My First Season

My guest today is the first EXGO I have interviewed that has a Wikipedia page! She is a singer, model, yoga instructor, and teacher and she also plays the piano. She worked for Club Med from 2015 to 2021 in such villages as Turks and Caicos, Kani, Columbus Isle, Miches, and Charlevoix. Her first season was in Club Med Turks and Caicos as a Lifeguard. Please help me welcome from Montreal, the amazing and talented, Sophie Vaillancourt! Before Club Med, Sophie was on the Canadian singing competition TV show, Star Académie in Quebec in 2009, and then she was on the Canadian version of Deal or No Deal called Le Banqier in 2009 and 2010. I would have thought Sophie started singing at a very young age, but I was very surprised to find out that she only started singing on a microphone when she was fourteen years old when she went to Club Med Varadero as a G.M. with her family! Like me, Sophie worked at Columbus Isle three times but unlike me, and in between seasons of Columbus Isle, she went to India to get her yoga certification! Then in 2018, she traveled to Bali for a ten-day meditation in silence. After her last season in Columbus in 2019, she went to Thailand for an advanced yoga meditation course! If that wasn’t enough, after Club Med in 2011, she finished her bachelor’s degree at the University of Montreal in Preschool and Primary Education and is currently pursuing a master’s degree (I have done nothing with my life!). Sophie is also a Club Med Artist, so if you are lucky, you will get to see her and hear her beautiful voice in person. I asked her if she would not mind singing a few bars of a song I love, and she kindly agreed, so make sure you listen to the whole interview!! Please enjoy this interview with Sophie Vaillancourt!! **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available to download on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. 

Please check out Sophie's music on Spotify:

Sophie Vaillancourt | Spotify

And her Instagram:

Sophie Vaillancourt (@sophievaillancourtyoga) • Instagram photos and videos

And if you want to see her duet with Celine Dion on Star Académie, it’s at the 8:30 mark:

Star Académie Medley 2009 - YouTube

My guest today hails from Red Bluff, California, and worked for Club Med from 2002 to 2008 and then returned from 2010 to 2012. His first season was in Club Med Sandpiper as a Mini Club G.O. He was also a Ski Instructor, Landsports, Chief of Sailing, and Chief of Sports. Please help me welcome, Brian Tranbarger! Brian worked with CDVs such as Hammer, Gus, Joey Templin, Ryan Leach, Hendel, and Alessandro Cordogli (RIP), to name just a few. Before Club Med, Brian studied Kinesiology and Teacher Education, did the Hammer Throw, and was a PE teacher. One of his roommates at Chico State went to Club Med with his father on vacation and told Brian how great it was. Brian applied, drove four hours to San Francisco to meet the Club Med recruiter, and then did Country Swing for his interview and the rest is history! Brian’s first season in Sandpiper had quite the talent: Nicole Cooper, Boone, Trevor Rae, Arano, Adam Macy, Jennifer Lopez, James Martin, JP Delay, JK, Vlad Mayllen, David Meyer, and Bruno Santos were just some of the names that were on the Sandpiper team of 2002. Brian also worked in Crested Butte, Turks and Caicos, Ixtapa, Cancun, and Columbus Isle and we talk about each of these seasons and the many stories that came with working with a great bunch of people. We review his favorite Crazy Signs, the three things he misses the most about Club Med, and if he would do anything different. Please enjoy this episode with Brian! **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available to download on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.  

I never worked with my guest today, but we did meet at the EXGO Reunion in Cancun in 2010. He worked for Club Med from March 1995 to January 2002 and then went back from 2010 to 2013. His first season was in Club Med Turks and Caicos in 1995 as Landsports. He’s a graduate of Auburn University and has called eight countries and twenty cities home over the past twenty-six years. Please help me welcome, from Atlanta, Georgia, Scott Duncan, AKA, Scotty D! A friend of Scott’s had been to Club Med on vacation and told him all about it. Scott applied and drove to Club Med Sandpiper from Georgia, for his interview. In addition to landsports, Scott also worked as a Waterski G.O. and in Sandpiper from 2010-2013 he was in Sales. He has worked with CDVs such as Gregg Snyder, Howard McCarley, Stephan Roeina, Toutoune, Kevin Batt, Hammer, Houria Osmani, and Lionel Pirotte. My favorite story of his would be when he was thrown into water aerobics during his first season in Turks without ever having taught it or seen it! After Club Med, Scott worked for The Peninsula Hotel in NYC, the Ritz Carlton in Las Vegas, and the Four Seasons Resorts in the Maldives. Scott shares an amazing story where he met a member of “Canadian Royalty” (no spoilers, sorry!) when he was working for one of those hotels. We talk about the people he worked with, the things he misses the most about Club Med, and so much more. Please enjoy this interview with Scott!! **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available to download on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.  

My guest today worked for Club Med from October 2018 to March 2021. Her first season was in Club Med Cancun in 2018 as a Fitness G.O. Please help me welcome from Québec, the fabulous, Melissa Ferland!! Melissa was at the opening of Club Med Michès in the Dominican Republic in November 2019 and also worked at Turks and Caicos. Melissa was very busy in her life before Club Med. When she was in high school in 2009, Melissa placed first at the National Cheerleading Championships in Canada. She then obtained an Accountancy degree from the Université du Québec and is also a certified Cycling, Zumba Aqua-Zumba, and Zumba Kids instructor. In addition to this, Melissa is a nutrition coach, Yoga instructor personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and a Naturopath N.D. Good lord!! Melissa makes me wonder what I’ve done with my life!! Melissa traveled the world extensively before Club Med and worked in Portugal in the summers of 2016-2018. She was teaching fitness classes on a short-term contract at a hotel in Cuba in 2018 when she realized she wanted to continue teaching fitness in resorts. She went to Google and typed in “fitness instructor in the Caribbean” and Club Med came up. Melissa takes us through her interview process, her first season in Cancun, what it was like opening Club Med Michès, and her season in Turks for the reopening in October 2020, which was closed due to COVID-19. She lets us know what she is up to now, and we talk about her website “Melissa Ferland-Holistic Fitness Coach” which offers online coaching in Fitness, Holistic Coaching, and Live Workouts (please see link below). Please enjoy this episode with Melissa!!**My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available to download on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple podcasts.

Please check out her website:

Melissa Ferland - Holistic Fitness Coach (melissa-ferland.com)

And please give her a follow on Instagram:

Melissa Ferland (@melissaferland) | Instagram

And Facebook:

Facebook

My guest today is the author of three internationally best-selling books, and she is the publisher and editor of the world's most popular English language magazine about France with around 2.8 million readers per issue. She is also the editor of “The Good Life France” website, a travel writer, and a podcaster. Born in London, she now lives in the middle of nowhere rural northern France with her husband and an extended family of furry and feathered creatures! Please help me welcome, author and podcaster, Janine Marsh! Janine talks about finding her dream house in France one day without really wanting to find it. Parts of the house are 400 years old, there are twenty-one rooms and they have spent the last twenty years renovating the house! Janine takes us through her coup de foudre moment when she knew she was going to buy this house. We talk about her adjusting to the way of life in France and its many customs, such as the queue (or lack thereof!), the two-cheek kiss, and why everyone’s day was ruined when the Tour de France came by their village. Hint: it had to do with bread! We talk about Janine's many animals, her website, her podcast called, “The Good Life France” and the three books she has written, “My Good Life in France”, “My Four Seasons in France” and "Toujours la France”. I hope you enjoy this episode with a very entertaining and amusing guest!! **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available to download on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

Please visit Janine’s website to find information on her books, magazine, and podcast, and much more:

Home - The Good Life France

And please check out her Instagram and give her a follow:

FrenchJanine (@thegoodlifefrance) | Instagram

For today’s guest, I reached out to a former guest on this podcast and asked her if she had anyone amazing that she would recommend. Girl delivered. This incredible young man is from Dallas, Texas and he worked for Club Med from 2017 to 2021. His first season was in Club Med Sandpiper in 2017 as the DJ. If ever there was a name that belongs on a Club Med badge, it’s his. Why? Well, please help me welcome T.J. Walker, AKA, DJ T.J.!!! T.J. worked in the resorts of Columbus Isle and Turks and Caicos. He did not know much about Club Med when he applied on the worldwide employment website, indeed.com. During his interview, T.J. and a few other interviewees had to make up a dance for 1997’s “Freed From Desire” by Gala! As T.J. is one of the few guests on this podcast that just recently stopped working for Club Med, he is able to provide a fresh perspective on village life these days. T.J. lets us know what it was like working for Club Med during the pandemic and the challenges it presented. In terms of music, I ask him what his “guilty pleasure” songs are and they are not what you might think! When I asked T.J. what song was requested by French G.M.s at Sandpiper in 2017, he reminded me of a song I totally forgot about, the 2000s “Ces Soirées-là” by Yannick! Then, of course, Yannick gets referenced throughout this interview! No shade at all, that song is a banger! Please enjoy this episode with a very charming and personable young man! **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

Please check out his Instagram and give him a follow!:

𝔻𝕁 𝕋𝕁 | 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝔻𝕁 (@officialdjtj) | Instagram

My guest today worked for Club Med from 1990 to 1999 and was a Set Designer, Choreographer, and Chief of Animation. He met John Shelly in New York City on an elevator and John gave him his business card. A few months later, my guest called John and was in a village less than a week later! His first season was in Club Med St. Lucia in 1990 as a Set Designer. Please help me welcome, from Toronto, Ontario, the only and only, Graham Maxwell!! As I discovered during this interview, Graham is one heck of a raconteur so get ready to be entertained! I don’t want to spoil any of his stories, so please do yourself a favor and listen to his entire interview! Graham tells a story about how he was not really feeling his first season, but a talk with Angie Boucher (who was Aerobics at the time) about how animation works and how Club Med functions as a whole, changed his mind and he decided to stay. Graham worked with many notable CDVs such as Kevin Batt, Hammer, Dirk Nouira, Pierre Letellier Gagnon, Howard McCarley, and Miredieu, to name but a few. Graham talks about one of the shows he is most known for and that is the rock opera “Tommy”, which he saw on Broadway in 1993 and adapted for a Club Med audience. He had quite the celebrity encounters, including being Jennifer Coolidge’s scene partner when the Groundlings, an improvisation and sketch comedy theatre from Los Angeles, came to Turks and Caicos in 1996-1997. He also met Joel Grey, Mitzie Gaynor, Mickey Rooney, Patti LuPone, and five-time Grammy award winner Michael Bublé, who was a Club Med Artiste in Club Med Cancun in ’97 if you can believe that! Graham mentions a lot of names from the past, so if you were an early 90s G.O., you will love this episode with a very entertaining person! (Editor’s note: The song by Patti Lupone that I meant was the best song ever sung is “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from the Broadway play “Evita” and not the song Evita as I had stated). Please enjoy!! **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

I never got the chance to work together with my next guest, but his name has been mentioned before on this podcast and we do have 70 mutual friends. He worked for Club Med from 1987 to 1994 and his first season was in Club Med Eleuthera in April of 1987, as a Lifeguard and Swimming Instructor. From Montreal, Quebec, and now living in Las Vegas, please help me welcome, Stéphan Coté! Stéphan was also a Circus G.O., a Chief of Circus, and an Animator (in Copper Mountain), where he also got married. He met his future wife Lisa Pilot, who was a Mini Club G.O., in Club Med Punta Cana during the 1987/1988 season and they are still happily married to this day. Stéphan also helped set up the first circus village in Europe, which was Club Med Metaponto, Italy from April to September 1990. As you can imagine, Stéphan has a ton of stories and he has a story from his first season that is probably every first-season G.O.’s nightmare when you are starting a new job in Club Med, but he tells it in a very humorous fashion! Stéphan also mentions that Bob Christians was a big influence in his life, and he is fondly remembered here. He tells me something that I had never heard before and that is that Florida State University has a circus school called, “The FSU Flying High Circus”, which was founded in 1947 as an extra-curricular activity, and that they had been coming to Club Med since the early 80s. Stéphan brings up something else I had never heard of and that Club Med had run a summer camp called “Kids of the World” introduced in 1985, located at Copper Mountain. In this instance, Lisa had worked there during the summer and one of the activities was the flying trapeze, in addition to rafting excursions on the Colorado and Arkansas rivers. In 2010, Stéphan opened a Circus school in Las Vegas called “Trapeze Las Vegas” and we will get into that and so much more during this episode of MFS. So, “harness” yourself in (see what I did there?) and get ready to be entertained!! **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

Please check out Trapeze Las Vegas:

https://www.trapezelasvegas.com/

Mon invité d'aujourd'hui a travaillé pour le Club Med de 1971 à 1988. Sa première saison s'est déroulée au Club Med de Portiragnes, dans le sud de la France, en tant que chef d'orchestre. Il a également été animateur, chorégraphe, Resp. Trafic, chef d'animation, chef des sports, Resp. Chalet d'altitude et de 1981 à 1988, il a été chef de village. Aidez-moi à accueillir, s'il vous plaît, Robert «Bébert» Herin! Avant le Club Med, Robert avait un orchestre qui tournait beaucoup et il écrivait aux hôtels pour trouver du travail pour son orchestre. C'est sa sœur qui lui a suggéré de contacter le Club Med et le reste appartient à l'histoire. Robert a travaillé dans des villages tels que Cefalù, Corfou Ipsos, Pakostane, Malabata, Sveti Marko (pour n'en citer que quelques-uns) et il a également participé à l'ouverture du village de l'île Maurice en 1973/1974! En tant que chef de village, Robert a travaillé dans quatorze villages différents, y compris dans la zone américaine, et il nous fait part de quelques anecdotes intéressantes sur ces lieux exotiques. Sa première saison en tant que chef des sports s'est déroulée à Al Hoceima en 1976, où il s'est blessé à la jambe, mais où il a également rencontré sa future épouse, qui était G.M. Robert est également membre du «In Vino Jazz Band». C'est un orchestre de Jazz Swing festif et humoristique, qui joue les grands noms du jazz tels que Louis Armstrong et Sidney Bechet. Il a près de cinq mille abonnés sur sa chaîne YouTube pour le "In Vino Jazz Band". Robert est également un artiste du Club Med et visite chaque année différents villages du Club Med. Si vous étiez un G.O. dans les années 1970 ou 1980 ou si vous voulez simplement savoir comment était le Club Med à l'époque, cet épisode est pour vous ! Profitez de cet épisode avec Bébert! **Le podcast My First Season a toujours été gratuit et sans publicité et peut être téléchargé sur : Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora et Listen Notes. Et si vous aimez ce que vous entendez, laissez un commentaire sur Apple podcasts. 

Visitez sa chaîne YouTube pour In Vino Jazz Band et abonnez-vous!

https://www.youtube.com/@RobertHerin

My guest today worked for Club Med from 1997 to 2001 as a Costume designer. She was sent to Club Med Sandpiper in 1997 for a stage, but her first season was in 1997/1998 in Club Med Playa Blanca. She is from my hometown of Montreal, so please help me give a warm welcome to, Sophie Boyer! Sophie worked in such villages as Turks and Caicos, St. Lucia, Paradise Island, and Columbus Isle. Sophie went to school for Theater Production (props, lights, sound, set, and costume design), but it was costume design that she really gravitated towards. Her father saw an ad that Club Med was hiring, she applied and was hired!! Playa Blanca in 1997/1998 with Houria Osmani as the CDV, was her most magical season and Sophie has many stories from this cherished time in her life. My favorite story of hers is the award that she won at the end-of-the-season Awards Show! Sophie was at Turks in Caicos in 1998 with the CDV LouLou, Gus as Chief of Animation, and Hendel as Chief of Sports and yes, we talk about that season too. Sophie met her share of celebrities during her time on Columbus Isle from 2000-2001. She met Antonio Sabàto Jr., Thierry Lhermitte, Mitsou, Claude Charlebois, Corey Hart and Julie Masse! After Club Med, Sophie worked for Cirque du Soleil from 2002-2020. She worked as a costume maker for Cirque du Soleil on such shows as Love, Ka, Zumanity, and Ovo, just to name a few and we will talk about that as well. Please enjoy this episode with Sophie! **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.