Guy Laliberté: The Man Who Challenged Stereotypes of Success
Choosing street life over stability
Guy Laliberté was born in Quebec City, Canada, on September 2nd, 1959. His father was a Public Relation Executive for Alcan Aluminum Corporation and his mother worked as a nurse. Since early childhood Guy was interested in performing and even took lessons in folk dancing. The regular middle-class future was not for him. He dreamed about travelling all around the world and living a free life as a street performer.
At the age of 14 Guy Laliberté left home, joined a folk music group called “La Grande Gueule”, and started to earn his living by playing the accordion and harmonica on the streets of Quebec.
He love performing and telling the stories. But he even more than telling stories he enjoyed listening to other performers’ talk about their life, places they had travelled to, their dreams and adventures. He longed to see the world. And at the age of 18 his dream finally came true and he bought a ticket to Europe.
The beginning of a great adventure…
He arrived in London with grand dreams, very little money in his pocket and no place to stay. That night Laliberté fell asleep on a bench in Hyde Park, covering himself with the only coat he had. Police officers could have easily mistaken him for a bum, but this did not worry Guy even a little bit. There was so much to see and so much to learn!
