Two Truths and a Lie: How Heart-Led Leadership Beats Burnout with Author Isabelle Tremblay

Episode Summary

What happens when the person who's been protecting everyone else forgets to protect herself? For Isabelle Tremblay, the answer was burnout so complete she couldn't draft a simple email. In this episode of Humor in the C Suite, Kate Davis sits down with Isabelle to trace the arc from 24 years of high-pressure global brand leadership to a full reinvention — and the role humor, empathy, and heart played in every part of that journey. This is a conversation about what it really costs to lead inside hustle culture, and what becomes possible when you decide to lead differently.

Key Topics Covered

Isabelle and Kate explore how humor was a cornerstone of Isabelle's leadership style long before burnout entered the picture — including the Two Truths and a Lie meeting exercise that consistently turned into genuine laughter and connection. They dig into how hustle culture systematically squeezes humor and humanity out of leadership, and what Isabelle wishes she'd done differently to protect not just her team but herself. Isabelle speaks candidly about how burnout eroded her ability to laugh — and how consciously rebuilding a humor-filled environment was part of her healing. They also cover why Isabelle believes humor is a genuine leadership superpower, how it moves leadership from transactional to human, and why authenticity and levity together create what she calls a love story in business. Kate brings in the broader cultural shift happening in leadership — more heart, less hustle — and why that's exactly what the next generation of employees is asking for.

"A leader's job is really to serve their team — so all of it, the authenticity, the humor, the transparency, will become a beautiful love story in business." 

Isabelle's Advice for Leaders

Keep humor authentic to who you are and always be respectful — never punch down, never make it about a person. The Two Truths and a Lie exercise is a simple, low-stakes way to bring playfulness into any team setting without pressure. Set boundaries not just for your team but for yourself — protecting only others while neglecting yourself is a fast track to burnout. And if the environment is truly toxic and damaging your health, give yourself permission to leave. Life is too short, and you have unlimited potential — at any age.

Connect with Isabelle Tremblay 🌐 Eyenovating  💼 LinkedIn

Additional Links & Resources:

• Interested in being a guest on Humor in the C-Suite? Reach out to book a call with Kate!
• Learn more about me and my work at katedavis.ca

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Humor in the C-Suite! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave a rating or review. Your support helps the podcast continue to grow. 

Hosted by Kate Davis
Edited by Chris @ Wider View Studios

Transcript

0:00:03 - (Kate Davis): Hello, I'm Kate Davis and this is Humor in the C Suite, a show about how leaders use humor to create an extraordinary work culture. Hi everyone and welcome to this week's episode of Humor in the C Suite. My guest this week is Isabelle Tremblay. She is a former global brand executive who spent 24 years building eyewear brands before stepping away from burnout and rebuilding her leadership philosophy around empathy and purpose.

0:00:31 - (Kate Davis): Now the author of Love Lead, Succeed, she speaks about heart led leadership and sustainable performance. Isabel brings executive credibility and vulnerability to the conversation about whether hustle culture squeezes humor out of leadership and how burnout affects creativity and culture and how empathy and levity can help us live a full life. We had a great conversation about how she used to humor in her leadership style for over two decades and how it helped her reinvent herself. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I loved our conversation.

0:01:07 - (Kate Davis): So please welcome Isabel Tremblay. Hello, Isabel, and welcome to Humor in the C Suite.

0:01:16 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Thank you for having me on. I'm excited to be here today.

0:01:19 - (Kate Davis): Oh, I am so thrilled. Your story is so fascinating to me. I thought we would just start off by telling or having you tell everyone about your story and how you got to be where you are today.

0:01:31 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yes. So my story is I come from a long career in the corporate world. And you know, when I got out of university, I found the job that I thought was the best job in the world, actually started my my work in Orlando. It was the best company culture you could ever imagine. Right. But as I stayed for 23 years with that company and as I climbed up the corporate ladder, the company started Chang, right? Acquisitions, mergers.

0:02:02 - (Isabelle Tremblay): And at the end of my journey with them, I was, I guess holding two very high level corporate position in which I was managing budgets in three different countries in the world, had over 20 people reporting to me. And at the same time I was going through a very challenging divorce. And I've heard most of them are. So what happened to me is that I realized at some point that I couldn't even draft an email. I was completely burnt out and my doctor just called it a situational stress disorder. But for me it was complete failure. But through that journey of staying at home to heal, this is where I've learned that my life cannot be measured in terms of success by the number of emails, by my titles.

0:02:55 - (Isabelle Tremblay): So I completely changed the way I look at my life, but also completely reinvented myself at the age of 48, where I made the bold decision not to go back to this corporate Toxic culture. And to start my own business, to launch a book in English and French, to also start my own podcast, start a coaching business. And now also starting to do public speaking as well. So I'm here to tell everyone it's never too late to reinvent yourself, because we all have unlimited potential.

0:03:30 - (Kate Davis): I love that. And it is so brave to change careers at that age and, you know, and not even at that age, at any age, you know, honestly, and just to be clear for all our guests, Isabelle worked in the optical industry or I brand eyewear. Brand industry. So you were 24 years in that industry. And why you were there and why you were leading. Just to go back to sort of that moment in your life. Were you a leader who used, you know, before the burnout sort of took place, a lot of humor within your leadership style?

0:04:03 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Absolutely. I guess. I. I'm known. My leadership style was leadership with love, and I actually wrote a book about it. Right. Love, lead, succeed.

0:04:12 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:04:13 - (Isabelle Tremblay): And I believe that to, you know, to be a leader that can. Can connect with people, build trust, and you do have to show your humanity. And I think humor is a very good way of doing it because it. It makes you human and it makes things not as serious and because we all have to go through, you know, so many deadlines and pressure. So humor has a way to bring that pressure down and make people connect more together as well.

0:04:48 - (Kate Davis): It certainly is a valve to release stress and pressure and really connect teams. Did you find, when you were leading those teams, when you had all those people in all those different countries under you, did you find it helped with collaboration? And can you give us an example of how you'd use it?

0:05:08 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yes. I think one exercise we did once in the meeting that was really funny was to share, you know, your most embarrassing moment, or we would go around the table and say, you know, two truth about you and one lie. One lie. And people have to pick up which one was the lie. But it's not necessarily supposed to be funny, but it always turns into something funny because the, you know, people will pick the most unbelievable things, and then it just brings humor into demeaning. And I think in life in general, you know, I.

0:05:50 - (Isabelle Tremblay): I always want to have a happy mood because that's what brings happy things in your, you know, in your reality. So I would do the same at work, like, always look at the positive side of things and try to have a laugh, you know, whenever we could.

0:06:07 - (Kate Davis): That's amazing. And it's so important, you know, to have that. And I love, like, Two truths and a lie is just so like bringing that playful sort of child self, high school thing to work. And then people really feel like they can be themselves.

0:06:24 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Absolutely, absolutely. We should all be able to have a good laugh because, you know, I believe that humor really keeps leaders grounded as well.

0:06:35 - (Kate Davis): Yeah. And I heard you or I read that you said like hustle culture squeezes humor out of leadership. Did you find that when you were burning out and is there anything you would have done differently?

0:06:49 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, well, I think corporate America, and I mean like North America really needs to stop celebrating that hustle culture. Like I, I remember when I was in, you know, in that corporate life, like some days I would have 17 meetings, seriously, and sometimes I was triple book and then it's going in between meetings and your mind is not made to be such under, you know, a level of stress. And yeah, there was also like, you know, emails or text messages coming in at 6 o' clock in the morning or 11pm at night or, you know, getting this request on Saturday for this deadline.

0:07:32 - (Isabelle Tremblay): And you know, at some point this is where I started putting, you know, boundaries in place.

0:07:37 - (Kate Davis): Unfortunately, it didn't work that I was like, oh, to be 20 nowadays and actually be able to have boundaries. Yeah, yeah.

0:07:46 - (Isabelle Tremblay): But the thing is with, you know, I put boundaries in place, but I think I put boundaries in place to protect my team, so. And I forgot about myself in the process. And it's a bit of what my book is about too. It's about, you know, self, self, love should come first. And once you start loving yourself and you know, setting those boundaries, then the love with, for others will come automatically.

0:08:13 - (Kate Davis): Okay. But when you're in the corporate environment, when you are putting up those boundaries and you're dealing with that, did you find that you were connecting with your team more when you use humor within those situations?

0:08:25 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Oh, absolutely. Like it's, you know, humor as such a good way of, you know, making people connect because it really, it changes your brain chemistry. It also helps your, you know, your physical health as well.

0:08:41 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:08:42 - (Isabelle Tremblay): It expands your thinking and it really helps you handle challenge challenges better as well.

0:08:49 - (Kate Davis): Okay. Did you ever have humor sort of fail when it came to those challenges or, you know, misinterpretation or anything like that?

0:09:00 - (Isabelle Tremblay): I, I can't recall an example of where humor, to me, humor always wins because a smile will always bring light and sunshine in your life.

0:09:11 - (Kate Davis): Yeah. And it just starts with a smile. Like it can be a simple. Which is so funny living in Toronto because I'll walk down my street when I'm walking my dog and I'll smile and say good morning to everyone. And half like. Like, people around here are like, like, which is so funny.

0:09:31 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, well, that's. I'm glad you're mentioning this, because I. I do something similar in the morning, but I call it my gratitude walk, where I smile, but I say thank you.

0:09:42 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:09:42 - (Isabelle Tremblay): To so many things that are happening in my life and just in my head, not out loud, because people would think I'm a little old.

0:09:49 - (Kate Davis): I just pretend I'm talking to someone on my phone at the that point.

0:09:53 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, yeah, yeah. It brings a smile on my face just to say thank you while I walk. So I. I do like you. Like, I just smile and walk.

0:10:04 - (Kate Davis): That's amazing. Oh, my God. We have to bump into each other. How do you think leaders. Leaders, authenticity and vulnerability through humor inspire the same with their team?

0:10:14 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Because it makes. It makes leaders become human. Human. And when you. You are being authentic, right. You're being a human, then it creates something powerful with your team. And I think. I think actually humor and leadership is probably a superpower because this is what will build trust and respect. You don't become this, like a person that goes by your title, but you become human. And let's not forget that a leader's job is really to serve their team, you know?

0:10:51 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Uh, so all of this, together with the authenticity and the transparency and the humor, you know, will become a beautiful love story in business.

0:11:03 - (Kate Davis): That's amazing. Really taking it from transactional to human.

0:11:06 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yes.

0:11:07 - (Kate Davis): Right. And really allowing their teams to say, oh, yeah, I can bring myself here, which is why I'm doing this podcast, you know?

0:11:15 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah.

0:11:16 - (Kate Davis): Are there any. Are there any. Have you ever found, like, it really enhances team collaboration? And how did you find it? Like, when you were serving different countries, was the humor different?

0:11:31 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, I guess. Yeah. Humor does change, you know, in different countries. And what people, you know, may find funny in, you know, North America will, in, you know, to some degree change in other countries. But I think, generally speaking, you know, what's one would find funny, you know, that there is consistency in there, but just some, you know, small differences. And I don't know that I have a particular.

0:12:00 - (Kate Davis): Yeah, no, that's okay.

0:12:01 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Example. But, you know, sometimes it varies too, by gender. Right. With the woman will find funny or a man that. That could vary as well.

0:12:11 - (Kate Davis): So now you're out of the corporate life, are you finding that you're having to look differently, like, in exposing. Exploring relationships? And are you using humor within those now that you're in a different industry, whether it's speaking or, you know, reaching out to people, podcasting, all this.

0:12:28 - (Isabelle Tremblay): I would say my own podcast uses a lot of humor. We have a few funny questions that we ask to every guest because myself and my podcast co host, Christine, were both like, we love humor. Anything funny is the only thing I'll watch. Even on tv. I don't watch the news, I don't watch drama. I just try to bring happiness in my life, and that's what I do in my work as well, you know, like, especially with the podcast, but other, you know, like my consulting work as well. I always try to bring humor and everything because the goal of life is to be happy and laughing and is a big part of that.

0:13:13 - (Kate Davis): Oh, my God, I had it. It's so funny because I think about, like, 24 years building eyewear brands, which is so important to everything, and I actually. You just reminded me of a joke I had when I was like. Because 2020 was such a show. And I'm like, you think it was hard for all of us because the pandemic. Can you imagine being an optometrist? Like, you've been waiting for the year 2020 your whole life?

0:13:39 - (Kate Davis): Like, that was gonna be your year. You had the magnet. Magnets ready, right? You had, like, everything, like, all the accoutrements for your 2020, you know? Yeah, hindsight's 2020, I guess.

0:13:53 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, yeah, no, no, that's. That's a good one. And I think it definitely changed a lot in the optical world and in the entire world that year, but we definitely missed that 2020 celebration.

0:14:06 - (Kate Davis): Oh, yes. I think we should go back. Are there any tips you would or advice you'd like to give leaders? So when they are using humor or how they could or trust in it? I should say.

0:14:19 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Well, I think it's to keep it authentic to who they are and to be. Also be respectful. You know, there's sometimes a type of humor that appears to be making fun of, you know, of people or, you know, be careful with humor. Maybe that would touch or laugh at a. You know, whether it's a culture or, you know, don't make it specific to the people, but, you know, make fun of things in general because people can take things very personally. If it's, you know, if it's, you

0:14:57 - (Kate Davis): know, you definitely never want to punch down, you know. No, yeah, absolutely.

0:15:01 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Be careful to be respectful and really,

0:15:04 - (Kate Davis): you know, if you work with someone for 20 years, you're going to have a rapport with them and know that you can tease or you can't, whether you know or if someone is in your life. Hi, it's Kate. I can't believe you made it halfway through the show. Look, if you or anyone you know would like to be a guest on Humor in the C Suite, I would love to have you, so email me. Kate Davis, ca Do you find, like, through your book Love Lead and Succeed, you.

0:15:39 - (Kate Davis): You've changed as a person within that and that. Do you have advice you could give anyone from that in terms of using or being, you know, a bit of levity in your life and trusting it?

0:15:51 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, no, absolutely. Because, in fact, Love Lead, Succeed was a way of healing for me. I wrote that book when I was on sick leave, when I thought I was on sick leave for burnout, But I was also very depressed. So in that book, I share how I overcame burnout. So it became kind of my anchor because I go through, for instance, I started meditating. So I go through the power of meditation. I go through the power of the mind.

0:16:27 - (Isabelle Tremblay): And I completely changed the way I look at life, how I live my life, but how I use my mindset as well. This book, actually, at the beginning, it was supposed to be, you know, I thought, I'm going to write a business book about how leadership should be because, like, I was in a toxic environment. So I write about leadership. But then it became way more personal where I, I started really talking about your life and how you should not measure your success by, you know, either the number of cars or the number of emails or your title, but more on how aligned you are with your purpose.

0:17:08 - (Isabelle Tremblay): It became a much more personal story that I shared, even though only the, you know, the first chapter talks about my life. The rest of the book is just 14 other chapters of tips and how to succeed.

0:17:21 - (Kate Davis): Yeah. And do you find, like, if you could go back to that culture now that you want to, but if you ever had to, would you, what would you do differently to create that sort of bubble for yourself where you could lead in an environment, you know, or maybe someone is in a toxic environment right now. How would you suggest, you know, they deal with it so that they can make it better and maybe make it less toxic or as a leader, make it less toxic, you know?

0:17:48 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, I, I, if I would go back, but I, I would never go back. Yeah, I know, I know I would. I think I would learn to challenge even more than I was challenging and set those boundaries not only for my team, to protect my team, but again, for myself. And it's okay. To say no. And, you know, I've always been a person in business where I had my priorities, but maybe I had too many priorities. So learn to have even more priorities. And for people that are right now are going through a tough time at work, you know, either they're feeling overwhelmed or they feel they're in toxic environment.

0:18:30 - (Isabelle Tremblay): I know I had a boss that was a bully as well. What I would recommend is, you know, you can talk to your HR department, but sometimes HR doesn't, you know, really work for the employees, but they work for senior leadership. So I would say it's to talk to people about it, like, get your message out, your situation out. And if that culture or this environment is so toxic that it's, you know, it's damaging your health, find another job.

0:19:00 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, go find another job. Because it's not worth it.

0:19:03 - (Kate Davis): No. Life's too short.

0:19:05 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah.

0:19:06 - (Kate Davis): You know, but. Yeah, yeah, And I get that. I also get. Some people will be like, yeah, but I have children and I have this and that and responsibility. And I don't want to put my family through that stress. So I, I get that part of it as well. But I do believe humor can be that pressure valve. Even when we're at home. You know, we might be going through a hard time at, at work. But all these techniques especially that are in your book, whether it's meditation or gratitude or, you know, for me, it's getting in my 300 laughs a day, which is really important to me.

0:19:38 - (Kate Davis): Right. Instead of my 10,000 steps. Like, there are lots of things that we can do for ourselves to keep ourselves healthy within those environments, you know, and try and make it better for the people around us. How I just love this. How have you personally benefited from using humor in your day to day life?

0:19:58 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Well, it just changed how I live my life because I choose to laugh as opposed to, and I choose what mental things I want to think about and I choose what I want to watch on tv. And it has to bring humor because, you know, if you bring happiness into your life, um, you know, I think you'll attract better things in the universe than if you think about, you know, a war going on right now or all these negative things. Right.

0:20:30 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:20:31 - (Isabelle Tremblay): And it makes yourself to be, you know, more human and take yourself less seriously. Because life is supposed, as I said, to be fun.

0:20:41 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:20:41 - (Isabelle Tremblay): It's not supposed to be a challenge all the time. Right.

0:20:44 - (Kate Davis): And there are lots of ways we can show we have a sense of humor without telling a joke, whether it's laughing at someone else's joke or. Or sending a funny meme. You know, it doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be. I'm not trying to make people into comics, and. And I don't think you are either. You know, and it's really just saying, you know, bring yourself here and it's safe to do that. And I think that's the power of bringing levity into the workplace and into people's leadership styles.

0:21:12 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Absolutely.

0:21:13 - (Kate Davis): Yeah. Because you were at the same business for over two decades, did you find, obviously, you changed within that environment? Did you find your sense of humor changed?

0:21:25 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Well, I think by the end, I, I had less humor because I was so burnt out that I couldn't even find the strength to laugh as much or. Yeah, when you're feeling so overwhelmed and depressed at the same time, it's really hard to see, See or find humor. But I, I think I completely healed myself through that time off, and now I'm back to my old self. And, you know, right now I don't manage a team through my corporation other than a virtual assistant.

0:21:59 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:22:00 - (Isabelle Tremblay): But, you know, if I were to manage a team again, of course, like, humor would be one of, you know, my priority. And, you know, it goes through emotional intelligence as well and leading with your heart.

0:22:12 - (Kate Davis): Yes, 100%. And did you find, like, what, in your healing process, you know, feeling vulnerable, feeling burnt out, how did you take those baby steps to sort of trust that humor could be a part of it again or learn to laugh at yourself in those moments?

0:22:31 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, well, because I, I created an environment that would, you know, be conducive to my healing. As I said, TV is one thing. If I, you know, if I was watching a show, it needed to be only, you know, something funny. Same things in the social media or things I would allow myself to watch or read. It all needed to be funny and bring humor and happiness into my life. So that, that's what I focus on when I was on.

0:23:05 - (Isabelle Tremblay): On sick leave.

0:23:06 - (Kate Davis): Yeah. And so. Okay, so now you're all better. You're in it, You're. You're doing your own thing. Do you find when you are coaching people and, and in those environments again, where you're, you're, you know, seeing people at that scale where you were and helping them out of it. Is humor part of you helping them out of it?

0:23:28 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, we use a little humor, but, you know, but I still need to keep it somewhat serious.

0:23:35 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:23:36 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Because sometimes we're, you know, we're. I'm helping them, like, reclaim their time and energy. But there's, I think there's always room for humor in anything you do and, you know, try to bring some happiness in people's life. So of course, if I can crack a joke or.

0:23:52 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:23:53 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Or even better, like make fun of myself, you know.

0:23:56 - (Kate Davis): Right.

0:23:56 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Then they can laugh at me as they, you know, as they're going through their challenges.

0:24:02 - (Kate Davis): Yeah, I love that. I love that so much. It's so funny to me because there's so much, you know, when we, we talk about humor, there's that pressure to be funny. And yet we're talking about trying to ease that pressure. Right. So it can be this scale of how do I actually, you know, collaborate on this and make it a balanced thing where it's not that pressure to be funny, but you're showing you have, you know, that sort of sense of humor when you are coaching people. People.

0:24:33 - (Kate Davis): And do you find that there's like. Are you coaching any groups at all?

0:24:38 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Not yet. It might be in my future though.

0:24:40 - (Kate Davis): Okay. Okay.

0:24:41 - (Isabelle Tremblay): At the moment it's just a one on one coaching approach. And of course, I'm starting to do public speaking as well. So in a way, that keynote presentation is a full hour of coaching. Yes, but it's a different approach because my coaching program is a six month, you know, one on one.

0:25:00 - (Kate Davis): Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Amazing. Amazing. Are you, do you find that your humor changes when you're dealing with men and women?

0:25:09 - (Isabelle Tremblay): You know, like jokes you, you'll make or humor you'll use with women and men is slightly different. Not that much, but. And sometimes you try to customize thing based on what, you know, people like or don't like.

0:25:23 - (Kate Davis): And yeah.

0:25:24 - (Isabelle Tremblay): You know, as you start coaching people for more than, you know, just a few weeks, you start to get to know them better and then you'll, you'll have a better idea of what, you know, they may find funny or, or not.

0:25:35 - (Kate Davis): Or not. Yeah. And have you ever like. I mean, there's a certain risk in that, I guess as well. Did you find that a lot of the leaders that you're leading or coaching are going through similar stuff that, that you went through in terms of burnout and, and feeling like there's just too much pressure?

0:25:54 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Oh, oh, absolutely. You know, in my keynote presentation, I talk about this very openly. I have a full slide about it is because actually four out of five people in North America are under like high stress.

0:26:11 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:26:11 - (Isabelle Tremblay): So burnout is, I think a lot of people are burned out and they just keep working. Right. So it's very, very Present. And it's present in the people I'm coaching. And I think the first step is just, you know, accepting the situation and starting to implement things to help you heal.

0:26:31 - (Kate Davis): Yeah, Baby steps, right?

0:26:32 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yes, yes.

0:26:33 - (Kate Davis): Right. It doesn't have to be all or all or nothing all at once. Like we're so, and especially in North America, we're so conditioned to just get it all done, you know, no matter what it takes out of you or what's going on or, you know, there's a lot of that within our culture, I think, and finding that balance is. Yeah, that's why we need you, Isabelle. That's all I'm saying.

0:26:56 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah, well, well, I, What I want to say non stop is we need to stop celebrating that hustle culture. And you know, companies need to put mission statement on the wall celebrating their employees, saying how much they love them. And then when you go in the office and then the actual reality is that it's not what's happening.

0:27:18 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:27:19 - (Isabelle Tremblay): So I'm, I'm really hoping for a corporate America that will start really putting their employees first and a leadership that really leads with their heart as well.

0:27:32 - (Kate Davis): And I think that's happening. I think that's happening in a lot of companies. And you know, just from the leaders that I'm speaking to, a lot of them are incorporating a more human approach to it, you know, and now that even Stanford University and a bunch of universities are actually teaching humor as a part of their business and leadership courses and degrees, which is pretty incredible to me. So it, it definitely, I think the culture slowly but surely is changing, you know, and it's not, it's not the dad jokes anymore or the, you know, the misogyny that I think, you know, used to take place. And I, I do believe that slowly but surely, as more and more women are leading and as more and more companies are going, oh, this is what this new generation is wanting.

0:28:22 - (Kate Davis): You know, number one thing, they wanted people to sound like they were a human being. That's what they wanted from their leaders. And I was like, wow, that's, that's a pretty simple ask. Really?

0:28:32 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah.

0:28:33 - (Kate Davis): You know, so it's, it's pretty amazing. Have you found like one simple way a leader can use humor to set a positive tone? Like, and miss, like when they are going through challenges?

0:28:46 - (Isabelle Tremblay): You mean to set a positive tone for, for their team or.

0:28:50 - (Kate Davis): Yeah, for their team or projects when they're in a difficult situation. Is there like a way a leader could use humor in that?

0:28:57 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yes, I definitely. Because when you use humor you don't take things so seriously. So if you're going through a challenge and you're able to crack a few jokes or.

0:29:10 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:29:11 - (Isabelle Tremblay): You know, sometimes I like being sarcastic in a funny way, so,

0:29:16 - (Kate Davis): you know, you're a sniper. I like it. I like it.

0:29:20 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yeah. So I think it can be very helpful. Yes. When going through challenging situation. Definitely.

0:29:25 - (Kate Davis): Yeah. And it's showing people the psychological safety of that. Right. And. And we were talking about trust and all those things, so I. I think it's pretty incredible. And just what you're talking about and everything you're doing. Isabelle, is so needed right now. You know, with everything that's going on in the world, I think it's pretty. You're in the perfect spot.

0:29:45 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Thank you. Thank you. And I. I love your podcast and the messaging. You bring about humor in business. Very, very important.

0:29:53 - (Kate Davis): Guys, we're just having a boast, you know, instead of a roast battle right now, we're having a Bose rattle battle. Anyway, more of those. One last question, because we always like to end. Isabel, what is the funniest thing that's ever happened to you? Do you have a story you can share with us?

0:30:08 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Oh, my gosh. Yes, I do. Yay. Okay. Well, I used to travel a lot for business, and one of my most humbling moments was I was probably, I don't know, 14, 15 years ago. I was traveling to Las Vegas to a big optical conference, vision expo. And on the plane with me, I had my boss, like colleagues, like key customers, because a lot of the, you know, Toronto customers will travel on that same flight. And, you know, I'm all excited because I have my priority luggage tags because I was, you know, a frequent flyer.

0:30:47 - (Isabelle Tremblay): And then we land in Las Vegas, and we get to the luggage belt, and I have my boss and colleagues and all these key customers with me, and. And my luggage comes out first, right?

0:31:00 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:31:00 - (Isabelle Tremblay): What I thought looked like my luggage, because the luggage was actually not looking like it was before. It looked like it had gone to war. A huge battle. I see the luggage falling down, and then the zipper is broken. It's open. And then the luggage comes out. And then I start seeing some of my personal items coming on the.

0:31:24 - (Kate Davis): Yes.

0:31:25 - (Isabelle Tremblay): So it started with a shoe and then some eyeglasses, because, of course, I had all my eyeglasses for the show. And then some socks and then a bra and. And then some underwear as well. I mean, my customers and, you know, my colleagues are looking at me. I was calmly trying to pick up everything, but I was, like, so embarrassed.

0:31:51 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:31:52 - (Isabelle Tremblay): But it made for a story at dinner and.

0:31:55 - (Kate Davis): Oh, yeah.

0:31:56 - (Isabelle Tremblay): And after that, I found out, you know, Air Canada had half the stuff was missing, but that. That's okay. But the. I think the moral of the story is that travel can have a very way. A way of humbling you.

0:32:09 - (Kate Davis): Yeah.

0:32:10 - (Isabelle Tremblay): And, you know, sometimes leadership includes picking up your dignity. Right.

0:32:14 - (Kate Davis): Yeah. Or your underwear off a conveyor belt.

0:32:17 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Yes, exactly. And I've done both.

0:32:22 - (Kate Davis): Very few can say that. Honestly. I. Wow. That is. That is a great story. I'm so happy you shared it. I'm so happy you've shared your time with us today. And I know people are going to get a lot out of this and just trusting humor and really knowing when to say enough is enough for yourself and knowing that you can rebuild and have a sense of humor about that. And if we don't take ourselves so seriously, we can make those changes and go from burnout to really exploring and being curious and adventurous again.

0:32:54 - (Kate Davis): And I'm just so grateful for our time. Thanks so much, Isabel.

0:32:58 - (Isabelle Tremblay): Thank you, Kate. I really appreciate it.

0:33:00 - (Kate Davis): Oh, what a great episode.