Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Kyle Christie: Toronto Mike'd #964

Episode Date: December 13, 2021

Mike chats with Kyle Christie about why he left CP24 and what he's up to now.

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your home and your business. Palma Pasta, enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville and Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week making his Toronto Mike debut is Kyle Christie. Welcome Kyle. How you doing buddy? I'm great. How are you? This was, in fact, one of the first questions that came in for you from FOTM Steve Leggett was asking what has kept you off the show for the past few years? Because you were in my calendar for like a long time. I know. And this COVID thing happened.

And it was, I think I was scheduled, was it end of March or it was? You were booked like for around then, but I feel like you were going to come by. Yeah, we pushed it to like my birthday, which is like late June 2020. So you were in there for like March. You got bumped because of COVID and then you were going to come back in June. That never happened. But here you are today. It's like fantastic to meet you.

I'm here. I'm happy to be here to see my doppelganger. Okay. Well, I put on Twitter today because I feel like if I suggest you're my doppelganger, I'm being a braggart because you're a very good looking guy. Thank you, Mike. So I would suggest you take me, you add 22% handsomeness, and you've got Kyle Christie. It was a viewer who I believe made that connection first many years ago.

My mom was over yesterday and I showed her a picture of you and she did remember you from CP24, but she looked at it and she said, oh, he does look like you. So my mom thinks you look like me. Yeah, because I believe there was a viewer who thought we were the same person. See, that's very flattering to me. Like, uh, cause I'm just checking you out now and you you do a better job your hair is like you care about it whereas i uh i also have good hair i will tell you but i don't care about it it just does its own thing and yeah you're just generally like us your eyes are like dancing they're sparkling you got a great

smile all right stop it what is this camera over here looking at i've seen you uh when you're live on twitter when you have a guest is that what this is over here no that you're not always doing that well twitter got rid of periscope like i used to go on here they got rid of it right because they're they're dumb and uh shout out to fotm cam gordon but the uh there's a pirate stream so there's a couple things going on there's a pirate stream live.torontomic.com where uh some fotms will gather to watch us like i'm looking in on it now right hello to andrew ward and there's also because we won't be playing a lot of like licensed music i'm going to be um also streaming this on the facebook page so i have an archive

basically because live.torontike.com doesn't record. It's just a live stream and it's gone. So yeah, there's, so I got a good camera on you. Okay. So you can wink at the camera periodically. Play to the camera. And you're familiar with cameras. We got a lot of ground to cover.

But firstly, and you know this already, but like a couple of Kyle Christie's have your SEO gold. Like, oh my gosh. Like, I don't know which two, the two I noticed was Christie's have your SEO gold. Oh my gosh. Like, I don't know which two, the two I noticed was there's a guy. Yes. Well, there's two guys, but there's a guy who's a contestant on Geordie Shore.

Do you know what Geordie Shore is? Yeah. So that Kyle Christie, I get all of his DMs all the time and people tag me thinking that I'm him. It's an MTV show. I don't think it's on here in canada i've never seen it um never seen advertised either but he's been on it for years i'm not sure how that show works but it's jersey shore for europeans right yeah and but it's been

on forever and so i get the tweets when people are angry and people are happy. And I always like them, which then his fans get so excited because they see the like. They think it's him. Do you have the blue checkmark on Twitter? Yeah. And so I think that's why when they're going to tag him and mine comes up as verified, they assume it's him. And you make their day. Yeah.

Someone tweeted once that, because I believe he's in his 20s they said something about how terrible i looked for being in my 20s and you're not in your 20s no i'm not and so what i i replied and said well actually i'm 45 and uh and the woman said oh my gosh i'm so sorry i'm really embarrassed by this but i always just interact with them well i like that there's another one though uh i did you did you know about and i'm sure you did because you are kyle christie but there's a cricketer like there's a famous cricketer named kyle christie uh a friend sent me i believe it was a wikipedia post once and it was that cricketer but it had my photo that's funny it was wikipedia or some listing um in my have you ever played cricket in your life never they don't play when you were growing photo. That's funny. It was Wikipedia or some listing.

Have you ever played cricket in your life? Never. They don't play, when you were growing up in Brantford, cricket wasn't a popular sport. No, it wasn't a big one. No,

not at all. I have an idea of like, I don't know how to make this happen, but if I got all three Kyle Christie's on Toronto Mike at the same time, like that's the kind of, that's the kind of shit I can do on this show, right? Like you can just have an idea and i'm gonna get the geordie shore guy and i'm gonna get the uh the the cricketer

and i'm gonna have the uh guy i know from cp24 and you're all gonna be on toronto mic'd and we couldn't be more different i feel i think we are all very different the name would probably be the only thing we have in common the uh show geordie shore i was in amsterdam uh for work and i was like flipping the stations and i came across it just like in the hotel room and oh you've seen it i have i've seen like 10 minutes of it but i remember so first like you're like oh this is again i never even watched jersey shore but i knew about it because it was like in the like the zeitgeist or whatever and i'm like oh this is like this is Jersey Shore for the Europeans it was like they were I think it's in England or something Geordie is like a shore in like the UK or something like that so I'm mildly

familiar but I'm gonna make that happen okay do it the uh the big announcement last week so we had an open zoom on Friday for like F fotms to just jump on the zoom and we had like a holiday thing uh i didn't see on the zoom though because you weren't an fotm yet like that doesn't happen till right now right you'll be on the next one but there was a big announcement and i don't want the announcement to get buried in that like 90 minute of like mike apple and like uh mike richards my only mics were allowed on this particular open Zoom but Mike Richards, Mike Epple, Hebsey was there a whole bunch of interesting

Bruce Dobigan was there a bunch of Peter Gross showed up so speaking of Peter Gross I'm just going to play the announcement that was made by Peter Gross on Friday. Are you ready Kyle? I'm ready. For 76 successive weeks a weary nation was entertained by Pandemic Friday episodes of Toronto Mic'd, a welcome distraction during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Then, on August 27th,

in front of an adoring crowd of FOTMs on the patio of Great Lakes Brewery at TMLX8, it came to an abrupt end. It was over. Toronto Mike was exhausted and went camping. Cam Gordon retreated to the cozy bosom of MF and PPMM, and Stu Stone fled to Winnipeg to film a movie. A nation wept. But do you believe in miracles?

Pandemic Fridays with Toronto Mike, Cam Gordon and Stu Stone will return in January 2022. That's right. The band is getting back together with more fun facts and mind blows. Only this time, they'll record on the third Thursday of every month. Live at live.torontomike.com and they'll have a new name pandemic fridays are now toast welcome back boys kyle i look to you for a reaction what's your what's your reaction to that big news i think that's fantastic i think that you really need to be applauded for the way you made this all work over the last two years and you know taking it outside and just even all

of this in general um i'm always impressed how you i like how you don't necessarily stick to a schedule um no there's no schedule there's no schedule i like how it's just third thursday of every month apparently there's a schedule now for toast but when you get someone and you're interested in talking to them they're here and and you throw it out there well thanks buddy i feel like you and i are cut from the same cloth in addition to being doppelgangers that we're both like storytellers yeah like we're just you're in we'll get to this because of course i have the big question i'm not asking it yet but at some point i'm gonna ask you uh yeah why you left cp24 That's like the big tease we're going to get to.

So start thinking of an exciting story for that because we're going to get to later. But, you know, and we're going to get to what you're up to these days. But essentially, you, Kyle Christie, are a storyteller. That's all I'm trying to do. Let's do it together. Yeah. Yeah.

No, that's about it. That's what it's about, stories. We have another doppelganger because there's another media personality that people say i look like so uh if he looks like me this person they must also look like you uh rick westhead from tsn oh i know i know who rick is but i've never been told that okay well that's because you're on the good looking side so there's a whole bench and then uh not suggesting rick's not good looking but. So there's a whole bench. Not suggesting Rick's not good looking, but there's like, he looks like me in the less,

in the other parts. So I feel like we need to map this out or whatever. But I have been told that Rick Westhead also looks a bit like me. So I can see that. I can see that. All right, my friend, I alluded to the fact you grew up in Brantford

and that's of course the home of the great one. Have you ever met Wayne Gretzky? Onceky once when i was a kid he used to have when i was uh young he would have the tennis tournament yeah every year in brandford right which was so much fun for the city and i i think i volunteered uh one year to do something and it was just walking down the street next to him. And I probably would have been around 11 or 12 years old and just was looking up at him. We didn't have a conversation or anything. Is there any footage of this or any photos of this?

No, no photos of that, unfortunately. I wish, I wish I would have had photos. Of course. But I never got the full ticket. I was a kid and that would have been a little too pricey. But it was so exciting to have all these celebrities come to Brantford and we would go to what's now the Wayne Gretzky Center or the Wayne Gretzky Sports Complex.

And we'd watch people play tennis and just the arrivals of the celebs. And so it was so cool. Do you remember? Because I mean, when I think back, I've caught that on TV or something, like Alan Thicke would arrivals of the celebs and stuff it was so do you remember uh because i mean when i think back on like i've caught that on tv or something like alan thick would be one of the guys would be so do you remember the celebrities that would roll through branford for that tennis tournament i remember probably as a 12 year old 13 year old one of the biggest at the time was alissa milano oh one of my very first crushes is Alyssa Milano. So when she came rolling into Brantford, that was a big deal. I bet.

Yeah. I may have shown up with flowers. Okay. Well, then we both had similar crushes too here. But I think there's a lot of guys are vintage who had a crush on Alyssa Milano. And of course, that's Samantha Maselli from Who's the Boss? Yeah. So it was in the middle of, you know, Who's the Boss was huge at the time.

So for her to come to Brantford, that was a really big deal. And yeah, and she ended up a big hockey fan too, as I recall. Like, I think she's a big LA Kings fan, which is interesting because, you know, Gretzky was a big LA King. So it all comes full circle. Yeah. Like, did John Candy, I'm trying to think, who else, do you know who else was, was a big la king so it all comes full circle yeah uh like did john candy i'm trying to think of who else do you know who else was any besides samantha macelli like do you remember

anyone else i feel like john stamos wow was there wow the beach boys drummer i'd have i have an autograph book that didn't really get filled um but i still have the program somewhere from the one year and then it turned into a golf tournament, which is difficult because the audience can't really watch golf, you know, follow along with the celebrities. And I don't think, I don't know if what there is now. I don't know if there's something. I don't know.

I don't know. But that's cool. But so you're in Brantford. And like at what point in your childhood do you realize that you'd like to become like a media person who tells stories and what you're basically doing these days? Like when did you know that's your future? I know the exact moment. I don't know if you're asking me because maybe you've seen it. I don't know if I've ever said this story.

I don't know the answer to the question. So you don't know the answer. No. There's a moment? I have a very specific answer. You were walking besidene gretzky and you looked up and said this is what i want to do no when when i was uh a kid less than seven because i remember what house i was at we had you know the typical tube tv in the rec room in the basement and uh yeah and we were watching something like the muppets and i remember going behind the tv and i remember it so well that i can still smell you know like when plastic is burning

sure you know that smell sure and i was looking through the grates at the back of the tv and i remember looking and thinking how do i get in there and not how do I get in there to be on TV? How do I be a part of that? Well, wasn't Kermit, no, maybe that was on Sesame Street. Wasn't Kermit the Frog the reporter on Sesame Street? Yes, yeah. Because he was one of the guys

who got to do double duty. I remember as a kid being fascinated by the guys who could be on Sesame Street. Get a crossover. Yeah, like if you could be on Sesame Street and the Muppets, I'm like, wow. And Kermit had that nailed. And I think he was like your,

he was your Sesame Street reporter, I would say. Yeah, I've never really thought about it. I guess maybe he's, he is who I have always looked up to. Kermit the Frog. It's not easy being green, Kyle. No. Just want to let you know.

So you have a moment. That's kind of a good story. Yeah, I have that moment. And I mean, the fact that I remember the smell, I remember the sight, I remember the color of the tea. I remember everything about that moment. And I, and, you know, I hear people say, oh, I don't know exactly what I want to do. And I have no idea what that's like, because I just remember being five or six or seven. It was around that age. And just knowing that that was going to be what

i was going to do i didn't know what but somehow creating something like that was where i wanted to be so like once you realize what you want to do is your whole like educational stream like geared towards that making that a reality like does that start like when you meet with those guidance because i always would meet with a guidance counselor and they'd say like what do you want to do and i'd be like i have no freaking idea like that was i never had a clue like i guess what i wanted to do didn't exist yet i don't know but you uh you have now you have a goal like you know where to streamline your uh you know your post high school education etc yeah and so I didn't know exactly how I was going to do that. You know,

I, I becoming a journalist wasn't the goal. I remember applying to journalism school out of high school, but thinking nobody will take me serious. I had long hair, you know, and, and I was not the kind of person.

Remember J.D. Roberts used to have long hair. Right. It was probably around the same time. And, and I thought, I'm not mature kind of person remember J.D. Roberts used to have long hair right it was probably around the same time and I thought I'm not mature enough for this yet but let's see what else we can do so I went to film school and didn't touch a camera in four years that's amazing too

which was unfortunate so you just watched movies pretty much I love it I want to do that now but I should say but what school so it was University of Victoria in BC. So it's a fantastic school. It's a long way from Brantford though. It's a long way from Brantford.

So it was film studies, not film production. And if I really thought about it, I should have left and gone somewhere else just to get more of that hands-on. But I loved Victoria and I loved BC. So I stayed there for those four years. And then it was post-grad actually at Sheridan that I did where I went in and I was able to shoot and edit video. Sheridan, okay.

So let's put a pin in that for a moment. If you, no one listening can hear, but you probably hear like yard work being done or something. Yeah, they're vacuuming or something. It's Bojana, okay. So listeners of the FOTMs know Bojana because when we were on the when me and the Pandemic Friday duo

were recording on the outside for like a long time, we did 76 weeks in a row and most of those were in the backyard. Bojana, she's amazing. She's 85 years old and she would be just like on ladders cleaning out eavesdrops of her garage or she would be she does the

neighbor she mows the neighbor's lawns because she loves mowing lawns and she'll be raking leaves and i think she's out there doing yard work right now so shout out to bojana and interestingly enough we just talked about the friday open zoom and i mentioned mike apple was on that zoom mike apple works at uh city news uh and 680 city news which has been rebranded you might have heard right and uh apple like when bojana this is the first time in the history of toronto mike that News and 680 City News, which has been rebranded, you might have heard. And Epple, like when Bojana, this is the first time in the history of Toronto Mike that, and maybe you'll be the second time, but when Bojana saw Mike Epple outside my house for the photo, she lit up and she goes, I know you. Like this, and she was so happy to meet Mike Epple.

Like this was the biggest, I think it was like her lifetime highlight of the 85 years. You should have her on. i guess you're right like i always like how do you like i don't know how to like explain her what's going on here like okay so i do the show in the basement you want to come over and chat i don't know but uh shout out to bojana who's working outside and by the way you mentioned the old tvs so i don't know about you i i've moved a lot in my life and i am so like grateful for technological advances that i never have to move another 200 pound television like i had a sony trinitron it was 27 inches but it weighed she's right there it's either i think it might be that side uh i think but it's anyway the noise is coming from outside the house that's for sure but uh where am i going with this

yeah like i never now I can like if one, with my left hand, I can lift up the TV, like, you know, with one hand. Like, look, Ma, one hand. But those CRT things, they were just dead weight. They were the worst. You needed like four guys to move those things. Yeah, the original flat screens too.

We have one that was only, only. Oh, like rear projector, you mean? No, like we have a flat screen that we bought in 2006. And it still works fine. But anytime we need to move it, it's so heavy compared to the bigger screens that we have now. So FOTM Canada Kev wants me to know that 185 episodes of Geordie Shore are available on the top secret FOTM Plex server.

Oh, wow. I have plans. are available on the top secret FOTM Plex server. Oh, wow. So if Kyle, if you need a hookup. I have plans. That's what I like about this community. I know I interrupted you when you were in the middle of your 60 minute like praise of everything we've built here. But the fact that in this community,

you know, we can talk about the other Kyle Christie and next thing you know, like I could have 185 episodes of Geordie Shore. Like it's just amazing. It's unbelievable. All right, so my friend, you've gone to become a filmmaker like Francis Ford Coppola, but you never touched a camera. So what gig do you get coming out of that education?

Well, so, and I need to say I'm very happy I have my university degree and it served me well. I need to say that. And that is the truth. But I do remember leaving Victoria on the ferry over to Vancouver after graduation and thinking to myself, okay, I have a $40,000 student loan and I don't know how to do anything. I knew how to talk about a lot of things, but I didn't know how to walk into a place and get started. But you knew you were handsome. That's everything. Okay.

But it hadn't been serving me well. It hadn't been serving me well. So I came back home and then. And that's Brantford. Yeah. But I came back and I worked here in Toronto. Okay. I had a talent agency downtown.

And one of the movies I did a little like digging into your uh role as a talent agent here in toronto and one of the movies you were casting some big movies you were casting people for but one of them it's like has a like a soft spot in my heart is cinderella man because the night that my uh oldest daughter was born she was born at women's college hospital and i was driving along bay at like 3 in the morning that night and the traffic stopped because the Old Simpsons, right by the Eden Center there I guess,

the Old Simpsons was actually masquerading as Madison Square Gardens and there were all these cars that looked like the 30s or whatever and people were dressed like the 1930s and this was all happening, it was so surreal and I remember loving the movie as well. So what the heck did you do for Cinderella Man? dressed like the 1930s and this was all happening it was so surreal and i remember uh like loving

the movie as well like so so what the heck did you do for cinderella man so i did extras casting so i wasn't the casting director or even the extras casting director so they would reach out to us the talent agency i worked for was yh acting they're still around um yvonne heider was the talent agent there could i be an extra i feel like like I'd be good at that. Do they need any cyclists? It's a lot of waiting around. It's a lot of waiting around. And so we would get orders for the different movies. And so they would tell us exactly what they needed.

And we had a database and we would send people out. And a couple other big ones people know, Chicago, which was a huge movie. I think it won an Oscar. And the X-Men was filmed in these parts. And you also helped get. That was the first one. When I first started, they were in the middle of X-Men.

Wow. Look at you. Okay. So they never said to you, hey, man, you're on the wrong side of the camera. Let's get you in these movies. I was in an office on the phone with my pager all hours of the day and night and uh and sending extras out and it was i mean we would have to get when you're casting extras here's something that people might not realize i remember one night getting a call from a casting director and they needed someone who was

okay with laying in a working morgue for a scene okay and. And then they give me the body measurements, hair color, everything. And then I need to match that up and call around and see if I have someone who will do that. That's pretty specific, I suppose. But that's a good opportunity because you mentioned morgue, okay?

So I'm going to give you, you're the first guest to get this. This is a beautiful segue. I learned all about this. I shared it. I'm just kidding. So Ridley Funeral Home have been amazing sponsors of this program

for years, but you're the first guest to receive... Okay, this is... This is a really awesome light that keeps you safe at night. You can put it on your collar or something when you're walking in the mean streets late at night.

You can use this as you wish. I won't even give you suggestions, but this is a measuring tape. Oh, don't drop that light. And a measuring tape. So this is a handy, you know, you're just handy. You never know when you need to do measurements. I don't know. That's great. But this is amazing gifts from Ridley Funeral Home. Thank you, Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. Go to RidleyFuneralHome.com. So you're the first recipient of that. See, this is why I didn't want to do the Zoom. You're smart. I was hoping I would get a flashlight or a lasagna or something. Do you want a lasagna? I would love a lasagna. Do you eat meat? I do not. Okay, there's... Are you all sold out of the

vegetarian? Ah, that sucks. I have in the freezer a meat lasagna for you. I'm going to stop by Palma Pasta. Well, maybe, okay, which Palma? Because I can make a phone call and we can get you a vegetarian lasagna on the house for your visit. I'm dead serious. I just got to call Anthony and we can arrange this. Like if you really are going to, well, we'll talk after the show,

but if you are able to drop by one of the four locations in Mississauga and Oakville, we'll take care of you. I feel rotten that I forgot to get a vegetarian lasagna for you. That's on me. Terrible host. Okay, take back all those nice things you said.

I like the way you slide these in. Well, you said morgue. It's one of the trigger words. It's very, how random is that? All right, well, here's a, this is going on your car. It's going on that nice automobile you're driving. That's a Toronto Mike sticker, courtesy of stickeru.com. So everybody should go to stickeru.com.

And I'm not even done yet. Do you enjoy fresh craft beer? Even if you don't, you enjoy giving it to your loved ones? Yes, of course. Well, this is the, if you're into beer,

if you drink beer, you cannot do better than the fresh craft beer at Great Lakes Brewery. So I've got some fresh cans for you to bring home with you thank you great lakes for that fantastic tremendous gift and a couple more wait yeah go ahead do you do this one later do you like roll these out are we doing this one now too or well you know i just know are

you waiting for a trigger word no the trigger word was once you said morgue i go full steam i go full throttle basically okay my friend this is important is important because you're a storyteller. We're going to get into that. I'm a storyteller telling the story of Kyle Christie right now, star of Geordie Shore. And Al Grego, who's an FOTM himself, he also tells stories. The Yes, We Are

Open podcast has Al traveling the country interviewing small Canadian businesses and he tells their story, their origin story their struggles their future outlook and if you're a small business owner or entrepreneur like myself you'll find this podcast both helpful and motivational yes we are open is available at yes we are open podcast.com and this wireless speaker is courtesy of Moneris so you can listen to the yes we are open podcast nice I just subscribed today to that podcast.

Al, are you listening? Of course you are. That's fantastic. So Kyle Christie, let the Moneris people know they got Kyle Christie listening to Yes, We Are Open podcast. And another inspiring podcast I like to talk about is the CEO Edge podcast, fireside chats with inspiring CEOs and thought leaders. And that's courtesy of McKay CEO forums. Okay, you mentioned Sheridan. Did you know, Kyle Christie, I have a fun fact for you. This is going to blow your mind. Okay.

You're the first inductee onto Sheridan's Wall of Fame. Are you aware of this? I am aware of this, but Sheridan is not. They are not. So I was... Back up the truck what do you mean so I was I went to a ceremony and I was given this um statue thing that has my name and it says Sheridan uh wall of fame and I was honored and I thought this was wonderful and then about two years ago Sheridan phoned and they said can we interview you for our alumni magazine website and I was honored and I thought this was wonderful. And then about two years ago, Sheridan phoned and they said,

can we interview you for our alumni magazine website? And I said, sure. And we're going through the interview and they sent me some questions and I put on there, oh, and I'm the first person inducted onto the Sheridan Wall of Fame. And they wrote back to me and they said, we have no record of this. And I took a picture of my award and i sent it back and i said that makes me sad because this is in my living room and uh and did they think somebody else was the first or

they just didn't have a record of you being inducted into the sheridan wall of fame maybe it was something they started and then didn't continue with because i remember there was an actual wall and i was there and they put me on it and I left and I haven't been back since. So I don't know if there was a renovation. The wall of fame got taken down. That's hilarious. Okay. Because coincidentally, I am actually later this month unveiling the first inductee into the FOTM Hall of Fame.

That's not a joke. That's actually happening. Well, don't take down the wall after you do it. Well, I'm thinking, no, it won't be a wall at all it'll be a digital you know they have to delete it but i'm thinking uh one day if things go well and if this relationship continues to progress as it is uh one day kyle christie could be inducted into the fotm hall of fame and we would keep a record of it well here let me ask you this. Do you listen to music? Do you enjoy listening to music in your spare time, et cetera?

I do listen to music. And I was listening to your Rick Mercer episode on my way here and listening to The Hip, which was great. Yeah, he has a great relationship with Jake Gold and the tragically hip there, Rick Mercer. Because I'm thinking, I just filed that in the back of my head, that Kyle Christie is a hip fan. So that might come in handy at some point. All right, so you do, when do you graduate Sheridan there?

That's 2004? I graduated, yeah. So I left the talent agency and went to Sheridan. And it was a one-year post-grad program at the time. And it was, I was never a strong student until I got there because everything came together um being able to finally put my hands on a camera and create this content and edit it together and be able to add music and sound effect and just create those stories and it just felt like everything clicked it was incredible and how the heck do you

end up uh at ctv it was because of that that uh training at sheridan so it was 2003 2004 i believe would have been when i was at sheridan for this eight-month program and I remember the week very well because I had braces on and I got my braces off and got a job interview and graduated all at the same all in the same week and so I had just finished up at Sheridan and went into this job interview at CTV in Kitchener and it was a part-time videographer for I think they said six weeks at the time and so I went in there and what was amazing was after going through that experience where I felt like I didn't know how to do anything I was able to walk into that TV station and pick up all of the gear and go out and shoot a story. But do you hear yourself like this one year at Sheridan?

It was huge. Compared to the 40,000 bucks you spent at the university. Yeah. Wow. What a difference. Like in terms of practical experience for your, you know, your career. And just, you know, I need to give, I need to also mention, I teach at Conestoga in Kitchener

and the program I'm the coordinator of is a program similar to that one I took in terms of, it's not journalism based, but it is shooting and editing and performing and building a brand. And so all of those little things that have helped me along the way are now taught

in this program is carlos benavides there yes he is yeah he's an fotm as well yeah he's in he's uh he teaches in the radio department where you're sure because i uh i think i i'm pretty sure i did actually i did like a zoom podcast seminar like or whatever like i told the students about podcasting via zoom oh nice for his Conestoga College class. Yeah, Carlos is great. Shout out to Carlos Benavides. Great FOTM. Fantastic. So, did you ever pay off your

student loans? Have you ever paid them off? I did, yes. I got rid of those. Thankfully. What a nightmare. Yeah, it was over $40,000. That's because you lived on campus. It would have been probably a lot less expensive. Because I went to U of T because I couldn't afford to go to Victoria.

But I did pay for it all. You know what though? Go ahead. In the 90s, BC had a tuition freeze and Ontario did not. And so when I went out west, my tuition was significantly cheaper than it was here in Ontario. Okay, but I went to university in the 90s and i can tell you i probably got my honors ba so 20 credits four years i think the whole thing cost me 20k and i did it all working at the food city right slash price chopper at gallery a mall

rest in peace certainly we're uh living at home while you go to school is a huge cost savings. But then that program at Sheridan, I don't know what tuition is like for a post-grad there now, but it was around 10 or 11 grand just for the tuition when I went there. And that was in 2003. Wow. Yeah. Okay, I can't imagine. For an eight-month program.

I got a boy at Laurier, and so I see the price tags and everything, and half his price is, in fact, he's living in Waterloo. Like, you know what I mean? I'm like,

you know, there's a bed around the corner. Like, U of T is a pretty good school, but that's a whole separate discussion, I guess. Well, we have a 17-year-old,

and we've said, if you're leaving the region, because we're in Cambridge, you need to have a pretty good reason, because we have, Waterloo, Laurier, Conestoga, and Guelph all within 30 minutes from our home. So if you want to go somewhere, you need to be able to tell us why.

There's another thing we have in common, Mr. Christie. I also have a 17-year-old. So there's another on your chart there of similarities here. Okay. I'm aching to get you to CP24, but just for the record here, since this is what we're going to listen to when you die at the age of 106 or

107, whatever you live to this audio recording will be like the living, breathing Kyle Christie. This is your life. So for the record, what exactly were you doing at CTV? So in Kitchener started for that six week videographer job and then ended up anchoring the noon and six o'clock news i was there for a

total of seven years okay good for you and that's what we used to call ckco right that's right of course i've had on uh ken hutchinson uh jeff hutch ken hutchinson somebody else yeah jeff hutchinson uh who was doing the bowling for dollars. That's right. That was before I got there. We all remember all of us of a certain vintage remember bowling for dollars and he did Blue Jays banter from there.

I don't know if you have for a time which I used to watch. The history of that station. Of all the old stations like that. It's awesome. Shout out to uh Kitchener okay now let's get you to CP24 because I've got some questions because uh I'm friendly with a bunch of people there now and uh who were there in the past uh how did you I mean that's

the same company so is it just simply like an internal uh job posting or something how do you make the move from CTV to CP24 kind of yeah it wasn't there wasn't really a job posting or something? How do you make the move from CTV to CP24? Kind of. Yeah, it wasn't, there wasn't really a job posting. I had been speaking with the general manager and I wanted to go there. I knew I wanted to move and try something different. I'd been doing the six o'clock news for a couple of years. And so I wanted to try something different. And I loved the idea of the news when you want it, you know, not waiting until six o'clock news for a couple of years and so I wanted to try something different and I loved the idea of um the news when you want it you know not waiting until six o'clock and at the time you know I always thought CP24 the best way to describe it was Twitter news because it was just you turn it on and whatever was happening there was and so um watching that station during breaking news that's

what I want to be a part of like that just looks really cool and so i had reached out i went and had a discussion and i think we had gone back and forth for about a year or so and i didn't think i was going to end up going and then my news director called me into his office and said cp24 called you know when they they want you to go to toronto And that's how it happened. Who calls you from CP24? Like, who? So it was Brian Carr.

And he phoned the station at CTV in Kitchener and made the call. This is like when Homer was the mascot for the Springfield Isotopes. Is that what they call it? Yeah. Remember the name of the Springfield baseball team. And then they tapped him on the shoulder and said, you're going to capital city. Like, this is time for you to be the mascot, the fill-in mascot. Like when the real mascot takes a break in capital city, you got the tap on the shoulder.

They said, Kyle, Toronto's calling. Yeah. Will you accept the charges? Okay. I guess I'm going, I guess I'm going. And, you know, at the time well there had been like a save local campaign for local news and my wife and i both worked at that station and i remember thinking if this place closes down and thankfully it has not but at the time

you know there were commercials save local save local and i thought newspapers did all like all those newspapers disappeared yeah i thought if this place goes and this is where we both work what are we going to do and the next place to go from where we lived would be toronto and people in that market don't know who i am so i thought i need to grab this opportunity and so here here i am or here i was so how many okay okay, I'm going to play a clip because there's something happens with you at CP24 in May 2018. But here, let's chat a little bit. I have no idea what this is.

We'll talk a little bit about CP24 for a moment. Because, of course, you worked with one of the great FOTMs. One day she'll be in the FOTM Hall of Fame, I'm certain. But tell me what it was like working with the great Ann Romer. I loved working with Ann Romer. Because I hate to say I grew up watching her because I know what it's like now when people say that to me and it makes

me feel so old. But it's true. But it's true and I grew up watching her and she is a legend. And so I remember the first time being able to sit next to her and host a show together. Can I ask you, I don't think she'll hear this episode, but was she ever was she flirting with you? Be honest with me. Look me the first time being able to sit next to her and host a show together. We rang in the New Year together. I don't think she'll hear this episode, but was she flirty with you?

Be honest with me. Look me in the eyes. I think Anne just has that about her. Because she's flirty with me. I think she's just like that. And I love it. I just bring on more Roamer flirts. This is great.

The word I use to describe her is dynamic. I like that. She's one of, you just, you want to watch. She is very dynamic. You know, she's one of, you just, you want to watch. She is very dynamic. And she's still on the region, which is like a York region station. She's still on the air there.

So, do you have any official, anything official to report regarding the multiple retirements of Anne Romer? Because she retired at least by my count three times. She's cleared this up. I've listened to the episode that you had. Has she been on twice now?

Oh, three, four maybe? Oh, yeah. She came back. She was here for the 30th anniversary of Breakfast Television. And we had David Onley on that show and Steve Anthony. And then we did a Zoom. So during the pandemic, we did a Zoom where she kicked out the jams, I believe, via Zoom.

So I think four, at least three, three visits, I think. I could be wrong, but I think she's been here at least three times. I've heard two. I've heard two of them.

And yeah. So she cleared this up. So people should go to the Ann Romer episode of Toronto Mike to get the official word from Ann Romer on what went down

with the multiple retirements. Ann is great. Oh, no. You're talking to her biggest fan. Okay. So, I'm an Anne Stan. Okay. Who else? Let me ask you about a couple of people in the news recently because they quit CP24.

Can you imagine quitting your role at CP24? Imagine. Can you imagine doing that? Can you imagine? Gurdip and Pooja. So, Pooja Handa and Gurdip Alawalia uh they quit because they got uh poached can i yes that's the technical term they got poached by uh the rogers station uh chfi and who knows what television that will entail speaking of breakfast television but puja and gerdeep are the morning show on chfi but uh

and is that what happened were they poached i don't know how that happened i know they're there now but i don't know how that do you think come on kyle do you think

they were fired by cp24 and then no no no no no well you know you know what it's like i guess somebody says hey do you want to have a coffee i don't have the official uh

detail yet but i'd call that a poach you need to get them on here i know i got to get them on i was actually since we're talking cp24 and since this is real talk i wanted gurdip on the I'd call that a poach. You need to get them on here. I know. I got to get them on. I was actually, since we're talking CP24 and since this is real talk, I wanted Gurdip on the show years ago

and I asked Gurdip to come on and Gurdip was into it because I'd seen him on TSN and some stuff and I thought he'd be great on Toronto Mic'd and he was a fan of the show and he seemed really into it. He said, I got to run it by Bell Media PR.

Anyways, long story short, yada, yada he told me uh he wasn't allowed to come on toronto mic'd that's a true story i'm not no i'm not surprised i remember the we need to run it through bell media pr that's it's yeah so does that mean others are just not asking permission they're just coming over like when a kayla williams comes on or like they're just coming on they're not they're not're not asking. So that is possible. Or people who don't want to come on, Mike are just using it as an excuse.

That's what I'm thinking. There's, there's a couple of, of possibilities there. But Pooja and Gurdip, I can tell you that they are both two of the best people I've ever worked with in my life. They are just incredible people. And are you going to be listening to them?

Do you get CHFI? Yeah, we do get CHFI. But that is a huge loss for CP24. A massive loss. It's a loss for the morning television in Toronto because they're just really wonderful people. They're very genuine. They love what they do. So that is a huge loss for CP24.

No, I think you're absolutely right about that. And I think it would be naive to think that they've gone to Rogers Media to simply be radio people. You know what they say about radio people, right? Well, I think they're already doing some TV for breakfast television. So if you were a host at breakfast television,

would you be watching your back? What's the standard? No, no, I think it's smart. You have, you know know it's bringing the bringing the two together so i think you know keeping them on the radio and having them do a little bit of appearances and then i don't know maybe when a host is off on bt then one of them can fill in i i have no idea this is all speculation but it would make sense it would make sense so we talked so puja was uh in Gurdeep. They were both at CP24 breakfast.

Were you, did you have a relationship with Steve Anthony during your time at CP24? No, Steve and I would cross paths. You'd be jealous of your good looks, I'd think, because he's a handsome man himself. No, but because he was morning and I was always afternoon or evening, it was very rare that we would see each other. Another CP24 veteran, which I know is a bit of a nasty word because it suggests you've been around a long time, but it's true, who came over and is a great FOTM

and had a great appearance here is Stephanie Smythe. Yes. What was it like working with Stephanie? Stephanie is, well, just watch her interview. She doesn't let up. And Steph, she might laugh if she hears this but it's true have you ever really paid attention to her interview someone of course just when you think the interview is about to finish yeah she doesn't stop she keeps going she keeps going she

is relentless and there's a place for that especially in 24-hour news when you know you're trying to get the answer. I mean, you don't get away with not answering a question, um, when you're being interviewed by Steph, that's all there is to it. And that would speak to her success.

Like she had the, the role at 680, uh, which is another Rogers own station, but, uh, all news. And then,

uh, now doing the CP 24 thing for several years. Now, uh, one other new FOTM I would say, because when Peter Silverman passed away, watch it, buddy. Christine Tenaglia.

Christina, yeah. Christina, not Christine. Christina. Always Christina. I should know that. She's an FOTM. Christina Tenaglia and I had a recorded phone call about, because she worked closely with Peter

when she was at City News, I believe. But she's sort of the most recent CP24 person to appear on the program. So Christina, if you're listening, we got to get you in for the deep dive at some point. But any words to say about Christina? Christina's awesome. We just went back and forth.

I saw there was some controversy over something she had said or tweeted. And I just, I didn't know the full story and I couldn't quite trace back. I had no idea what was happening. I just could see the aftermath, but I couldn't find where it was coming from. And so I just, you know, sent her a quick message kind of like, hey, you know, hope you're having a good day i love you you're all good and i had no you know not knowing what's happening and she wrote back and i think she just had a wedding anniversary i saw that on instagram and here last but not least in the cp24 front unless you want to shout anybody out which i love but uh jamie goodfriend and he's in a band

by the way you might know this called called the Century Surfers. And he's been on several times, but he typically comes on with Roddy Colmer from Century Surfers. But he's a good egg as well, that Jamie Goodfriend. You know what? CP24 has just a great team. They really do. No assholes on that team? No. And you know, I remember even when I started there being very surprised how there wasn't like this hierarchy. And part of it was there couldn't be because they could have you, you know, anchoring the most watched time slot.

And then an hour later, you could be covering what's it like to sit on a patio on a warm day. And so you're humbled because you just keep getting thrown into any situation. They just want the stories covered. And, you know, like the crime reporter would end up doing stories on gas prices. So there was no hierarchy. There was no one who was only did this and then you do that. You're really forced.

I don't know what it's like now that um you're really forced i don't know what it's like now but you were really forced to do everything now you just reminded me who dropped by like after their final shift like literally as he left the city here in his farewell retirement uh cam woolley dropped by for like oh did he i didn't hear that he came to the backyard literally driving home from his last shift on the air. He did his exit interview here. So you can check that out. Speaking of exits. Okay.

So. I also listened to your Steven LeDrew interview. Oh, yeah. Okay. I'm sorry. He was on here. Of course he was. Yeah.

Steven LeDrew, speaking of controversy, he likes controversy, I think. And he likes bow ties. But I enjoyed my Steven LeDrew conversation. That was a great interview. There was like a split second where there were conversations with Anne Romer and Steven LeDrew and I about me producing a podcast of those two. This is like some

inside baseball here but there was a moment. That would be good. And it never came because I think Anne went the region route and etc. Anyone else? Before we get you out of CP24, anyone else you want to shout out? I know I'm missing a lot of gianni and there's a lot of great people tell me my 19 and tell me more tell me my work wife we we anchored 10 to 11 30 for years together see tell her that because she's

not an fotm a little bit out of mind like i you're right how do i forget her she's fantastic but uh tell her to get her butt on this program. She needs to come on. And she's fun. And she's always up for anything. Okay, well now I'm going to pursue her. You could ask her to tap dance in here and she would. Would she? How tall is she?

She would hit her head. How tall is she? But she would do it. No, and she is great. And Chris Potter. Yeah, and Chris Potter. Is he living in Barrie? Where the heck does Chris Potter live?

Chris Potter is in Barrie. You know, Barrie is just as expensive as toronto now like this you can't just go to barry and pick up like a mansion for 300k like back in the old days everything is expensive right now if i wanted like i mean i can't afford the house i'm talking to you like i live in right now but if i were to buy it today i couldn't afford it but like if i wanted to go where i get i don't know i have i have four kids okay So if I want a home for six people to live in, how far do I have to go? Like Timbuktu?

Like where do I have to go to find affordable real estate? I know we're in Cambridge and, and it's, the prices are just like they were in Mississauga two years ago. It's just, it's just going further and further. Windsor maybe? Okay.

Cause I mean, it wasn't that long ago that you'd have friends who, I can't believe they left the city for Milton. Like this was a thing. Oh my God, like they left Toronto for Milton. Like, oh my God,

it might as well be like way out in the boonies, no pun intended. But Milton now, you can't afford Milton now. It's so expensive. And Barrie, I always think Barrie, okay, well,

you know, you got your 401 trip or whatever, but there you could afford a home there and you still can kind of make the trek to go to, I don't know, the Raptors game or whatever on it, whatever. But now that Barry's out of your, where are you going now? I know. I know it's crazy. You know, the drive in here today was 55 minutes door to door from Cambridge to here. Etobicoke is not, you know, when you don't have to drive into the downtown core, it's a lot quicker. Well, I do the drive to Waterloo Cambridge to here. Etobicoke is not. When you don't have to drive into the downtown

core, it's a lot quicker. I do the drive to Waterloo quite a bit. I hate it. That's why I bike everywhere. I wish I could bike that one. Dude, now I feel awful that you have this crazy commute just to visit me. I didn't even have a vegetarian lasagna. I have something for you though.

I have a flashlight from a funeral home and a Bluetooth speaker and some beer. I'm about to make your life even better before we find why the heck you left CP24. So this is awesome. Listen closely. I am going to send you an email with a $75 gift card just because you made this drive. And that's $75 you can spend at chefdrop.ca. Wow.

I'm telling you, my friend, I can't wait for your review. These chefs, these fantastic chefs and these wonderful restaurants that will basically send the pre-prepared, the prepared meal kits directly to your door. Because you're living in Southern Ontario, you qualify.

So every FOTM out there who lives in Southern Ontario can save $50 right now if they go to chefdrop.ca and use the promo code FOTM out there who lives in Southern Ontario can save $50 right now if they go to chefdrop.ca and use the promo code FOTM50, FOTM50, five, zero. And Kyle here gets a $75 gift card. So enjoy. Yeah, I will. Thank you.

Enjoy. So you just described such a wonderful place to work. Like you're working with great people and there's no assholes. You spent, if you combine your ctv and your cp24 that's 15 years you know you're like i my wife love loves throwing on cp24 like when we're not watching anything specific and like cp24 will just be there so i see these these talking heads and i get to know these oh i'm interested in this person whatever and you were somebody like oh there's kyle christie just this

this nice looking gentleman who's uh you know uh well spoken here he is on our television in our living rooms etc coffee shops pizzerias you know what cp24 is like yeah yeah well that's city tv i know but it is i mean everywhere it really is everywhere it's crazy. So 15 years, my friend, 15 years. Let me play a clip. My secret link here. I found it here. Let's listen to this and then we're going to talk about this. All right. Welcome back. A bit of an announcement as we have been talking about briefly here tonight. This is my last night here on CP24 live at 11. What an incredible run it has been. Some other projects are calling my name. So I am going to step away and see what I can do with those projects.

Before I go, I need to say that this newsroom is an incredible place. We know that when something happens in Toronto, good or bad, you come looking to us. And to be a part of that is something really amazing. The crew behind the scenes, the writers, everyone here is amazing. I love this job.

I always have. I've never complained about it. This has been a dream team with you and Chris, an absolute dream team. So thank you. This, the last seven years have been the greatest chapter of my life. And a lot of that is because of what has happened here. Thank you so much for that, G. And this has never been about us doing this show.

It's been about the viewers and making sure that we can tell you what you need to know at the end of your day. And thank you for tuning in to watch us do that every night. Thank you. Good night. The top stories continue right now on CP24. Do you see G crying at the side did did either of you uh produce any tears during that g was a mess you can see her trying to hold back it how did you hold it in

though because you were able to hold it in yeah i was i was pretty nervous about that um that was a big that was a big decision and um okay so so but let's finish with the reaction so uh you call her g she's okay can i call her g yeah you call her g okay so uh g was uh g was a mess even though she knew that was coming uh hearing that in real time and i can actually tell you were a bit nervous you can i can yeah sense it you can hear it in my voice so everybody who loved and it's been a while right that's 2018 that's pre-pandemic so that's an eternity ago this three years well no it's going to be some four years it's gonna be four years coming up gosh wow so four years since you were in our

living rooms and our pizzerias and our coffee shops etc our bedrooms etc right so why the heck did you quit such a fantastic job with such wonderful people? Yeah, you know what? I was done. When I look just at my life and the way that I operate, I get to a point where I always need to know there's a next level. And when I know there's nowhere else for me to go, that's done. And now I move on to the next thing.

And for me, there was just nothing else that I wanted to do. When I started at CP24, my first night on air, Gurdip was there. He took a photo and tweeted it and he was so supportive. And I was going on to do the 11 o'clock and he had said, the 11 o'clock is a good one to do. Keep in mind, this was years ago. So this was like 10 years ago. He said, the 11 o'clock is a good one to do because no one watches. And it's true because at the time, no one really watched.

We had very low ratings for the 11 o'clock on CB24. And then it would repeat all night long. So you could do it and then I could go home and watch it and see how did I do? What do we need to do different? And then the station started

to really invest into that evening, putting a dedicated producer from the 10 to 11.30, kind of giving it a bit of a brand and making sure we had one or two live reporters and then having two anchors and someone there to in the show. And, you know, we were consistently number one in the ratings at 11 o'clock. And so, you know, that was great. And we loved that. And it really just got, I was working on some other projects on the side. And there was nowhere else I wanted to go. There was no other shift that I wanted. I have no desire to do a morning show or go to CTV National. So I was just done.

Like your morning, for example, is owned by the same company, right? But it's in the morning. That's true. No, that's a good point. Like they're waking up at like 3.30 or something ungodly like that. So you simply, there was nothing else

in the Bell Media empire that caught your fancy. You're like, I'll take Lisa's job. You didn't have that moment. You know what, honestly, even that, I mean, that wasn't't an option that's not going to happen that never was an option but that's just not for me i you know once your kids get to a certain age and you kind of how many kids you got so i have two boys and how old are they i know one 17 and 11 okay and uh i got to a point probably around maybe even 10 years ago where I just started to put lifestyle first. So every decision I make is lifestyle first.

And, you know, the best way to think about this is when I used to anchor the six o'clock news on CTV, I would anchor the six o'clock news. It would be done at seven. I would get home at 7.30 and our kids would go to bed at eight. Right. That's awful. Like that is

terrible and trying like booking a day's vacation to go to the christmas concert because it's at five right you know what i mean like that's not i mean dude i can i still relate to all of this none of that is fun and um and so i was just so so in terms of doing a six o'clock newscast anywhere you know not my thing mornings I'm not a morning person. I don't have any desire to do that. Your lifestyle, you don't want to have a 3am wake up because you're like, you know, yeah, I hear you. So it's always every decision I started to make was lifestyle first. Lifestyle first.

First of all, good on you. Cause I've hit, that's like when I hit a point, my wife will you i hit a point where uh substance always trumps style oh that's why i dress this way and you dress that way because you're a sharp dresser i literally like every decision i make is like comfort and function like i'm gonna function versus something like like okay that uh style and all the less more superficial things or whatever uh and and yeah you basically looked at the landscape of your industry and said uh okay i've done this there's nothing else here i want to do so i'm gonna go uh make a graceful exit after 15 years and i'm gonna do something else so i should mention too that the entire time i was at cp24 i had this little side hustle

okay well yeah you're bearing the lead here what What is this side hustle? Let's hear it. So I started a small business nine years ago, doing real estate photography and videography. It was very small at the time and we had one client. And I started to slowly grow that on the side for many reasons. One of the reasons why, well, the reason why it's a successful company now, but the reason why we saw this or seeing the success we're seeing is because there was a need for it. We were purchasing a home and I couldn't believe the photos that were online. Nobody was doing video at the time or very few people were doing video at the time.

And I like to shoot and edit and create stories, but I was only anchoring. I wasn't reporting or shooting or editing. And so I said to the realtors, the Hube team in Cambridge, I said, you know, can I put together one of these videos? And so I would start to do videos just for them. So it was just a couple of times a month I would go out and I'd just be with my own thoughts. And it took me away from reporting on crime and tragedy.

And it's scratching that itch that you're producing the piece of creativity. I feel like that would satisfy. Yeah, because I know this sounds very cheesy, but when I would go and I'd put together a video for a house, I would try to feel the house. And then I would try to match up the music for the feel of the house, like thinking that if these walls could talk, what's the story this house has to tell and then slowly that just started to grow and just with the way I mean let me say this and you know anyone who

is a working journalist right now you know you you need to have a side hustle you know, you, you need to have a side hustle, you know, permission or no permission from whoever you're working for, but given the landscape, you know, when that layoff notice comes, if it comes, what options do you have? And it's one of the things that has really bothered me about the industry over the years was I've worked with people who have been told, you know, by the network, you can't do do this whatever it is on the side right yet then they can get laid off right and then what do you have right um so i had this thing that i kept quiet for many years and and it started to grow and once it really started to get big and i had people working for me um you know i just looked at what i was doing at cp24 and i

thought okay well this has worked well i've grown this hustle. It's at a level now that I can leave television. And I was teaching at Conestoga as well at the time. And so it was time. So kept quiet from my uh full-time permanent you know job that was paying the mortgage and everything uh that i kept this side hustle and the side hustle eventually became i point to the logo for tmds like at some point the side hustle is mature enough that it can be the hustle like the sole primary hustle and you're working you're your own boss you're working for yourself it's so much more gratifying and uh yeah and um and you expand more time with the kids and and yeah you know have that flexibility and uh i i love owning my own business and um basically what i ended up doing and what really ends up setting us apart from the competition is that i've taken everything i learned in 15 years of broadcasting and brought it to the real estate industry. So it's not just videos and photos. We're doing marketing, but I'll sit with the realtor, we'll write a script,

and then I'll coach them on camera. So yeah, so writing the promotional materials, not even just for the listings, but promoting the agents and then holding workshops for different brokerages on how to appear on camera when you're selling real estate. So everything I learned in 15 years of television, I've just built a business out of it. And it's been incredibly gratifying. I got to introduce you to, actually, he was a sponsor till the end of November, but he's still an FOTM. But Mike Majewski, you got to talk to Mimico Mike. And I'm going to read a note. So I mentioned we're on the live stream. The pirate live.toronomike.com

and we got a comment there. It's so awesome that Kyle left on his own terms and connected with the audience. That never happens in media. He's a total class act. So that is true though because I am, I don't know if you know this but people come to me to find out like

why is Ryan Doyle not on 1010 and the afternoon drive anymore? Like that's a typical thing I'll get and probably have a couple of those emails in my inbox right now, but very rarely, very, very rare. And sometimes you think somebody called their own shot and left on their own terms. And then you find out later, oh, by the way, I was, it was spun that way as like part of the exit agreement, but you legitimately, you, no one said you're done. No, you said I no and you know um joanne mcdonald who was uh the general manager at the time she was always so supportive of me and there were a couple of different times where i would go in and talk to her you know i don't really want to and she was so great saying well

what do you want to do um like what's what your goal? And we would go through different places that I could possibly go within the network. And it was no, no, no. And there was this one time where I think we sat together for almost an hour. I went up to her office in the agent court. And it was when I had the opportunity to start teaching at Conestoga. And I said, I have this great opportunity, but I don't really want to leave TV because, you know know when you get that job um it's a rare job it's not something that just happens right and so to no one's offering me that job yeah it's it's not it doesn't come up every day so it felt weird to leave it and we sat there and said well what about this and maybe what about this and we

went back and forth and finally she just looked at me and said what do you want and I said I want to be home for dinner right and she said to me well what if you just came in and did you know the 10 to 11 30 news and I said uh you would let me do that and she said let's just pause leave this with me and let's see if we can do this and she came back and and we talked and we worked out an arrangement where for a few years I was coming in to Toronto and it was great because this is how the day would work is I would teach during the day and I would be home for dinner and the kids go to bed at eight, right? So I would put the kids to bed and then I would get in the car and I would drive to Toronto. And so everyone was always, oh, you're so busy. How are you doing it? How are you doing it?

But I had gone from not being home for dinner and bedtime to now being home for dinner and bedtime. And then when everyone's asleep, I would drive to Toronto and do the news. Kind of ideal. And then you get that alone time in the car to catch up on your podcast. Exactly. And at the time, then the business was growing. That's also when I started the business.

Everything was coming together and then it just got to a point where it was just um you know it was time to to put some more focus on the business again this is the home of real talk and i don't need specifics because you're not going to give them to me anyways but like is it is it like is it was was there a number like was there a compensation number that you would have continued to put up with the uh you know, being on at that time on CP24? Like, was it just simply like you doing the math and realizing? And again, I don't know any numbers. But if the, oh, you know, you know, at this price point, it doesn't make sense for me to make these sacrifices to my happiness and family, like well-being, etc.

Yeah, I don't know. You know, I don't think so. It was, I was done. Um, but one of the things I did when I decided to leave was I didn't tell anyone and that might sound really strange, but I quit for myself because the thing about this and anyone who's listening, who is in television broadcast, especially we'll know exactly what i'm talking about is your your job becomes your identity like people introduce you by what you do instead of just who you are yeah this is like people don't ever say this is my friend ryan he works at the bank like it's not that's not really how it works right um but people introduce you as your job and so when you decide to leave that, you feel like you're,

you're changing your identity. And so I had seen people leave and come back in the industry at different stations and, um, and, and I thought, you know, I'd want to make sure that when I leave, I don't, I don't regret it. So I quit in my mind. And so for about two or three months, I didn't even tell my family. And then I realized, okay, this is good. I'm good with this now. I'm good to move on and grow this business. And, you know, I talk about how I always need to know there's a next level. And the best thing about owning a business is you're in charge of the next level.

So I can look at my business today and say, you know, I want to add this service or I want to take it to this level. And now I can just do it. Okay. On that front though. Okay. Cause I also am an entrepreneur myself here. So I've been a few,

you know, a few years, similar timeline sort of, but a few years into TMDS. And what I struggle with is, and maybe you've got the solution here, but when you visualize the next level, like what you have to do to go to the next level,

like, do you have that whole like conflict? Like, okay, I can go to this next level and I have to do to go to the next level like do you have that whole like conflict like okay i can go to this next level and i have to do this this and that or i can enjoy this level and maybe grow it a little bit here and there but this level which i've kind of got this pattern down now which includes like a maybe a 90 minute daily bike ride and you pick up the kids from you know the ymCA afterschool care by 6 p.m. And, and you tuck them in bed. By the way, when you're talking about these kids going to bed at eight o'clock, I got

two kids right now that are still going to bed like at eight to eight thirty. They go to bed or whatever. But then I got two kids who like, they'll go to bed at like 2 a.m. or something. Like, it's like, I'm like, oh yeah, I remember. Yeah, that's right. Okay. But do you, like growing the business, like, cause that'll involve, you know, bringing on other bodies, for example.

But what I enjoy about TMDS is that I'm doing everything. That's part of what I enjoy about it. But I realize you can't scale it up if you're doing everything. Yeah. So I don't do everything. And when I really started to see my business grow was when I added more team members. And that's difficult to do. But I mean mean to grow you just have to so uh of course i've i have a bookkeeper now which was huge um not just a bookkeeper bookkeeper slash administrator who takes care of all invoicing invoicing people paying our invoices um takes care of all of that i just peek in on it every now and again. And she has absolutely changed the way the business runs because I'm the creative side. The last thing I want to do is spend four or five

hours going through the finances. So you're so smart, man. I'm totally clued into what you're saying here. Shout out to Lena. Lena. And she works with the accountants and then they just shoot questions over my way. And that has been huge. And then adding more content creators to the team as well over the years. So would that be like, are we talking like videographers? Do you have any drone pilots? Yes, we do.

Because that's a big deal on your real estate land. Absolutely. So there's five, six of us. I have a new person starting tomorrow. It's you, you're scaling this up. You're inspiring me right now. Between you and the Yes We Are Open podcast. Well, I have learned, you know, because like you, Mike, when you're

running your own business here, like, oh, I get to do everything. I can do everything. And I'm a bit of a control freak that way. But then I've realized, again, lifestyle first in order for me to better serve the clients really is what it comes down to. I need to have team members because, you know, I'll use the invoicing as an example. A few years ago, invoices were when I could get to them every couple weeks. You know, now everyone knows every other Tuesday invoices are coming. And, you know, my team knows every other Tuesday is when they can invoice and be paid. So it's just putting in those systems so that you're providing a better service for the client.

You've got processes now. Yeah, it's been great. Good for you, man. Like, I'm so happy to hear. I wanted to get the real story here. Like, okay, I knew you left on your own volition, but I'm like, you know, that's a high profile, cool gig that a lot of people would love to have. And you get it.

And then you decide you're done and you're going to go work for yourself. And is it just real estate? Are you also, maybe you're also scratching the creative itch? Are you making any like documentaries or anything, telling any other digital stories? Yeah. So documentary wise. So when I, when I left CP24, you know, I'm still a journalist, I'm still a storyteller. So I did a documentary called Altruism, the organ donation story, which won an award. I'm an organ donor. Are you really? Oh, that's amazing. Oh, on the card.

This was about a living organ donor. Not yet. And it did win an award at the My Hero International Film Festival. Is that a kidney? Because that's the common one I was hearing. She gave a liver. I'll give you the closed notes version of this story because it's just, listen to this, this is amazing okay so

this woman sarah middleton um who is a real a realtor in waterloo region um she's one of my clients and when she mentioned this that she had done this i said okay this is a story you know once you're a journalist and storyteller you hear something and you say wait, I want to tell people the story. Totally. So what happened was she was inspired by the story of the twins who needed, I believe it was a liver, but their father could only give to one of them. So that was kind of where she, how she was inspired. So she became an altruistic organ donor. So she donated a piece of her liver to a stranger. She did not know who it was going to, never would know.

So she came to Toronto. She went through all the tests. She did all this and she donated her liver. So end of story, goes home. All she knows is that it went to a child. So fast forward, I believe it was one or two years later. Yeah. A friend of hers is at the hospital in London, Ontario.

And there's a mother there who says something like, oh, my son is here. He had a liver transplant. He's a recipient from a year or two ago. And this woman said, my friend donated a year or two ago. Oh, well, this was in Toronto. Well, wait, my friend was, hold on. They realize it's the same person.

So as she's telling you this, I was doing what you're doing. And I said, you know, and I recently left CP24 and I thought, Oh, I've been looking for a story to tell to still make sure I'm telling stories and, and, and interviewing and creating content. Right.

And so I went to London and interviewed the mother of this little boy whose life she saved. And I interviewed Sarah and also people at the Trillium Gift of Life here in Toronto and put this documentary together. Sarah still has not met this child whose life she saved, but I have.

And that was kind of one of the cool parts about creating it was going around and speaking to all the players, even though they had never come together. And the little boy is healthy and Sarah's healthy. I love it. It's amazing.

It was a great story. And I love that you're in a position now, and it's funny, because similarly, I'll catch wind of a story, and I'll be like, oh, and I'll start to, typically I'll go for a bike ride,

and then I'll start to, the pieces will start fitting together, and I'll see, we just did the pen flip documentary. It's like, oh, I can see, you can shape it this way and frame it this way, and there's this compelling story

that people would be interested in if you just package it right and capture the right source content or whatever material. And I love that story there. And I love that you're able to do that. And you can, you know, you've got a growing business that's inspiring me. Like maybe 2022 is the year I, you know,

TMDS kick it up a notch. Start hiring, yeah. You know, I know it's a really a control thing. Like it's a problem. whatnot. Start hiring, yeah. You know, I know. It's really a control thing. Like, it's a problem. I really need an offline discussion because I am good at all the parts. Like, even that bookkeeping part, I enjoy, believe it or not.

Okay, see, I do not. So good for you. And my invoice is literally, I have the process down where once the action is complete, the invoice flies out. Like, you know, I've got all that process down really well and even paying my stuff and everything. And all these parts that I touch and do the video part,

a lot of audio part, all that stuff. Uh, I kind of enjoy all that. And I, I still good. And I still, like I said, I still do most of my work is happening between nine and five and I still make sure I do a daily bike ride. Like I've got everything kind of right there. But of course there's a ceiling because I'm one human being and, and to do what you're doing, you need to bring on a good people and scale it up. So you're totally inspiring me, Kyle.

Well, and you know, here's the, where I really started to see this click for me was a couple of years ago. We went on a trip to Italy and I worked from there. And the thing is I work, like, I don't even think I work anymore. I never feel like I work. I never look at the clock unless it's just to make sure I'm not late. Right. And that's a huge difference in my life because everything I do from teaching at the college to all of the stuff with the business, it really is just doing stuff I like. And, um, and when we were away on

that trip or we're somewhere else and I have this solid team behind me and I'm able to check in and vet videos and look everything over and send emails from anywhere in the, like, that's a gift. That's massive. What's the name of this business? Oh yeah, we should say See Your House Now. See Your House. I envision one day there will be a collaboration between See Your House Now and TMDS. I feel the doppelgangers at some point

have to work together. Ask an agent to See Your House Now. It's going to happen. But dude, honestly, I loved having you on and I got to see like, because you're 22% more handsome than me, I'm worried about the photo we're going to take after this. Because it'll be right there in the same space

in the same time for the first time ever. Kyle Christie and Toronto Mike. And I got to phone up Rick Westhead and get him over here. Maybe we put him in the middle. I don't know. But dude, amazing. So life is good. Business is growing.

Would you ever return to mainstream media? I don't think so. I don't think so. I love running my own business. I love being a leader and leading a team. And one of the things I still do, I write articles for Entrepreneur Magazine. I'm writing an article right now about how a journalist makes a great entrepreneur. There's so much you learn in journalism, producing a show and lineup, interviewing, creating content that it's just, it's a given to take all of that experience from a newsroom and put it into a business. My wife, a former journalist, has a company and same thing, everything that she learned in her career as a journalist, she uses in her business.

It's a fitness company. So she's interviewing people and writing the success stories and creating video content. So everything, and I tell this to my students too at Conestoga, you know, if you're in journalism and you're not loving the vibe, like people, Oh, I don't want to go cover that car crash. That's not my thing. Okay. If that's not your thing, that's fine. But you know how to shoot, edit, research, and tell a story now and every single business needs that so you don't have to be a journalist you have those skills you can use those anywhere and the the olden days when you only had to do this part of the puzzle like you only had to do this part and someone else did this part like because today you got to do it all right like you got to shoot your own you got to edit it like you can't be oh

you got it you got to be on social media i suppose there's all these different parts that you've got to be like a handle in like a to z of the whole thing you can't just be the person who does like the interview or whatever records the audio no and you know troy reeb who i believe his name i guess uh i think he's still the head of chorus i i don't know but he okay maybe you're right maybe you're right. He's a great guy. And at the RTDNA Awards several years ago, he said, and it is so true, he said, the price of a good anchor is going down and the price of a solid reporter is going up. And it makes so much sense because, you know, yes, there's a skill to anchoring the news, but let's face it, when you're out there and you're asking the questions and you're doing the research and you're getting the stories, that's where it's really difficult work.

I've been a reporter, I've been a videographer, I've been an anchor. And reporting and being a videographer is a lot of work. Anchoring the news once, you know, you know how to do it, it's not the most difficult thing in the world. Well, Ken Brockman was able to do it. Like, you just read the words on the teleprompter. Right. Exactly. Shout out to FOTM Robbie J who was on that open Zoom thing I talked about on Friday because I think he works closely with

Troy Reeve in the podcast division of Chorus. So you're right. Troy is... I got him confused. There's another guy at whatever NuCap is called now who bought NuCap you should know these things

Mr. Media anyway they'll come back to me later but Troy Reeve yeah he's at Chorus and maybe he's a future FOTM

but Kyle you hit it out of the park in your debut man this was a great great thrill for me I thought I'd have nothing to talk about I'm glad that we

had a chat and maybe one day and one day you come back and kick out the jams with me and uh that'll be a lot of fun as well and again you've got the 75 bucks that chef dropped but uh if you're going to be at a palm of pasta i'll take care of you because normally what i do by the way is i i find if i screw that up i say oh i'm gonna bike of lasagna to you next week but you i can't bike to cam. Bike to Cambridge. Come on, you can do it. And that brings us

to the end of our 963rd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. My doppelganger Kyle Christie. What is it? Kyle Christie TV? Is that how we follow you on Twitter? I think it's underscore TV. It's not the Geordie Shore guy. It's not the Geordie Shore guy.

Don't follow the Geordie Shore guy. I'll be diving into those episodes. Thank you, Canada Kev. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Chef Drop is at Get Chef Drop. Moneris is at Moneris. McKay CEO Forums are at McKay CEO Forums. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.

Sticker U, they're at Sticker U. And Ridleyma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U. They're at Sticker U. And Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley FH. Kyle, enjoy that measuring tape and that lighter. It's going to keep you safe, buddy. I will. Thank you. That way you don't become a client. That's the idea. They don't want to see you anytime too soon.

So they're going to keep you safe. See you all next week. Rosie and Gray Yeah the wind is cold But the smell of snow Wants me today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is Rosie and Gray

Well I've been told That there's a sucker born Every day But I wonder who Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day. But I wonder who. Yeah, I wonder who. Maybe the one who doesn't realize there's a thousand shades of gray.