Offsite 2022: Road to Inspiring B Corp Companies
Our quarterly Town Hall nights mainly serve three purposes: spend time together, bring our social standards to life, and reward the people who exceptionally embody them.
It is gathered around a Zoom meeting (COVID-19 necessity) that our team celebrated our four social standards on the night of June 18. A night of conversations, creativity, beer tasting and humour.
Our special guests, Nicolas Duvernois, Fred Campbell, Florence Rivest, Déborah Cherenfant and Simon Delisle, joined us to present the winning totem and inspire us on what it means to live the motto that they were each offering.
At 3 pm, all crew opened their cameras to be a part of that night not only allowed us to get together but also reminded us of the importance of the work we accomplish daily. While Charles Mony, Fred Campbell, Florence Rivest and Déborah Cherenfant oriented their presentation based on our social standards, Nicolas Duvernois started the night by sharing his recent experiences, but mostly, the enthusiasm that drives him always to do more.
Our speakers: Nicolas Duvernois, Fred Campbell, Deborah Cherenfant and Charles Mony
"Most people saw this challenge as a cliff and were scared to fall; personally, I saw it as a mountain that I was thrilled to climb." - Nicolas Duvernois, CEO and founder of Duvernois esprit créatifs, Pur Vodka and MAINFORTE
If the last few years allowed Nicolas Duvernois to secure an enviable position within Quebec's most prosperous entrepreneur, the last few months has led him to become the boldest entrepreneur we may know.
A few days after the launch of MAINFORTE, his new cleaning and disinfecting product line and despite his packed schedule, he paused his everyday life occupations to come and talk to us about opportunities, ingeniosity and how to turn tables on a situation.
"We wish for travel to become sustainable and that it converts into a transformation tool for the world's population." - Charles Mony, president and founder of Village Monde
Our second guest, Charles Mony, was not invited by accident. He was mandated to help us breathe our second standard, be committed, during a more than inspiring conversation. He showcased his engagement, which is to transform the world, one travel at a time.
The entrepreneur, marine and explorer, benefited from the time we had together and shared his journey and the vision of his business, Village monde. He also manifested the positive impact, on a social and environmental plan, that responsible travel can have.
Charles was also mandated to reward the employee who was embodying the totem of the most committed individual of the agency: our content editor, Catherine. Because of her presence and desire to always do more for the people surrounding her, all colleagues highlighted her impressive engagement by handing her this totem.
"When you're launching a business, you're going to war without knowing who's gonna win, but it's a risk I was willing to take." - Fred Campbell, CEO and founder of Hooké
From videomaker to a businessman, Fred started his first company at 17 years old. With Hooké, his team and himself were able to repair fishing's reputation, and improve the popularity of the activité. He shared his career path with a lot of humility, one in which he decided to transform his passion into a job. We discussed fishing, passion, family, etc.
Fred also had to hand a totem, the one representing our second social standard, think bold. This time around, it is our head of strategy, Jean-Philippe, who was awarded the totem for his vision, grand ideas, and the strength he showed when it comes to sharing with his team and convincing his employees to be on board.
It's by giving a workshop on drawing that Florence Rivest, Montreal illustrator, illustrated our third social standard, stay curious. After explaining the basis of face drawing, she split the group in half, and everyone had to draw a dedicated colleague based on their new knowledge. Through our screens, we first observed our subject before representing them and, after, share our creation.
Once the workshop was over, Florence unveiled the third winner of the night, our content coordinator, Sophie. Her strong will to learn in fields that are not necessarily linked to hers, for her generosity when it comes to giving a helping hand to others, but mostly for the way she approaches it all, the team thought it was important she won this totem.
"If you enter a conversation by telling yourself you need to go with baby steps, you do not get it. We do not want to change for the next generations, we have to do it now." - Déborah Cherenfant, president and spokesperson for Montreal Jeune Chambre de commerce
President and spokesperson for Montreal jeune chambre de commerce, founder of Marché Coloré and the blog Mots-d'elles and, more recently, business manager of TD Bank Group, Deborah was a natural choice to illustrate our fourth social standard, Speak real. Since forever, she fights for more women in leadership roles, but also the importance of diversity within our companies. With an open heart, she shared her vision of entrepreneurship.
Deborah then announced our last winner of the night, the one awarded with our fourth and final social standard, Katy. For Katy, it's a priority that everyone feels included at Republik. She multiplies internal initiatives and alongside clients to start a conversation on inclusivity. That is why her colleagues wanted to thank her by giving her this meaningful totem.
Our winners: Katy Ribeiro, Jean-Philippe Shoiry, Sophie Thériault and Catherine Foisy
After an emotionally charged night, our culture manager and orchestra of the night, Martin, invited comedian Simon Delisle to join us, in the hopes of making us laugh. For the occasion, he put together a little roast for every team member. Sour laughter and tears of joy left us to end the night on a higher note, allowing us to connect more than ever before moving onto the festivities, which will remain a secret.