Tanner Yildirin was born and raised in Turkey. It was there, at a family dinner, that he met his wife, the love of his life, at age 18. “We decided to get married after two months. The first time seeing each other we fell in love.” She was born a Canadian and he was born Turkish, but regardless of his financial struggles he still decided to follow the love of his life back to Canada. “In my pocket I had just seventeen-hundred dollars. Seventeen-hundred Canadian.” He began to work with an uncle in the cleaning business, “As soon as I get my first paycheque, I rented a house and I had just two-hundred dollars left.”

His seventeen year-old wife was only six months pregnant when she unexpectedly gave birth to twins. Because the twins were premature, they required extra care and expenses. Although the twins were amazing, they soon proved to impact the family’s finances. Tanner was forced to take a second job and work strenuous hours in order to keep afloat. “I was working with [Stucco] from six in the morning until five, and I came home to my place. I slept five until eight, and then I would go to work overnight for the cleaning… I don’t care about myself, I care about my kids and my family.”

Over time, Tanner’s hard work has turned into a very important achievement in the cleaning business. “I got a phone call… I’m the Vice President of Sobeys, you are doing very, very well.” Tanner’s work cleaning Sobeys had been photographed and shown in the annual Sobeys magazine. With his work being recognized, Tanner continues to succeed and now has five contracts as a cleaner. He is no longer looking to expand his business and looks forward to relaxation. “I started life really early. So I am really, really tired.”