People take all sorts of different paths to reach their career goals, but they rarely opt for something as adventurous as what Simon DuBois is about to embark on.
DuBois, BCom’10, DPA’11, will be setting sail from Liverpool, England this month to circumnavigate the globe.
He is part of the Visit Seattle team, one of a dozen entrants in the Clipper Round the World Race. Held once every two years, the race, which is broken up into eight legs, is a 40,000 nautical mile journey that involves six continents.
Participants in the race don’t need previous sailing experience — although they do undergo intensive training — and can elect to do all or parts of the race.
DuBois says he’ll be in it for the long haul. His aim is to become the first Quebecer to finish a sailing race around the world.
However, his main motivation lies elsewhere. He aspires to be a senior executive – probably a chief financial officer – and wants to use this unique experience to develop into a better leader.
“The first goal is, ‘How does this make me a better professional,’” says DuBois, who did auditing and financial advising at KPMG in Montreal, followed by a stint with CGI in Paris doing management consulting work.
The Clipper Race requires skills – team-building and keeping your cool under pressure, for instance – that are valuable in a business context.
DuBois sees the race as an opportunity “to do something different, something big, something hard,” to push his limits as far as they’ll go and “learn about myself and others in the most hostile environment.”
A Sherbrooke native, DuBois grew up sailing on nearby Lake Memphremagog.
His busy July agenda included a final week of training in England, then a trip home for his wedding to Erica Coulombe, BCom’13.
The honeymoon will have to wait till later, since DuBois’s 11-month odyssey begins on August 20 with the Clipper Race kick off.
Asked if he’s at all nervous, DuBois says, that’s generally not his makeup.
“I’m definitely not afraid of the storms or if something happens. I know it’s dangerous. I know how to protect myself and make sure all the crew is safe.”
He expects that managing relationships with fellow crew members might end up being the biggest challenge.
“You’re on a 70-foot yacht with 24 people. It’s tight, it’s wet, people are sleep-deprived, people are out of their comfort zone, so you see the worst coming out of people and it’s how to make sure you keep all those people together, safe and working in the same direction.”
DuBois anticipates that another tough part of the race for him will involve “being away from all my people for that long.” He will have satellite access to email and a very limited amount of phone call minutes.
His wife will probably travel to meet him at stopovers in Australia, Seattle and New York, he says.
The third leg of the journey, from South Africa to Australia, promises to provide the roughest seas.
“There’s the merging of the oceans there, but we’re also following the Southern Ocean, near the 40th parallel, I think, which is known to be really, really cold, bouncy and stormy.”
DuBois launched a website about “the race of my life” which will contain a tracker so people can follow his location. When he gets to shore, he’ll share his thoughts on what happened during the previous leg.
Registration for the trip cost 50,000 British pounds and DuBois, who took out a loan, financed it himself. Once the race is done, he plans to share the details of his adventure through speaking engagements.
He believes that this once-in-a-lifetime Clipper Race experience and all it will entails will bring him “to the next level as a person and as a professional.
“I’m really excited to see all the links I can make between this and running a business.”
