Since always

Christian has always had an intense personality. Very early on, his father channeled it into sports. Until Cégep, Christian practiced high-level sports. Then there was adolescence, those ups and downs where we search for ourselves, somewhere between the divides. There are all those empty passages where we test what is good for us or not, what should stay and what should go, to stick to this new identity that we are forging.

He searched for himself for a long time, he even took the wrong path. "There was a time when I was a bad boy . I lost all my best friends, I no longer had a job or money. I needed to reposition myself and find what I was going to do in life. And for me, it started with a physical overhaul. I started training again. It gave me a boost. I could start from scratch. So, I went into business."

In 2000, full of enthusiasm, he started Sushi Taxi, self-taught. He wore all the hats: creator, chef, delivery man, accountant and manager. Fifteen years later, the company had three hundred and fifty employees and eighteen branches. A resounding success for the little guy from Quebec! Enough to stretch the elastic and discharge the batteries. Especially when you are not born into a family of entrepreneurs and management is not necessarily your strong point! "Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster of emotions," he admits.

Finding your sweet spot

In 2005, he started boxing. "Boxing allows me to express my emotions, to calm down, to have a clear mind to be able to make better decisions. Sport is my oxygen." In the meantime, he bought a boxing club, which he transformed into a non-profit organization, then he launched a sports-study program, and another to encourage young people to get off the street with the Projet Intervention Prostitution Québec.

Boxing is part of the sacred balance he has found to lead a fulfilling life personally and professionally. "It's like eating well and sleeping well. Many people ask me where I find the time to train. But I think it's more like: how do you manage not to move for at least an hour a day?"

When nothing is going well: do sport, again!

In 2017, Christian sold the Sushi Taxi Group. He went to MIT in Boston to do an MBA. Then he started his own business again, with the Food tech Buddha Station. "I wanted to revolutionize the way employees eat at the office with connected fridges and healthy meals." In just a few months, his turnover had already reached four million dollars.

But the pandemic came like a guillotine. While he had just invested in technology and a large infrastructure, "on March 17, when the lockdown was generalized, I lost 100% of my customers, since our clientele was office customers." Enough to knock a guy out in the business ring.

Christian is a fighter: he reinvented himself and broke into new markets while waiting for the offices to reopen. He continued to invest heavily and hire new employees for the future that he saw as sparkling. But the job market had changed. And even if there was a return to the office, it was nothing compared to what it had been. He had just lost his financial windfall.

Then he got sick. He had to stop training. He fell into a spiral of depression. He had lost the magic ingredient that was essential to his balance and his success. In May 2022, he closed the business. For him, it is proof that when he can no longer oxygenate his body and brain with sport, and he has to face hard knocks, then it is immensely more difficult.

Christian went on vacation. He did nothing at all. Just recharged his batteries. Then he started moving again, getting some fresh air, going for a run, riding his bike, boxing. The flame was rekindled. In February 2023, he announced his latest venture: FISH, a private sushi club. When Christian is centered, and boosted by the adrenaline that sports give him, he is happy in business… like a fish in water!