Episode 16 : Making Every Day Worth Writing About
Founder of Productions L’Éloi, science student Eloi Beauchamp had no idea he would end up in the production world, where art and fashion advertising meet. Between his summers planting trees in the forest and his biology studies in university, Eloi was well on his way to a career as a scientist when he realized this path wasn’t going to bring him enough challenge. While still working on his master’s degree, Eloi jumped in with determination, a desire to learn and a will to always improve. Almost two decades later, here is the story behind Eloi’s amazing success, including inspiring debuts, challenges, and growth strategies.
Eloi’s Growth Story Book Title:
“Eloi“
I love this theory of a book, c’est très profondément ancré en moi. I don’t know if that is egomaniac or too self centered, but I’ve always lived my life as if I was a character in a book, and think every morning: What am I going to make today that’s going to be worth writing in that book? That leads to living a life with constant will to surpass yourself and go forward. I really want to make a dent… in my own life at least!
What you’ll learn:
- Eloi’s parents were educators and moved around a lot. He had moved over seven times by the time he was in grade six. They once lived on a farm with sheeps. Changing schools a lot helped Eloi develop a very strong sense of adaptability.
- Eloi was very academic. For years he studied in applied sciences with the thought of becoming a scientist, but a few years in, he realized he was going to need more challenges.
- For ten years, Eloi was going tree planting in British Columbia in the summers and really loved being close to the forest, the ecosystem. That’s why he decided to study biology at university, but also where he got his taste for leadership and entrepreneurship when he became a team leader.
- Eloi was introduced to the world of fashion photography by his first wife Isabelle Long who was a fashion stylist for Elle magazine.
Notable quotes:
- “Working on a master’s degree was a really good school. You’re leading a project with an introduction, an execution, the results, the analysis, a conclusion, which is very similar to any business project.” – Eloi on how his academic approach to project management was a big differentiator from his competitors in the production world, as they often came from a more artistic but less structured background.
- “One thing I learned is that you must share with the people that you know and in your industry, but you must keep some to yourself.” – Eloi reflecting on when he told his idea to represent stylists and MUA to a model agent for guidance and saw the agency steal his ideas three weeks later.
- “I wanted to learn. Ever since I started the business. From day ONE, I went to get help, mentoring.” – Eloi explaining how he was always part of business and entrepreneurs groups such as EO.
- “Next week I’ll be flying to Poland to shoot for a client who found us on Instagram. That’s how our business goes nowadays.” – On how the Internet and social media changed the dynamic of his business completely.
Show notes:
02:15 – Eloi owns the production studio Leloi where artists and brands meet to create beautiful imagery and advertisement: video, photographers.
03:15 – Beyond the production side of his business, Eloi is also an agent. He represents the photographers and videographers that work at his studio.
03:40 – The third part of the business is studio rental of his 1800 square foot space in Montreal with four studios and a fantastic rooftop terrasse and a co-working space.
07:30 – Eloi was born in Ontario and has two younger sisters.
09:50 – Eloi has a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in aquatic ecology.
23:32 – The first meeting Eloi had was with photographers duo Leda St-Jacques to sell Isabelle’s talent. They had such a great chemistry, Eloi ended up being their agent as well for ten years.
25:15 – Eloi promoted his small crew with their sample brochure and got contracts to shoot for Nadya Toto, Dex, a few fur companies, and not even a year later, Elle magazine.
25:30 – The first year, they invoiced 125K to customers. Seven years later they had grown to 1,7M in sales.
29:00 – Eloi joined EO a few years back when he felt that the business had stopped growing. The “Vivid Vision” exercise provided from the book Double Double really changed his game.
30:15 – The 3-year picture Eloi painted for his business implied taking up another floor of his building, so they went to get financing from BDC Banque de Développement du Canada and obtained a quarter million dollar loan.
33:20 – When he first started his business, Eloi undertook the SAJE program for young entrepreneurs.
33:33 – Before joining EO, Eloi was part of the Groupement des Chefs d’Entreprise du Québec for four years.