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From Showroom to Headhunter, Lyne Bourdeau's Story of Defiance and Influence
Bucking trends isn't new for Lyne Bourdeau, who followed in the footsteps of her mother, Quebec's first female car salesperson, into the male-dominated automotive world despite her initial reluctance. Her tale is one of defying odds and embracing a career driven by a passion for people, a narrative that embodies leadership and the transformative influence of a pioneering mother. As the spotlight shines on Lynn in our latest episode, we delve into her transition from the showroom floor to becoming a recruitment and headhunting powerhouse, crafting the futures of countless professionals with her unique blend of intuition, skill, and dedication to lifetime coaching.
As you tune in, prepare to be enveloped by the intricacies of Lyne's methodical candidate selection and training approach, which transcends the bounds of the automotive industry to empower a diverse range of sectors. The conversation weaves through the exhilaration of pairing the ideal candidate with their dream employer and the weighty responsibility of steering pivotal career changes.
Let's celebrate Lynn's impact on the professional landscape and the ripple effect of her mother's legacy on future trailblazers.
Find Lyne's profile on LinkedIn or her company here.
Bucking trends isn't new for Lyne Bourdeau, who followed in the footsteps of her mother, Quebec's first female car salesperson, into the male-dominated automotive world despite her initial reluctance. Her tale is one of defying odds and embracing a career driven by a passion for people, a narrative that embodies leadership and the transformative influence of a pioneering mother. As the spotlight shines on Lynn in our latest episode, we delve into her transition from the showroom floor to becoming a recruitment and headhunting powerhouse, crafting the futures of countless professionals with her unique blend of intuition, skill, and dedication to lifetime coaching.
As you tune in, prepare to be enveloped by the intricacies of Lyne's methodical candidate selection and training approach, which transcends the bounds of the automotive industry to empower a diverse range of sectors. The conversation weaves through the exhilaration of pairing the ideal candidate with their dream employer and the weighty responsibility of steering pivotal career changes.
Let's celebrate Lynn's impact on the professional landscape and the ripple effect of her mother's legacy on future trailblazers.
Find Lyne's profile on LinkedIn or her company here.
And welcome back to when Leaders Connect, the Corporate Connections podcast, where we sit down with members from across our country and have conversations about what they do, why they do it and how they go about doing it. And how they go about doing it. Hi, my name is Trevor Botkin. I am the National Director for Corporate Connections and today it is my incredible pleasure to have one of our newer members on the podcast, ms Lynn Bordeaux.
Speaker 1:With nearly two decades of experience, lynn has established herself as a seasoned professional in the realms of recruitment and headhunting. Her exceptional ability to analyze individuals allows her to forge meaningful connections and relationships. Matching the perfect candidates with the right employers is where Lynn truly excels. In fact, it's her forte. Driven by a passion for excellence, lynn thrives on working with companies across diverse industries. With each assignment, she eagerly embraces the opportunity to expand her knowledge and refine her expertise. Every project becomes a personal challenge for Lynn to craft tailored recruitment solutions. She eagerly embraces the opportunity to expand her knowledge and refine her expertise. Every project becomes a personal challenge for Lynn to craft tailored recruitment solutions that exceed expectations. It is my great pleasure to welcome to the show Lynn Berdour. Lynn, great to have you here.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:What a great introduction.
Speaker 2:Oh, it was nice.
Speaker 1:I'm like, wow, I want to meet this woman. Let's jump right in and let's talk a little bit. And I know a little bit of your story but we've never really, I think, dove deep. So maybe we can start kind of from the beginning, because I know that you've been in a family business and you've been taking over the reins there. So maybe go back to the beginning and what's the origin story for your company?
Speaker 2:Let's start this way. I come from a family that comes first of all. My mother is the first woman that sold cars in Quebec in 1973. My short mother of five foot in 1973 had to, you know, push a lot of things, make things moving, to get the chance to sell cars.
Speaker 2:So, that being said, I grew up with a mother that came back, you know, in the weekends when we had breakfast and she said you know what, this week one of these men that I work with told me to go back in my kitchen that I'm stealing men's jobs. So I was kind of young, six, seven years old, and I used to tell my mom mom, you can't take this. So you know what, take your car, run them over, it's going to be settled. So I grew up with having the knowledge that the car business was a mean place for women to be in and, being five foot eight, I told myself if I would be working in that business, in that kind of industry, I would be in prison very quickly. So never wanted to work in the car business, never in a thousand years. And my mother retired at 67 years old. She was, like I said, the first woman that sold cars. She became one of the first five F&Is in 1981.
Speaker 1:What's F&I?
Speaker 2:It's finance and insurance. It's the people that take care of the financing and selling extended warranties and so on. So my mother today is 76 years old, so she's been retired for the last nine years, but she stayed in that field and it always pushed me to say, in a certain way, my God, my mother can make it. So when, at 23 years old, I had the opportunity to jump in because, by the way, I hate cars. For me I don't like cars, it's an expense, but I do love people, I do love $35,000 in 1993. I was a manager doing well, but the shopping center is starting to open on Sundays and I said no way, I want to be working on Sundays in shopping centers. And my mother, she said let's try this for you. So I jumped and I tried and my first night I was on the floor. On the Thursday night, I still remember I sold two cars.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:But I hate cars. My first car that I sold was a Toyota Tercel. I know it sounds old, but I'm not that old, and I was in that field until I jumped in the family business in 2017.
Speaker 1:Just before we move on to the family business and what you're doing today, looking back on that experience of growing up as a young woman in the obviously late 70s, early 80s which would have been your childhood and watching your mom who obviously was a pioneer, I wouldn't even just say in automotive I think in Quebec we did not have a lot of women necessarily in the workforce in some of these roles and even today I think we're still behind in some areas.
Speaker 2:No, maximum 5%.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's an issue. What would you say the biggest takeaway for you as you look back um now, as as someone you know we're, we're both relatively in our middle age.
Speaker 2:But as you look back, what would you say the biggest lesson you learned from your mom is um, the biggest lesson was if you want to do something, if you're going to be, if you're about to be, walking against the movement of everybody, walking marcher contre la vague, against the wave, you want to do this. You're not going to have everybody helping you out, so you want this, you make it happen. You want this, you make it happen. So I had this privilege of having a mother that always stood for her beliefs, which it's totally printed on my skin. I want to do something, I will make it happen and it will be hard, but you know what I get to where I want.
Speaker 1:And I guess she removed that temptation of coming home from school and complaining about how you were treated, since that was her day to day, was being, you know, abused by those around her. So you didn't, you didn't really have the ability to come home and complain about your day, knowing that that she was really quite tenaciously swimming against the wave and I had you know what, and it's a true fact a bullying.
Speaker 2:It always existed. Sure, we have to know this. You know people seem to be thinking you know 2024, the bullying is like a new movement. Forget that. But it's so true what you're saying. It was not for me to endure. I was just like what do you want from me? So I was settling and I've always been doing this. You know there's a problem. Let's fix this. And I think it's worse with age. I cannot keep anything inside. It's got to be out.
Speaker 1:Let's do there's something to be said for not having a filter or or being, I think, authentically um where you, where you don't censor yourself, or where you look at something and say I need to speak out and I think I had a conversation actually it was a panel discussion we were talking about equality and diversity in one of our India chapters and it was a long discussion.
Speaker 1:My final point was because we were talking about how to move forward and it comes back to bullying, comes back to all these discussions, and I said the the biggest thing that we can do, especially as men, is to not be silent. And if you see something or if you hear, you know it's a joke or it's misogynistic or it's it's just colored in that and it's okay, fine. But I think far too often most of us, when we see it or hear it, we don't call it for what it is and say you know, I'm not, I'm not okay with that. And that's where I think the bullying or the sexism or the misogyny or any of these things that really afflict us, they thrive Anytime someone doesn't have the courage to stand up and say, yep, that's not okay. So you know.
Speaker 2:It takes courage, it takes.
Speaker 1:It takes courage.
Speaker 2:It takes a lot of confidence to step up, to be heard when you know you've got leaders in this world that want to do their stuff and not to be seen. You know it's not talk and let's show, let's show. You know, not show them. But this is what I was all about. This is why I was not speaking, but these kinds of situations when we don't we don't speak up and thinking about this, I was not bullied and I was standing up when I saw bully right and I was always like leave them alone. What do you think? You're gonna pick on somebody shorter than you? What's wrong with you? So I think my mother, that that's what she showed me that's beautiful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was. I spent more time in the principal's office and generally it was because I was picking fights with bullies or I was getting in fights with the bullies, and so the principal would say you know, your son's amazing, but he needs to stop fighting, even if it's the bullies, like this is. This is going to hurt him moving forward. So that's beautiful, incredible, incredible story. So you moved. Then you finally got out of car sales.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then the family business tell me about that um, I did a lot of position in the car business, just to put you you know to before I get in. So selling cars, being assistant manager manager. I hated Taking care of problems. All the time was killing me. I love having interaction with customers. I became an F&I finance and insurance and I did training for a group of dealerships. So in 2017, I had my own business and training F&Is and in 2015, we have to understand that the AMF, l'autorité des Marchés Financiers put a stop to the wrong kind of actions, treatments with the clientele in this particular office, using this kind of strength, too much strength and bullying customers and calling them something they didn't need.
Speaker 2:So I said in 2017, because my stepdad, the family business, l'académie de la Vente is a family business, it's my stepdad. He's been with my mother for 35 years, so he's my dad, my dad, my sister, and we've got two recruiters and we've got another trainer right now. And he said in 2017, man, why don't you come with us and you know what it's yours? I said you know what? The reason why I was holding back?
Speaker 2:I was thinking about situations where I would have been putting down my foot, because I know I'm an employee that I'm hard to handle. Handle let's admit this when I've got an idea in my head and I think it's the right way and it's the proper way. I always gave results, but I'm hard to handle, I know it. I know so and I didn't want to be fighting, you know, with my stepdad, sure, my mom? So I told my stepdad so listen, okay, let's put this on the, on the desk right now you take care of training for the manufacturers because he was doing training with Honda, toyota and Kia manufacturers and I was going to take care of the family business and recruiting people that wanted to start their career in selling cars. So we recruited. We trained them because we're agréé par un peu Québec.
Speaker 2:So, the fees to train them was being deductible on their income tax. So you know, you have to pay money to make money. Anyways, that's a message. And we found them a job and we were charging them an amount and say listen, I guarantee you, you will be working as a sales representative within 30 days or we refund you, and we never refunded anybody in seven years.
Speaker 1:Was this your own idea. Was this your own idea? So I mean, obviously your stepdad and your mom were already in the training and that on the automotive side, was this your idea to bring in that sales element of saying we're going to go find and build a sales team to then for that, was this your origination. No, I will never take the credit.
Speaker 2:They were already doing this he was doing this, but on a small scale, okay, because he was training for the manufacturers. So when? Because the managers why he came up with this? Managers when he was doing training goes. Did you have a good sales rep? Please find me a good sales rep.
Speaker 1:They're worth their weight in gold, right? I mean a good, honest, I think. The word that's often not used but needs to be is integrity. So somebody who's selling with integrity, I think, is everything Okay, so Small scale.
Speaker 2:So when I jumped in, I said I will do this large scale, so doing this 12 months a month, 12 months a year. So when I jumped in, I was by myself because I said you leave it to me and you get out. That's my I know, but you know what it worked because I did all the fails and tries and I had no solutions to finance this amount that it was costing the candidates. So today you know, last year we completed 220 mandates with dealerships.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Well, they're the ones calling us up and say listen Lynn, listen Christine, we need a girl, a guy, this and that. So this is it.
Speaker 1:So that's the first division, 220 mandates. That means you placed 220 salespeople, which I'm assuming means you've you trained 220 salespeople.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Okay, on 4,000 resumes that we got. Oh so you don't.
Speaker 2:You don't always train somebody, even though they may submit a resume never, never, they have to be able and I know I'm gonna sound corny, but they have to be able to be sold. In what way? So they have to look sharp, they have to have the communication skills, they have to have the charisma, they have to have the package, because if I do put a drop of blood on that contract that says if I don't find you a job within 30 days, I refund you. That's the challenge that we have right now.
Speaker 1:Right, but as opposed to, I think, most education systems where I think it's let's take everyone knowing that, and so you're already filtering people to make sure that if they're coming through your academy they're going to A get placed, but they represent you and they're part of your community of people who have been trained by you. Do you keep that relation with that person after they've gone and gotten that job?
Speaker 2:We put on a contract when they feel a down, when they don't feel up to the job a down. When they don't feel up to the job, they don't have good results. It includes the fact that it's lifetime coaching when they need it. So they give us a call and we show up in their dealership and we train them for a block of two, three hours to put them back on track, and what are the dealerships response to this sort of relationship?
Speaker 1:They love it, they love it, they love it.
Speaker 2:It doesn't cost them a penny.
Speaker 1:You're doing their job for them.
Speaker 2:Not only that, it gives me a chance to meet the new manager in place and say, listen, do you know us, do you know me? So the references, the people in my circle, you know, they know Lynn Bourdeau, they know Yvonne DeGaulle, they know Christine. My sister has been on board for the last three years and she's the one that's taking up this first division, because basically the second division is my baby right now. For the last two years, which is what? Head hunting.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Head hunting recruitment in all types of industries. This Head hunting recruitment in all types of industries.
Speaker 1:This is my baby. What, for you, is the difference between that and the training?
Speaker 2:I used to be doing the training for these candidates that wanted to step in this beautiful industry, which is the automobile industry.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:It was like being a parent and I used to love having these phone calls. Oh my God, lynn, the process works. It's so beautiful, I love it. I see why you still thrive and I used to love this. But I think after 30 years in that field I was kind of give me something else that's going to push me to do this until I retire. I love people, I love recruiting, having a dealership if I just find you the relationship between the two divisions, you know a dealership, if I just find you the relationship between the two divisions. When a dealership used to call me and say I want this kind of personality, language, cultural guy, woman, whatever, and he was calling me back after he met the candidate and oh my God, that's the guy I was looking for. Oh my god, that's the guy I was looking for this satisfaction of being able to have this fit.
Speaker 2:This is what the second division is all about, and it's harder because it's different than the automobile industry. So I had to learn about electrical field, which, I'm sorry, didn't know nothing about this radio communication what is that? It's walkie talkie. Electrical field, which, I'm sorry, didn't know nothing about, this Radio communication, what is that? It's walkie-talkie I used to be playing with this, for example, different kind of fields, which brings me to say I know a lot of stuff, but man do I have a lot of things to learn. So this is why it brings me this kind of growth, personal growth, about construction, my God services, it, it solutions. You saw what kind of person I am. You saw.
Speaker 1:We experienced it firsthand this morning.
Speaker 2:Yes, so yeah, and it's deeper in that division, because when I headhunt somebody, I take them out of an employer and they're sometimes happy or they're dissatisfied a bit, but I'm about to be changing their lives, taking them out of their stability, security and the company that I'm sending them to. I have to believe in that culture at that company, because this is what an enterprise is all about integrity. So when I speak to a new company, I want to know what's your culture? Do they stay a long time? Why do they leave? Because if I'm about to be taking out somebody from stability, I don't want to be messing up their lives. I know I push it very, very far in my head, but I love completing a mandate. And they tell me my God, I was looking for somebody for four months. Where did you find them? Within? And I'm going to tell you my strength is 72 hours to find them.
Speaker 1:Wow, 72 hours so from the moment they sign a mandate with you.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Your average is 72 hours or less.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow. So, and so you've been doing this for two years. What's been the biggest surprise in this new endeavor the last two years? What's taking you by surprise the most?
Speaker 2:The difficulty Okay, you've got the manager of HR, so the director, the VP, but then you have specialist in acquisition of. Hr, so the director, the VP, but then you have specialists in acquisition, so you've got these people that sometimes hired by these big companies that are going to be helping them out, because you know, they cannot deal with everything.
Speaker 2:It's hard to get to that person that takes the decision to give them a hand. Understand it's hard. This is my biggest surprise. It is so hard to get to these people, the ones that take the decision decision because they're, I was told, a lot of these headhunting and recruitment companies send them a lot of bad candidates, so they're fed up and I do understand that. I'm so not about this. So every time I'm like okay, what can I do? Let me meet you on the Zoom, on a team. And it makes a whole lot of a difference because they see that go and check me out, go check my references. You could not be dealing with somebody that's going to be like acting like a pit bull for your method Right.
Speaker 1:But it also, I think it plays well into your 30 years of sales where, once you understand the company and you've signed that mandate, you know what you're selling to somebody that you're headhunting. So you know exactly what it is and so you understand how to sell with an authenticity. It's not kind of a one and done or it's not I'm going to pull one over on this person and get them into a role. It's. I believe in this company, I believe in this prospect. It's matchmaking. It's like being an old Yiddish matchmaker.
Speaker 2:You got it.
Speaker 1:Right, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2:But it's a learning process. I'm still like acting up as a junior. I'm not a junior, but I'm in my head. I'm like this oh my god, I learned this again today. It's amazing. It's every single day it's a a brand new. Oh my God, I never thought it was going to be this hard. Oh, I heard about the new detail about a position. I will learn about this to make sure that I've got the vocabulary to to be sharing the proper way, because it's all about it's true sales when you think about recruiting and headhunting. True sales, but not at any cost. That's my mother's, my mother's, most precious message. You should never be selling to anybody your soul for the kind of money that's going to come out of it. Why? Because it's going to bite you back. So when you sell something, it's with transparency and integrity. And selling cars, I know my initial feel. We used to be saying so many bad things in the car business, but I never sold my soul to the devil. That I can tell you.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. So what's and I'm going off script here in terms of my own, where I normally ask questions, but I'm curious Is there a company or is there a business in, whether it's Quebec or the rest of Canada is there a business with and help them find their next superstar? Is there a business that you would just that either you admire or you appreciate and say I can help them with their staffing issues?
Speaker 2:my god, you know what. I'm not about a company in particular. I'm more about creating collaborations with industries and companies that want to be dealing with somebody that's going to be taking care of their mandates with passion and 100% of integrity. It's not a company. It's enterprises and companies that want to be dealing with somebody that they know they will have. Okay, I'm a small elephant, but you know what I always said I push the big elephant and I love this role. I love it. I'm not in the limelight, but love this role I love it.
Speaker 2:I'm not in the limelight, but you know what I'm there.
Speaker 1:So who shouldn't contact you? Which company should not reach out?
Speaker 2:You know what? I dealt with a mandate last week by corporate connection. It's a relation. Somebody put me in there and I said you know what? I don't deal with this kind of manly, but I'll take it Within. The same afternoon I found the person. She goes. It's impossible you cannot have found this. You know what? There's no companies that should not be thinking about calling me up, Because I'm always about tell me your industry. I will dig deep to get to know your industry. I will try to find my info. So when I speak to the candidates, I will speak the way that is, the same way as if I'm working for you guys. So it will not be a show. It will be about you want to make sure you jump in that company. This is what they're all about. So when they speak to them, they will know exactly. I save them a huge step. So it's time it. They will be saving time and having between two and three cvs resumes, they will find their candidates.
Speaker 1:This is my average beautiful, beautiful and uh, I'm gonna give you one last question. I'm gonna give you one. I've never asked anyone before and it's only because of um. Anyway, it's a longer story, but, uh, it's a tough one. We'll see. We'll see how you answer this one, or maybe it's not. Uh, 30, 40 years from now, um, when, when people are celebrating you in your life, if you could make sure that they said one thing about you, or there is a consistent theme around you, what would that be? What would you want people to say as they celebrate your life?
Speaker 2:They would probably say Lynn, what you see is what you get. I have a hard time and I'm sorry to say it this way. I was never an ass kisser in my life.
Speaker 1:I think that's obvious to everyone listening at this point.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry when I'm in, I'm 100% in. So if Lynn says we can do this, we can do it. This is what they will be saying.
Speaker 1:It's beautiful, beautiful.
Speaker 2:Well, if someone's listening and they want to reach out to you, or if they have staffing needs, or if they're looking to maybe even leave their current situation and maybe get into auto sales. What's the best place to find you online? Online is on my LinkedIn profile.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:They could reach me on LinkedIn. Uh, we've got academy, the lab Point Come.
Speaker 1:I'll throw the uh, I'll throw the URL in the liner notes, so people will have access to it if they just want to Um and uh.
Speaker 2:That that's basically um Facebook, you know, and and my customers are on my Facebook, but what I mean by that is that I'm close to the people that I deal with, not only personally, but I create good relationships.
Speaker 1:It's relationship, not transactions. Yes, I appreciate that. Well, lynn, I appreciate you coming and taking time out of your day to join me on the podcast and for everything you're doing, and I'm really excited to see what you do in our community as a member. So first off, welcome to the community. I know it's been a couple of months, but also thank you for being here today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me Trevor.
Speaker 1:My pleasure and to everyone listening. I really hope you found value in listening to us today and I hope you catch us on another podcast in the future. Or go back and check some of our earlier episodes. And this is where leaders connect.