Creating a time saving, economical, customer focused car washing experience

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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Countless Podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_00: Hello, I'm Mario Tonoguzi with Calgary's podcast on Canada's podcast network. Joining me today is Chris
[00:12] SPEAKER_00: Prison, who is president and CEO of Mint Smart Wash. Thanks for joining us today.
[00:19] SPEAKER_01: Hey, Mario, appreciate it. Appreciate you having me on.
[00:21] SPEAKER_00: Well, let me just start by asking you what Mint Smart Wash is and what you guys do.
[00:26] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely. What is a smart wash? So we operate a family office, Mario, in a variety of
[00:31] SPEAKER_01: different industries. And back in 2014, actually, we got introduced to concept of the
[00:37] SPEAKER_01: six-tierier express washing. And so this concept is actually being quite prolifically down the
[00:41] SPEAKER_01: United States. So about six thousand of these types of operations across the United States.
[00:47] SPEAKER_01: And through our, I guess, our initial phase and journey of learning about this express
[00:51] SPEAKER_01: wash concept, we realize it in large part is not being done in Canada.
[00:54] SPEAKER_01: There's a great opportunity to bring this car wash concept to Canada. So really what it is,
[00:59] SPEAKER_01: it's a 200-foot tunnel. So, you know, again, quite a long, long tunnel. We're washing six or eight cars
[01:05] SPEAKER_01: at one time. It's processing up to 180 to 200 cars an hour. So really, at the end of the day,
[01:11] SPEAKER_01: what I always like to talk about, yes, it's a car wash and the car wash is the byproduct of what we do.
[01:15] SPEAKER_01: But the end of the day, what we'd sell is actually it's time. Because no matter if I charge you $10 or
[01:19] SPEAKER_01: $100 for a car wash, it doesn't matter. Reality is, I can't sell you anything worth more than your
[01:24] SPEAKER_01: time. So we get you in and out five minute clean dry and shiny in five minutes or less. And that's
[01:29] SPEAKER_01: really the competitive advantage of what we do. So we have, if you, if you enter one of our sites,
[01:33] SPEAKER_01: go through a bit of a site layout. We'll have stacking lanes. You'll stack in those lanes.
[01:38] SPEAKER_01: Then you come up to a pay station. You'd be greeted by a shine genius is what we call our entry
[01:42] SPEAKER_01: level position. So they'll be greeting you at the pay station. Nice, friendly face. Help you
[01:46] SPEAKER_01: through the sales process. So you have the option of doing the single pay washes or the membership
[01:51] SPEAKER_01: option. So that's another big part of our business is the membership option. So membership's
[01:55] SPEAKER_01: ranging every between $35 to $45. And that's unlimited per month. So that's a big differentiator.
[02:00] SPEAKER_01: If you think about all the crazy weather we have here in Western Canada. So after leave the pay
[02:05] SPEAKER_01: station with either your membership or your single wash, then you'll be into the kind of our secondary
[02:10] SPEAKER_01: stacking lane or into our car wash. You'll be guided on the conveyor. So again, something different
[02:15] SPEAKER_01: to our model. We really believe in having someone at that station guiding you on. So all the hours
[02:20] SPEAKER_01: we're open will have you into that conveyor. And basically you'll sit in your car as you're pulled
[02:23] SPEAKER_01: through our process. So again, 200 feet gives you quite enough room to to kid all the spots in your
[02:28] SPEAKER_01: car. Do all the fantastic cleaning and half that happens in in our wash. And then at the end of
[02:33] SPEAKER_01: about a third of our tunnels dedicated to drying. That's for a couple of reasons. One, we'd like to
[02:38] SPEAKER_01: have a nice clean dry car product. In the end, it also really helps us operate in the winter. So this
[02:43] SPEAKER_01: model's open 365 days a year. 64 days a year. Part of me we do close for Christmas.
[02:48] SPEAKER_01: Seven days a week, seven a.m. to 8 p.m. in most locations. A little bit longer in some locations.
[02:53] SPEAKER_01: So really it's a you know, it's an everyday type business. After you leave, go ahead.
[02:58] SPEAKER_01: No, go ahead. But it's just going to say one of the other important parts of our model is the vacuum
[03:02] SPEAKER_01: plaza and the matte washing. So if you think about the old school vacuums, most of conventional
[03:06] SPEAKER_01: vacuum setups at car washes, you've got the big aluminum canister. You're struggling to find
[03:10] SPEAKER_01: a looney or a tuney to pump it into the vacuums. Where in our setup, you have in some cases upwards
[03:16] SPEAKER_01: of 30 stalls. You have a more of a central vac system. So there's a central vac producing.
[03:21] SPEAKER_01: And probably the most impressive part is that it's free. So free vacuuming, free matte washing.
[03:26] SPEAKER_01: And then we have actually have a towel service as well. So microfiber towels, all that's
[03:29] SPEAKER_01: complimentary, whether you have a single wash or a membership option.
[03:33] SPEAKER_00: Super. So how many locations do you have right now?
[03:36] SPEAKER_01: Actually, just open our seventh location in Calgary, about two and a half, three weeks ago. So
[03:42] SPEAKER_01: we're pretty excited about that. And we have an eighth location under construction. They'll be open
[03:45] SPEAKER_01: in Regina. So Saskatchewan here, probably towards the third week of July.
[03:49] SPEAKER_00: Okay, super. And did I see correctly that you have one in states as well?
[03:54] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's correct. So we originally started in Lethbridge, Alberta. So we have one of our operating
[03:59] SPEAKER_01: partners was there and found a really nice piece of land. And for those that know Lethbridge,
[04:02] SPEAKER_01: we're about one block west of the water tower, the infamous water tower in Lethbridge, right on
[04:06] SPEAKER_01: the highway three there. Found that piece of land really adopted really well by the community,
[04:11] SPEAKER_01: had tremendous success out of the gates and really proved that this concept could exist and do
[04:15] SPEAKER_01: well in Canada. And from there, we were having trouble finding land in Canada, to be honest,
[04:20] SPEAKER_01: because a lot of landlords, a lot of people you talk to, they don't want car washes on their land,
[04:25] SPEAKER_01: because they're thinking of the one wash, bays, all the garage doors open, people lined up,
[04:29] SPEAKER_01: and that's just not our model at all. So we had a unique opportunity to build a wash down in
[04:33] SPEAKER_01: Billings, Montana, a very analogous community to Lethbridge in population. However, a massive service
[04:39] SPEAKER_01: area, up to half a million people use Billings, Montana, because it's kind of tucked down in that
[04:43] SPEAKER_01: stealthy corner. So into Wyoming, Dakota's all really used that wash. So a chance to keep the mid story
[04:48] SPEAKER_01: going. So we built a wash in Billings, Montana. And then last year we opened in medicine Pat,
[04:54] SPEAKER_01: and then we've been on kind of a fury this year. So we opened two washes earlier this year in
[04:57] SPEAKER_01: Edmonton, one in Red Deer, a couple weeks ago in Calgary, and then Rajan in next week. So we'll
[05:02] SPEAKER_01: be up to eight washes. And I believe we're the largest express car wash company in Canada.
[05:07] SPEAKER_00: So how many more do you think you can grow to?
[05:11] SPEAKER_01: Our current plan is to build out about 25 in the next five years. So what we're looking to do is
[05:15] SPEAKER_01: cluster in the markets we're operating in. So markets like Calgary and Emton, I think, can handle
[05:19] SPEAKER_01: upwards of 10, maybe even more of these washes. Again, with the membership model, that really proves
[05:25] SPEAKER_01: of the value of having multiple stations that you can visit and makes it attractive for fleet
[05:30] SPEAKER_00: customers as well. Okay, maybe if we go back in time, if you can explain to me just how this
[05:37] SPEAKER_00: all came about, and the reason for it. Yeah, absolutely. So my background is chemical engineering.
[05:44] SPEAKER_01: So graduate from chemical engineering in probably in 2003 from University of Alberta. And
[05:51] SPEAKER_01: subsequently join the oil patch right after that. So lived a bit in Fort St. John working in the
[05:55] SPEAKER_01: service side of the oil patch and then spent almost I guess eight or nine years on the producer's
[06:01] SPEAKER_01: side working for a couple producers and big and small in town here. And in 2013 decided to join
[06:06] SPEAKER_01: my father in the family office. So we operated a family office. We called loosely the freezing group
[06:11] SPEAKER_01: where my father had a he was one of the founders of a company called Hasco Environmental Services
[06:16] SPEAKER_01: which he exited in 2004 and then 2008. And my dad's really he's the serial entrepreneur. He's
[06:22] SPEAKER_01: where we all get it from. He's kind of the genesis of the family office and we're going to get the
[06:27] SPEAKER_01: entrepreneurial spirit. So join him in 2013. He was in a wide variety of different things, wide
[06:32] SPEAKER_01: variety of different industries. So we've really been working to consolidate that. And through one of
[06:37] SPEAKER_01: our land holdings we had in the Edmonton area, we got introduced to a gentleman who introduced
[06:41] SPEAKER_01: us to the to the express wash concept. He said, Hey, if you guys ever thought about doing the
[06:45] SPEAKER_01: you're getting into the car wash business and it's funny all the different business lines we
[06:50] SPEAKER_01: work in. Car wash always seems to get the most interest. It's kind of an amusing thing. Everyone
[06:54] SPEAKER_01: always seems to have interest in the car wash. And so I guess we were no different. So I was in 2014.
[06:59] SPEAKER_01: So we spent about six, eight months flying around the United States looking at different models,
[07:02] SPEAKER_01: kind of really understanding what does this express model look like? Why is it different? And then
[07:08] SPEAKER_01: decided that we, you know, it was an interesting experience actually because coming from the oil
[07:12] SPEAKER_01: patch background where everything is very secretive, right? Like you're if you're in the same oil
[07:17] SPEAKER_01: field, if you're on one side of the fence and other companies on the other side of the fence,
[07:20] SPEAKER_01: you're not sharing information. You're not sharing data. And what we found in the car wash
[07:23] SPEAKER_01: business as long as you weren't operating the same market, people were very open with sharing
[07:27] SPEAKER_01: information like right down to detailed financials, which was quite interesting. Wow. Yeah, so it kind
[07:32] SPEAKER_01: of gave us a really good insight to what the potential of these things were. And so we decided to
[07:36] SPEAKER_01: get full, full into it in 2014. My partner Taylor Nelson was one of the original founders and
[07:42] SPEAKER_01: the guy we were introduced to locally there in Lesbridge. So he's currently our VP maintenance
[07:47] SPEAKER_01: and facilities. And since just keep adding to the team with the bright town to people that are
[07:53] SPEAKER_00: passionate about washing cars. So do you have a spanking clean vehicle every day?
[07:58] SPEAKER_01: You know what? My friends used to tease me up until a couple weeks ago because we didn't have one
[08:02] SPEAKER_01: in Calgary. I was used to tease my guys. I said, the frustrating part of out this is I come get a great
[08:06] SPEAKER_01: clean car and then I got to drive two hours home or three hours home. And I don't have a clean
[08:09] SPEAKER_01: car anymore. So that's the one thing we can't do is keep your car clean for three hours. But
[08:13] SPEAKER_00: yeah, much cleaner now that we're in Calgary. Don't you think that you know, I know for myself
[08:21] SPEAKER_00: personally, I actually my wife too. There's a great feeling when your vehicle is clean in your
[08:27] SPEAKER_01: driving. Absolutely. I mean, one of the monitors in the industry is feel better in a clean car.
[08:32] SPEAKER_01: Yeah. As I said earlier, like the whole concept of cleaning the car, like I think we do a fantastic
[08:36] SPEAKER_01: job of it. And I could bore you to death with all the different science and technology because it's
[08:41] SPEAKER_01: quite a bit. This actually goes into washing cars, especially when you're washing you know,
[08:43] SPEAKER_01: 180 cars an hour. But the end of the day, you know, we're trying to sell that value of getting you
[08:48] SPEAKER_01: in getting you in quickly and really making you feel good in a clean car. In fact, if you visit one
[08:52] SPEAKER_01: of our washes, one of the last things you'll see as you go through our drying bay is you'll see on
[08:56] SPEAKER_01: your driver's side, you'll see a giant mirror. And the purpose of that mirror is for you to look at
[09:00] SPEAKER_01: for you to be able to look at that car, realize how clean it is. You don't stop and hold up the line
[09:05] SPEAKER_01: and kind of get that feeling of satisfaction as you leave the wash.
[09:09] SPEAKER_00: We know. I think I saw somewhere bear with me a chair that where it was a mirror. I think the bio
[09:16] SPEAKER_00: that it was me that your family is a bit of a clean fanatics. Is that the case?
[09:22] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it stems pretty deep. So right down to probably my my grandma, there's probably the
[09:26] SPEAKER_01: biggest clean fanatic out of them all. We call her Gigi for a great grandma for my after my kids.
[09:31] SPEAKER_01: That's my kids collar, but yeah, she's she's always been a bit of a clean freak. And I think I've
[09:35] SPEAKER_01: got passed down to my mother and it's been passed down to me. I like I like things neat and tidy.
[09:39] SPEAKER_01: So the car wash fits really nice with that that moniker as well.
[09:42] SPEAKER_00: That's pretty, you know, upper pool that we got that. The only thing I was going to ask about
[09:48] SPEAKER_00: a car wash itself, can you talk a little bit about in the environmental impact of things? I
[09:55] SPEAKER_00: understand you're the recycle a lot of the water and maybe just touch a little bit on that.
[10:01] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a huge part of, you know, in today's world almost everything
[10:05] SPEAKER_01: has something to do with the, you know, the ESG impact and the car wash is really no different. So
[10:09] SPEAKER_01: a big part of our business is we recycle up to 80% of our water. A lot of car washers you go,
[10:15] SPEAKER_01: especially in the United States, they have water reclaimed systems, but they're more or less just
[10:19] SPEAKER_01: checking a box for the development approval. They aren't actually having any meaningful meaningful
[10:24] SPEAKER_01: doing a meaningful meaningful work on the car wash water, I guess. So in our particular system,
[10:28] SPEAKER_01: we've kind of taken into the next level. We're actually injecting ozone into our tanks to work on
[10:33] SPEAKER_01: the organics and the tanks and recycling up to 80% of that water. So really the only fresh water that's
[10:38] SPEAKER_01: going into our process is the water that goes into the chemistry streams and then your final rinse.
[10:43] SPEAKER_00: Everything else is recycled water. Oh, oh, excellent. Yeah. So how does somebody who's in chemical
[10:51] SPEAKER_00: engineering come to do this and not so much the how but more the why? Yeah, it's a
[10:58] SPEAKER_01: great question. So I guess in my oil patch days, I always kind of wanted to have my own oil
[11:02] SPEAKER_01: company or something like that someday. And then with the way the movement was going towards oil and
[11:07] SPEAKER_01: gas, I was just becoming harder and harder to attract investment dollars into that segment.
[11:11] SPEAKER_01: Also starting a family around that same time, I got three beautiful children happily married.
[11:16] SPEAKER_01: And it was just it was a chance to spend some more time with a family or have a more flexible
[11:20] SPEAKER_01: schedule. I actually probably work more now that I'm working in the family office, but my
[11:24] SPEAKER_01: schedule is more flexible or I dictate it more, I guess. So that's nice. But really a unique
[11:31] SPEAKER_01: opportunity to get into the family office and do a bunch of different things. And so when you get
[11:35] SPEAKER_01: into that space, you kind of have that freedom, that entrepreneurial spirit to explore a bunch of
[11:40] SPEAKER_01: different industries. And this is one that we've really particularly focused on because we just see
[11:44] SPEAKER_01: a massive opportunity really, you know, really trying to be that leader in the industry and really
[11:48] SPEAKER_01: pushing the boundaries and getting in front of potential competition down the road.
[11:52] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, can you talk a little bit about that entrepreneurial background and the journey?
[11:59] SPEAKER_00: What's been the toughest part of this journey as an entrepreneur?
[12:04] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it can be a lonely journey at times. You know, so you're always kind of
[12:09] SPEAKER_01: grunt and you got to be a bit of a jack of all trades. I think it's what my dad's always instilled
[12:12] SPEAKER_01: in to me. You got to be hungry. You got to be, you know, at times you got to sweep the floors,
[12:17] SPEAKER_01: you know, changing pumps at the car wash in the early days up to, you know, dealing with banks
[12:22] SPEAKER_01: and lawyers and negotiating deals and talking to partners and customers. So it's, I think it's just
[12:28] SPEAKER_01: you have to have a pretty wide skill set. You got to be willing to jump in and do whatever it takes
[12:32] SPEAKER_01: to get these companies off the ground and really instilled for my father to be honest. He left
[12:37] SPEAKER_01: home at a very young age and grew up the hard way, maybe so to speak. So everything was earned.
[12:44] SPEAKER_01: You know, lots of different jobs, lots of different mentors along the way and really, you know,
[12:48] SPEAKER_01: contributed to his success to develop that entrepreneurial spirit, kind of consummate salesman.
[12:54] SPEAKER_01: And really, just I think it's a resolve really. At the end of the day, it's not giving up. It's
[12:58] SPEAKER_01: just continuing to keep going no matter how many challenges you get thrown your way as keep digging.
[13:03] SPEAKER_00: Yeah. How's the, the past two years impact that what you guys do and what your business does,
[13:10] SPEAKER_01: sir, are done pass it at all? Yeah, it's a great question. So one of the things that attracted us
[13:15] SPEAKER_01: and we were told this early days doing our due diligence in the car wash business was that
[13:20] SPEAKER_01: two things about car wash. One, it's a recession proof business. And what I mean by that is
[13:25] SPEAKER_01: typically people in, you know, tighter times, they're keeping their vehicles longer, so they're spending
[13:30] SPEAKER_01: more money on upkeep, whether it's tires, oil changes, keeping them clean versus, you know, buying a new
[13:35] SPEAKER_01: car all the time. And the second thing that's interesting about the car wash business is basically
[13:39] SPEAKER_01: internet proof. You can't buy a car wash online, so to speak, right? You can't wash your car over
[13:43] SPEAKER_01: the internet, so you physically have to do the process. And then what we've seen further to your
[13:48] SPEAKER_01: point in question is that, you know, it's a, it's a pandemic proof business is what we found out.
[13:54] SPEAKER_01: People have continued to wash their car through the, through the pandemic. Yeah. So that's been a
[13:58] SPEAKER_01: very interesting learning. Obviously, everyone heading into the pandemic, you went, oh my god,
[14:02] SPEAKER_01: how's that going to affect our business and, you know, different business lines that we have
[14:06] SPEAKER_01: have been affected differently, but very fortunate in the car wash business that people have continued
[14:10] SPEAKER_01: to wash their cars and continue to support our business segments. So to be honest, it's certainly
[14:16] SPEAKER_01: the numbers have come off a little bit, and we're already starting to see them come back up to
[14:19] SPEAKER_01: return to a more of a norm, but very fortunate to be, to do very well through the pandemic.
[14:26] SPEAKER_00: Now, you know, you mentioned a few times here what you've learned from your father.
[14:31] SPEAKER_00: Just wondering if along the journey, and were there others or maybe not so much others, but other
[14:38] SPEAKER_00: examples of entrepreneurs that caught your attention or, or books that you read that maybe stuck with
[14:47] SPEAKER_01: some advice for you? Yeah, great question. So one of the interesting things growing up in
[14:52] SPEAKER_01: entrepreneurial families, you tend to tend to attract other entrepreneurs. So I think just being
[14:58] SPEAKER_01: around my dad, seeing his partners in Hasco, growing Hasco, a lot of his peer-to-peer business groups.
[15:03] SPEAKER_01: You see from a wide variety of different industries. So I've been very fortunate. I think
[15:08] SPEAKER_01: at a very young age to be exposed to a lot of different entrepreneurs. And I can't say there's one
[15:13] SPEAKER_01: that stands out in particular other than my dad, but definitely a lot of different people and a lot
[15:18] SPEAKER_01: of different ways of doing things. You see the family sacrifice. You see the financial ups and
[15:24] SPEAKER_01: downs of the entrepreneurial world, right? It doesn't always work out. Everyone likes to talk about
[15:28] SPEAKER_01: the success stories, but you can't win them all. So definitely some tough lessons along the way,
[15:34] SPEAKER_01: but lots of good examples to pull from of entrepreneurial families is in this community and others.
[15:42] SPEAKER_00: What would you say to somebody now if they came to you seeking advice about being an entrepreneur?
[15:49] SPEAKER_00: What would you tell them?
[15:53] SPEAKER_01: It's a great question. I think a lot of it, the most important thing I think is resiliency.
[15:57] SPEAKER_01: To be honest, at the end of the day, I think you got to be prepared for that. Not everything's
[16:01] SPEAKER_01: going to work out as per plan. In fact, your plan is probably wrong. The minute you make it,
[16:06] SPEAKER_01: I think you have to be pretty nimble. You have to be willing to adapt. You have to be willing to work
[16:10] SPEAKER_01: harder than the next person. So I think the big thing is probably resiliency. Always, if you get beat
[16:15] SPEAKER_01: down, you got to be able to get back up and find a different angle or a different way or get a
[16:20] SPEAKER_01: different situation or be able to call an audible to use a sports analogy along the way to be able
[16:27] SPEAKER_00: to make it go. Anyone you admire out there in the business world beyond your father?
[16:33] SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, man, again, so many good examples of good entrepreneurial leaders out there.
[16:41] SPEAKER_01: I guess one of the things that's particularly fascinating to me is a guy like Elon Musk.
[16:44] SPEAKER_01: When he gets a bit controversial with some of his beliefs and the way he goes about things,
[16:48] SPEAKER_01: but the ability that he's had to go out and really push the boundaries, whether it's space,
[16:52] SPEAKER_01: whether it's automotive, the progression to electric vehicles. I think it's just interesting how
[16:58] SPEAKER_01: like how vast and how wide his mind can work. And you see that, I think that's a common
[17:03] SPEAKER_01: what comment trait you see in a lot of entrepreneurs to be able to just think so much, you know,
[17:06] SPEAKER_01: further down the road and to see things that are coming and to be able to adapt and
[17:10] SPEAKER_01: but I think he's particularly interesting, but just from the mere fact of the scale and scope of
[17:15] SPEAKER_00: the things that he's continuing to work on. Now we talk in this day and age. We talk a lot about
[17:21] SPEAKER_00: work-life balance and being an entrepreneur, you know, that's almost a 24 or 7 job. Do you
[17:29] SPEAKER_00: find that you do have some work-life balance or don't? That's a good thing you know how my wife
[17:36] SPEAKER_01: on to interview today. But she probably have a different opinion than me, but obviously it's
[17:41] SPEAKER_01: something, especially in these early days, in mid-smart wash, right? We're just getting going,
[17:46] SPEAKER_01: getting this thing really ramped up. That's when a lot of the really hard grinding happens. So
[17:51] SPEAKER_01: it's certainly been a busy, busy time period, but I do a lot of my, I guess, activities outside of
[17:56] SPEAKER_01: work revolve around my kids. So I have two boys and a girl all heavily involved in sports. So I do
[18:01] SPEAKER_01: do coach the boys in hockey and coach my daughter and soccer previously. So trying to get as much
[18:07] SPEAKER_01: family time in as possible and definitely need to spend, sorry about that. Yeah, no problem.
[18:16] SPEAKER_01: Just definitely need to make some more time to spend with my wife for sure. It seems like you get
[18:19] SPEAKER_01: busy, get young kids and you get so busy in business and life. One thing in one of my goals is
[18:25] SPEAKER_01: definitely to make some more time for her and make sure that she's obviously very supporting
[18:30] SPEAKER_01: of this journey. She's actually an engineer by trade as well. So she's been a great support and
[18:34] SPEAKER_01: allowing me to continue this journey with Mint in the family office. What would you say some of
[18:39] SPEAKER_01: your interests are beyond family and work? Exports guy, huge flames fan. Pretty disappointing to
[18:46] SPEAKER_01: see them drop out of the playoffs this year. So big flames fan like to keep up on a lot of different
[18:50] SPEAKER_01: sports. Very interested in Formula One racing. Oh really? I kind of got my kids into that. I've
[18:56] SPEAKER_01: been fortunate to see a few different races around the world. So yeah, keen interest in racing and
[19:02] SPEAKER_01: all the cool stuff that those guys get up to. So that's fun. Enjoy golf when I can get out and do
[19:07] SPEAKER_01: that. Yeah, there's something some of my key interests. So what's the appeal of Formula One racing?
[19:15] SPEAKER_01: I think it's all really around just how much energy it takes and how like the I guess the
[19:20] SPEAKER_01: skies in the scope and I think the drive to survive is in the news a lot about talking about how
[19:24] SPEAKER_01: it's kind of popularized F1. I've been a fan for a long time. Pre the Netflix series. But I think
[19:29] SPEAKER_01: what really interests me is just there's people don't realize how much technology those guys are
[19:33] SPEAKER_01: continually pushing the boundaries. You know, looking for new ways to go faster and all just the whole
[19:38] SPEAKER_01: scope and scale of moving things around the world. I think I find it just fascinating. It's
[19:43] SPEAKER_00: actually fascinating what these guys get up to. Yeah, all right. Super. Well, thanks very much,
[19:47] SPEAKER_01: Chris, for joining us today. Appreciate it. Mario, thanks for having me on and look forward to seeing
[19:52] SPEAKER_00: everyone out at the mince-smart wash near you. Right. And I like the idea of the membership thing.
[19:59] SPEAKER_00: That's boy, you know, in Calgary, we share needed, right? It's almost like every day you get out there
[20:05] SPEAKER_01: and your vehicle's dirty. That's that's the beauty of it. I mean, you don't you don't have to think
[20:09] SPEAKER_01: about the weather anymore. You got a hot day, get your car washed. If it's nose tomorrow, you don't
[20:12] SPEAKER_01: care. You get it washed again. So that's that's the beauty of our model. No more waiting in lines. You
[20:17] SPEAKER_00: get too quick too. All right. Super. Thanks, Chris. All right. That was Chris Friesen, who is
[20:22] SPEAKER_00: president and CEO of mince-smart wash. This is Calgary's podcast with Mario Toneguzion Canada's
[20:30] SPEAKER_00: podcast network. Thanks for joining us today.