by Nick Drew | Tue 16 Jul 2019
Early Exposure to Heavy Iron Inspires Media Business
Mack Plovie is a 24-year old geologist based in British Columbia, Canada. He founded and manages EarthMovers Media, a media company dedicated to the construction, demolition, and mining industries. In this blog post Mack tells us, in his own words, about his early years, working life and his business today.
“I grew up around heavy equipment and mining, my Dad and Grandpa worked for Finning Caterpillar for nearly 65 years combined. I was exposed to it all at a very young age, swinging wrenches with my Dad at Finning, and running equipment customers would bring into the Finning yard for servicing. I managed to tear up a section of the Finning parking lot during my birthday party with a 320B excavator, sorry Dad. Growing up, I went to the University of British Columbia for geology, that got me into the mining industry. I have worked all over Canada in underground and open pit mining running equipment and doing geology related work”.
“As far as experiences go, working in the Yukon at a placer gold mine has been the highlight of my career. Running Cat D10’s, 365 excavators, and 40-tonne rock trucks chasing that yellow stuff, it was a really solid experience. I pretty much did everything, explored for gold, sluiced gold, cleaned gold, and of course moved ridiculous amounts of earth to get to the gold. Currently, I work underground as a production geologist for Pretivm at the Brucejack Au mine in north-west BC”.
Pictured above: A young Mack Plovie getting some inspiration with his Cat remote control model excavator.
Talking about his new venture Mack said, “EarthMovers Media, where earth and iron meets social media. I’m not the first and definitely won’t be the last to do it, but I’m building off of my unique history and following a deep-rooted passion. I formally started the business this year, before that I was merely a guy with a camera wandering job sites and posting to social media”.
“We essentially help companies tell their stories through the social media spotlight, from making dirt and equipment look sexy to highlighting the people within the company. We are the Canadian industry choice for companies growing into the digital marketplace. It has been tough; I have had to outgrow my comfort zone and expand my network to get any traction in the industry. My biggest hurdle has been obscurity, breaking that barrier is taking longer than I thought, however I am persistent to do it. It is a unique situation I am in, full time business and job, it takes a lot, and I know no one else can do it but me”.
Photo: Mack gets up close and personal with some of the largest earthmover's around including this Caterpillar 657G motor scraper that he caught up with during a site visit to California.
“I’m grateful for and definitely have advantages over others, my four years’ experience in the mining industry makes me an attractive pick for companies. I focus heavily on safety, that’s half the job during a site visit honestly, staying safe. My experience also allows me pick out things others can’t, it also gives me an edge in written content”.
Mack has definitely been getting around a bit, as we know only to well, the media game can entail a lot of solo travelling, talking about that Mack said, “Highlights of my journey so far, well everything, I’m grateful for my shortcomings and all the money lost. But ultimately, I’m grateful for the people I have met and will meet. I preach it all the time and know it best. People matter, they are the core of this industry. Every project, business, or place I visit I get to meet great people. Bauma 2019 has definitely been the single biggest highlight of my journey so far, fantastic experience in Germany, I even met a few dirt celebrities”.
We asked where is EarthMovers Media going? “I’d like to say I have everything planned out but I honestly don’t. I have visions of where I want the business to be and go, but in reality, a lot of my ideas come to me through what I experience in the present-day business adventures. My vision for the business is to work with the biggest Canadian mining companies, helping them showcase their people, equipment, and projects.
It is a much-needed change, all these companies are silent when it comes to showcasing themselves. I wish to have my work inspire others to start a career in mining, I know it is a great industry and I hope to have others experience it because of what I am doing with the business. Until then, there are plenty more photos to take and people to meet!”.
We like to give credit where its due here on the Digger Man Blog and its clear to see that Mack is a guy who is going places on the construction plant and machinery circuit, I for one am looking forward to following his journey.