A CMA who sees beyond numbers

On his laptop screen, Martial Gagné shows me a photo of a baby hedgehog. He tells me about how this tiny animal is born and grows its spines just a few hours later. In a sincere and enthusiastic tone, he explains the joy he and his sons felt at having experienced it. Surprisingly, I felt the same joy during the two-hour interview he granted me. As if his life was merely a series of pleasures.

Real loves
As a teenager, his seven brothers and sisters encouraged him to go to university. Seeing that he loved school and got good grades, they encouraged him to leave his native Beauce and go far away from the family farm to explore other horizons. That is exactly what the future president of New Look Eyewear did, and yet, twenty five years later, Beauce and his family are never very far from what he says and does. His connection to his roots also influenced his decision to become a CMA.

“I wanted to become a veterinary,” he says, laughing. “I was always attracted to nature and animals. But when it came time to think about enrolling at the Faculty of Veterinarian Medicine in Saint-Hyacinthe, I got cold feet! I would have been too far from my loved-ones!”

Thus, young Martial chose Quebec City for studying computer science, a field that was still brand new at the time. “I ate, breathed and slept computer science!” But a schoolmate soon convinced him to change his course: “He told me that in computer science, we would never be the bosses, and since his own father was an accountant, I realized that this field could offer me even more options. So I opted for CMA training.”

It was love at first sight! After just one session at Université Laval, Martial Gagné knew then and there that he had founded his calling. And since he had met the love of his life around that same time, it was decided: he would settle down for good in Quebec City.

Making sense of numbers
Life has many surprises and nothing predisposed Martial Gagné for optics. It was a summer job that allowed him as a young university student to start out in optics. At that time, the René Marchand Group was a family business that ran optometry clinics and the optical centre franchises at Sears stores in Quebec. With his certificate in computer science in hand, his duties involved just about everything. “I worked in the offices, I helped renovate the stores, I even made cement with the owner!”

“In the fall, they offered me a part-time job. Then, at the end of my accounting program, they offered me a two-year internship with them.” After that, the jack of all trades turned into the man who had done it all: over the next 13 years, he worked in finance, set up computer systems, ran operations and directed marketing and advertising. “At that time, advertising layouts were still done by hand. One day, I suggested using a computer montage program and demonstrated all of the possibilities of the computer. Not only the layouts, but my ideas were a hit! And to my great surprise, I was managing marketing!”

Describing himself as a creative accountant, Martial Gagné has always relied on his CMA training to persuade colleagues and make decisions. “In business, you cannot stick to perceptions. I like to make sense of the numbers. When someone tells me that one brand of glasses is selling well, I want to analyze and view information from all sides until I accurately understand it.”

“That’s the beauty of CMA training! It not only served me when I held accounting positions, but also when I was involved in operations, human resources, marketing... I always used my understanding of numbers to get them to do the talking. If you make solid arguments that are based on demonstrated figures, everyone listens to you and agrees.”

A new challenge
After receiving a few offers from New Look Eyewear, Martial Gagné finally gave in and went to see how things worked at Quebec’s leading optics company. “It was motivating! I had seen this network from the outside for years and it had an excellent reputation.”

However, the new director of administrative services soon realized that business was going through a somewhat difficult period. After it was bought back by a Montreal-based group, the company had to innovate to remain the leader. Martial Gagné had to conduct a number of analyses for the board of directors, which made the scale of the challenges that had to be met abundantly clear to him.

“At 33, I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help the company recover.” To his great surprise, one day in November, the President came into his office in Quebec City and offered him the position of marketing director. “He told me: ‘You seem to have good ideas. But you will not have six months to prove yourself.’ I accepted on condition that I do things my way.” Sacrificing family events, he enlisted the services of a Quebec advertising agency, solicited the support of local media, which he knew well, and concocted a marketing campaign promoting an innovative offer that is still good today: “Plan 29.”

“In three months, the company had found its second wind. I had proved that the existing team knew its market and had the determination and skills to take New Look Eyewear further.”

An equal chance for all
As President of New Look Eyewear, Martial Gagné still likes to talk numbers and does not hesitate to use them to illustrate his point. Aware of his infectious enthusiasm, he expresses himself with feeling and conviction, but never for show.

“As the leading eyewear company, we are condemned to getting straight A’s on our report card. What separates an A from a B is the quality of the customer service and the pursuit of excellence. We are constantly trying to break new ground and still meet the standards of the professional orders that govern optics. I have made great efforts to persuade our staff to adopt this culture of excellence, and one of my arguments is that we are the best and have to fight to stay on top.”

When he talks about his role in the Fondation des maladies de l’œil, his words are just as eloquent, but reveal a lot more emotion. “Hélène Tremblay, the Executive Director, came to ask me for financial assistance. I suggested that we work as partners and promised to help her organization grow. If you only knew the projects we have achieved since then, and the ones that are to come!”

Since he never counted the hours, he soon went from volunteer to Chair of the Board of Directors and watched as the modest foundation grew in leaps and bounds, earning the respect of the optical sector, school boards, the government departments concerned, researchers and the biopharmaceutical industry. “The Participe pour voir program, thanks to which glasses are now donated to less fortunate children, have helped us gain a lot more recognition. You know, when a child is not doing well at school because his parents cannot afford to pay for glasses, it makes me want to cry! Can we give everyone an equal chance to succeed?”

At the foot of the apple tree
If Martial Gagné gains a lot of satisfaction from his job and his community involvement, he believes the reason for this is the values that his father, a farmer, instilled in him: family, work, effort and respect for others and nature. In other words, he himself puts a lot of importance in being a father. Playing with his two sons, taking them to hockey, visiting the family farm, taking care of hedgehogs and other pets and doing motocross with his oldest son are a lot more than simple pleasures for him. They are ways to pass on the values that he cherishes, and after hard weeks at work, create life balance.

“I was riding motocross the other day with my son and he asked me to stop near an apple tree. We were both there, eating apples in the forest, at the edge of paradise!”

If you ask him what his future projects are now that he is 42, he will tell you: “Keep this balance.”