As I am in constant contact with people, ideas come easily. But over time, I know that not all ideas are worth dissecting. The first question I ask myself: will this idea fill a need or will it serve to satisfy my beautiful ego? It also takes me back to the time I have left so I try to use it wisely. So, I question myself before rushing into the idea.
Option B: Overcoming Adversity, Reclaiming the Capacity for Happiness, by Sheryl Sandberg, the former Facebook COO who is now on Meta’s board of directors. When Sheryl Sandberg’s husband died at age 48, she was the director of operations for Facebook, one of the largest companies in the world. How do you cope with this shock? How do you tell your children? How do you get back to work? I recognized a lot of myself in this book.
I like series that are based on true events. I really liked In Their Eyes, presented on Netflix, where five young people from Harlem are wrongly accused of having raped a white woman. Still on Netflix, I also recommend Bettencourt Affair: scandal among the richest woman in the world. It recounts the last years of life of L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.
My lipstick.
I’m always impeccable, but I don’t impose anything on myself. I dress according to the mood I wake up in. I once gave a lecture to doctors wearing glittery shoes. That morning, when I got up, I wanted to wear them and I also wanted to illustrate free choice. I explained to the audience that I never gave anyone permission to decide for me that a pair of sequined shoes should only be worn in the evening.
Never forget to be grateful. When I get out of bed, I sit for a few seconds and say thank you to life for everything I have. And every evening after my shower, I am in gratitude mode. I think about what I did during the day and what made me proud, even if it’s just a small thing that seems insignificant. It allows me to think every day about what I have and not what I don’t have.
To want to do too much at the same time. My children tend to say that I am not from this planet. How impossible it is to have such a busy schedule!
I like to be at home barefoot in my cocoon, without hair or makeup with my dog, sometimes with my children and my grandchildren. I like silence. I dim the lights. I pick up when I am in calm, total simplicity and when I abandon myself to my emotions. If I want to cry, I cry, if I want to laugh, I laugh and if I want to dance, I dance.
People I have known or know. Sévrine Labelle, who has been managing director of BDC Capital’s Lab Excels since March; businesswoman Cadleen Désir, CEO and founder of Déclic; Vickie Joseph, president of the board of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal and president of V Kosmetik; Daniel Jean, CEO of the Office for Disabled Persons of Quebec (OPHQ) and, of course, my daughters and my son.
Honestly, I don’t have one. I plan to travel more, especially with my growing grandchildren and not my children! Continue to please myself. This year has been very difficult due to the death of my husband and I have thrown myself into a lot of work. I had to hold on to something I loved doing so as not to fall into depression. That’s why I’m not thinking about retirement. As long as I am capable, as long as people are interested in seeing me and hearing me, I will continue. The day there is no longer any interest, I will do something else.
