Journeyman Stories

It has been quite an eventful week. Actually it started last week when a friend of mine invited us to visit him and his family. That was the first time we actually went out, the three of us, other than to the doctors' appointment. It was a blast. Of course there was great food involved.  I have started working with a coach. Her name is Charlie. It has been a few weeks now that I am working with her, and I have started seeing the results. The first result is actually is something intangible, but yet essential. She helped me define exactly what I want and in details. It was challenging at times, because there are things that I hadn't thought about yet, but I am glad I did.  Two days ago, I received a call from a longtime friend of mine. Actually, he is one of my best friends. He lives in England. We do not talk as often as we used to (he is a father of 3 kids, and I have one...), but when we get a chance to talk, we can talk for hours just to catch up. As I was sharing wit...

Time really runs so fast.It's been three months that our baby was born. It seems like it was yesterday. Before that, the only time I held a baby in my arms for more than five minutes was 31 years ago when my younger brother was born (this is to show how ready I was to be a father...). The first week after our daughter was born, I looked like a zombie. After six sleepless nights, I knew something had to change. We needed to find a system that could work for both my wife and I. I can tell you one thing. My wife is a trooper. Being a newcomer in Canada is quite a big challenge by itself (trust me.I worked with newcomers to Canada for over 7 years. I know a little thing or two about what they face). Add to that carrying a baby and all the fun stuff of being a wife and living for the first time in her life away from her (wonderful) family. It's not an easy thing to do. You can also add teaching her husband how to cook stuff other than pasta. She was exhausted too. Now, three months ...

This is a premiere for me. I am posting my blog straight to the blog website without editing it. And I know that you were waiting for this one yesterday. My bad. I don't know if in some parts of the world it is still Monday (for me to justify that I am not late posting this blog). I am in fact writing from a computer provided for the Industry delegates at the Toronto International Film Festival. Yes I am one of them as an Assistant Producer of a movie that is about to be shot in South Africa. How I got in here is another story. Being part of the festival is something special. I just met great movie producers, and as they were mentioning the projects they have been working on in the past, I am just amazed to even being part of the discussion. I am talking about Oscar winning movies. It's crazy. My only hope was to meet Will Smith, but I guess that will have to be for another day lol Funny enough, as I was doing my homework yesterday given to me by Charlie my new coach, she asked...

Back to back this week-end I went to bed almost at dawn. Thankfully it was a long week-end, I was able to catch up with my sleep today. A friend of mine had asked me to host his wedding reception as the Master of Ceremonies and I said yes. It was this week-end and we all had fun. At the wedding I met people that I haven't seen in over ten years. It was so great. Last Friday, my friend Emmanuel Lopez a.k.a Motivatorman came to visit me at my place. It was for work, but he also wanted to see our daughter (now she is what people want to see...Am I jealous of her? Lol). Then we decided to have a walk at the park. We sat there for almost an hour talking about different subjects, including our favorite one: Movies. It's funny how two people can watch the same movie and each gets a complete different perspective. The movie that came into the discussion was Kevin Costner's “Field of Dreams”. It is a fantastic movie about an Iowa corn farmer (Costner), hearing voices, interprets t...

It was almost 9 years ago. I was on my way home after a long day. While on a Subway platform waiting for my train, about ten feet away, I saw a gentleman in a blue jacket and decided to talk to him. I didn't know how to start the conversation. I simply went: “Nice Jacket!” That little sentence has lead to 9 years of great friendship with Paul my business partner. We have been through a lot together. I remember him helping me register my first business. I was so excited that day that I couldn't contain my joy. I looked Paul in the eyes and said: “Just watch. We are going to change the world”. After these many years, I don't think we have changed the world yet. Just the other day, I was laughing with Paul saying that before changing the world, our job has been to change...us. Lol With all we have been through together, one story is still stuck in my mind. It was in 2004, and there was nothing to show for after months of hard work. Paul, being a huge soccer fan (and average pl...

A few months ago, I received an invitation to a big networking event here in Toronto. I said yes right away but I wasn't a hundred percent sure that I would be there, the reason being that it would be on my birthday. But after all, I thought that it was not a big enough reason for me not to show up as I was not going to celebrate my birthday anyway. So, last week, with hundreds of other business owners, we were gathered at the Ontario Place for a networking bash. It was a great event. I told Jennifer, the organizer, that she did all of that just to celebrate my birthday. She laughed, but, in a way I did celebrate with all those wonderful people (especially when there is food involved). As I was standing at our table, a gentleman came over from a corner, as if he had something important to tell me. He asked me to join him where he was. I immediately went to him. His face looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I met him. He looked in my eyes and just said: I don't know...

The month of August is so full of celebrations that I would need a special software to manage them all lol. Let's see. August 6 was our one year wedding anniversary, August 7 was my wife's birthday, August 8 was both my 10 year anniversary in Canada and 4 years as a Canadian citizen, and this coming August 15 is my birthday (and of course I won't tell you my age, but I am expecting your gifts). How do you celebrate all of that? How about a trip? That wouldn't be bad at all. Four times in July I was asked to conduct a series of workshops for French speaking professionals. It was so much fun. When they told me that I would do the same thing in Sudbury, I immediately said yes. So, this last week, it was both work and pleasure as I took my family with me to Sudbury Ontario. It was fun. Up to the last minute we did not know if we would drive, take the train or fly to Sudbury. We were at Toronto Airport when we were told we would drive after all. Thank God we did. We had so ...