Give yourself a mission

“ I want to change history!” Mathieu says without hesitation. He also went to Montreal to give a conference and to Ottawa to meet Minister Caroline Bennett, his first atypical interview in Parliament! “I want to go to the UN to talk about autism to all the world’s leaders. Besides, everyone has a cause to defend. We would have come so far if everyone had as much drive as I do!”

I want to show that a new kind of journalism is possible, that thanks to my way of being, sensitive and authentic, I allow my interlocutors to feel good and to open up. I have my secret technique that touches people… People feel good in my presence. Who I am allows me to reach people's heartstrings and to conduct this profession in a different way.

I feel people, and that allows me to go beyond traditional journalism. I want to democratize autism by showing that we can remain ourselves and carry out different projects, and that this is a richness."

The little story behind

Mathieu started Interviews Atypiques during the pandemic. He would go into the businesses in his neighborhood, chat with the owners and write articles. It was a way for the young man with a big heart to encourage local purchasing, to do his part. “I also wanted to trigger dopamine in people’s brains to get out of all this negativity! Dopamine is the happiness hormone, and I can do that, make people cry with joy, arouse emotion! Whether it’s the people I interview or those watching.” He’s committed to that.

Mathieu continues to promote businesses by offering artists sponsored products during live interviews. Part of the interview is specifically dedicated to this. And he doesn't hesitate to send messages on social networks: "I'm interviewing David Goudreault in five days! Who wants to offer something?" His site is also a great showcase for local businesses.

Today, Mathieu interviews not only entrepreneurs and people who have messages to get across, but also celebrities. He does his homework, from research work to canvassing, to editing. He has unfailing perseverance, he doesn't give up; we'll see later, he doesn't fall on deaf ears! He knows what he wants, and he's ambitious. "It makes you want to help you," confirmed Martin Véronneau, the 2Frères agent. "You have your own perception of certain issues, of the artists' careers for example. And you can allow yourself to have frank discussions with them, to go where others don't go, in your own way, with your crazy questions among other things!"

Autism and Personal Strength

At first, Mathieu wrote articles about entrepreneurs, from small neighborhood cafés to large car dealerships. After about a hundred, his fingers started to hurt and he began to reconsider his medium. He then turned to video, with Karlos Magno Borges, a cameraman and photographer friend and a damn good guy , according to Mathieu. "I wasn't comfortable at first. Today, I'm enjoying my life! It brings me insatiable personal satisfaction and it gets me out of the house and meeting people, that's what I love!" Quite a challenge for an aspie guy (a cool name that refers to Asperger's), who he successfully completed with flying colors.

It must be said that Mathieu is a survivor, a go getter who pushes his limits. He had an intellectual disability for several years – “until my brain healed.” He was homeschooled a bit, he learned to control his nervous tics, he controls his symptoms with medication. “My mother has fibromyalgia and my father is a house painter. I want to emphasize that my parents were extraordinarily tenacious.” At 13, Mathieu was hospitalized for a month and a half for severe meningitis and put in a coma, on top of everything else. “The doctors didn’t believe I would recover like that! But you are the master of your destiny.”

Take care of yourself before taking care of others , that's Mathieu's slogan. The one he throws out to everyone he meets. Mathieu, the guy who will soon be selling his "Sois Extravagant" t-shirts and who, while waiting for his project to grow and for him to be able to make a living from it, is also a packer at Géogène Micro-torréfacteur, one of the meager ten percent of autistic people who are paid employees. It is from his work that he conducts a large number of interviews, thanks to an owner who is convinced of his project and his strength. "Mathieu is the intense guy with his frankness, his positive attitude, the one who brings out the best in us." Mathieu is also and above all, a passionate journalist imbued with humanity.