Bio

11 years ago I would never had guessed that I would be a successful business owner and operator!  My how time flies when you’re having fun….. how true that statement is.

I may have started this company later in life than most business owners, but I have made up for lost time in the short while that Doctor Antenna has been operating. 

Since I started the company back in 2006, all I had was a wrench, some WD40 a rope, a dream, and a lack of fear of heights!  

While I was sitting on the top balcony of my late brother in law’s apartment in NDG, Montreal, I noticed a sea of antennas decorating the houses around the neighborhood.  I turned to my wife and said:  “Honey, I think I just found my calling.  I’m going to make it my goal to get rid of all those eye sores on top of people’s houses”.  Since I had a background in the film industry and was already an avid climber, I knew that I could rise to the occasion.  My wife turned to me and said “What will you call this company may I ask?” to which I replied “I will call it Doctor Antenna”.  I proceeded to take a picture of the antennas that adorned the houses and that very picture, my dear customers was the picture I used on Doctor Antenna’s first business cards and advertising posters! 

 My wife accompanied me on my first antenna take down.  I climbed the antenna and used the wrench to pry the old, worn out and rusted screws and bolts off of the antenna and dismantled it one five foot section at a time.  I used some old climbing ropes I had to lower the pieces one by one down to my very patiently awaiting wife who collected them in a neat pile on the ground.  When it came time (a few hours later) to remove the bracket from the house bricks, I wrestled once again with the old screws and bolts and finally set the antenna tower free of the house.  I hung on precariously to an unsecured tower until I climbed safely to the ground where my relieved wife waited.  In order to free the tower from the ground it was cemented into, we took turns rocking it from side to side, using a shovel to dig the steel frame from the earth. I think this whole process took around three and a half hours from start to finish and I proudly collected my $75.00 fee.

During the next few years, my tools evolved, as did my expertise and services.  I graduated from the wrench to an electrical, hand held grinder, I then upgraded to a cordless grinder (you can imagine the chord length being an issue), I bought new ropes, harnesses and carabiners, traded up my trucks and ladders and yes, I even hired a crew!  Although my wife still enjoys being my helper on her days off of work!!!

With the advent of HGTV and Free Air Signals getting more exposure around 2009 and when all Canadian Channels converted to High Definition in 2011 Doctor Antenna’s business expanded from just taking old antenna towers down to installing High Definition TV Antennas onto people’s houses.  Some clients preferred to keep the old tower to use for the height while others preferred the more streamlined look of the steel pole mounted to the chimney or side of the house using a bracket or a J Mold.

Today, Doctor Antenna is provincially known as the “Best in Class” for Professional HD Antenna Installation.  I have been asked to go as far North as Barrie, as far East as Oshawa, as far South West as Fort Eerie.  Doctor Antenna has helped customers all over the Map enjoy the HDTV experience!

Doctor Antenna’s long term goal is to help customers throughout the GTA and Ontario to benefit and enjoy the perfection and quality that HDTV brings and with hard work and perseverance, I am confident that my goal will be achieved!

What am I doing when I am not service Doctor Antenna’s customers? Well, unfortunately many other companies claim to be the “best HDTV installers”, however if this were true, then I wouldn’t be busy spending fixing the work of other installers.  I have to thank my competition though, for providing me with a whole new list of satisfied customers!

The rest of my off time I am busy pursuing my passion in Martial Arts. When I attended High School in Cape Breton Nova Scotia I was a member of the Wrestling Team, then I started Judo when I was in my early 40’s and always loved the competition.  Then 5 years ago I found a Martial Arts Club right in my neighborhood that offered Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Now just imagine a 52 year old walking into a Martial Arts Club and joining a mixed group of individuals, some new white belts, some black belts, what an experience!  I was immediately welcomed by the Professor, Marco Costa who had founded “Body of Four” Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  My talents in ground fighting from wrestling and stand up from Judo proved to be helpful in mastering the techniques.  I am forever grateful for Professor Costa for accepting and mentoring me in my new passion.

Once again as I said in the beginning…you can say that I never would have guessed it, but today, at the age of 57 I can proudly say that I have earned my purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!

Christopher MacDonald’s personal long term goal is to continue training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and ultimately earn my Black Belt and with the help of Professor Costa and the members of Body of Four BJJ I am confident that my goal will be achieved!