Entrepreneurship is what everyone is talking about these days. Numerous conferences are taking place, venture capital funds are multiplying and a never-ending amount of start-ups are being launched. Therefore, entrepreneurs have all the good reasons to be extremely busy: reading a book that will teach them how to become creative, attending conferences that will discuss the secrets of search engine optimization and networking during costly events where they are over-charged and left with a single memory: a four figures number on their credit card history.
Through all these venues, a social start-up has slipped under the radar of experts. Nonetheless, Funio invested in that project by sponsoring that organism. The goal ? Much more exciting than creating a new mobile application or improving data collection for your advertising campaigns. Prescription : Action aims to change the lifestyle of infants and adolescents by promoting healthy changes. Today, Dr Luce Thériault, founding member, tells us about her vision. And I promise, the ROI that she aims for is worth a lot more than any AdWords campaign can offer.
On the weekend of June 14th, you were involved in a challenge called Grand Défi Pierre Lavoie, which lead you to cover thousands of kilometers in order to promote healthy life habits. How was this like for you and your team?
The challenge was an amazing experience for all of us. We were riding our bikes towards the unknown. Perhaps, we were prepared since we trained a lot for this, which allowed us to cross the finish line with pride. Sleep was rare but the joy and the energy that emerged from this event helped us go beyond our limits. Every single one of us was pushed out of our comfort zones and we can say that we are stronger than we were. While riding, we thought of the reason that lead us to be involved in this challenge. That was enough to help us push harder and pursue this adventure.
Since Funio believes in your project, we decided to be an official partner of Prescription :Action. How did the partnership with Funio help you while preparing for the challenge ?
Funio helped us be a part of this challenge by contributing to our registration fees and by allowing us to meet our fundraising objectives. The funds will be used to organize events in elementary schools in New-Brunswick. Funio gave us their trust and that is the most important thing. Seeing a company from Quebec support a team from New-Brunswick also shows us that the movement is going beyond borders. Finally, your presence and support on social media before, during and after the challenge was very touching and motivating. Out of all of our sponsors, Funio was the most involved and active.
You and your colleagues have launched the social start-up Prescription:Action. Being, in a certain way, health professionals turning to entrepreneurs, what are the challenges that you faced as you are growing?
The objectives and issues addressed by the Grand Défi Pierre Lavoie are crucial to people from all ages. Since the Grand Défi is now well known, we did not have to justify our actions or to convince the public that promoting healthy life habits is important, since that was taken for granted. On a personal level, time management was the greatest struggle we faced. We all feel lucky to be a group physicians that benefit from the support from our friends and families. Having people that believe in you from the start is something very reassuring and comforting.
Beign both an entrepreneur and an athlete, do you see a parallel between the challenges faced by entrepreneurs, creating a new project, and athletes, training for an ideal ?
I believe that both athletes and entrepreneurs have to be patient. Since the results can take time to be seen, we should never forget that we are working towards a long-term goal and that success takes time. Of course, we may try to beat a personal record while training, but what really counts is the sum of all the improvements that we demonstrate through the trainings. The same thing applies to social entrepreneurs : we may be able to accomplish something great one day, but what really count is the big picture goal, which is to change something in society. Small gains are only a step towards meeting our ideals.
You are a practicing family physician. Just like your colleagues, you already contribute to improving society on a daily basis. What led you to create Prescription :Action ?
After working as family practitioner for 3 years, I realized that my patients were dependent on the public health system to improve their quality of life. Perhaps, they did not really reach that goal. I thought of what could help people change their life habits without jeopardizing the health system. I had a meeting with my colleagues to pitch my idea : organizing free venues where people could be active and learn about improving their lifestyle. We also want to be an example and we do want to demonstrate to our patients that eating well, exercising and avoiding smoking can help them in a way that no drug can do. We want our community to feel responsible towards their health.
How can Funio’s clients contribute to your mission ?
Funio’s community can help us achieve our goals by encouraging their employees, colleagues and friends to improve their health. For example, offering coupons for fitness centers, organizing stress management workshops, exercising during lunch time, having a sport-related challenge between colleagues, etc. Every person can become an ambassador of healthy life habits and serve as a role model. To learn more about Prescription : Action, visit their website. Also, make sure to visit Funio’s page to discover our exciting new products.
