On Thursday, Nov. 14, he spoke about the twists and turns he’s experienced as an entrepreneur in his lecture, \u201cBuilt from Scratch: An Entrepreneur\u2019s Journey,\u201d where he shared how he advanced from\u00a0account executive to agency president to starting his own agency.<\/p>\n
The free event, held at Brock University’s Sean O\u2019Sullivan Theatre, caused Lafond to reflect on his own university experience, where he felt “a world away” from his classmates.<\/span><\/p>\n “I grew up in northern Ontario, and I was going to school\u00a0with people from Toronto whose parents worked in corporate,” said Lafond. “I swept floors.”<\/p>\n After graduating, many of his classmates immediately went into corporate jobs at big brands and consulting firms.<\/p>\n “I took a job at Xerox selling photocopyers,” said Lafond. “I needed the money because I had $72,000 of school debt. It was 1998.”<\/p>\n He says it wasn’t until he got into advertising that he discovered his risk-taking tendencies.\u00a0During his early years at an agency called Publicis, Lafond had two mentors \u2014 one of whom would end up having a major impact on both his personal and professional life.<\/p>\n Serge Rancourt is now Lafond’s business partner, who hired Lafond’s now-wife, Rachel, during their time at Publicis. Shortly after she started, Rancourt commented on her engagement ring and asked, “What’s with the ring on your finger?<\/p>\n Dave Lafond talks about meeting his wife, Rachel.<\/p><\/div>\n She said she was engaged to a man named Michael, and Rancourt said, “You’re going to marry Dave Lafond.”<\/p>\n Sure enough, he was right.<\/p>\n “I got the ring off her finger and we got married and had a kid within a year,” said Lafond.<\/p>\n It was another twist that landed him exactly where he wanted to be.<\/p>\n Lafond joined the multinational advertising and public relations company Publicis in 2001. In 2007, he launched Publicis Modem, a digital agency which grew to a team of more than 120.<\/p>\n In 2011, he\u00a0became president of Proximity\/BBDO Canada, and in 2013, he joined Cossette, one of Canada\u2019s largest independent agencies, as president of English Canada. In 2016, Lafond launched No Fixed Address with CEO and Co-Founder Serge <\/span>Rancourt<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Getting started is hard,” said Lafond. “Going linear isn’t part of the process. If I reach a couple students like me that were super lost, that would be success for me. I remember when I was young in university, I had no career path. I graduated without a job. You don’t know where your journey’s going to take you.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lafond2-1050x700.jpg\")
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