That was long before the Trelivings, father and now son, would became famous and rich in completely different ways and completely different places.

His father Jim was a young RCMP officer when he decided to borrow money to open a pizza franchise in Penticton, B.C. “My grandfather, who was a barber, didn’t understand it,” Brad said. “He thought you worked your job, you got your pension, they gave you a watch. That was a good life.”

The borrowed money led from one pizza restaurant to another, and eventually to the purchase of the Boston Pizza chain, which is some 500 stores across North America today with annual sales of greater than $1 billion.

The success led to Treliving becoming well known across Canada for his place on the successful CBC entrepreneurial series Dragon’s Den.

“There were no GPS’ in those days,” Treliving said. “And I wasn’t exactly good at it. On a busy Saturday night, I was getting lost, orders were late, orders were being delivered to the wrong houses.

At that time, just after I got my driver’s license, the big invention was the pizza warmer, the big bag they stuff pizzas in to be delivered. So I have this big delivery to a flight crew at a hotel and I give them their pizzas.