Up-Close & Personal: Get to Know Julie Labrie (Radio-Canada interview)
A Deep Love for Disney, Live Concerts and a Hidden Bilingual (English/French) Connection
A quick look through my social media accounts will reveal my deep love for Disney and all things Mickey Mouse. My family and I love vacationing there, and I try to go down as often as I can. If you follow my IG stories, you’ll also see that one of my favourite things to do is go see my favourite artists, live in concert and I often invite my clients to join me. I do this when I’m at home, and even while I’m travelling!
I shared some of these passions and hobbies recently in an interview (in French) on Radio-Canada, on the show, dans la mosaïque with Isabelle Ménard. The segment was a “get to know” style feature interview, and I had a wonderful time at the CBC studio in Toronto. You can listen to the French interview here.
We have the pleasure of hearing about jobseekers’ passions, hobbies and personal experiences through job interviews every day, and upon hearing this radio interview, my team thought it was time for me to share my passions here too.
So here it goes!
Q: Julie, we know you love going to live music concerts. What are some of your favourite bands to see live?
A: I love all kinds of pop music, and my favourites include bands like Bon Jovi, Backstreet Boys, and New Kids on the Block (NKOTB), etc.
In fact, NKOTB was the very first live concert I had ever attended. My love of concerts was born right there. I was just 14 years old. Growing up in Quebec City, I always wanted to be Bilingual in English and French, just like some of the media personalities I’d see on TV every day. Though I had not had the chance to fully learn English, I just loved how these hosts would switch from French to English, and back effortlessly.
At the NKOTB concert, I remember wanting to follow and understand the meaning of the English song lyrics. I guess you could say the seeds for Bilingualism were officially planted even back then. I still chuckle at the fact that I became fully Bilingual, and that my life’s work now is in recruitment, specifically for Bilingual talent – how apropos!
Q: What would you say is the best concert you’ve seen?
A: So many have been fantastic, but my favourite artist of all time is Celine Dion so I would have to say any of her concerts are the best for me. She is spectacular and I’ve watched her perform live many times. The very first time was in Quebec City at Le Capitole in 1992. I was 16 years old. I remember we had to line up outside of a grocery store to purchase the tickets!
In 2005, I went to see Celine in Las Vegas. While I was visiting the Wynn, Celine’s musical conductor at the time, Claude Lemay “Mego”, was standing right there. I ran to him and took a picture. I must confess, I was so excited!
Julie Labrie with Celine Dion’s musical conductor, Claude Lemay “Mego” in 2005 in Las Vegas.
Julie Labrie attending a Celine Dion concert in December 2019 in Toronto.
Then, the most recent Celine concert I saw was in December 2019 in Toronto. My heart is with her as she focuses on her health right now. I hope she can make it back onto the stage again one day. She is truly one of a kind.
Q: What is your all-time favourite Celine Dion song?
A: Oh, that’s a hard question for me to answer! There are so many of her songs that I love, both in French and English. For English, let’s go with “All by myself,” and for French, I’d say: “J’irais où tu iras.”
Q: Have you ever met a huge celebrity up front and close?
A: I wouldn’t classify it as “met a celebrity” but we were in close range, for sure! Haha! When I went to see Bon Jovi in 2013, we were on our way to dinner before the concert and we walked right past Bon Jovi’s media scrum. We had to capture the moment with a picture. The energy in that space was palpable! At that time, Bon Jovi was the band who had the most concerts at the Air Canada Centre – it was 17 in total.
Q: Such fun memories! Okay, let’s move onto Disney. We know this is your happy place. But we heard in your CBC radio interview, that you brought Mickey Mouse home in a pretty unique manner. Can you tell us more?
A: Sure. It is true, Disney World is my favourite place in the world, and I do love all things Mickey Mouse (luckily, so does my family!). So, when we bought our house, I immediately knew I wanted to bring some Mickey inspo into our home. Right away, I decided I was going to create a Mickey Mouse-themed bathroom.
My labour of love for Mickey can be seen in my custom window curtains that I had made from some special Mickey-themed fabric I found on my design journey, along with some Mickey wall decals, that I’m proud to say, I made myself with my Circuit machine!
Now here’s a fun trivia point for you: Did you know? Over 3 million pairs of Mickey Mouse ears are sold annually at Walt Disney world. According to DisneyEnthusiast.com, if you placed all of these ears end-to-end, they would stretch more than 281 kilometers! Incidentally, I own a few pair myself and my daughters do too! J
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Here is a parting thought: According to an article published online in Forbes this year entitled, Why You Should Nourish Workplace Friendships, acclaimed psychologist, Robin Dunbar notes that friendships are founded on several pillars which include interests and hobbies, sense of humour, musical tastes, and career passions. And according to his research, the more people share in common, the more likely they are to build meaningful friendships.
So I invite you to take this opportunity today, to share a little more about yourself, your passions, and your interests with your co-workers who may not know a lot about you. You never know where lasting friendships can blossom! And friendships as research shows is critical to our health and happiness.
