CARE

Years ago, when I was playing for the Toronto Argonauts, Mike O’Shea was our Special Teams Coordinator.

Mike would eventually become the Head Coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, where I was fortunate enough to play for him again. He’s one of the best coaches I ever played for.

At the beginning of one season in Toronto, Mike put a slide up on the screen as we walked into a meeting.

There was nothing fancy about it.

Just one tiny word on a huge screen.

It was small enough that you could barely read it from where we were sitting.

That was the point.

Mike wanted to see who cared enough to get out of their seat, walk closer to the screen and figure out what it said.

I played professional football for 17 years. I sat through thousands of meetings, watched more film than I could ever count, and played for a lot of great coaches.

But somehow, that one PowerPoint slide stuck with me.

And I think I understand what Mike was teaching us even more today than I did then.

Caring is a choice

It’s easy to say you care.

It’s different to actually show it.

Care about what you do.

Care about the people around you.

Care about the details.

Care enough to show up when it would be easier not to.

Care enough to do something properly when nobody would ever know if you didn’t.

In football, talent obviously matters. But I learned pretty quickly that talent only takes you so far.

If you want to last, you have to work. You have to learn. You have to take coaching. You have to pay attention to details that most people will never notice.

You have to care.

I was fortunate enough to make a career out of football for 17 years, and I think a big reason I lasted that long was because I never stopped trying to get better at my job.

Now I’m starting over.

A new chapter

I’m starting a new chapter of my life with Rempel Removal, and there are a million things I’m still figuring out.

I’m not an expert at this yet.

I think it’s important for me to say that.

I’m learning the junk removal business. I’m learning demolition. I’m learning equipment, disposal, quoting, marketing, customer service and all the little things that come with trying to build a company from the ground up.

Some days I get things right.

Some days I learn the hard way.

But there’s one part of this that feels very familiar.

Getting better.

I know how to do that.

Football taught me that you don’t become great at something because you decide you want to be great at it. You become great by showing up every day, putting in the work, learning from your mistakes and caring enough to keep improving.

That’s exactly how I intend to build Rempel Removal.

I’m going to learn.

I’m going to work.

I’m going to get better.

And I’m going to care.

What that means for Rempel Removal

When someone calls us, I want them to feel like their job matters to us.

Whether it’s cleaning out a garage, hauling away a few unwanted items, helping with an estate cleanout, or walking into a messy demolition job, I want us to treat it the same way.

Care about the customer.

Care about their property.

Care about the details.

Care about how we leave the site.

Care about doing what we said we were going to do.

I’m putting my name on this company. That means something to me.

I won’t promise that we’ll always be perfect. We’re going to make mistakes along the way. I certainly did during my football career, and I expect I’ll make plenty while building this business too.

But there is one thing I can promise.

We’ll care.

Maybe that sounds simple.

I think it’s supposed to be.

Years later, I can still picture that tiny word sitting on that huge screen. And I still believe the lesson behind it.

Care.

It changes everything.

-Chad