Interviews with Vancouver's Best Painter
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Interview #1 - Student & Rick Anderson, 2000
The following is a condensed version of an interview with Rick Anderson; President and CEO of Vancouver's Best Painters. The place is Monk McQueen's restaurant in Vancouver and the date of the interview is November 10, 2000. The interviewer is a second year law student at UBC.

Student: You have a rather unique name for your company, how did you come up with it?
Anderson: I wanted the name of my company to be the personification of truth in advertising. A statement of fact, not just a name.

Student: Hence, Vancouver's Best Painters, right?
Anderson: That's right. The company is built around the Worlds Best Painter, that's me, and Ihave hired a handful of awesome painters and we in turn make up Vancouvers Best Painters.

Student: Anyone ever accuse you of bragging before?
Anderson: I learned long ago that if you don't blow your own horn someone else will use it as a spittoon.

Student: If you consider yourself the World's Best Painter then why don't you advertise as such?
Anderson: Well, actually I have purchased the domain name: www.worldsbestpainter.com.

Student: Are you using it?
Anderson: No, I'm working on being understated.

Student: That's incredibly humble of you.
Anderson: You think?

Student: What qualities do you possess which allow you to refer to yourself as "Worlds Best Painter" and what do you expect of your painters?
Anderson: First off I have been painting 5-7 days a week for 20 consecutive years. I lived on my own when I was seventeen so I had to get real good real fast if I wanted to hold down a job and do something basic like eat. I was trained on piecework which has a tendency to light a fire under you each and every day. Being athletic certainly goes a long way in helping to get the job done in a timely fashion when you factor in the flexibility, strength, and eye-hand coordination needed in this trade. I also am extremely meticulous. Most importantly though, I believe I have one quality that I have seen in only two or three painters in 20 years. It is this: self-crucifixion. Not in the biblical sense but solely for self-improvement reasons. At the end of every single day I ask myself and I record in my journal the answer to the following question: How could I have performed better today? It's my opinion that if you don't ask this question in regard to your work, your family, your hobbies etc.. then you can never really be a champion at anything.
I'm also a nationally ranked table-tennis player. Good eyes and fast hands helps tremendously in the painting trade.
When someone tries out for our team I ask them at the end of the first day what they were happy with (in terms of their performance) and what they feel they could work on. Believe me when I tell you that that is a loaded question. 100% of the time the painter in question has no problem pointing out their strengths. It gets real interesting when the crucial second question gets asked though. Squirming, lack of eye contact, anger, complete discomfort and an outright delusionary posture is what I get 98% of the time. Needless to say most painters don't make it to the second day and if they do they don't make it to the third.
We usually try out 10-15 painters in order to get one we like. Only diamonds in the rough get hired for our company. I guess that's why we're a relatively small company, there're so few champions in our trade.

Student: I can only assume that you're not joking when you say you hire one painter out of every fifteen who try out. It's sounds a little harsh don't you think?
Anderson: The painting business is extremely competitive. The only way to stay ahead of the competition is to hire and keep the absolute best, end of story. The only thing I care about is delivering to the customer what it is I said I would deliver. Imagine if you will an Olympic 4 X 100 meters relay team. If one of the four runners drops or even bobbles the baton they're out of the race, period. No one really cares that the bobbler in question is having family problems, isn't feeling well that day or was out late the previous night. They messed up and the whole team pays the price.

Student: Are you saying you want people to be perfect?
Anderson: Not at all, even a good garden may have some weeds. I do however want a perfect paint job every single time. Rest assured, when you hire Vancouver's Best Painters you really do get the best.

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Interview #2 - Legal Professional & Rick Anderson, 2005
The following is an interview with Rick Anderson, President of Vancouver's Best Painters; Vancouver's number one painting company in the Vancouver and North Vancouver areas. The place is Monk McQueen's restaurant in Vancouver and the date of the interview is Nov 1st, 2005. The interviewer is a lawyer from the law firm Holden, Day, Wilson. The interviewer is the same person who conducted the first interview 5 yrs ago with Rick Anderson, when he (the interviewer) was a second year law student. For the purpose of this interview the interviewers name shall be: "Vancouver" and Anderson's name shall be: "Painting"

Vancouver: How have you been Painting?

Painting: Painting a lot, and you..how is your career in law going?

Vancouver: Very good thanks, progressing at about the speed I expected.

Painting: Good stuff man, glad to hear it…any snails in ginger bottles lately?

Vancouver: Haha…the first case I ever studied in torts in first yr…Donahue vs Stevens.

Vancouver: What's been going on with Vancouver's premiere Painting Company?

Painting: If I see them I will ask them then get back to you.

Vancouver: Hahaha.

Vancouver: Well, we have been very busy..we have grown to include a North Vancouver Painting Company and a Whistler Painting Company. We have also done a lot of work painting in Toronto.

Vancouver: Excellent. Who do you have painting in Toronto?

Painting: My best friend of 20 years. The Tony Robbins of the painting industry.

Vancouver: Cool, what about the North Vancouver Painting Company and the Whistler painters?

Painting: I have a superstar covering both those areas for me.

Vancouver: Sounds like you're starting to spread the good word around.

Painting: Yes, but not too quickly…after all…it has been 5 full years since I saw you last. We only grow when we meet a superstar. So, in a nutshell..at the moment…we have a strong presence in Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Whistler and Toronto. For painting in those areas, whether it's house painting or industrial we have a superstar who is there representing the Best Painter brand. They all come under the Canada's Best Painters umbrella.

Vancouver: I guess you need an umbrella more so in the Vancouver area?

Painting: Haha..listen, after living in Toronto and Ottawa..I will take Vancouver any day of the week. Not that I dislike Toronto and Ottawa…but if you have to choose between the snow and the rain…trust me..rain is better.

Vancouver: And rain is so good to ski on isnt it?

Painting: Skiing is for the idle rich, I don't have time for that…I'm too busy working.

Vancouver: I feel a tear coming on.

Painting: Hahaha…don't cry for me compadre…I feel very privileged that I am working at all and that Vancouver's Best Painters has acquired the reputation for being the best Painting company in all of Canada.

Vancouver: How do you arrive at that conclusion with so many Vancouver painters?

Painting: Because we get the biggest and best painting jobs and all our customers tell us we are the best. The superstars that run the Vancouver, Whistler, North Shore and Toronto area franchises are second to none. Over 100 yrs experience between the four of them.

Vancouver: Impressive.

Painting: Yes..and for commercial painting, industrial painting, house painting or faux finishing…no one can touch us. We are the elite of the elite.

Vancouver: The elite of the elite? That's pretty elite.

Painting: Haha, yes it is.

Vancouver: What's been happening in the Whistler area for you. Doing much painting?

Painting: Of course..we just finished a 1300 hr industrial job, stripping four ski terminals.

Vancouver: What is the difference between industrial and commercial?

Painting: All industrial jobs are commercial but not all commercial jobs are industrial.

Vancouver: Ok. I take note that you also do electrostatic painting. Have you done any recently?

Painting: For sure, a bunch of filing cabinets and an industrial painting project that had 1000's of cross-beams. Electrostatic painting was the way to go for those projects.

Vancouver: Cool

Painting: Extremely

Vancouver: So, what are your plans for the immediate future, painting wise?

Painting: To focus my efforts on the North Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Whistler painting markets. To continue to be the best painting contractors in Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Whistler.

Vancouver: Cool, good luck with that.

Painting: Giddy up.