Wil Andruschak

What do you like about shopping?

I get a rush out of it. I like the challenge of finding good value. It’s fun for me.

How long have you been doing this, and has it changed over the years?

I’ve been doing it just over five years and people have certainly become more aware of the service. When my business first started it wasn’t primarily a shopping business. Now, it has snowballed into that.

Who are your clients?

It’s very diverse. I have a woman who is a company CEO and has two kids and attends a lot of functions and Christmas parties and needs hostess gifts, which shopping for takes away time from enjoying her family.

And I grocery shop every two weeks for an 84-year-old lady, deliver it and put it away in cupboards because it has become a lot more difficult for her to get out. And I have a lot of international clients, mainly from the U.S., but I’ve sent hand lotion to the Caribbean, I’ve sent baby sleepers to California, windmills to Indiana.

That’s interesting because I think most Canadians believe that we shop down south, not vice versa.

There are a lot of products in Canada, whether they’re sold at President’s Choice or Canadian Tire, that aren’t available in the States. If it’s online, I’ll order it online.

What got you into this?

I created Let Me Help You as a makeup artist and had some stylist training. I was shopping for clothes for people, then accessories and it just snowballed. In the last two years, calls from the States, Australia and the Caribbean have really increased. There are not a lot of personal shoppers in Calgary.

Do you shop for parties, as well?

Yeah. What I do is pretty diverse because some people just want me to go out and grab their groceries and drop them at their door. And I once did a birthday party at a community centre for 200 people. I bought cold and warm finger foods. We hired a bar. We set up all the tables and cooked the food all night for them, replenishing the hot food. I don’t do that much any more because it is incredibly time-consuming and I have a five and six-year-old.

Are most of your clients males or females?

It’s a mix from the international ones but all of my regular local clients are women.

That’s surprising because many people think women like to shop and guys despise it.

I think that women nowadays have the roles of being a mother as well as a caregiver to their husbands and they have professional jobs. They use me because they need to find that balance of taking care of their families, as well.

I saw on your website that you are a university graduate. Do you need a degree to do this?

No. I have a kinesiology degree. I was a fitness instructor for years. After I had children I sat down to decide what I really wanted to do. Makeup is one of the things I really like doing. I’m an artist at heart. So I just created my business. Having a university degree allows you to know how to find information and certainly have connections.

The makeup and hair, do you still do that?

I do. It’s all women. I do a lot of black ties and Christmas parties, even just house parties. A lot of clients are fortysomething moms just trying to get back into the game. I also teach young girls appropriate makeup and skin care. Their parents usually hire me because the girls won’t listen to their parents.

Do you think because of the recession that people are toning it down for Christmas parties?

I have certainly heard that. But the clients that I do, their companies are big and they are still having Christmas parties, but the format has changed for a lot of people, whereby they used to have a lot of them at big hotels and now they are at community centres and catered.

Other than Christmas, what are other busy times of the year?

Spring is big. They want a new spring look. I get people’s gardens started, I buy pots and flowers, whatever they need.

When you go shoe shopping for people, do you buy several pairs, take them to the client to try them on and return the ones that don’t fit?

Yup. I have a client who is overwhelmed with shopping. She’s a pediatrician. She often knows what she wants, for example, a pair of black boots with a pointed toe, but she can’t go into a store to buy them because she gets so overwhelmed with so many choices. So, I’ll go to a couple of different stores and pick up three or four different pairs, bring them to her to try on in the comfort of her home. I don’t shop anywhere that won’t let you return items.

Do people hire you because they don’t like to shop?

I don’t have many clients who don’t like to shop, as they still love going to a boutique and trying on nice clothes, but they don’t like it when it’s something like plain black dress pants. Many might like shopping for clothes but not things like china plates. I just picked up some flatware cutlery for a client in Vancouver. They just can’t be bothered shopping for that stuff.

I imagine that because you’ve shopped a lot you are quite resourceful and quick at finding exactly what people want.

Yup. It’s gotten quite easy for me, especially when I can shop online. Although last Christmas I had a dad whose daughter absolutely had to have these high-top Nike running shoes. They were sold out all over the States. And that was the only time that I spent easily two hours online looking for the shoes and in the end, they were sold out in Canada, as well.

Do you ever have parents call you, wanting you to get the popular toy of the season?

I certainly get Christmas lists but other than those running shoes, I’ve never had a problem getting anything. But I get lots of time because I ask for those Christmas lists in November. And for hostess gifts, people sometimes tell me about those receiving the gift and I’ll just go out and pick something out. But as far as presents for family, I don’t pretend to know what they want or like to receive.

Does it feel like work when you do your own shopping?

No. I really love shopping. I love the whole rush, the people around me. There are certainly bad experiences out there. I always start out with my parking karma and if I have really bad parking karma, I just leave.