just, that's just purely showing up and feeding kids or feeding a school or going to an outreach group. And I always look for opportunities to do that, but because it's sustained by. Partners. That's why I have to continue to do those private events, small, big, medium events that generate those huggable on large amounts, because then that creates the ability for us to just carry on doing the outreach.
[00:13:49] Yeah. Tyler, you know what I'm hearing you say, and I, I might, I might not say it right, but from, from my, um, primitive brain here, is that you're building, uh, an ecosystem of giving. It is not just a one. It's not just a bowl of soup, it's not just a hot meal. It's, it's so much more, there's such a larger umbrella being explored here, and that to me feels like longevity.
[00:14:18] That feels like something that could take on its own life and. Be something. I'm getting chills just saying it like, be something bigger than you. Oh, me too. Well, my worst case, my worst fear is that I create something that people become reliant on, or, or, or, or want or need. And then there's a power there, vacuum, literally when it, when it dissolves because of burnout or because of inability.
[00:14:40] As by creating a business. So I had the moment where I was gonna go not for profit, and I had a conversations with a guy, uh, in town here named Charles Buchanan, who runs Technology Helps, and he's been a wonderful mentor. He works at Platform and other organizations as well. And Charles, you know, had just been on cover of Avenue.
[00:14:55] So I reached out to him and I said, you know, last summer I said, can we have coffee? And that led to like probably 30 mentoring conversations with him over a year. But one of the main things Charles said to me was, uh, you know, and this is why I approached him, is his mindset is it doesn't have to be one or the other.
[00:15:09] You don't have to be a not-for-profit or a profit. There is an ability to exist. And then I started looking into what's being written by even the federal government about encouraging more social entrepreneurs to step up and embed a purpose within their mandate. Mm-hmm. And so I said, okay, that's what I'll do.
[00:15:24] And you, you hit it on the nail on the head when you said, A system of giving, because if I do something, One time, and then it's done. The, the, the need was met and the delivery method might have been me giving away a bowl of soup. But what's more important for me is to reach up and engage people above and say, here I am doing this, and you might be doing something else.
[00:15:48] Could you somehow help this? Trickle down through this and, and, um, that makes it more of a medium, I guess, know if it's model becomes more of like the medium delivery that connects the people who wanna give, but might not know how, or where, or see, see. Impact. And I'm doing that, like you see the impact we're live streaming on Instagram.
[00:16:10] Uh uh, it's no fix address, underscore y y c. So we, we live streaming, we get videos, we show off like, Hey, this superhero donated, we wanna give them a thanks. We wanna highlight them on our socials and our sandwich board at the event. So, I know a lot of people don't want the reciprocity, but it's important to me that we offer it at least, um, to acknowledge how much we appreciate those superheros.
[00:16:30] It's part of the ecosystem. It's part like that reciprocity. It's is part of it's.
[00:16:39] Independent glass and contracting in Calgary. Thank you. I mean, stepped up right away off the bat and made a significant, uh, contribution to our huggable campaign. And then we were, had them on our sandwich board on the weekend with their logo. We printed off and I tweeted it out, I said, tweet, I sent it on Instagram.
[00:16:55] And the owner, uh, Stefan saw it and wrote back, no problem. My pleasure. And so the owner of the company saw what we did and he was aware of what his company wanted to do, and that's what. You know, medium size company, they said, we do things and let's do this good cause locally. And, uh, here's a guy we can help.
[00:17:13] And rather than giving it to, I'm not trying to take away from any of the great organizations that are reliant. I'm not trying to compete for that. But if you're going to buy, let's say, um, 30 meals for your staff for a function, and you're gonna order pizza, I, I mean all the power to all the great pizza parties we've had, but we've had pizza and where does the social good come from?
[00:17:33] Ordering from that pizza. Mm-hmm. Ask those big companies. What are you doing? And if the answer is, well, nothing we're growing, well then, then think about that differently and say, there's a local opportunity. We can get quality delicious to your door food. And while we're supporting a local business, we're also supporting our local ecosystem and providing meals for those in most in need.
[00:17:52] So I think that's the type of thinking we need to take forward, and that's what I hope to encourage people to think about when they, um, research or learn more about what my business plan is. Oh, Tyler. Yeah. You're saying something so important. Um, you're, what I'm sensing here is you are saying that. We can do better without having to do different, like we don't even have to do anything different and be, that's the thing, we're doing it already exponentially better.
[00:18:18] You just have to make better choices about how we're managing what, like you might say, oh, I work for this company. It's my job to book the monthly luncheon. And you think, oh, that's kind of neat, but it's no big deal. Yes it is. You've got, you've got voice, you have agency, and you get to choose how and where you make your impact with that decision of, and it might just say, well, what's easy is this, there's a flyer in the, and then we've always ordered that and they come and they clean up.
[00:18:42] Yeah, of course they will. And that's great. So will I, and in the end of it, it's like, well, how could $1 be stretched further? And, um, and you're doing it. That's kinda looking at what we need to do. Yeah. You're doing it Tyler. You're stretching something that you're, you know what I'm, what I'm really hearing here is you're seeing the real problem, the real, like there's a, there's a real seed of a problem here.
[00:19:08] And instead of solving the problem, you're building a new system and that system is taking care of that problem in a new way. Woo. Right. It's, it's coming from a, not me, it's coming from a lot of research, like corporate nights number one, uh, organization magazine here in Canada. I've been following them for, for decades, uh, almost 20 years.
[00:19:30] And corporate nights has always been about corporate social responsibility, and that's what really. Took me on when I was in business. So I took a has degree and, uh, there was things I loved about being in the business faculty, but then there was things that weren't really jiving with me. My people weren't there.
[00:19:44] Um, I wasn't so interested in, in our returns at that moment. I was more interested in learning skills that would be beneficial to society and then using that. To create the problem solving company. Yeah. And that's always where I've been is when I find the problem I can make the business, business I can make.
[00:20:02] Mm-hmm. I've witnessed people do it. I've seen people be very successful at it. I've dabbled with some small entrepreneur things myself, but I more than just like going into business to go into business, like the business of business, I was more interested in going in to solve a social problem and then actually led me to teaching where I believed.
[00:20:21] That through my love of working with youth and groups and education and knowing something about, you know, what I teach, I could pick up skills which should be transferable, but also open myself up to how the ecosystems work with one another so that when I do do, when I do something, it's going to be effective and not overreaching or doubling down on.
[00:20:44] Already existing efforts. Mm-hmm. I wanted to be unique and that's why I'm saying I'm not the one to come up with, pay it forward. I mean, we've got Alice Lamb with good neighbor, Lordes Juan here with Fresh Roots and originally leftovers. I mean, we have power people moving the city around that are really moving Calgary towards different ways of thinking about how we work, uh, kick collaboratively with private businesses and not-for-profits and the people who need it.
[00:21:12] So, To come back to this idea of like, um, what motivated it was three Ps and I, I had this conversation with a professor at University of Victoria when I was thinking of going out there for a master's about two years ago. I was in like a pre-screening interview. I decided not to do the program because just wasn't, timing wasn't right and part of me also said, Rather than going to do a three year master's in Victoria on how to run a social purpose business, why don't I just give it a shot that was also do the dang thing.
[00:21:42] That's what I'm, and an honorary, uh, master in social worker or something, I don't know, but uh, I just, you know, and so he said to me, think about the three P's. And I'm like, oh, the marketing piece, like product place, promotion and packaging. And they're like, and then there's another four P's. There's actually 12 P's if you really wanna get into it of marketing.
[00:22:04] And he said, what? No one's talking about these three people, planet profit. So people come first. And the planet needs to be forefront. So that comes in people. First off, you can see the mission in feeding and creating equality and dignity within food, addressing social ecosystems, housing first strategies, social networks, and any agencies that wanna partner on the second to the planet.
[00:22:26] All my packaging is compostable, and I'm doing my best to create a wraparound waste from my cart. It's a very small cart, it runs on electricity and I, I use propane when I have the, um, the. The oven working, but secondly to that is curbing the food waste. We know we have huge excess issues with food waste, where things are being lost from inside the loop, and when things get outta the loop, they're gone forever.
[00:22:51] So the key is to tighten the loop with strategic partners so that when things are going to hit their best before, not their. You know, unusable, but they're best before which we can go down the path, which we just make that up. Like that's just a, well, yeah, it's cause Health Canada says that if it's a, if it's consumed by humans, it must have a best before date.
[00:23:14] So a lot of manufacturers don't know what to set it at. Like they just like, did you see the rum and butter thing? Yes. Like the Calvary Canada nostalgic company, like they have hundred 50,000 ru and butter chocolate bars in a warehouse. Perfectly good. But because of a best before date, no one will take 'em and put 'em on their shelve.
[00:23:30] So now the poor lady's stuck there and I wrote out to her asking for some, uh, cuz I thought I could do something neat with them, but I haven't heard back. But anyways, get butters like when we're talking about the environment and then we're creating a system which then perpetuates such excessive waste.
[00:23:46] I think, are we really addressing the issue here? Like, I mean, there should be zero food waste. Because we have people that are starving. We have, we have huge problems with food security in our, especially cultural food security. Those who, who have di dig like different dietary needs. Um, you go to a food bank and there was just a story recently about, uh, cultural representation in food banks and the types of foods available.
[00:24:07] Like, so we have loads of issues to deal with this in a respectful way, but then this waste problem, so that's the planet. And then the last one is profit. Without a profit, my business would fail to succeed and then I would be unable to keep doing what I want to do, which is help those who in need. Uh, and it doesn't have to be homeless.
[00:24:26] Like it, it's not just that. It's people who come from, well, one person works at Starbucks around the corner and he comes quite regularly and I can just tell like his wage at Starbucks is just getting him by. Right. And, uh, I'm happy to feed him, but he's working and he is got a place. But he benefits from this as well.
[00:24:44] So someone like, well you're feeding the homeless. Well, yeah, for a large part I am housing challenged people who are in between or have cycles of, you know, living rough and then back into a place in the back. This is a whole social ecosystem matter, but also people that are, have families of three or four kids and they're working three jobs and you know what, to come down on a Saturday and for me to feed everyone is a major, major deal for that family.
[00:25:07] Yeah. And I'm happy to be there to do that. Oh my gosh. Like that is, it just hits me right in the heart. Like I, um, I've, I've never had food insecurity, my, myself and I, well likely never. Um, I totally believe it's a social generational thing. Um, where I came from is just, I. Just happened to be born into a time and place and ethnicity and, and blah blah blah.
[00:25:35] That had it better. And that just gets passed down to me and I'll pass it down to my kids. And I think that what you're, and I would love to hear more about your story too. Um, Uh, because you did mention that you did have some insecurity, and I want to hear more about that. Before we do, I just want to say like we have, even though like someone like me who's never experienced insecurity in that way, we can be part of this ecosystem.
[00:26:01] We can come into the ecosystem and make a difference in a way that, like you said, that is not. Is not, um, self-serving and is not like only in certain, like in a certain box. That's like so easy to become part of this ecosystem because we're supporting a business, we're supporting a social business that can allow something bigger to thrive, something bigger than us.
[00:26:25] To exist. It's not just charity. I'm using air quotes, just charity. Yeah. There's something more to it. And no harm to the charities. Like, please. You guys are doing the real amazing work too. You're here to the charities and the not for profits. Uh, amazing work. However, when I give to my charities, when I, I have a set amount I give every year, and when I give to them, it disappears for my hands, and then it's in their, mm-hmm.
[00:26:48] Capable responsibility. What I'm engaging people into a thought is with every purchase you make, get involved with where that's going. Not just to hold the businesses accountable to how they're producing, manufacturing, managing their waste or ex, you know, creating diversity in terms of hiring and structure and, uh, but also to like know that when I.
[00:27:06] When I make my purchases, I also know that the people I'm supporting are also helping with their purchases. Mm-hmm. And it just keeps growing, like, ugh. So that's the paying it forward, right. By buying a bowl of soup. I'm supporting agencies who I purchase from, who I know are supporting agencies that they, yes.
[00:27:26] And it always comes down to the, you know, the bottom, which is like just doing good. Yeah. Like at the end, people are being helped up and. It's happening in right in front of us. And it's a simple thing. Like, like you said, it's a really simple thing and, and so you did ask me, yeah. And
[00:27:45] few good stories. I don't know which ones to start off with, but I mean, like, I was a bit of a renegade. I, I always like, okay, so I was always like, I was Dennis the menace. That's what my neighbors called me growing up. They called me Dennis. I was always kind of running around on my big wheel crashing into bushes and like hanging on the sidewalk and.
[00:28:04] Burning ants with magnifying glasses. Like I did all that stuff, but underlining it, I didn't realize that what was happening in my house up until I was 10 was not the norm. What was happening in my home where were my two, two parents, both were alcoholics and uh, there was very much a lack of, well, anyway, that's to say, um, I could, I got away with a lot of things.
[00:28:29] No, unknowingly it became normal that I could leave out, uh, leave the house at dark or come back late or, you know, and I'd often run into situations where I'd go to someone's house and the parents would answer the door and be like, what are you doing here? My parent, my kids are asleep. Why would you think they would be available to play?
[00:28:43] And I'd be like, oh, uh, I just thought we could go out and play basketball. And they'd be like, um, they're asleep and you should be two. Right. For your parents. And that, those were moments of truth because those moments sent some shame into me that there was something wrong that I couldn't quite identify with how, what was happening in my home.
[00:28:58] But my parents were there, like my, I mean, they were loving, caring. Like I said, my dad's warm embrace was my home. My mom was fully capable of, you know, and, and always there. But they had their battles is what I'm saying. And so, It led to some, you know, it led to some isms developing as we grew up. Um, so there's a little understanding of kind of how that trauma kind of starts early and then it sort of manifests if you don't do something about it.
[00:29:21] And, uh, yeah. So through my youth, I was a bit of a prankster, always a jokester looking to, when I got to a certain LA level of maturity in school, I wasn't able to keep up because my head was spinning when others were focused. So then I became the class clown. And, uh, that was the way of me addressing my insecurities while also feeling like I was still being loved by the, by the, by the classmates, right?
[00:29:40] So I was, I'd be the one on the ground fak a seizure, or I'd be the one, you know, um, doing something silly at, on Theresa, sitting in a puddle and soaking myself so that they could have a laugh. And then I would go to the rest of the day with a, a cold, wet body. But, you know, hey, I made everyone laugh at lunch cuz I lied in the puddle.
[00:29:55] Right? Right. So I was always there to take a joke. I was always there to be funny. And that's how I dealt with it, was humor and taking it out on myself. Defaming myself through, you know, practical jokes or whatever. Um, in order to win over people, I felt I wasn't worthy to be around. Mm-hmm. That's what my worth was, that I would entertain them.
[00:30:13] Mm-hmm. And that's, you know, so I was being a fool. And, um, you know, at some point I came around to that. Um, so I came around to that about, you know, after high school I realized I needed to do something and so I upgraded and I ended up getting a scholarship to go to, has school of business. And that's when I, I came out to Calgary and when I landed here, I, I, there was no way I was gonna make it.
[00:30:36] Like I, I went my first day of university, I looked, I called my mom that night and I said, mom, everything is so hard. Everyone's so smart. They've all got it together. And she said, Tyler, that's what they want you to think. They're just better at faking it. Trust me. Go back the next day. Um, then the next day, you know, luckily I listened to her, who's good advice from mom.
[00:30:53] Mm-hmm. The next day, I, I just moved into this house. It was down Cro Child. It was really weird that I lived on CRO Child. No one lives on Cro child unless you're in Lakeview. And, uh, this love, this lovely family. Like yeah, I tell people I live on CRO child and they'd be like, I don't think you understand what you're saying.
[00:31:07] I'm like, no, I do. This is true. Um, cause we're down at the bottom. But that's where I ended up with a lovely family that took me in. And I remember I woke up the second day and I was listening. Just found, uh, CJ 92, cuz I guess I was the one person who, who, who liked Nickelback. And uh, so I would listen to CJ 92.
[00:31:24] And, um, that day they came on, they said, we're not gonna play any music this morning. We're just going to tell you, uh, something in the world's happening today. It's a, it's a big deal and you need to really kind of just go to a TV and turn it on. And I, well, this is weird. They're not playing rocking.
[00:31:37] They're no Ozzy Osborne. So I go to the tv, I turn it on, and there's this glass tower on fire. And it's smoking and the breaking news. And then I go through all the channels on the TV and it's on every channel from Australia to Japan to America. They're all talking in different languages about this event.
[00:31:52] And I, and I'm trying to put my head around it, I've been up for about five minutes. I'm in this foreign city. I've only been here like a week or two, and I'm just trying to figure out what this means and I'm thinking, oh wow, that's a terrible accident. And then I see outta the corner of the wind, uh, screen, I see a second plane hit live on the, on television.
[00:32:09] And I can just remember going, oh, that happened. Again, just thinking like, well now it's probably not an accident. Maybe this was malicious, maybe. And so then I, you know, got to, I didn't know what to do. I knew I needed to go back and prove myself on day two at ufc. So I went back and I sat and the professor comes in this room.
[00:32:26] I remember it was a graduate marketing class that I was lucky to get into in my first year because I articulated out actually. So I got in this class, he's visiting from Hong Kong, and he says to the class of 40 of us in this room, I don't know why I'm here. Um, I've been in this business a long time.
[00:32:41] I've done risk analysis, I've done investments, I've done everything around the world, and I'm here as a visiting professor, and I have a lot of friends that are in those towers, and I don't know if they got out today or not. And here I am in front of you, so I don't know what to do. What I had planned today we're not doing.
[00:32:54] And we talked for two hours. For two hours, 40 of us talked with this professor about all sorts of things, geopolitical and economic, and I asked every question I could, and he answered every question I gave him. And at that end of the day, I knew I could graduate. I knew that I had met someone who was human, who didn't just put the syllabus in front of me and say, this is what's gonna be hard.
[00:33:13] This is what's gonna be doing. This is what I need from you, and many of you aren't gonna be able to do it. Which was the day one, which scared me. Mm-hmm. And I actually had a humanistic interaction with a professor in my second day in at U of C, and, and that's when I, I knew I could do it. So that was a turning point for me where I then started launching and did quite well at U of C.
[00:33:32] Traveled a bit in Europe, came back, got an education degree. And decided that I wanted to focus on being a teacher, but looking at it with a plan to someday, uh, spot the niche that I had the ability to address. Yeah. Woo. That is such a beautiful story and that turning point moment on Sep, you know, September 11th, uh, is I think a lot of people have a turning point moment around that time because, We see that there's, there's real pain.
[00:34:06] I think that was the first time a lot of people saw that there's real pain in the world. And it, and it, and it is, it's not beyond us. Like, it's not beyond, I should, maybe, I should say in North America, um, that North Americans are like, holy, there's a lot of pain and mm-hmm. I, it's not, it doesn't, I'm not gonna escape it.
[00:34:26] And Tyler, I just heard you say, All of your life experiences have brought you here. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's true. I didn't think that far ahead. Mm-hmm. But now that it's all unfolding like an onion layer by layer. Yes. The media attention and speaking with you and the people that are really interested, reaching out and saying, Hey, someone from.
[00:34:49] Nashville forwarded me this story in Ottawa, and now I'm sending it to someone in Nelson, bc and then that person in Nelson's contacted me saying, how do I get one of these in the lower mainland? And um, like I recognize that I have skillsets that are transferrable. Mm-hmm. And I have a business mind. But what worried me about having a business mind, and I'm gonna say this, okay, is that when I was six or seven, eight years old, every.
[00:35:16] Weekend, the Toronto Sun would have a full page wrestler color printout in the middle of the paper. The centerfold was always a wwf, Euro Hogan, big John Stud. Um, like I'm talking about, like I'm talking about the OG wrestlers. Yeah. And, uh, they were always in there and I had them all over my wall. And then one day my dad walked in with the paper and said, I'm not so sure if you're gonna want today's pullup.
[00:35:40] And I was like, oh, okay. Why? And he goes, well, it's, he's not a really arrester, he's kind of an entertainer. His name's Donald Trump and he's like this New York business guy who's getting into wrestling. And anyways, so because he was getting into wrestling entertainment, they put him in the full set and I said, whatever, I'll throw him up in there.
[00:35:58] So yes, I had a full page color picture of Donald Trump in a wrestling ring on my wall as a kid, and my dad warned me. But then I started to then decorate my room differently. Next to that poster, went to a Lamborghini Kuta, and next to that went the dream board, and next went to the vision quest. The next went to the business, and then it was like, oh yes, one by one.
[00:36:20] Just keep growing and getting bigger because that's what capitalism teaches you. You need to do. Um, and so I did go down that path in my mindset about, cuz that's all I knew. So that's why I say it worried me is because the macca nature of business seemed kind of attractive to me at one point because I like to work hard and if I could work hard and be rewarded based on my wor, my work ethic.
[00:36:45] Then I knew I would be in for a reward because I knew I had always worked as hard as I could at what I do. And so that's when I needed to slow down and kind of say, well, what's the point of it all? What, what, what's the point of having lots of money if you don't feel like you're, uh, living well? Yeah. You know, and so I adjusted.
[00:37:08] I didn't swear a life to poverty. I went into education, which is a fair job and it's been great, but in the back of my mind has always been like, you have these skills there. You know, you do. You're doubting yourself. Don't doubt yourself. And then retorting to that was when I find the reason to go into business, I will know.
[00:37:28] And then during Covid doing that outreach, I, it all lined up. It was the food. Like on a minus 30 night we were giving out granola bars. Now again, all the power to all the outreach groups are not saying this is negative, but they're they're doing it all and they can't. So yeah, giving someone a granola bar when they're freezing on the street, like, yeah, it's a healthy treat, but it's cold, it's gonna hurt their teeth.
[00:37:48] It's not, so what if instead you had a thermos of highly nutritious. Jam packed nu nutri, uh, nutrient filled soup that you then poured into a cup. Hot, warm cup. There you go. Now that person's body is warm. Their soul is lifted. They're, they're getting the nutrients they need to make it through what could be a very difficult night, and it has a completely different layer.
[00:38:09] But that's too much, honestly, to ask any outreach group of volunteers to do when they're coming in after work for four hours to walk the street, a minus 20 to hand out whatever. Supplies that are necessary to then think, oh, you're gonna make this soup and you're gonna produce it in a food grade facility and you're, and so I said, I'll come in on the side, I'll get all the permitting in place, I'll get all the partners in place, but in order to do this, it has to be a business because that is a lot of work.
[00:38:34] Like I'm at the point where I need to consider next steps if this is to grow. Right? And so, yeah, to ask anyone to do that voluntarily just isn't going to happen. It's not on. So then I said, I've got it. I have the window. Of what is needed, which is a delivery question. Like I don't make soup. I'm not a soup maker.
[00:38:54] I love soup. I enjoy it, but I'm not making the soup. What I'm doing is I'm filling the delivery quandary that I was seeing yes, through. I'm making sure that the two are connecting. The ends are meeting and the quality food is being delivered affordably. That is the business mindset. That is, that is the business mindset ultimately.
[00:39:14] Well, I did get the degree, yeah, joke, and I say I never used it, but you know what? I used it every single day I was teaching. I used it in different ways. I didn't use it in a practical business sense, but I used it in, in, in everything. I taught students for the last 16 years. Yeah. Uh, no. No shit. Like, oh my gosh.
[00:39:32] Like, like Tyler. It's remarkable. It really is. Um, it's, it's remarkable to. See a business problem and fix it with a social enterprise. And I think that is, you should be very proud and you should be. We are celebrating, um, you doing this good work in the world and creating the, the sustainability is the word that keeps coming to me because business inherently is, Like one of the core concepts of making a successful business is sustainability.
[00:40:12] Yeah. Like it has to be able to thrive. It has to be able to survive. What is hard. It has to be able to transcend the. Like the threats and the obstacles, like all of those things. And I, any enterprise does, but it's very difficult for charities to do that because they don't have that inherent sustainability built in.
[00:40:35] Cuz they're depending on grants, they're depending on outside, um, influence in a way that you're taking control of that you're like, okay, I'm gonna be my own outside influence. That's the business model mind that I'm sensing in all of this, right? And the old a attach if I can, is like, I worked really hard to set this up, so now it's time to reap the reward.
[00:40:56] And capitalism is saying, well then that should be as great as the market will will return to you. And that's one way to look at it. But also, I'm just thankful that people see that. Product as for what it is, like the people who reach out and talk to me and say, Hey, I see what you're doing and this great.
[00:41:11] I don't have to explain it to them. And that means that it was clearly laid out. They get it and they want help you doing it. Yes. Yeah, I'm doing it. Yeah. Oh, there's so many things we could talk about on that layer. Uh, I mean, it goes on and on in terms of like a charities need to be accountable to themselves, but the same principle happens in terms of the, the, the ability for a person to stand up on their own.
[00:41:35] And I know this is cliche, but to do something themselves. So people will come up to me and they'll say, what are you? And I'll say, oh, this is what I am. And I have a bowl. And I say like, well do, do you want one? Here's a button. I'm like, not, I don't wanna offer it without, you know, I don't wanna judge people that I say like, like kind of look like you might be in the situation where this would be helpful.
[00:41:53] Mm-hmm. And they'll go in their pocket and they'll pull out shrapnel. Like 50 cents. Yeah. A dollar 10, whatever they've conjured together and they'll say, can I pay with this? Now my two options are this, no, it's a huggable. It's free. Or what I do choose to say is absolutely pay what you can. Mm-hmm. And then usually what they say the next time is, and when?
[00:42:17] When I'm a, when I'm able, can I come back and buy one for someone else? I'm like, absolutely. Because you're going to be able. I've heard so many stories from people who are doing so well right now who have shared things they probably wouldn't publicly say because they're in quite, uh, interesting positions in society where they had housing insecurity for periods of their life.
[00:42:38] And absolutely, I mean, adult life, especially entrepreneurs who've had ups and downs who've lost it and then rebuilt it. That's, uh, the ebb and flow cycle of business. But unfortunately, um, The people who I know are, have the ability to give many of them at one point in their life. They are someone they love was in this similar situation.
[00:42:57] So yes, when you are able come back and give back. Mm-hmm. Um, just remember me when you are, but right now, if that's what you want to pay and you can, I'm not gonna prevent you. Yeah. From giving that that. So he and the one guy said, oh, I was gonna go to a and w but you can't get anything there for this.
[00:43:15] And I was like, well, here, here that your money is welcome. Yeah. Um, and, but one part of you is like, well, you're gonna take the guy's last dollar 50. And it's like, well, he wants to give it so that he can pay me for the food. So there was the quandary, right? Like, oh, don't, don't, don't just give it to him.
[00:43:33] But no, the, the pride, there's something bigger at playing something. Yes. It's not the arbitrary, now my wallet doesn't show my worth. It's my ability to do something. And he wanted to give it, even though I was willing to provide it through a huggable. And that to me showed me that you have to give people the ability to meet you where they are, to show their worth, that they're willing to give you that last dollar 50.
[00:43:57] Mm-hmm. And the people who have only dollar 50 are much more willing to give it than. People who have massive money. Infinite monies. Yes. We know this. I mean, cause you're around the system all day long where all you see the people, you know the stories you hear, you're embracing it, you're, you're owning it, you're carrying it with you in that weight, that wellness, we learn as teachers and other professions.
[00:44:20] We need to separate ourselves from and, and take care of ourselves first. Put on your own oxygen mask. It's hard. Yeah. But when you're living in it daily, then your sense of empathy goes. Beyond. So the guy who gives gives a hundred percent of what he has. Is the biggest giver. Like he, he just walks away.
[00:44:37] But it's easy for him in the sense that all he sees all day long is need. So his first instinct is people help me every day, so I wanna help others. But when you get further, I find, and this is like un research, but this is just from my observations, anecdotal, anecdotal observations. I see that people that are farthest away from the line of giving.
[00:44:59] Tend to be the less engaged with the idea of how much it could help, but yet they have the largest resources. And so it is a bit about connecting. It's about showing us who our neighbors are. Mm-hmm. And recognizing you could sit at the same table with someone regardless of your social position, and you could eat the same quality meal.
[00:45:17] And if you can afford to buy it from me, then you could also have afforded to buy it for the person beside you. Yeah. And maybe, who knows, you'll meet someone that you can actually relate with. Someone who maybe you will, um, you'll like. It's, we're all the same, just fyi, we're all the same. That's what I was kind of saying earlier is like just my, just where I was born and how I came into the world is what has developed who I am now in a place that I don't have that insecurity has nothing to do with my, with me.
[00:45:44] It has to do with just the way the universe worked and. You have to realize that like if you are privileged, part of being privileged is recognizing that you are the exact same as someone else. They just don't have the privilege that you were bestowed. And so sharing that privilege in whatever way you can is an act of good faith into humanity.
[00:46:07] And that is what I am sensing in this story, Tyler, is that your. Giving an act of good faith into humanity for, in a sustainable way that is changing the landscape. It's changing the way we look at social enterprise. And I know you're saying you're not trailblazing and there's like a hun a million other people who are doing what you're doing, but I'm talking to you right now.
[00:46:32] Okay, Tyler. So I'm just. Gonna give you that little bit of, oh no, my head, I feel my hat won't fit when, yeah, yeah. No, it'll fit. It'll remind know what I do is I have these superheroes and I do that on purpose cuz I turn it. You notice that? Yes. So when you wanna, when people wanna donate and buy huggable, it's like, oh, well we have the ability to buy X amount of huggable in advance and you'll deliver them.
[00:46:55] I say, yeah, now you're the superhero. So I turn it on people. Yeah. So that way I'm not carrying the weight of being this like, you know, someone called me a superhero. Jade Alberts called me a superhero at an event. He runs Pure guidance and some other groups in, in, this is a community now event, uh, mental health.
[00:47:10] The first fundraiser I did back in December at the, uh, arts building in Calgary. And he intro. Introduced me on stage as a superhero, and the first thing I thought is, Ooh, I like that. And then I was like, Ooh, no, too much. I like it too much. Um, because it played on soup, but also it kinda recognized. Um, so then I took it and I actually created the superhero kind of cause brand, which is anyone can be a superhero.
[00:47:32] Buy a huggable, pay it forward and I'll make sure that it gets delivered. So those are the real superheroes, the people that support this cause because they see the good in what it's doing and they have the means to do so. Oh, I love it. And before we let you go, can you tell us, you said go to your website, you can buy huggable there.
[00:47:49] What if there's somebody listening right now who's like, I wanna sponsor no fix address. I wanna be on the sandwich board. Uh, what can they do to get in touch with you to make that happen? How much money are you looking for? If that even is a, you know, a valuable stat, tell us how we can, tell us what we can do to.
[00:48:09] Help. Yeah. Sounds like a wishlist. Yes. Um, the wishlist is big. Yeah. And it's always growing. The best thing is just to get ahold of me. I love speaking with people and partners. Anyone who'd like to offer experience, uh, connections, networking, um, financial or physical volunteering and things like this.
[00:48:26] Always welcome. Love meeting people. Love hearing different ideas. Um, one of the groups, so the website's no fix address, ca. Email, they'll, I'll be linked to the show notes. I'll be linked in. So follow those. Those are our friends. They're gonna scroll down and click right. There's a community group that's been instrumental in helping me along and I just wanna just recognize them.
[00:48:49] It's called, the Group is started by Krista Malden. Uh, Krista Malden, uh, talented woman here in the town. She is a great connector and she has put together the most fascinating group of individuals, most of them, uh, peer led social startups or businesses with Amin. You've got all kinds of groups, like from Alberta bike swapped, pure guidance to, um, school of Rock, like all of these things in Calgary, you would see and say, oh, they're a little.
[00:49:13] Quirky, they're, they're doing something cool. They all filter through community now. It's amazing. And they do an annual event in December for mental health. But this August we're planning to do one in Marta Loop for a couple days. So there's a community now event happening in Marta Loop website.
[00:49:29] Information I'm sure will be on the community now magazine, which you can subscribe to. And they've just been documenting me and helping me all along and encouraging me not to give up even when. You know, I lost my cash box and my square reader going up Center street. The little, I was giving away more soup than I.
[00:49:44] Sold. And then the little money I did have fell outta the back of the truck cuz I didn't lock the door on the trailer. I got home and I, I just literally broke down and said like, what am I doing? So I had a moment where, you know, it was a good time for me to get out and still save face. You know, I hadn't, I'd bought the trailer and I'd got things going, but I could still.
[00:50:02] Eat that loss and just say, well, you know, it didn't work out, but I tried. So the great thing about being part of that community is they, they come and they support you. It takes a village as the model. Everything takes a village. So people have skillsets and the desire to help others. And I found it in that community now group at the beginning and I still find it today and I'm still working with many people in there.
[00:50:21] So it's fascinating and I highly recommend anyone to get on their website, just get the magazine, flip through it. Um, reach out to Krista and see if you can get involved in running events or helping them out. And, um, that's just one, like, I, I, I hate when I mentioned someone because then, uh, the downside is I think of all the people I didn't mention, but I mean, I really wanted to give a shout out to Krista Yeah.
[00:50:42] Uh, today. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Thank you so much. And Tyler, if you could leave us with any sort of advice or, um, You know, anecdotal or otherwise as to how we can make a difference in the world. What would you tell us? Uh, I've been hanging on this quote by Victor Hugo came across it recently in a book. So Victor Hugo said, there's no power, great enough on earth to stop an idea whose time has come.
[00:51:12] Hmm. Woo. And I, you know, so just hang onto that for a bit and then reach out to me. I love talking with people. Come see me down at Olympic Plaza. But yeah, this id, this idea's time has come, it's not my idea. That's the other thing about an idea. Ideas are shared. There's no leadership in an idea. Yeah. We're all leaders within an idea, and this time has come.
[00:51:32] We need to address this better. We need to be more effective and more efficient in how we handle our ecosystems, our logistics. You know what, Tyler? Maybe not. Maybe this idea doesn't belong to you, but you are a leader and we are so. Grateful that you are stepping into your power as a leader and making this happen.
[00:51:51] Uh, that's what we need and uh, you're doing it. So thank you so much. Um, no, thanks Lindsay. Thanks for reaching out to me. It was great. Yeah, like I'm so, um, I took a chance. I took a chance and I was like, I'm just going to slide into Tyler's dms and see if he'll come on. Positively checked. Slide in there.
[00:52:06] You said, what's the, yes. The worst thing is you'll be called out at home. Yes. Yes, that's right. Oh my gosh, I'm so grateful that you came. And, uh, listeners, if you are moved by this story, which I was immediately, um, hit Tyler up, go visit at Olympic Plaza, be a superhero and. Share the love of this story and, uh, let's see some, some social change in the world.
[00:52:32] So thank you so much, Tyler. We're wishing you all the best and can't wait to share your updates as the business grows. Thank you so much for being here and listening to this episode. I love having you and sharing these stories with you is just giving me life. If you like the podcast, please go find positively.
[00:52:51] Charge wherever you get your podcasts. Great review Center friend, like, share, follow me on Instagram, check out my website. Your support means everything to me. Thank you so much for being here and can't wait to see you again soon.