Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Martin Lespérance, a speaker, motivator, and engagement expert based in Blainville, QC, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We are social beings, and the world is becoming more and more individualistic. So, how can we change the trend and re-create the links that enabled us to succeed through all these years?

My goal is to INSPIRE people to take action, to take one step out of their comfort zone, which will create a wave! I’ve designed interactive stories that bring out emotions, inspiration, engagement, and action! I give keynotes on engagement to boost the morale of the team members and enable organizations to be INSPIRING so they raise their attractiveness scores.

I’ve INSPIRED people from all horizons, banks, pharmaceuticals, realtors, the public sector, government, optical, restaurants, construction, sports, finance, travel, security, manufacturing, wholesale, and high school students. I’ve INSPIRED people in more than 20 countries, including China, Thailand, Europe, the United States, and across beautiful Canada.

Tell us about yourself

I’ve always been involved in training and coaching. I started as an artistic gymnastics coach, a Canadian Armed Forces Reserve soldier, a science high-school teacher, an advisor for the Quebec Government Secrétariat aux Loisirs et aux Sports, a national trainer at Bayer Pharmaceutical, the national director of training and development at Essilor Canada, and am a certified in performance coaching with LMI.

As I travelled the world in my corporate life, INSPIRING eye care professionals, I sat down with my wife and told her I wanted to make my dream come true. Become an “international speaker.” She replied: You already are!! That’s when I wrote and designed my first keynote, “ARE YOU IN?! How to reach the impossible.”

I now designed four other keynotes stories:

  • INSPIRE! It’s your choice.
  • OK GO! Engage.
  • Momentum! For a winning mindset.
  • Focus! Taking back control.

My main motivation revolves around my WHY - to INSPIRE people to take action. I get to live and breathe it daily, looking at the eyes of the participants from various organizations. I used to get handshakes at the end of my keynotes. Since COVID, I get hugs - with people saying, “Thanks, I needed that,” or “You’ve just changed my life.” What more could I possibly want? I am fulfilled. I am the happiest I have ever been.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Trusting your instinct and leaving the corporate world with all its assets, security, insurance, stock options, etc., was tough! I say COURAGE is the key if you want to be a leader and if you want to be a business owner. Sometimes you jump out of a plane and are not sure if you have a parachute on… yet, if you’ve done what was needed, if you’re following your WHY, are well supported by people around you, have a solid plan, prepare for the roadblocks/speed bumps - as they will come - you’ll celebrate in no time.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

When COVID hit, and all the stages and shows were canceled from my agenda, I froze for a bit. I was regretting leaving my corporate life, regretting my security. In no time, I focused on my WHY and pivoted by offering Facebook live events to a community I knew and loved - the optical industry of Quebec. As soon as you get back on track to SERVING OTHERS, all falls in place.

I did seven shows with about 1000 viewers, which gave me a boost in morale, stimulated my business partners, and stimulated contracts to come back to my agenda in a virtual world. I ran about 100 keynotes online during the two years of COVID. Since then, my agenda has kept getting full. Stages and meetings are back ON, and business is hot!!! Just by looking around you, everybody needs a dose of INSPIRATION.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Interesting, as there’s seems like we don’t know where to start.

  1. Invest the needed time to clearly discover your WHY - What is your contribution to this world? What does your business/organization/product/service contribute to others? (Let go of what it does for you. Focus on others.)
  2. In all your actions, always refer back to #1 and ensure it fits. As soon as the pressure builds, we tend to forget WHY we’re doing this.
  3. Be present with the people around you. Be grateful for all the little things around you, and please HAVE FUN!!! We are here on this nice blue planet for a little while, so let’s have fun and leave it a tidbit better than when we arrived.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://martinlesperance.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martin.lesperance.inspire
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martinlesperance.ca/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-lesperance-0355263/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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