Long before the industry awards, the design centre, and the crews working across Greater Victoria, there was a basement office and a kitchen table buried every August in receipts and billings. Ed McDonald founded what is now MAC Reno Design-Build in 1980 as a general contracting business, and the fiscal year closed on September 1, just as school bags were being packed. Growth came the way Ed believed it should, one client at a time.

That belief carried a simple principle: exceptional people build extraordinary companies. Over four decades, it turned modest repairs into Greater Victoria's preferred design-build contractor and left a trail of finished homes across the city. “I remember thinking my dad’s superpower was that he knew every street in Victoria because he would point out houses he’d worked on as we drove around the city,” Robbyn McDonald recalls.

The business was never confined to the office. Weekends meant home shows, supervised demonstrations, and door knockers hung throughout local neighbourhoods, with conversations about business and growth filling the house. Wendy, the other steady presence at that kitchen table, kept a full-time job elsewhere while helping shape the core values, continuing education, marketing, and bookkeeping that carried MAC until it outgrew the family home. “We grew up in a home that pushed continual growth and curiosity and those building blocks continued into our adult lives,” Blaise McDonald reflects.

Ironically, that entrepreneurial upbringing first led both children away. Robbyn pursued hospitality, from management training with Four Seasons and workforce accommodation for the 2010 Olympics to remote luxury properties with Relais & Châteaux, CMH private heli lodges, and Rosewood. Blaise chose the trades, starting an electrical apprenticeship with an aunt and uncle’s company and completing it at the Dockyard.

What Ed had built proved the stronger pull. Blaise returned deliberately after earning a degree in Construction Management, while Robbyn agreed to try the business for a single year and has now stayed for nearly a decade. The connection had been there all along, according to Robbyn, who sees the same impulse in both careers: “we were creating magic for people not only for now but also for the future.”

“Both our parents have been beyond excited to have us stay in the business,” Robbyn shares. Blaise’s return had been anticipated, while Robbyn’s arrived as a welcome surprise. Making it work required real commitment to communication and open conversation, and Blaise, a certified communication coach, raised that standard across the entire organization. “Remembering it’s an opportunity is pivotal in success,” Robbyn notes.

The foundation Ed laid has supported steady modernization. Under Blaise, now President, MAC refined its Design-Build process with fixed-fee pricing, introduced the BuilderTrend client portal, and opened The Ranch, a design centre that brings materials and finishes under one roof. The company has earned Georgie Awards from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of British Columbia and VIBE Awards from CHBA-Vancouver Island. Even so, the most difficult change was a symbolic one. “The hardest change was likely the logo,” Blaise admits, explaining that the family loved the original house emblem but recognized in 2024 that the brand needed to reflect the company MAC had become, while still honouring the foundation beneath it.

Both siblings have earned recognition in their own fields, and both credit the standard set at home. “I feel that both Ed and Wendy set the tone that you want to continuously improve,” Blaise explains. That expectation shapes how brother and sister lead together. “Even as siblings, we have to lean in with curiosity, support those around us, and be dedicated to bringing professionalism every day,” he adds.

Beyond the systems and the accolades, Ed’s greatest contribution may be the culture. Each day began with a walk through the office and a greeting for every person, backed by a remarkable memory for names, job sites, and projects. “Ed brought lightness and found humour daily,” Robbyn observes. “He didn’t get bogged down but saw each challenge as a new opportunity.”

That same approach now shapes the transition. “He’s been great at supporting while stepping back to allow others to grow and foster around him,” Blaise remarks. Retirement opens the calendar to travel, golf, and curling. “I’m grateful for the wisdom but also grateful he’s taking the time to travel, play golf, curl and keep active while he can do it,” Robbyn offers.

The houses Ed once pointed out from the car window still stand across Victoria, and new ones join them every season. His children know every street now, too.