Interview with Alexandre Champagne, founder of Three Times a Day, photographer and lover of humans
The Web seems to have played an important role in your professional career (from “Contrat de gars” to Three Times a Day). You knew and know how to stand out in the Quebec media scene as a boyfriend, father, photographer, comedian, videographer and Marilou’s collaborator in Three times a day.
Do you think that social media helped you carve out a spot on the media scene in Quebec?
Social networks have allowed me to achieve a great visibility. The “Contrat de gars” web site was one of the first to have 50 000 subscribers. When I created my fan page, I was criticized a lot. Now people approach me to get my advice. They want to know how to succeed in social media. I don’t know. There is no magic recipe, but the quality of the content and authenticity are indicators leading to success. A good trick is to go sparingly, to have a genuine presence and produce short publications that are likely to interest the audience.
What roles do the Web and social media occupy in your everyday life? Does the omnipresence of social media sometimes become invasive?
Marilou and I fully manage the content we publish on the different platforms of Three times a day. It’s funny, because certain people believe that everything we do is calculated, but it’s quite the opposite, we are very spontaneous. First and foremost we are individuals with lives that are made up of quiet moments and moments of excitement. This cycle can be felt throughout our presence on social networks. It’s being said, that this way of interacting can be dangerous for a company, but we prefer to communicate with our subscribers in a natural manner. I don’t feel the need to unplug myself from social media, since I don’t let myself be invaded. I have the power over the use of social media and not the other way around!
How do you find your balance between your professional life and your personal life?
I have a goal in life: to be the same person all over. It’s important to me to be authentic and genuine. Rather than juggling different roles, I aspire to be the same person in my personal and professional life. It’s more difficult to show ones true personality in the media. In the media scene, humans are severely judge on trivial aspects and without necessarily taking into account the different types of intelligence and complexity of the human being.
How has fatherhood changed your life and your perception of the world?
EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED! I don’t have my head in the clouds as much, I’m more relaxed, and I worry less. My daughter’s well-being is what matters to me the most. Everything else I do with much more lightness. Having a child is a full time job! It is also a mirror that can sometimes be confronting. I love being a father; it is the most beautiful part of my life!
Do you have long-term personal and professional goals?
I aspire to do photography for the rest of my life, and eventually I’d like to look into the social and documentary aspects of this art. I would love to develop a photo project on issues that affect me: the homeless, the refugees, mental illness and gambling. These issues are often stigmatized. We are fast to judge instead of focusing on the reasons and trying to understand. I would like to make a difference.
What does entrepreneurship mean to you?
For me, entrepreneurship is financial autonomy and accountability. That consists in making a small part of the world better, and the money that comes from it, is a consequence of the achievement of this goal. The entrepreneurs I meet never talk to me about money; they talk about their passion. It’s not the number of subscribers or the number of books sold that matters, but the culmination of the efforts that we put into a project that we really care about. Three times a day is a project that combines several passions: cooking, creating content and photography. We are very happy to see our company grow: soon we will celebrate our third birthday!
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THESE ARTICLES