Mac City Morning Show #3: Tammy from Supplement King Fort McMurray

Tammy Powell from Supplement King stops by the Morning Show for a chat. Tammy and her crew at Supplement King can help you improve, achieve and create better health and fitness in your life.

Below is a transcript of the episode, edited for readability. For more information on how to follow the show, see the links at the bottom of this post.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: I am your host of the Mac City Morning Show Elliott Pierre. Thanks for tuning in, yeah, the response has been great. Yesterday. Moe was here, he murdered the show, so he set a pretty high bar. That being said, I’m sitting next to another stellar guest today, Tammy. Now, as you know from yesterday, I’m not the best at introducing people, so I’ll let her do that herself. But here we go, Tammy, say hello to the people at home. Tell them who you are and what you’re all about.

TAMMY POWELL: Hi guys. Tammy Powell here with Supplement King. Yeah, I have a sports nutrition franchise here in town.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Sweet. And where’s that located?

TAMMY POWELL: It is located at 700 Signal Road. Yup. In Thickwood next to the Blackhorse

ELLIOTT PIERRE: That’s near the Blackhorse Pub and Ali at the barbershop.

TAMMY POWELL: Yeah, my dear neighbors.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Ali? Absolutely. He takes good care of me. So, I’ve got to give him a shout out on a daily basis. Tammy, I’ve known you for a while, but I don’t know if everybody at home has had the pleasure to know you as long as I have. First and foremost, let’s talk about how long you’ve actually been in Fort McMurray.

TAMMY POWELL: I have been here 18 years. 18 years. Actually, it’ll be 19 this year in August.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: When you originally came out here, I know you didn’t open Supplement King. So, what brought you out here and let’s talk about all of the different positions and jobs that you’ve had over the years.

TAMMY POWELL: Well, I came when I was super, super young, just out of school. I’m not saying how old I was. But you know, like everybody else, I came with my boyfriend at the time. That lasted six weeks. That was a complete disaster. I had my pilot’s license at the time when I came, but I, it wasn’t a field that I was planning to pursue because I was still working on my multi IFR and as well, I had my class one. So, I came and I Associates. Okay. So, I was working as their secretary, actually, and I was like, yeah, sure, I can do this. But it had nothing to do with my career. So, I did that for a while. And then I went back to school and I did my EMT and I did my 1001’s and 1002’s for firefighting. And then I got a job with that. And I only did that for a couple months as we had a major fatality in my family and we lost my brother. Then things went on the back burner for a long time after that. And from there, gosh, this is a long time ago, thinking back to what I did with my career. From there, I went back to school again and took business and did that through Mount Royal University in Calgary. And then I decided I was going to work at site.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: You worked at site?

TAMMY POWELL: I did work at site. When I first started on as an operator and I ran equipment for a few months. And then, they found out my other trades that I had so I got onto the rescue team and started competing. And then I got into process as a process operator and they sent me to school. So that was really great.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: What site was this?

TAMMY POWELL: Syncrude.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Syncrude site. Okay. Very cool.

TAMMY POWELL: Yeah, and then I was there for eight years.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Cool.

TAMMY POWELL: It, it was definitely good to me, for sure. Helped me do a lot of education on the side, helped me open another holding company that I had. And then I went and had three children. Yeah.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Three?

TAMMY POWELL: Three, that’s right.

ELLIOTT PIERRE. That’s amazing.

TAMMY POWELL: And while I was at Syncrude, I had decided that I was going to open up a sports nutrition store. And once I had opened that, I had opened in June of 2013. And then I left my position at Syncrude in October, 2013.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Right. So how long has it been since you’ve had the store?

TAMMY POWELL: It’ll be eight years, this year.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Eight years?

TAMMY POWELL: Yeah, eight years this year in June.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: I know this. I don’t know if everybody else does. However, you have one store in town, but there’s more Supplement Kings that you own outside of the one here.

TAMMY POWELL: I do, yeah. I have four located in Edmonton.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Right on.

TAMMY POWELL: So yeah, one in the, they’re in every corner of Edmonton. Yeah, one in the South end, one in the East end, one in the brewery district downtown. And then one up in the North end on 50 Street.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: There you go. And I’ve been to the one, cause I spend a lot of time in Edmonton, like most of our guests from time to time. There’s the one like right off, the, the Whitemud.

TAMMY POWELL: Yes. Yeah. That’s our South end one there next to LA fitness.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Yeah. Yeah. Super, super well located.

TAMMY POWELL: Location has a lot to do with it.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Right, right.

TAMMY POWELL: It can be as amazing as you want, but if nobody can find you.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Yeah.

TAMMY POWELL: It’s just not going to work.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: That’s it. Now I’m going to put you a little bit on the spot, because you have a little party trick that I think is just amazing. And you give me a hard time about it from time to time. I can barely say my alphabet. But because of your pilot’s license, you know the alphabet in a completely different way, that I just don’t know how to say it. What’s it called? How do you do it? And let’s show the people at home. What, it’s all about.

TAMMY POWELL: The phonetic alphabet.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: The phonetic alphabet, that’s right.

TAMMY POWELL: Oh, I thought you were going to ask me to say the alphabet backwards.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: No. No.

TAMMY POWELL: I was going to say, oh I can do that too.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Okay. So, let’s run through it because they’re not going to believe you can do it. Cause I barely believe you can do it. Let’s do the alphabet phonetically?

TAMMY POWELL: Yes, well…

PIERRE ELLIOTT: Start at A, let’s go to Z.

TAMMY POWELL: So, you’ve got Alpha, Bravo, Charlie Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo Lima, Mike, November… what comes after November? Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Ooh, there you go. Very nice. Like yeah, every time I make a phone call, I’m talking and I have to give them a letter. Tammy just burns me and says, Elliott, do you need to learn this alphabet? And there’s no way I’m going to learn it.

TAMMY POWELL: Yeah, it’s international language Elliott, you have to get on top of this.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: This is true. But I’m not a pilot, so I didn’t go to school for the…

TAMMY POWELL: Can you say the alphabet backwards?

ELLIOTT PIERRE: I cannot, I cannot. I’m not that talented. Barely can say it frontwards. So now I asked a mobile question yesterday, I’m going to ask you the same one in regards to Fort McMurray. We’re all local business owners, entrepreneurs here in town. And obviously things are a little bit different now, a little bit because of the recession, a little bit because of the pandemic that we’re dealing with. As a local business owner in town, what do you feel, are the struggles that you’re currently running into and what do you think are the, the outcome or the future of Fort McMurray for local businesses here?

TAMMY POWELL: Well, you know, we are doing good. Thank God. We are very, very lucky. We, you know, we’re seeing lots of customers. We have lots of support. People are more than ever. People have come to recognize that with the pandemic, looking after yourself and your health is number one, it must become a priority, you know, just stay healthy. And with that, it has really, you know, I think turned on some light bulbs for many people. So, we are seeing lots of new faces, people coming in, wanting to look after themselves. And that’s wonderful. You know, for us, we do have the moral sense and you know, people will always have jobs and stuff. So, I think we’re quite lucky up here and blessed that people always have income coming in and careers. So, I think for Fort McMurray, we are going to be okay, we’re always going to be okay. But you know, like you said, as an entrepreneur hope sees the invisible, right. And I’m very hopeful that we will continue to thrive and always be the thriving energy force for the country.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Right on. So, 19 coming up to 19 years that you’ve lived in the community now. You’re from somewhere else. Let’s talk about where you’re from. And then I want to hear about why you decided to stay.

TAMMY POWELL: I am actually from Labrador. Very north it’s, you know, northern communities. I grew up in Goose Bay. My family is actually from the coast in Labrador. We grew up where, you know, the food comes in in October on the boat and we don’t get anything else fresh until May the following year. So, and then anything that does come flies in by plane and it was super, super expensive. So, you didn’t get any of your fruits or vegetables all winter. So, you eat a lot of potatoes.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: That’s awesome.

TAMMY POWELL: And yeah, it’s a totally different lifestyle. What’s really interesting is cell phones. We just got cell phones like in the last six months working there.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Really?

TAMMY POWELL: Yeah, on the coast. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So, you go there and it normally takes me about three days to adjust to that, you know. I have no cell phone and the internet, you like get on your Skidoo, go to one building where everybody parks, get on that Wifi. Yeah, it’s, it’s different for sure.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: That’s hilarious. That is different. No doubt.

TAMMY POWELL: Most definitely.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Now, you sit on, you’re a busy lady. You don’t just own supplement King, numerous locations. You sit on some boards here in town. Now there’s one that you’re new to. So let me hear all about that one, because I’ve heard much about it, but I don’t think everybody else has.

TAMMY POWELL: I currently just started with the Fort Murray Golf Course as a director with them. Yeah. So, I just got on there, in the fall when they had their AGM and a quite new, it’s a three-year term. And I’m really looking forward to, working with them and meeting lots of new faces and hopefully make some great differences in strides with the golf course, as you know, with the flood that just happened last season. They’ve definitely had to overcome some serious challenges there, but they’re doing it. And yeah, I think there’s lots of great things to come.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Now, in regards to golf, I’m more of a caddy than I am a golfer. But one question that I hear a lot is people bragging about is their handicap. What is your handicap, when it comes to golf?

TAMMY POWELL: Oh, my goodness, Elliott, you cannot ask me stuff like that.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: No? Top secret?

TAMMY POWELL: So, I only just started golfing last year, but it became like this insane obsession, like golfing every single day, like practicing for hours putting, I just could not get enough. And then I started YouTube and like a mad woman. Then I’m watching every single tournament that they have on TV. And I’m like, you’ve got to stop this. Like you’ve got to stop Tammy and yeah, it’s only getting worse.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: That’s hilarious.

TAMMY POWELL: And then I got a Scotty Cameron putter. Oh, my goodness. Wow. Oh, and my favorite golfer is Tommy Fleetwood.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Okay, so well one, I have no idea what kind of putter that is. So, explain to me what that putter is.

TAMMY POWELL: Okay. That is the putter of all putters. You’re going to be like thee golfer, you’re getting a Scotty Cameron.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Okay. All right. So, what is it about golf that like just has pulled you in so much? Cause I know you love the gym

TAMMY POWELL: I do love the gym.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: And when I think about golf and the gym, these are two completely different worlds.

TAMMY POWELL: I’m, you know what, I’m not really sure what it is, but you know, when you hit that ball down the fairway and you’ve hit it, like, you know, you’ve had a nice ball. It’s just, it’s amazing. I can’t explain it. It’s just, it’s so good.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Okay well, I’ll come golfing with you, but I’ll just be the caddy I’ll drive and you know, have a few beverages

TAMMY POWELL: That works for me, Elliott.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Now there’s one thing that I really want you to talk about. Cause I know you are a big supporter of hockey in this community for years and years and years. You volunteer your time. You donate a lot of money, you sponsor a whole bunch of stuff. So, let’s talk about your involvement with the local hockey community over the years and what you’re currently doing with them.

TAMMY POWELL: Well, unfortunately at this moment in time, there’s not anything going on as they have, you know, on pause at the moment, I guess we’ll say which is really sad. You know, we have so much going on. We have other things open. Personally, I think we should be allowed to play hockey, but yeah, we must understand things are the way they are right now, is as is. But yeah, I do sponsor a lot of different hockey teams within the community and to support these children. I sponsor spring hockey. We’re pretty involved in that as well. Yeah, just trying to keep these kids going.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Now, that’s one thing that I love about your sponsorship is you focus more on the youth, than the adult leagues. Why do you think, why do you think it’s important to sponsor the younger kids? More so than like the bigger leagues?

TAMMY POWELL: Well, the children are our future, right? And if we don’t help them, advocate for them, where are they going? If we don’t donate to them, what’s going to happen. Right? Like they can’t pay for it on their own. They need us. And, and as a mother, I just, I choose to give my money to the children.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: There we go. All right. So, we are coming to the part of the show called the Mac City Minute. So, what’s going to happen now is Tanner is going to put you on the spot. He’s going to ask you a number of rapid-fire questions. You don’t really have a lot of time to think about it. You just answer right off the bat.

TAMMY POWELL: Okay.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Are you ready for this?

TAMMY POWELL: Oh.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: All right. The Mac City Minute. Let’s see Tammy. Let’s see what you got.

TANNER HADFIELD: All right. Let’s do this. Our first question for you today, Tammy is, what do you think the best way to unwind in Fort McMurray is?

TAMMY POWELL: Go golfing.

TANNER HADFIELD: Alrighty. And what do you, what is one thing people don’t know about your business?

TAMMY POWELL: Free delivery

TANNER HADFIELD: When you’re having a night in by yourself. What’s your guilty pleasure?

TAMMY POWELL: Oh, my goodness. Apples with peanut butter. It’s so good!

TANNER HADFIELD: If not Fort McMurray, where would you want to live right now and why?

TAMMY POWELL: Goodness, where would I want to live. My dream is to live on a yacht anywhere in the world.

TANNER HADFIELD: And what does being a McMurryite mean to you?

TAMMY POWELL: That I’m part of a community, a very tight community.

TANNER HADFIELD: There you go.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: There you go. All right. Good job with the Mac City Minute. It’s a hard one. It’s a hard one. You got to think. All right. So, Tammy, thanks for coming by today. We’re running to the end, but before we leave, I want you to plug your store. So, let’s hear where you’re at. What’s special about Supplement King? How you can help people out. Let’s just talk about Supplement King.

TAMMY POWELL: Okay. So, we are a sports nutrition franchise. I find that a lot of people are intimidated. I hear that over and over. They’re nervous about coming in. Please don’t be nervous. We are here to help everyone. That is our goal. We want to help you find your goals, whatever it is. Whether it’s to lose weight, gain weight, you know, just live a healthier lifestyle. We’re here for you. We want to do things, you know, to get into where you want to be. We cater to you. People that have had bariatric surgery, diabetics, you know. People come in and see us that, yeah, they may have problems with joints. They may have insomnia. They’re looking for things like we, we do a lot of things at the store. It’s not just somewhere that sells protein powder.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: Right. It’s all about promoting health.

TAMMY POWELL: Absolutely. Yeah.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: All right. So, on that note, I think we’re out of time. I want to thank everybody for tuning in today. Really do appreciate the support. It’s overwhelming, to be honest to you. So, thank you everybody who’s been watching live, the pre-recorded and the mini clips. I think we’re at over 5,000 views right now, across all platforms. So, thank you so much. Let’s keep that going. I want to thank Tammy. Tammy thanks for coming in.

TAMMY POWELL: Thank you.

ELLIOTT PIERRE: This is not going to be your last time. I can assure you that I will bully you to come back on the show more, but other than that Fort McMurray, have a great day. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you tomorrow. Peace.

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