How were you Influenced?

Whether you are passionate about sports, art, social media, marketing or vodka, Influence MTL was the event to be at on May 19th 2017. Influence MTL took place at the Sheraton Hotel on René Lévesque street. The first time conference hosted 11 panels and 3 keynote speakers, and allowed potential entrepreneurs to learn about entering and succeeding in their potential careers. The conference enabled attendees to not only make connections with one another but with the panelists as well.

The day started at 7am with an influential breakfast, which was the first opportunity for everyone to mingle. After breakfast, ticket holders decided on which of the two panels being offered they would sit in on, Social Entrepreneurship or Clothing & Retail Entrepreneurship. After the first set of panels, everyone made their way to the ballroom for the first keynote of the day: Nicolas Duvernois. Duvernois is the president and founder of PUR Vodka. He decided to create PUR when he realized that there were no premium vodkas made in Quebec. He thought that this was unacceptable so he started the process of making vodka right here in his home province. Although he is extremely successful now, Duvernois had faced a lot of hardship along the way which he outlined in his keynote address. No one believed he would be able to do it, and at times he thought that he wouldn't be able to, especially when he learned how much it would cost just to buy bottles for the alcohol! But with a lot of perseverance, Devernois was able to achieve his dream.

After the first keynote was over, everyone got to choose between three more panels: Hospitality & Entrepreneurship, Digital Marketing & Entrepreneurship or Women & Entrepreneurship. In this round I chose to attend Women & Entrepreneurship, which had five amazing women discussing the struggles of being taken seriously as a woman in business. The two speakers that stood out the most in my eyes were Michelle Shnaidman, founder and CEO of Bellesa, a porn company that is marketed towards women, and Karolyn Auger, who is the director of operations of PUR Vodka (her husband is owner Duvernois). Bellesa only launched three months ago and they have already made headlines, since this is the first time that porn is being marketed for women by women. Auger stood out since she is very much an introvert, while her husband is extremely extroverted. She discussed what it is like to be a silent partner, and the struggle of not only being a business woman but being a mother of a young girl and being pregnant with her second child. After a quick lunch break, it was time for the next three panels: Sports & Entrepreneurship, Restaurants & Entrepreneurship, and Liquor/Beverages & Entrepreneurship. I attended Sports & Entrepreneurship, where the athletes that spoke were not only able to succeed in their athletic careers, but were all able to make it in business as well.

Once the Sports and Entrepreneurship panel was over, we all headed back to the ballroom for the second keynote of the day: Danièle Henkel, the founder of Danièle Henkel Enterprises Inc. Henkel spoke a lot about her passed and her personal life, because that is what turned her into the woman that she is now. When she was about 14, Henkel saw her mother abused, and from that moment she knew that she needed to help her family and make sure that she did everything in her power to keep them safe. When she was 19 years old her mother chose the man she was going to marry, and although she did not want this, Danièle went through with it because it was important to her mother. Many years later she has grown to love her husband and they have a beautiful family together. Although she did not always have control of her life, this made her want to take control of her company, and so that is what she did.

Once the second keynote was over, it was time for the final panels of the day, Shareconomy and Entrepreneurship, Health and Entrepreneurship, or Art and Entrepreneurship. I chose Art and Entrepreneurship panel, where the four panelists discussed how they got into art and made it into a career. The speaker that stood out the most during this panel to me was Miss Me, who is Montreal's Premier Art Vandal. Miss Me walked around the conference in a mask that was a cross of a ski mask and a rabbit. She wears the mask for two reasons, the first is because most of her work is illegal. The second reason, and which is the most important to her is that women are often judged for how they look, and Miss Me wants her art to speak for itself.

At 5:30pm the main event was about to take place in the ballroom, Gary Vaynershuk, who is one of the world's leading marketing experts, was going to give the final keynote address. Vaynerchuk discussed a myriad of things, but what stood out the most was his rant on trend spotting. This came up because of the recent downfall of Snapchat, which he thinks should not have occurred. Vaynershuk that those that left Snapchat for Instagram were "stupid" because Snapchat may be down now but in the blink of an eye they could be the top form of Social Media. For all we know Snapchat is in the works of launch something that Instagram couldn't even dream about, and once it does everyone is going to be running back to them, only now it will be harder because their followers will have forgotten about them.

What should have been taken away from this conference? Everyone should have left with some new connections and ideas on how to succeed. The moment that stood out the most to me during the conference? Well that was when Miss Me was reminded by her panel host that she needs to be able to live, and that even though she loves what she is doing it isn't going to allow her to survive since it is unpaid, she responded "If you lose your soul life over your personal life, you will die anyway." Meaning if you stop pursuing your dreams because you're worried about your personal life, you will never truly be living.

The creator of Influence MTL Thierry Lindor, is planning on taking Influence all over the world. To learn more about Influence MTL and where the next stop is going to be, head over to their Facebook page InfluenceMtl and/or their website influencemtl.com

*All pictures belong to Lachérie Photographie to view more pictures from the event go to https://lacherie.pixieset.com/influencemtl2017/