Good advice is good advice — regardless of the source.

Tom Mitchell, Principal, TLC Marketing Inc., Calgary, ABSome people receive their life’s best counsel from parents. Others garner guidance from their teachers or favorite aunts and uncles. Things worked out a little — actually, a lot — differently for Tom Mitchell, principal of TLC Marketing Inc., who joined the manufacturers’ rep firm in October 1983.

It seems that Mitchell was given his most memorable words of wisdom as a 19-year-old by a Canadian tow-truck driver. “I would like to say it was a boss who gave me the advice, but it was a tow-truck driver who pulled me out of a ditch,” Mitchell admits. “I was driving on a logging road, which was two cracks in the dirt with one lane. I had a 1962 MG Roadster convertible. A logging truck came out of nowhere, and I had two choices. It was either hit the truck or hit the ditch. To be honest with you, I’ve had a really blessed life.”

Indeed, he has. As the tow-truck driver pulled Mitchell’s car safely out of the roadside trough, he dispensed this insightful advice: “Kid, there’s no such thing as bad luck. Just [really] poor management.”

Mitchell more than effectively put this philosophy into use in his very successful 49 years in the foodservice industry. “I was working at a high-end resort in Northern Ontario when I was 19 years old,” says Mitchell, a native of Winnipeg, MB. “It was called the Minaki Resort, and it was due north of International Falls, Minn., on the Manitoba border. I went up there and ended up doing everything in the place, and it was the greatest education I’ve ever had.

“I learned how to deal with people, deal with problems and learned hospitality,” Mitchell continues. “I know what it’s like to be 19, but I found where I fit in, and it was very exciting.”

Mitchell’s career path took him to the Canadian Pacific Hotel in Calgary, where in March of 1975 he served as a bar manager. Slightly more than three years later, after he completing the hotel/restaurant management program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, he became the general manager of a few The Old Spaghetti Factory restaurants, spending more than five years at the company’s Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto locations.

That experience working as a foodservice operator naturally shaped Mitchell’s outlook. “I learned this important lesson a long time ago, and that’s show up, pay attention, tell the truth and don’t be attached to the outcome,” Mitchell notes. “Don’t go in with preconceived ideas of how your opportunity will be. Be open and listen. Let things happen because better things can happen when you don’t try to control the outcome. A good example of that is 50% of business is lost because you make the decision that the customer doesn’t want to deal with you. That resonates with everyone. That’s life.”

Then in 1985, Mitchell realized it was time for a life change, when he bought TLC Marketing Inc. That company has been thriving since then and providing Mitchell with ample rewards.

As an independent manufacturers’ rep firm, TLC Marketing Inc. represents 18 companies across product segments that run from heavy-cooking equipment to refrigeration to countertop equipment — servicing dealers and foodservice designers in the Alberta and Saskatchewan areas. TLC Marketing Inc. also works closely with chains, independent operators, healthcare and food production and distribution companies.

“I enjoy seeing restaurateurs who are successful and happy with their business from the equipment I’ve sold them,” Mitchell says. “I speak restaurant. That’s my first language. English is my second language.”

Along with his fluency in selling combi ovens, glassware and ice machines, Mitchell earns high praise in the industry for his mentorship skills. The idea of paying things forward is something that resonates very deeply with him. “My goal is improving the industry that I’m in,” Mitchell adds. “I want to provide leadership to up-and-comers in the business so that they can be better. That’s winning to me.

“I’ve always believed you have to give back,” Mitchell continues. “This industry has been so good to me, and it’s my obligation to give back to it through mentorship, through MAFSI and through restaurant associations. All of that.”

Though his ardent belief in giving back has remained constant in his nearly five decades in the industry, one facet of life has been modified for Mitchell — his personal philosophy.

“It’s changed,” Mitchell said. “It used to be ‘never give up’ but now it’s changed to ‘it’s easier than it looks.’ I tell them that it’s not as hard as it looks. That’s what mentoring is. You say something to someone, and they believe it and go with it.”

In addition to his ability to successfully mentor those who are beginning and advancing their careers in foodservice, there is yet another aspect of his job from which Mitchell derives great pleasure.

“Every day is an experience, and something new is going to happen,” Mitchell says. “The thirst for knowledge is the greatest tool you will have in business. It’s true. I just love to learn, and it keeps me going.”

Industry Involvement

Manufacturers Agents’ Association for the Foodservice Industry (MAFSI), president 2021-2023; served as vice president, treasurer, and has served on the board of directors since 2013 

Canadian Association of Foodservice Professionals, national president; served as branch president, branch education director and conference chair

Influencer Give & Take

Tell us about the person/people who have influenced your life?

I’ve been influenced by a lot of people. A lifetime is a long time. I would have to say my grandfather, Charles Beenham. He was the captain of a fire department, and he taught me how to water ski, fish and be an honest person. He was in the Royal (British) Navy for a number of years. He was just a really good guy.

How would others say that you influence them?

I’ve influenced others with my demeanor and pragmatism. It’s my steady, calm demeanor. That comes from my grandfather and my great upbringing. I had a great childhood. It’s just the feeling that I’m in control. I’ve always been in a leadership role all of my life. It’s something I’ve embraced from the start. It’s my ability to make decisions for starters and my ability to make other people feel important.