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Transcript: The CIBC Memento Project — Mohammed's story
[Mohammed walks into a cab stand. He looks around and takes it all in. He touches the handle of a cab door.]
>>Mohammed: While I was driving a cab, I was thinking about the business I wanted to develop.
This is where my journey started.
[We see the dashboard of a taxi. Mohammed’s license is in the holder. A super appears: How did a taxi license help drive a dream? A hand appears and pulls Mohammed’s license out of the holder. The CIBC Memento Project logo appears behind it.]
[Mohammed walks through a laneway near his old apartment building.]
>>Mohammed: The day I landed, I had only $350 in my pocket.
[Mohammed appears in front of his old apartment building. A super appears: Mohammed Anwar, CEO, Merit Services Ltd.]
>>Mohammed: I was going around trying to find a job. It was very difficult.
[Mohammed points up at a balcony.]
>>Mohammed: This is my apartment on the fourth floor.
[Mohammed appears in front of the building again.]
>>Mohammed: That was the first thing I had in Canada here, my own apartment.
[Mohammed hails a cab and climbs in.]
>>Mohammed: When I was driving a cab, I was thinking about my future. I wanted to start my business.
[Mohammed pulls a phone from his pocket and makes a call.]
>>Mohammed: So, I walk into CIBC and they introduced me to Vaishali.
[Mohammed greets Vaishali at the door and shakes her hand. Together they walk to his office.]
>>Mohammed: She understood my issues, my concerns.
[Mohammed stands in front of his desk.]
>>Mohammed: She asked me, “What do you do for a living?”
I’m running a small entrepreneurial business. I’m helping Canadians to find their dream job.
[Vaishali sits on the couch and addresses Mohammed off screen.]
>>Vaishali: I realized that you had a good business and you had so many dreams to be fulfilled.
[A super appears: Vaishali Padhye, CIBC Advisor]
[Mohammed stands in front of his desk and gestures with his hands.]
>>Mohammed: The struggle I went through, I do not want newcomers to go through the same path.
[Mohammed and Vaishali sit on the couches in Mohammed’s sunlit office. They look at each other and smile.]
>>Mohammed: Money is not my first priority. Making a difference, that is important. Vaishali helped my business thrive.
[Vaishali smiles broadly.]
>>Mohammed: My parents taught me: When there is no door, build a door.
[Mohammed faces the camera and holds up his cab license for the camera. He smiles.]
[The red background fades in and a super appears:
Ambitions made real™
The CIBC logo and “Ambitions made real” are trademarks of CIBC.]