This is Fred Leblanc.
Fred is 26 years old. She has two brothers and grew up in Candiac, near Montreal.
When she was younger, she wanted to be a professional flower picker and was making the best Shirley temples & hot chocolates around. With time, her ambitions changed and she decided to study cinema and graphic design to work in video editing. In the meanwhile, her parents did not forget about her early mixology skills and decided to offer her a bar course when she turned 18. She was then making bright blue cocktails and flaming sambuca and frankly, she loved it.
Fred got into mixology when she joined the first team of Datcha, the now-famous Mile-End club. She started as a barback but having Simon L’Espérance as a mentor got her to learn rapidly. Simon gently tried her as a bartender for the first time on a busy Friday night, short of staff. You can imagine how that went. Least to say that Fred managed very well. She eventually became the bar chef at Kabinet, when they opened next door.
After working at Spirit House, Tiradito and Cloakroom, Fred got her first brand ambassador job as a part-time position with St-Germain. She loved it so much that she wanted to make it full-time, so she moved with Bella Vita Agency. Today, Fred is the Activation Manager for Breakthru’s reserve portfolio.
One thing we learned about her is that when she wants something, she goes for it. She first wanted to be a bar owner, so she studied restaurant management at ITHQ. When she got a glimpse of the actual bar owner's realities, she realized it wasn’t for her. Next, wanted to work for wine and spirits agencies until she imported products herself. She did, and actually working with the SAQ made her realize this wasn’t for her either. She then thought that she best be working with a big company with whom she could grow. Which is exactly what she is doing now.
What Fred loves most about her job is that it allows her to be creative and to be connected with the community. Most of her job is to educate the bartenders about her products and to organize events while being the link between her brands and the community.
Needless to say that she does it with brio.
A little bit more about Fred Leblanc...
-3 words that describe her best: Passionate/demanding/bubbly
-One thing she has achieved on her life bucket list: To live in a van and travel around the United States.
-One thing she has yet to achieve on her life bucket list: Go to Asia. To Eat. Like she said: “Of course I like hikes and outdoor activities, but please, just bring me to the restaurant!”.
-The most magical place she ever visited: Playa Sayulita in Mexico. A very small town with three streets and everyone walking barefoot. She wanted to move there.
- A fun fact about Fred: She set 2 bars on fire! Yes, you read this right. One bar at the end of the opening night (rest assured there was a manufacturing problem with a dishwasher involved in that story) and one bar during service, where she accidentally put a candle too close to a plastic plant. Overall, don’t you worry, no one was hurt.
-The biggest challenge she faced in her career: To sell Crème de Menthe in private export as cases of 6 with Bella Vita!
- Her advice to younger brand ambassadors: Be careful of your image. As a brand ambassador, you represent your brand at all times. Companies will not want to hire someone they think will not uphold the company’s image. Find your tavern to get wild where no one knows you because some isolated actions can stick to your image for a very long time.