There are much worse places to work.
The office is not large, and not exactly tidy, it is true. In front of the cluttered table, two small armchairs on which you have to sit sideways to discuss. On the floor, in the corner of the room, are bags of tennis rackets. At the bottom of a shelf, more or less well-hidden snack foods – and more or less healthy.
Never mind, the huge glass windows overlooking Jarry Park quickly make you forget the state of the household in this warm early autumn.
On the white walls bathed in light, don’t look for diplomas: there aren’t any. In an interview, Valérie Tétreault, director of the Omnium Banque Nationale, gently reminds us that she has “no post-secondary studies”.
It’s hard not to be surprised. At 35, she is completing her first year at the helm of one of the country’s most prestigious international sporting events. Charismatic, she speaks with confidence and aplomb about the issues on her radar, revealing a detailed knowledge of the federation that employs her.
However, what managers of her age in the world of sport learned in major schools, she acquired “on the ground”.
After finishing high school, she entered the WTA Tour full-time “with the game plan of going back to school” after her on-court career. This is also what she had in mind when she bowed out at just 22 years old.
Absolutely none of this happened. Two months after his retirement, a position was posted in the communications department of Tennis Canada. She applied and was hired. Almost at the same time, she became an analyst at TVA Sports. In the blink of an eye, the train started moving. And he didn’t stop.
She is therefore an essentially self-taught manager who succeeded Eugène Lapierre, in October 2022, at the head of the Omnium.
This lack of training “was a problem for a long time,” she admits.
“It’s a little less so now, I’ve learned to be at peace with it. I had imposter syndrome. I can exude a certain confidence, but I don’t always have that much. This is what leads me to be a perfectionist and to always be ultra-prepared. I am constantly questioning myself, asking myself what I can do to continue learning. I know that what I have acquired over the years is worth as much as the paper I would have picked up at 23. »
