Montreal man's story goes from racial profiling to HGTV show

Laval man becomes HGTV show host Montreal’s Mactar Mbaye is known for flipping houses on TV, and it started with a racial profiling case.

Mactar Mbaye has made a career of flipping houses.

His passion for the job and his large social media presence were part of what got the attention of HGTV producers who were casting for the show Hoarder House Flippers.

But his route to his dream job was a circuitous one, saying an ugly incident of racial profiling helped him find his voice and motivated him to be a positive role model.

In February 2016, Mbaye says he was in a Tim Horton’s in Laval, north of Montreal, interviewing a woman for a job opening at his company, when they were interrupted by police.

“Someone had called the police and said I was a pimp trying to recruit a woman into prostitution,” he said.

The police ran his name and Mbaye was cleared, but he said it was a humiliating experience.

“I was really shocked because I didn't understand. How can I be perceived as a as a pimp? Because I was well dressed?” he said. “I understood at the time that it was only because of the colour of my skin.”

Mbaye shared his story of being racially profiled with CTV News and on social media.

That’s when he said he discovered that he had a voice and could use it to inspire others.

“I was like, you know what? Let's turn this situation into something positive. And that's how I started my YouTube channel, The Real Estate Mac,” he said. “I was doing flips and I called myself the Real Estate Mac.”

He said his handle is a wordplay on his name Mactar and “Mac,” a slang word for pimp.

He said it was important for him to redeem that negative experience into a positive one.

His videos got the attention of the producers of Hoarder House Flippers, and Mbaye and his brothers, Issa and Khadim, were hired for the show.

They flip houses that most would think are write offs.

“When there's a negative situation, I'm always trying to make it positive. It's the same thing with flipping. I'm addicted to the process. Something negative or something ugly, like a hoarder house, and I could turn [it] into a beautiful home,” he said. “The same thing as I'm turning a negative situation into a positive situation.”

Last year, he helped launch the Youth Rising Estate Foundation, which offers free business training to racialized youth in Montreal.

He said he's proud that he can share his success with others and show other Black youth what's possible.