In the heart of Chaudière-Appalaches, a small, well-guarded estate holds the fort of well-being: a large house of light, a quiet forest and a flowing river, a reflection of our thoughts that come and go, and that Michel Lehoux teaches us not to hold back. A hearty laugh breaks out. It's his: the small team of managers from Construction Dramis has just arrived at the Bouddha Moqueur for a retreat.

A seasoned and conscious entrepreneur

Michel Lehoux is not one of those inaccessible and silent monks. "These are farm milk tanks that I cut down to make thermal baths," he says, perched on his tractor, ready to spread the gravel. The man of heart is also a businessman... "and a jack of all trades!" he jokes. Indeed, he takes care of everything: management, administration, customers, social networks, forest maintenance and even housekeeping! "That's how it is when you launch a project," confides without batting an eyelid the one who never sits with his hands in his pockets and his arms dangling. "Performance, ambition, I know." I played competitive sports, went back to school and got my master's degree at 34, worked at CEGEP and taught at university, started a maple syrup pipe recycling company to help my father, worked in factories and hospitals as an ergonomist, and took unpaid leave to set up projects." Careerist, or emissary of the famous Carpe Diem ? There is no doubt that the man knows how to seize the moment.

“Wellness is truly a calling,” he says. It is the backdrop to his journey. “I had been working on this project for several years. When a colleague told me about her dream, which was the same as mine, and she showed me a photo of the estate for sale, I went to visit it that same evening, and the next day we got started. I sold my car and left a secure job without looking back.” Michel is now a coach and trainer, a role that suits him perfectly. He co-hosts mindfulness retreats with his new partner, a career anesthesiologist, and alongside other wellness specialists (yoga, tai chi, massage therapy, psychology). He shares his experience with gentle and true wisdom. He makes spirituality his daily bread, but with a lighter flour, sprinkled with mockery, authenticity and good humor. The 43-year-old entrepreneur is not afraid to say, quite frankly: his vulnerability is his strength, and paves the way for those who come to learn from him.

Everything starts with you

"I tend to work a lot, but you have to know when to stop, to sit down and observe yourself," explains Michel. "Learning to know yourself and taking a step back to watch yourself go allows you to identify your triggers, what makes you react, and then be able to respond differently." Not throwing your stress ball at others is a good start! Kindness, which is not only the lot of the initiated, is neither an unattainable Holy Grail nor the ultimate posture of the awakened entrepreneur. By wanting too much, the risk is to fall into what the trainer calls the danger of being in your heart with your eyes closed: "getting yourself respected, setting your limits and not tolerating the intolerable is part of zenitude! When one of your employees denigrates you in front of your customers, what do you do? Before, I might have thrown him out without further ado. That's management evasion. Today I will try to understand why he did it, but I don't have to accept it and I will tell him about it."

Conscious communication is one of the practices that should be integrated into the world of work. By no means one-sided, workshops and retreats should also financially engage employees, and not just the company. "There must be a real intention on the part of all those involved. A contribution from employees to training has an impact: they feel involved and will want to see it through to the end. Everyone is motivated!" Exchanges and silences, transparency and nuances, laughter and authenticity are on the program of his tailor-made corporate retreats and conscious leadership training that give pride of place to opening the heart in entrepreneurship.