Heading into another active year in real estate, I have been left a number of rather daunting tasks in order to create a bright new future for a brokerage that was in part created by my father. In 1985, Jim Wiseman and Bryan Wilson broke away from the mainstream big name real estate brands, to...
I agree with Ken – as a newbie to Red Deer, I was totally unaware that True North Realty was a local business! I definitely think with your rebranding you should really emphasize that, because I know that supporting local business is very important for a lot of our family and friends. Prior to reading your post, I would say a True North sign would make me think “Canadian.” After reading what you wrote, I’ll now think “real”, “local” or “authentic.”
True North I see a mountain theme with Whites, Greens and Blues. Rivers and Mountain. North Star or something in there.
Play off the word “True” maybe as in tried tested and true. Or how kiwis always say “true” instead or right or yup. “True Colors”
Or get gangster on them with “true dat”…BLACK AND YELLOW BLACK AND YELLOW!!!
1. Mike will pick Joel to win the gift card.
_X_ True
___ False
True North… Strong and free.
I wasn’t sure I liked what came into my head initially. too cliche. But then between reading your post, and typing this (and ya, putting kids to bed, bath time, and hanging two pictures, tweeting through all of that….) I thought, hay wait…
Strong and Free
Strong and Free is great! – describes us as canadians, and describes True North realty, it is simple, it is free from all the rules and regulations of the larger organizations, and it is strong because true strength doesn’t come in numbers, or through having offices in every city, it comes from within, one person at a time, one relationship, one sale, one satisfied customer. And that is what I am, a satisfied customer, because you did what you said, and THEN said what you did.
Proud of you man, go rock it – Strong and Free.
Justin Hubert
Brutally honest hey. Well here I go, when I think of true north realty I am overwhelmed with a feeling of trust, integrity, and most of all great Canadian values. Honest people with a intelligent and realistic point of view making a house feel like a home. Delivering comfort and ease in life changing decisions with a strong presence of confidence and grace. Truly a company with traditional values and a strong sense of community pride. Well done True North!
Conscientious – sort of combines your efforts to build good relationships, help promote local business, and informing people about going green.
I had a hunch it was local, but for me that doesn’t always mean competent. When I’ve seen the signs and think of the words, in a word “cold” comes to mind.
You’re doing a great job getting the word out with your excellent blog and social media presence. Best of luck updating the brand.
True North – Proud to be Canadian
Fanta – When we built our home with Fanta Homes, Brian was their realtor of choice to sell our current home.
ARCTIC
I see True North Realty signs on front lawns. The blue and white reminds me of the frozen arctic with icebergs and blue water.
Community – I love the way you support and hype local businesses.
INTEGRITY – adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
Since you’re paying us to essentially do the same thing, does that disqualify me? Cuz, I have a long list of words! 
homegrown
Hi Mike. My word is “unknown”
Since I am not a Red Deer native, I did not have an understanding of what the company was or what it stood for until I got to know you personally. There are a lot of people like me in Red Deer these days given it’s exceptional growth over the last few years, so hopefully I can represent a few of those people with my word of the day. Cheers.
Comfortable
One word…RAD! Although we didn’t work much with you, I think your pops did an amazing job in helping us find our home. One day he even camped outside of a yoga studio door and waited patiently for me to finish teaching. It was pretty cute. I think his yoga curiosity was peeked. Maybe when Krista and I open our studio in September, (which is conveniently located right by Restaurant 27) he can come by for a class. You and your wife too! We’re going to have childcare
Hi5,
Bonnee
Do you enjoy a nice summer morning stroll down to Red Deer’s own Farmer’s Market evey Saturday? Perhaps you enjoy going to pick up some locally produced goods to load your fridge for the week. Do you ever find yourself unable to make it to the market one week, or running a bit short on...
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Thanks Tylor! We are always working Saturdays, and only ever go to the market for the food items, so it is a great alternative that fits into our schedule! Maybe we will see you down there? I’ll be the guy with my mits full of veggies.
Nice article, a true farmers market, and great for a mid-week stock-up. Stoked to head there tomorrow.
A quick shout out, as always, goes to our latest winner, Jessica Nagorski, who picked up a $25 Cineplex Gift Card for her comment on 2010 Resolutions. This week, I have decided to do something a little bit different from the normal contest. On the heels of one of the worst natural disasters in recent...
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According to ‘thestar.com’, “That flood of donations is setting Canadians apart, leading the world in providing aid to Haiti, giving almost $2 per person.” It is inspiring to see we are still willing to pitch in, proud to be Canadian!
Thanks for doing your part, big bro! You’re the best ^_^
I love what you’re doing man! Very noble, and selfless.
I think with this disaster, and the ones to come, we will see more of an outpouring of kindness from people. I think we are slowly starting to wake up a bit more and we are starting to care more for the people who need it.
no real thoughts about the earthquake, just hope that the people there get all the help they need, and thanks mike for doing your part to help a bit
My heart breaks for all those people… children without parents and parents who have lost their children. It makes me hold my children a little closerand thank god I was born in a country like Canada!! This is an awesome thing you are doing Mike, wtg!!
A great idea for a very worthy cause Mr. Wiseman
My two cents… or should I say two dollars
Mike, I think it’s great you’ve organized this. Most of us in N. America and Europe and so privileged and we don’t even realize it. Haiti was already in such bad shape and now this. It’s hard to imagine even going on in circumstances like they are facing.
Yeah mike. If I were going to buy a house in red deer I would talk to you.
Go Mike GO!
I am genuinley and deeply saddend by the recent disaster in Haiti.
Like many others, it has made me realize how truely blessed my life is and my deepest sympathies go out to everyone who has been affected.
Mike, your an angel for doing this, the world needs more people like you.
I find it truly amazing that these stricken people can begin singing in the evenings , they are truly amazing , Jeannie O
We are blessed beyond comprehension in this country. Looking at just a few of the devastating pictures from Haiti will show you that. I pray to God that the people of Haiti can somehow recover and heal. And that we as Americans can look at what we have and know we are in abundance and without fear of such incredible destruction. God be with each of them.
Our daughter’s class has been talking about the situation in Haiti and her heart seems really pained by it all. She has always seemed to have a heart for the homeless and I think seeing pictures and hearing about it has just broken her heart. Our family’s prayers are certainly with those in Haiti.
All of these comments are so touching…and I’m really excited that I can see friends of mine that came over to post a comment after I mentioned it on Facebook.
This is a tragedy, and its so easy to feel removed and not let it affect you, but truthfully how can we not all be completely affected by it. I hate to say this, but I feel blessed that we have this country we live in that just isn’t as affected by these natural disasters. I CANNOT imagine going thru it all. Blessings and hopeful thoughts to all people trying to make a difference.
Good luck Mike. The world needs more people that care like you.It is amazing how strong the Hatians are despite everything that is happening to them.
Mike – this is an awesome initiative and a very unifying gesture. Haiti is experiencing such sad and traumatic devasation, and it is incredible what a million pairs of hands (or hearts or initiatives) can do from all around the globe in times of exteme circumstances. So great job spreading awareness, sharing resources, and bringing everyone together to help.
Vraiment un tres beau geste de ta part. Continue, Moi je suis sens mots quand je vois tous se qui se passe la bas. Mes prieres sont avec eux. God bless you for the good work you’re doing.
This incident has definately opened my eyes and made me realise I have nothing to complain about. My thoughts are with the people of Haiti. Wish I was there in person to help. Its horrible watching the news and being totaly helpless.
THis is a great gesture MIKE.
Very cool… very cool indeed!
My mother is currently in Haiti. She has been there for the better part of 7 years donating her time and money educating and feeding children.
Not hearing from her right away was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with. I assumed the worst.
The email she sent saying she was okay brought so many happy tears. Reading on about the horror she, as well as thousands of others, are facing made me cry like I’ve never done before.
Thank you for doing this. Thanks for making me know that my Mom has people looking out for her.
As devestating as this earthquake has been, I am thankful that it is bringing some much-needed awareness to the situation in Haiti. Even prior to the destruction left be the quake, Haiti was a desperately impoverished nation. Now perhaps they will receive the help they need.
Very nice gesture.
This is great Idea.
Thank you
Lucy
You’re doing a wonderful thing…
God Bless You
Good for you! Our combined efforts (both monetary and prayers) are all we can do at a distance.
I really try not to whine too much about the little things in life or start fights over small things because in the end, other people have to deal with much worse stuff than I do. Finland doesn’t get any real natural disasters either, so we’re pretty much the same as Canada.
You can’t enjoy a sunny day without a little rain once in a while either. I hope it helps people appreciate what they have when they think about people who lose so much.
Living in Manila for 20 years, a place so very prone to natural disaster – as well as man-made disasters, unfortunately – I have learned compassion and sharing, not to take one’s gifts and blessings for granted… and not to sweat the small stuff. Nice gesture, Mike. I donated to CARE Canada.
I’m amazed how we see humanity arise as unfortunates go through national crisis.
Too bad it has to be a dramatic event to bring this out.
Then again, small positive actions aren’t that publicised.
God bless your heart!
Kudos to you for organising this, donating your time and money to help those in need. You may already know this, but the Canadian Government is matching all Red Cross donations to Haiti (up to a total of $50 million dollars), so your donation will go twice as far. Brilliant!
When you see the people there fighting with each other for what is left of water and fuel etc. it really makes you think about the mayhem that would happen here if a similar disaster hit… Despite the fact that so many countries and individuals are giving so generously it may not be enough for some of the people in Haiti. Nice work bro, hopefully we who aren’t affected can help enough to ease some of the pain down there.
I don’t even think we can comprehend what it is like for people over in Haiti as we live in such a wealthy country with a thriving economy and a vast amount of space everywhere we look. It seriously breaks my heart to think of how fortunate we are and how unfortunate others are…why can’t it be a little more “even” you know?
Pictures are never a true site in what is happening or how people are cooping. We can we thankful daily that there is a God and he is there holding the hands of all the people still trapped and he walked with the ones that we as mortales were unable to get to. There is always a reason for things that happen even tho then things of the magnitude happen we wonder WHY. We can only pray and be thankful for all the people that are helping physically of money wise and people like you who take an effort to get the word out and help. Thank you Debi
Hi Mike
What a great gesture on your part. Haïti has made me more aware of how we are lucky to live in such a great country that has strong structures. We are very privileged.
Very Inspirational Mike. With everyone’s help and love Haiti will come back strong – one day at a time.
The disaster in Haiti reaffirms the work that I have been involved in with regards to aiding the less fortunate and has helped me to realize that as much we have done, the work continues….
Great idea, Mike. I plan to make a donation to the Red Cross. These disasters do not affect OUR daily lives as such, just that we feel sick for the people living there, but it sure makes us think about how fortunate we are to live in a country where we do not need to worry about too much. We complain about -40 weather, but we have heat and shelter and comforts….. And, it makes us wonder just what we can do to help, and the only way I know how to help is financially. So, everyone should take their extra cash that they would spend frivolously and make it a donation, right???
Hi Mike, this is very kind of you and if I can make a difference by passing your message on, it is the least I can do. It’s heart breaking to see the ruins.
This disaster has changed the way that I see the world and the WATER……each time I take a glass of water, do laundry, prepare nice diner, I’ll really appreciate everything that we have so easily! and I have more compassion………..
it is so good to see the world come together in time of Crisis- shows that Humanity still exists!
It makes the little things not so important anymore.
While the pictures we see of the Haiti disaster look horrible, I can only imagine it’s ten times worse for the people there. To loose all you have worked for, to have to start over again from scratch…. I am not sure I would be able to go on. Such a disaster affects how I view the things that matter to me most in life…family and friends. The personal possessions are just ‘pretty’ things that decorate our intimate world… Everyday I get up I have a chance to make a difference and start over….
Take nothing for granted . Reach out and help when ever possible.
What has happened to Haiti is very sad and unfortunate and us as Canadians should count our blessings every day as yes we are one of the countries that are sheltered from many such as this. I pray god to help these people in need. I comment to others we are lucky and what complaining we do is pathetic when you think of these people and other countires.
I hope ALL canadians will donate as this is the least we can do – regardless of how much they can give.
This is a wonderful idea.
Hey Mike!! Good to see you and Andrea today! I think this is awesome what you are doing!! Good luck and I will pass this on to my friends as well! Cheerio! jess
Mike,
This is such a great idea.
Having been through my share of things – Earthquake in Philippines in the 90′s and seeing the country in rubble yes this earthquake has affected me… we aren’t as safe as we all think – It’s sad to see the country in ruins and to hear all the stories about how even the people who survived are now dying because of the lack of food and water….
I don’t think this will be the end of severe disasters, I believe this might be only the beginning.
I can’t think of how it hasn’t changed my life. This is one of the biggest disasters of our time.
First off, I thank God that I live in a country where natural disasters don’t affect us physically as much as other countries. I feel so privileged to live somewhere so safe and I’ve been thinking twice about spending money on things I don’t necessarily need, but want. If I had the opportunity to make a difference, I would drop my life here in Red Deer and go down there and help out in any way that I could and attempt to help people find their lost loves ones, and help people get through this tough time.
It has affected for me. It totally hit home when we celebrated our children’s birthdays this past weekend. We headed to a local middle school gym, had lots of fun, ate great food & cake and then opened a tone of presents. We were packing it all up to come home and then it struck us… our children do not need more gift… they are so blessed! We could have asked all our guest to put the money they would have spent on a gift towards the people of Haiti. Why didn’t we do that?? Well, I guess what is done, is done & next time we have an opportunity to make a difference, we will not hesitate! I think what we have taken from this, is to open our eyes… opportunities to help are sometime directly in front of us. Lastly, I would totally, (if I had the cash) adopt a baby from Haiti!!
This disaster has changed the way that I see the world – I now see it and the people living in it as fragile. I have more compassion. This month I am giving up eating out, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, etc and giving the money to relief efforts.
Hello again Red Deer, and Central Alberta! With a new week upon us, it is time to announce last weeks “Back to the Grind Giveaway” winner! There were a lot of comments to choose from, and after sifting through them all I think we have found a winner! Unfortunately for Andrea Wiseman, you did not...
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Well happy New Year to all of you out there! For those of you who made it through holidays and safely back to work, congratulations! The positive thing to take out of this is that you made it to 2010, with at least a semi-functional liver… On another note, I hope everyone had a great holiday...
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Generally I’m not one for resolutions. I hate setting myself up for failure *gasp* and it just seems like if you don’t fulfill that resolution, then you feel like a schmuck. However, with that little rant over, I did resolve to make healthier choices this year concerning getting fit. So far, I have removed sugar *once again gasp* from my diet, with exception to coffee, ahem, I just can’t get it out of my coffee, and today I joined the gym. Baby steps, baby steps I keep saying. So thats my resolution in a nutshell.
2009: was to travel more, but the student loans started to pile up and I didn’t go ANYWHERE! minus vancouver and the mountains… but who doesn’t love the ocean and mountains so I was satisfied with that! As for 2010, I decided after I graduate college, and before we have kids, we’re taking off a few months to go travel the world together. I also want to spend more time with my grandparents at their beautiful home in Cochrane, because, well… let’s face it, they aren’t going to be around for forever. I also want to stop thinking so negative and walk on the wild side once and awhile!!
My new years resolution for 2009 year was to loose wight, lost 80 lbs that so far, the 2010 new years resolution is to get high enough marks in school to get into mechanical engineering at u of c, wont know about that till later. Also to try to take an objective look at myself in order to adjust what i need to in order to become a better person
2009-my resolution was to reduce my percentage of body weight…but I am the same as last year ha at least I feel good.
2010-My new years resolution….hmmmm oh I know… to get better at returning phone calls, texts and emails. To be in better contact with my friends and family
Hey Mike, The website looks good. My favorite part is the photo of you in the purple jacket looking off to the side, may Zoolander never get old.
In 2009 I had three goals: 1) Go fishing. I did a lot of fishing last year I probably got out more then any other activity I do, except maybe river surfing? 2) Ride my bike. Total fail. I don’t think I got out once, however I did do more walking then ever in my life and relied a lot less on my car, I think that had to do with living downtown. 3) Reduce, reuse, recycle. This has been a good success, I even compost now.
2010: 1) Find a career I love, a reason to wake up in the morning 2) Stay fit and have fun 3) Stay in touch with the people I care about.
Shaun, done and done. Get yer xmas sweaters in check, I’m going to make your 2010 resolution come true.. this is going to be awful/amazing.
2009 resolution was to find, enter, and win a fantasy football league……failed (3rd place is like 2nd loser)
2010 resolution is to sometime in my life be involved in a photo that is remotely close in the humor scale as the “Wiseman christmas photo”
Okay Mike,I’m 52 and I’m going to come into the year 2010 technologically, and end it skype-ing. I’m going to do it I didn’t say I knew how to spell it !
Last year I didn’t have a resolution. In the last 9 months though, I have been working really hard on becoming the “real” me, so now that I’ve found where I want to be, who I want to be with, I need to figure out what I want to do here, and how to do it. I also want to train myself to be in better shape, to look the way I want to look, to feel the way I want to feel, now that I’m stepping into my own skin finally ^_^
I just want to make it through this cleanse… that’s a good place to start right?!?! No kidding, I have a few more.
1.)I want to be published on a blog or magazine
2.)I want to become the photographer I’ve always dreamt about becoming.
3.)I want to embrace love and live with an open heart everyday.
4.)Family. I would love to start a family one day…maybe with you?
5.)I want to do everything I’ve always been scared of doing. cliffjumping, mountain climbing, backcountry snowboarding, driving on icy roads, flying to another country on a plane, etc.
6.)I want to take more photos of myself. Im never in photos because I’m always the one behind the lens.
7.)I want to laugh everyday!
ps. Resolution for last year was to go VEG. FAIL!
This year I resolved to be more patient as a wife and mother. And to continue getting more active taking some community classes on interior decorating. And last of all not to quit my cardio mma classes.
I believe last year my resolution was to become a better mother, walk the dog more often and drink more rum.
So last year I am sure my resolution revolved around losing weight like most girls I know…but yet again I have failed myself lol…..as for 2010 I want to have more fun, meet new people and enjoy life!!
2009: To take over the world – Result: Failure
2010: To take over the known Universe
Dream big Wiseman, Dream Big
© 2012 Mike Wiseman | True North Realty. #206, 4926 50St. Red Deer, AB. T4N 1X7 | O. 403.343.0123 F. 403.347.0020 C. 403.896.8383 E. mike@mikewiseman.com
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