A coffee with… Jean-Charles Lajoie | The man of a hundred trades

Five hours a day, five days a week. That’s how much time Jean-Charles Lajoie will devote to hosting sports programs this fall. In the morning, at BPM Sports. In the evening, on TVA Sports. A dizzying workload. Rarely seen in the media in Quebec.

Alexander Pratt
The Press

It’s to talk about employment that we met at Toi, Moi et Café, rue Laurier Ouest, next to the BPM Sports studio. Although his morning show ended an hour ago, Jean-Charles Lajoie is still working. He is seated with four collaborators to prepare the chronicles for the next few days. “I’ll join you in a quarter of an hour,” he politely excuses himself.

Exactly 15 minutes later, he finds me on the terrace, with a big bowl of latte. These days, he explains, his life is regulated down to the smallest detail. “Like on a military base. In the morning, radio. At noon, training. In the afternoon, siesta. In the evening, TV. Three people help him manage his schedule, his business and his social networks.

“I have become a very small SME, but an SME nonetheless! “, he launches proudly.

Success smiled upon him. However, this was not always the case. This is what makes his view of the labor market even more relevant.

Like many people of Generation X, Jean-Charles Lajoie has long sought his place. Not easy, without a college degree, in the early 1990s, when the unemployment rate reached 14%.

Not out of necessity, he insists, even though he grew up in a humble background. “I wanted to treat myself to happiness. It started by passing the newspaper to buy me a poutine on Friday. It continued with more than full-time jobs, at the arena pro shop where I worked tirelessly, for example, to be able to dress myself. To maintain the standing I had established on the improv, theater or student radio stages. »

Very young, he understood that he had a gift for communication. As a teenager, he took a private animation course. His teacher – Yves Bombardier, now his boss at BPM Sports – found him an internship at community television in Granby.

“When I was 16, I was hosting a weekly sports show. When I was 17, I got a one-year contract to be a local radio journalist. What an extraordinary gift! I was earning $336 net per week. I had a truck provided. A prepaid card for gas. In the afternoon, I went skating at the arena with the players of the Granby Bisons. Everything was fine. »

Except that at the end of the contract, he found himself in front of “almost nothing”. He chained trades. Porter. Host of parties. Bar manager. Show producer. “I also produced Granby high school football games on television. To finance the project, I sold business cards, which became 30-second commercials, which we shot and edited. It didn’t make sense. I did this for three years. »

Then he left to tour the regional radio stations. Rouyn. Drummondville. Three Rivers. Sherbrooke. “My job was to make transitions. Like: we listen The mistress of your dreams, by Nancy Martinez. Do you want a t-shirt? » Always contractual. Never unionized. His working conditions were precarious. “In Abitibi, I only earned $19,500 a year,” he says.

“For 10 years, I got up on Monday and said to myself: I need $800 for Thursday, and I don’t have it. We had to pay the bills, the rent, put bread on the table. On Monday, I left as a kid pick and shovel to find the money. I couldn’t do it all the time. People lent me money. I honored my debts. »

Today, he earns a very good living. He nevertheless continues to deplore the “too great” disparity between those who start in the profession and those who have reached a certain standard.

“It’s not normal that in a club, you have people paid $40,000 and others $400,000. […] Both are equally important, except on one principle: income. No boss will give $400,000 to a contractor who isn’t worth it. That’s fine with me. But it would be necessary to succeed in raising the standards of the layer [qui gagne] $40,000. »

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For two decades, Jean-Charles Lajoie lived in uncertainty and precariousness. His victory in the competition Sports Academy (CKAC), in 2006, changed everything. At 35, he finally got a major microphone, with all the related benefits. This allowed him, in 2016, to become a homeowner for the first time in his life.

Today, well established at BPM Sports and TVA Sports, he is a veteran, alongside young animators and journalists in their twenties, often fresh out of school. Does he want them? Would he, too, have liked to have a chance on a national network at 20 or 25?

“Other times, other customs,” he drops. It didn’t work that way in my time. It’s correct. I regret nothing. At 20, I didn’t have the perspective, the maturity, or the education to succeed in Montreal. »

But yes, he admits, he has already “coltailled on a daily basis” with inexperienced colleagues “who came out of school, or who had not gone to school”. Especially during the first years of the 91.9 Sports, where everything had to be built, with modest budgets. “I was more of a college professor than a host and content producer for my show. This created some friction. Nothing time can’t fix. Nothing that went overboard. But I was very demanding, because I was also with me. »

Now 51, Jean-Charles Lajoie says he is “always demanding, but differently”. He also claims to have got rid of the impostor syndrome, which he dragged like a ball until his mid-forties, and even a little during his debut at TVA Sports. “I’m happy where I am now,” he said with a big smile. “Yes, I am at the monastery 38 weeks a year. Except that leaves me 14 weeks off per year. Seriously, who am I going to bawl? »

And how long does he see himself leading this frenetic pace of life?

Probably five years, after which he intends to slow down. “I’m the one who decided to do it for the next five years. I had free choice. It is a great privilege. In life, so many people don’t choose. »

But you worked hard to get there, I point out.

” Yes. And I’m very comfortable with that. I didn’t steal anything from anyone. »