His testimony, published on LinkedIn last week, touched many people. Entrepreneur Karl Magnone admitted to abnormal pressure and anxiety experienced in 2021 which led him to consult and take medication to regain balance. He implores people to open up when motivation and zest for life crumbles.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
The year 2021 was marked by more than desired growth for Tite Frette. Hundreds of requests from potential franchisees, finally the inauguration of 26 stores in Quebec, with about thirty others within 12 months. “We had in mind, for our first year, the opening of 10 to 15 stores”, says the president (and co-founder with Jérémie Poupart), Karl Magnone. “Finally, we went there by opportunity, by available premises. »
But Karl Magnone knows that it can be difficult to sustain growth of this level, even when you have the numbers.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY KARL MAGNONE
Karl Magnone, president and co-founder of Tite Frette
It was a learning year. In such situations, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to succeed and we also want the franchisees to succeed.
Karl Magnone
In an era free of coronavirus and variants, this performance pressure would have been counterbalanced by a social life furnished with dinners at restaurants, evenings at the movies, days of relaxation at the spa and other trips. “During the first wave, we had four microbrewery beer shops [à Granby, Cowansville, Saint-Hyacinthe et Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu] to manage and a network of franchises to set up in a period of uncertainty linked to COVID. We were already stressed. »
Then came the intimidation of the competition and messages of “hate” from strangers, according to the president of Tite Frette, mentioned in an article by The Press, in the spring of 2021. Which almost made Karl Magnone crack, but which certainly raised doubts and questioning. And this, at a time when media attention was focused on the company. “I started to no longer be good with people, to become less sociable, everything bothered me, testifies Karl Magnone. I felt an imbalance. In the face of negative comments, when the weather is abnormal, we take it more personally. It was difficult. »
The president then confided in his best friend, who convinced him to make an appointment with his doctor. “This friend told me that he had consulted, taken medication and that he had felt better,” says Karl Magnone.
The words of the doctor, after the entrepreneur opened up and decided to take medication too, remain in his memory: “Tell yourself that it’s temporary. »
I was afraid of judgment and staying on it for life. After a week of taking the pills, I couldn’t say I felt great, but I felt normal. It helped me to see that I was not alone. With my friend, we got motivated. And I went through.
Karl Magnone
In a lengthy post on LinkedIn last week, Karl Magnone listed other things that helped him pull through and find his head. He suggests in particular to surround yourself with people who listen, positive and expressive, to move, if only 15 minutes a day, to read, if only a chapter a day, to breathe, to download an app against anxiety and stress, taking a vacation at home…
A winning recipe? His recipe. “It can be adapted to what you like,” according to Karl Magnone, who also claims in an interview that he has learned to let go in the meantime. “I learned to let myself go and give myself a chance. It’s okay to make mistakes, to have people disagree with what you’re doing. You have to be able to get over that. I’m coming out of all of this much healthier and ready to take on the world one beer at a time. »