If we had to describe entrepreneur Marie-Hélène Dubeau with just one word, we would say… that’s impossible! Because visionary, engaged, determined, bold and innovative are just a few of her qualities.
Let us show you why.
Her journey
From a very young age, Marie-Hélène had already decided to forge her own path and achieve her goals. What she needed was an occupation that would feed both her creative side and her logical side.
Marie-Hélène settled on a career in marketing. After obtaining her CEGEP diploma, she rounded out her education with a bachelor’s degree in communications.
Armed with her academic qualifications and dogged determination, Marie-Hélène interned at a radio station and was soon offered a management position for the major network and its teams.
Her evolution
She learned an enormous amount during this 15-year adventure. By her own admission, she learned some of her lessons by making mistakes.
“In life, there are no mistakes, only lessons.”
– Marie-Hélène Dubeau
Of course, when you achieve this level of responsibility when you are so young and inexperienced, mistakes will happen. But Marie-Hélène chose to take advantage of them to learn, understand, grow and gain experience.
She was able to draw on her experience in her next job at a major Quebec media outlet. Wearing several hats, Marie-Hélène was responsible for media creativity, production, marketing, convergence and more. She was also in charge of a budget of several million dollars, the company’s employees, its premises and other specifics of the business.
The job, which she held for nine years, was decisive in Marie-Hélène’s life, because it made her realize that juggling duties and responsibilities gave her a deep sense of contentment and accomplishment. Marie-Hélène was in her happy place, nourished both creatively and administratively.
By that time, Marie-Hélène had evolved from the manager she was at the start of her career. Solid, deeply rooted in her role and content with her responsibilities, she realized that her greatest happiness was found in being part of an engaged team that enjoys their work.
This realization guided many of the professional choices that would follow.
“I want life to be fun. It’s important to find enjoyment. I think we’re at our best when we’re part of a team; I need to work toward a shared objective […] I think it’s super important to find this sort of team spirit and pleasure in what I do.”
– Marie-Hélène Dubeau
A new challenge
After years of dedication to that business, Marie-Hélène wanted to channel her expertise to launch her own marketing firm. Supported by an extensive network, in 2017, Marie-Hélène launched Lazuli Marketing Conseil.
This collaborative brand communication agency, which offers services in planning, strategy, content creation and project and production management, quickly carved out a leading place in its sector of activity. Plus, the business is currently going through a period of strong growth.
Marie-Hélène had found fulfillment in her business and responsibilities, and everything seemed to be going well, in the best of all possible worlds. But was this world truly the “best”? For Marie-Hélène, who grew up in a family that was environmentally aware, it was clear that businesses and individuals could do better for the environment.
Logical by nature, Marie-Hélène was increasingly irritated that she didn’t really know whether her day-to-day efforts for the environment were truly paying off. She wanted to become more informed on the subject, and she realized that the information out there was often unclear, inconsistent, incomplete or ill-suited to the realities of daily life.
For Marie-Hélène, a communication specialist, this situation could not go on. If the information wasn’t clear, we should make it accessible, relevant, and realistic for as many people as possible. And, while we’re at it, why not make it fun?
That’s when Marie-Hélène came up with and launched Les Décarbonés.
Les Décarbonés
Les Décarbonés is an information platform that features real ideas for decarbonizing real life. Illuminating articles, entertaining videos and concrete tools are shared regularly to make as many people as possible want to do their part.
And, speaking of doing their part, the goal of Les Décarbonés is to get every Quebecer to increase their daily sustainability efforts.
Originally with a web and print media presence, then moving to television, Les Décarbonés is for Quebecers who want to take action, but who don’t know where to start.
Whether they live in major urban centres, the suburbs or rural areas, they want to do their part and feel the concrete benefits in their daily lives.
For Marie-Hélène, the pleasure and personal satisfaction generated by adopting new environmentally responsible habits are key advantages.
“Doing more has to be fun! You need to get personal satisfaction from using sorting bins and from knowing that you did what had to be done.”
– Marie-Hélène Dubeau
Les Décarbonés × Le Devoir
Every Saturday, in the Plaisirs section, Les Décarbonés shares informative, inspiring articles that show the real benefits of environmental efforts on the wallet, health and quality of life.
Ideas for reducing your carbon footprint at home, inspiration for economical, healthy eating with no waste: it offers a multitude of inspiring tools for taking action and aiming higher for people who want to maximize their sustainability efforts.
But Les Décarbonés never lecture, far from it! The goal is for people to find their own answers and make the choices that are right for them. Everyone has their own reality, and every reality comes with different, equally legitimate choices.
One of the platform’s many projects is a TV series to be broadcast this fall. As part of a friendly competition, participants will tackle challenges in which the most creative eco-friendly efforts lead to victory. The show’s 10 episodes will end with the award of a $50,000 grand prize.
Les Décarbonés will also be the object of a crowdfunding campaign by La Ruche to raise funds to produce videos and articles.
We bet Marie-Hélène has more surprises in store for us and that Les Décarbonés will quickly become the top resource for Quebecers.
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Les Décarbonés a l’opportunité d’être accompagnée par Ali Diallo, directeur régional de la Montérégie. Cette collaboration s’est avérée être un véritable atout pour l’entreprise. Grâce à l’expertise et aux conseils avisés d’Ali, Les Décarbonés a pu franchir de nouvelles étapes dans son développement. Leur relation a été un véritable levier de création, permettant à l’entreprise de se structurer et d’affiner sa stratégie. L’accompagnement d’Ali a été un facteur clé dans l’évolution positive de Les Décarbonés.
Grâce à l’engagement de précieux partenaires : Économie Québec, par l’entremise de son mandataire Investissement Québec, le gouvernement du Canada, la Banque Nationale, la Banque de développement du Canada (BDC), le Fonds de solidarité FTQ et Fondaction, Evol dispose d’une enveloppe d’envergure pour soutenir, par le biais de prêts conventionnels, des entreprises à propriété inclusive et diversifiée, générant des impacts sociaux et environnementaux positifs alignés sur les objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU (ODD).
