Lydia Philippe est engagée dans la communauté franco-ontarienne, fondatrice de la FAMHAS Foundation, entrepreneure et étudiante ! Dans l'épisode d'aujourd'hui, on s'parle de son parcours, de la santé mentale et de la vie étudiante.
Lydia, F-O qu'on s'parle des leaders d'aujourd'hui : La relève en action !
Lydia Philippe est ancienne présidente de la Fédération de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne (FESFO), ancienne vice-présidente de la Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française (FJCF) et ancienne présidente du conseil étudiant du Collège catholique Mer Bleue, où elle fait partie de la première cohorte de finissant.e.s. Aujourd'hui, elle est fondatrice de Fabiola's Addiction and Mental Health Awareness Support Foundation (FAMHAS), propriétaire de l'entreprise Sweet's by Lylie et étudiante à l'Université d'Ottawa. Lydia est un modèle accessible pour tout le monde en Ontario français ainsi qu'au Canada !
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00:00:00
Speaker 1: Hello everyone, I'm Camille Sigouin, I'm co-host of the podcast.
00:00:04
Speaker 2: And my name is Danielle Roy. I am the other host of the podcast with Camille.
00:00:10
Speaker 2: Thank you very much and welcome to the first official podcast of the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, or AFO. We're really, really happy to be able to launch it. The name of our podcast is "FO qu’on s’parle".
00:00:26
Speaker 1: So in this podcast we are talking to accessible models and people of influence in different, different spheres of Ontario's Francophonie. This year, well this year, this first season is financed by the bilingual Ottawa program of ACFO Ottawa. It is a micro-grant program that supports the community in creating new bilingualism programs.
00:00:51
Speaker 2: Today, we asked one of my favorite people on the planet to come and talk to us about her experiences, her opinions, her life. Her name, you may know her, it's Lydia Philippe, former president of FESFO, business owner, president …
00:01:11
Speaker 1: Founder of an organization
00:01:14
Speaker 2: ... founder and president of a foundation, is truly inspiring. I don't think I've met someone as inspiring as Lydia in my life. She really spoke to us about her community awakening, her decisions to leave Ontario, Ontario, from provincial to national to represent the Francophonie then the challenges came with that. She told us about mental health. We talked about school, burnout. What does it mean to burn out young? It was really a very enriching conversation. I am really happy. I can't wait to share it with you. Thanks for being with us again. Good podcast!
00:02:08
Speaker 1: Hello Lydia, how are you?
00:02:10
Speaker 3: How are you ?
00:02:11
Speaker 1: It's okay. Thank you very much for being with us today for episode number 2 of the AFO podcast.
00:02:16
Speaker 3: It makes me happy.
00:02:16
Speaker 2: Lydia, today, we need to talk about today's young leaders.
00:02:26
Speaker 1: Lydia, tell us a bit about yourself, your experiences, your background, your expertise. So we start the discussion like this.
00:02:35
Speaker 3: No problem. So, I am a former student of the Mer Bleu Catholic College in Orléans. I was the first cohort to graduate. In any case, it's still something special to commemorate.
00:02:47
Speaker 3: During my high school career, especially at Mer Bleu, I was bored. We are going to say it to each other as it is. We were 60 in my cohort, so you see everyone every day. Then I wanted to change my entourage so I participated in an event of the FESFO. It was the Forum. And it was an accident, because I was like, ah okay one moment we're going to sleep in a hotel, then I arrive and it's a gym. I called my grandma bawling, then she's like, come on Lydia, you know, live your experiences to the fullest. So, since that time, I was like ah, my God, like I had the bite of the Ontario Francophonie. Then I decided to participate in all the remaining events of the year. And gambling, I applied for CR Ottawa and did a term, then I really loved it, then I was like, you know what? We are going to give ourselves a challenge. And I applied for the presidency, since then it’s been like a snowball that rolled down the mountain. There had been December 1, the Ford anulations, and then it really took me to the forefront, something I really didn't expect. Then from there I continued when I graduated high school to get involved at the Canadian level, participating in the French Canadian Youth Federation as vice-president. Then now my term is over, so I'm just a student at the University of Ottawa.
00:04:09
Speaker 1: I don't know if I can say that like, I'm biased because your career there, I've been with you there ever since, as I remember, like in Woodstock, at the Games in Woodstock, we were looking for a young committed to say a sentence at the opening ceremony, and everyone in the office was like Lydia Philippe, Lydia Philippe, and then as I spoke to you for the first time, and afterwards like you returned to FESFO, and I'm like awww
00:04:35
Speaker 2: Like, yes you did all that. So we got to know you like that
00:04:39
Speaker 1: Like me, I met you right in the juice of the resistance. As you say, we pitched you on a platform. Then we said good luck. And you did super well! You have to put it in context.
00:04:56
Speaker 1: The games are in May, there is a CR meeting I think in like June or July Yeah, yeah, July.
00:05:04
Speaker 1: Then you were pitched in a language crisis, you had zero training.
00:05:12
Speaker 2: Everyone right away fell in love with you, you know anyone who works with you. It's right now "Oh yes lydia Oh good we're going to ask lydia, very happy". In addition, Lydia also hosted our annual conference.
00:05:29
Speaker 2: That too was a bit like "Hey! What are you doing tomorrow?"
00:05:44
Speaker 2: You always have to be ready for an adventure. Life is full of surprises. I think that by saying no you are blocking your doors because a door led me to the AFO convention that, I didn't even know what AFO was in tenth grade. It is always to say yes and then to embark on the adventure.
00:06:01
Speaker 2: Since then you've also been doing a lot of business that, like every time you go out with something is never what I think you would have done. It's always something completely new, completely different. Like I know you started an organization, you started a business ... How did it all start?
00:06:26
Speaker 1: And yes, so the organization was a way for me to honor my mother who is deceased. It happened exactly the same day that I had my CR meeting, talk about it coincidentally, the day that I had known my mother had passed, There was a little voice in me that said " Lydia, got to your meeting. " I really don't regret it, but the organization serves to educate people in the community regarding mental health and addiction, not only in the black community, but in the local community in general and in Canada. Since that time, we've been open for two years, we just finished a program this month that offered a counseling service, 2 hours free by black mental health professionals, offered by the Red Cross. , in collaboration with the Government of Canada. We also had a program that offered Covid Kits full of masks, gloves, things like that, we gave them to people in need.
00:07:18
Speaker 2: So. it's little things just to honor my mother, but also honor the community. Because often there are lots of people in need, then we don't help each other, as it is stigmatized, like me, if I have a mental health problem, it's like "Oh my god", you know kind the term is like the Grinch?
00:07:44
Speaker 1: So we wanted to remove this stigma and open the discussion. Then, for two years, we started a snowball effect, the city of Ottawa commemorated Black Mental Health Day in the city, we have resources that are starting to emerge, such as in centers like Somerset. Things that have small effects. Now we are working with UNICEF who called us to participate in tables to share our story.
00:08:14
Speaker 1: How did you do it?
00:08:29
Speaker 3: I remember that we had already had a discussion, or, you know the conversation is already taboo, Often in family you will not want to share that you may have mental health problems, but you had mentioned that was even worse in the black community.
00:08:44
Speaker 3: It's so crazy. Have you been around for just two years and been able to do all of this? Wow! I really did not know that had made it there! When did it all start?
00:09:09
Speaker 2: We launched it at the end of my grade 11 in 2018, if I am not mistaken as the end of term, mid term, at the Presidency because I myself was at school, then I had suffered from a mental health crisis and had no idea what was.
00:09:23
Speaker 1: In my family, it's always like religion, you pray, you sleep and you get up the next day and you work. Then I told my aunt about it and she too was like "oh my god for me that's the same". Then, when we searched my mother's medical records, it really helped me understand what happened. She too had been diagnosed in the hospital and had had several conversations with the doctor. of medical wafers from my hand to understand what happened too? Then we felt vulnerable because after the age of 18, if a member of your family has mental health issues, you can't help them, you can't force them to go for treatment, like going see a doctor because they are adults. We didn't want other people to feel like that, to feel "useless", to put it mildly, so that's what pushed us to seek resources for the community.
00:10:09
Speaker 1: But how did you do? Like me, I think about what I was doing in 11th grade, then it wasn't like that. I would never have known or even started.
00:10:20
Speaker 1: As I am speechless, I cannot imagine the process.
00:10:41
Speaker 2: No, it's a complicated process, I was lucky that I had my aunt to help me with all of this. Lucky also that I had the FESFO which showed me like the whole question of statutes and regulations, who makes statutes and regulations at 17? There is a lot of Google, Google is your best friend when you start in an organization, talking talking in the community, networking, networking is very, very, very important because that's what starts you in good directions. Then, as one of my mandates, I had always said it, especially during my presidency it is mental health. I can start a discussion. This is where we start.
00:11:27
Speaker 3: Then the Foundation is bilingual. Do you know if it's more French-speaking, English-speaking, it's really half / half?
00:11:39
Speaker 2: Right now it's really half / half. In the counseling service which has just ended, there were plenty of francophones and above all, the racial minority in Ottawa has had a lot of outcomes as a francophone environment. So, we had these. We even had people from Nunavut, you can believe, who came to seek counseling from the foundation. Nunavut! We made sure that we could offer native languages, so that people feel comfortable expressing themselves.
00:12:15
Speaker 1: I think about that too, we don't put enough emphasis on it in life. I think like just affect it. Just the way you thought about that, it's fantastic because it's true that I would be better able to talk to someone who is capable, sometimes it's people I have no idea that they are going to connect with me like that, but someone who looks like me who understands my background a little more. Because we are able to put ourselves on the same equal footing. It's always better not to need to explain why a certain thing makes you feel like this.
00:13:23
Speaker 1: And then, with all that, I saw that you had to organize a gala? This one was called the Phoenix gala yes? The purpose of this event was what?
00:13:46
Speaker 1: We had the first year, after first year, and then Covid interrupted the proceedings a bit for the second year. So basically when we talk about mental health, everything is very dark and gloomy and really taboo and we really wanted to shed some light on the subject in a positive way. We had people who performed an improvisation piece on the subject of mental health. We had musicians who sang, we had testimonials, we had an announcer who spoke, and just the way he spoke, you really take the time to reflect and do some personal reflection. The gala was just about celebrating, yes, it's not something that's easy, but it's something that you can experience in a positive way. We must not hide it.
00:14:48
Speaker 3: Then, I am launching myself a bit into another subject. Then I don't know if you will be able to answer me. Our podcast is called The Next Generation of Today's Leaders. I would like to know your opinion on calling young people to take over because it's like, you are the future leaders up to what age? I know like me, I don't like this term to talk about youth engagement, and youth engagement as much for me and Danielle as for high school students. Because yes, youth in Ontario is until the age of 18 but we are still young. I often ask myself "am I still taking over?" Can you tell us about it?
00:15:49
Speaker 2: When people talk about the next generation, I think it's a way of classifying young people in a box. It's a way of keeping power and saying "this is the table for the old and this is the table for the young", it's like an imaginary line that must not be crossed. When you put people in boxes, people often tend to stay in that box, and they'll say "ah this discussion isn't for me". I don't like the term "the next generation" because I'm here at the moment. What is the point of succession? Me too, you can be the next generation. There is no age to make an impact.
00:16:28
Speaker 3: Someone in their forties can take over too! Someone could make a complete career change. Well, well, this person is the next generation of education because they decided to do a master's degree in education. We always qualify the next generation
00:16:50
Speaker 3: I never understood it, as we would say that we put the title "the next generation" because it was important to pass the message that there are other kinds of relief than just young people.
00:16:51
Speaker 2: Young people are not the leaders of tomorrow, they are the leaders of today. Lydia you are a perfect example of that. You've done more in two years more than the majority of the world does in their entire life.
00:17:32
Speaker 2: Can I retire already?
00:17:49
Speaker 2: At the same time you're doing all this, are you at school?
00:17:49
Speaker 1: Yes full time, at the moment I am in political science.
00:17:51
Speaker 3: Do you see yourself getting into politics? Do you see "Lydia Philippe: Prime Minister"?
00:18:09
Speaker 2: I asked myself the question a lot because I was CR people would often ask me "Ah lydia, do you want to be an MP?" Then a lot of times I had a tendency to say yes, as I saw it as being like wow it's good to be in the light, but I always think of the people in the backstage. I think of the people in the office who work crazy hours, often more than some MPs. I don't want to be the face of anything, I want to do the work in the community, I want to stir the pot. I want to create a problem to the point that they realize it's a problem. So to answer the question, I'm a politician, probably not. But to be an activist, sure.
00:19:03
Speaker 3: Yes because when we worked with the representative council, we often said that the MP’s know a lot, they have a lot of experience and expertise, but often it is the organization that is the expert. So if I give you briefing notes to study, the file is already one step ahead of the MP. So when you arrive, be confident that you know your stuff, that you know what the youth want, whatever the membership of the organization wants. So yes, politicians are very important, but organizations and the community are even more important. We need more people to go for it like you.
00:20:04
Speaker 3: So basically the goal of this episode was to give me and Camille a chance to tell Lydia how we appreciate her.
00:20:04
Speaker 3: Yes thank you for participating bye! Haha,
00:20:28
Speaker 3: On another note, you are also an entrepreneur. Do you want to explain to us a little how it all happened?
00:20:40
Speaker 2: In all seriousness, I had a dream. I woke up and wanted strawberries and chocolate. I don't even like chocolate.
00:20:52
Speaker 2: On that same day, I sat in my bed. So I was like, interestingly, we have to do something about this. Yes ! Strawberries coated in chocolate.
00:21:02
Speaker 3: So that same day I sat in my bed, made myself business cards, came up with a name and created an Instagram page.
00:21:09
Speaker 2: I thought to myself if I don't do it now, I never will. So from there, in less than a week, I started a business without even knowing where to start. Then in the first week in the world I had 30 orders. So I follow myself saying "hmmm, something might be working!"
00:21:22
Speaker 3: How have you felt for the past five years when you take charge of companies?
00:21:33
Speaker 2: You never think of starting a business, like I am like I work. I have a part time job, like I'm good, right? When you're bored you find something to do, instead of relaxing a bit, I like to put it on my plate.
00:21:56
Speaker 3: Me when I'm bored Lydia, I put One Tree Hill on TV, I eat pizza and I drink wine.
00:22:10
Speaker 1: In life there is always something to learn. That's right, and I would say 2020 has really been a learning year for so many people. Just like the conversations that came out of the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter situation. There are conversations that I had that I never thought I would have with certain people in my life.
00:22:44
Speaker 2: OK, clearly there is a lack of education and a lack of recognition, realities that I realize that I am someone more fortunate to have the knowledge that I have.
00:23:05
Speaker 1: With COVID, with all the protests, we have seen how it has been such a year of reflection. Me, I was sitting in my bed there and I was all thinking so deep about life in general because you are home alone, isolated and thinking about your sanity. Am I okay? Do I need to go see my family? Can I go see my family? Is it safe? How did 2020 go for you? Does it take enough for you? It has been an absolutely ridiculous year at least in the history of my life.
00:23:56
Speaker 1: No you are really not the only one. Because, like you, I had lots of little thoughts. Then, at first, I thought to myself, like I finally have time to relax a bit after three years of work. But there, I put myself in a space to think about everything that I didn't want to think about during my working time. And the whole aspect of George Floyd is arriving then that allowed me to think, as with my life, and all the microaggressions that I suffered even in my neighborhood, I am still blessed to live in a rather calm, good enough. And then, I went to get my letters from the box in the box, then my neighbor who had just moved, who is a white woman, she saw me, then she, she stepped back. She really wanted to make sure that I really lived in this neighborhood. It really shocked me because I've lived in this neighborhood for ten years and I've never experienced anything like this. And it all happened the same week as George Floyd. I went to the demonstrations and she saw my posters and since that time there is a chill with her. It's always small incidents like that, like I think of the university which is undergoing a lot at the moment. I don't realize how much of an influence my skin color could have on the opportunities I get. As I do not even think about it, but sometimes, I will never forget something that one told me to the FESFO, was a former member of the CR, we were in the hotel room on the way getting ready to go to bed at that time I was in the presidency, then she came to me to say "Lydia, thank you." When I asked her why she said "because I finally see a woman of color in a position that I can apply for". It gives me hope. It's how it only takes one person that I never thought about it. It's the little things like that, and the George Floyd m incident, really opened our heads since we didn't talk about it in Canada. In Canada here in the media there is no problem, everything is fine, there is no systemic racism, and all that. It opened up a lot of discussion that some people weren't ready to have, that some organization wasn't ready to have.
00:26:04
Speaker 1: I admit it myself since during the George Floyd incident, I allowed myself to go on the networks to observe all the organizations in which I participated and I knew and there were many who remained silent . Then I felt a rage in me. I felt the rage and I was like "Lydia do you have to say something? Is this my place?" But there, I remained silent and I should not have.
00:26:28
Speaker 1: In any case, that is my deep reflection. And if we take it one day a day, I always talk to my employer. And we have some really good discussions. That's 2020 for me, it's a reflection and as we run away. For me, it's reflection. We talk about resistance, but resistance isn't just 2018. It's 2018, 2019 and 2020.
00:26:46
Speaker 1: Yes, definitely.
00:26:49
Speaker 3: But as it must have done you good this year of reflection. Because like, you haven't quit since you were in grade 10. Your first experience of community involvement at 15, the presidency, a language crisis, your foundation, your post-secondary studies, you've been working hard for a long time! It must have felt good to take a step back and achieve everything you've accomplished.
00:26:54
Speaker 2: Yes I was finally able to sleep!
00:27:38
Speaker 1: I am very grateful and I always tell my friends because there I was able to really get to know myself. What are my interests, to find out who I want to be as a person, but also an agent of change in the community.
00:27:52
Speaker 1: Yes, get to know yourself but also learn to appreciate yourself and appreciate your presence when you are alone. Really since you were in 10th grade you are surrounded by people constantly
00:28:06
Speaker 2: You always have interviews, a delegation, a meeting ... I'm sure you've had meetings with lawyers and everything for your foundation.
00:28:19
Speaker 1: I can see how you would have felt in a situation like ok, I'm at home, I feel good, I love myself, what's next? I had time to breathe, now I'm ready for the new challenges. It's so impressive, I don't know if you realize how impressive you are. That's why me and Cam tell you so often. You inspire the world around you a lot.
00:29:06
Speaker 1: Regardless of their ages, their gender, their race, their station, you are really really a phenomenal person. Worse, I voice you so much here with your successes, you're challenges, I would have liked it so much to have someone like you in my circle of friends or in my acquaintances when I was your age even in my acquaintances. There would be a lot that I would have known earlier in my life.
00:29:44
Speaker 2: You know what people say "be the person you needed when you were young" I always think of you when I hear that.
00:30:01
Speaker 1: You also made the leap to national with the FJCF, how was that change?
00:30:28
Speaker 2: It was harder there, I left some part of the country where I was surrounded and I had supervision. I was with Camille every day, there was someone who helped me prepare all the time. The national level took me a bit by surprise, I am not only in Ontario now I must speak for the whole of Canada. I must now understand the realities of the different provinces as well. What I experience in Ontario is not the same as in British Columbia. I am having difficulty filling his shoes because I was not ready. I am 18 years old in an organization that represents young people aged 14 to 25. I just like I don't have the same reality as those who live as a threat in British Columbia. I have a little crisis of it and that's why I retired at the national level in the youth sector because I couldn’t do it anymore,, as I have worked too much, to the point that I mentally tired, that I could have wanted to redo and continue my work. Then I felt very selfish about it. I felt like I had taken someone else's position, even though I was still doing all of my work. The crisis allowed me to see that. I hadn't had time alone in 4 years, and needed time in my own company. My last meeting was difficult because I felt like it was all over. I don't think I cried because I was sad, I think I cried because I felt relieved. You have to admit it in life, sometimes you want to do everything but you are not capable.
00:32:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, that, I think it's something that we don't talk about enough, especially to young people I would say, because I burned out at 21 and I had no idea who was going on. It was super scary, something that I did not start very well. Then I had no idea what was going on. I had no idea. There was never anyone who had told me what it was, a professional or personal burnout. Yeah, it's really, really scary. Just the fact of having had the reflection, I’m burn the candle at both ends and soon I will not be well, it's super important.
00:33:14
Speaker 2: It's pretty scary.
00:33:16
Speaker 2: As I remember times at FESFO, as I looked at Camille and I said, like "Camille, I am no longer capable", I was burning myself. At games, I cried every day of the event in the logout room. Yes it was emotional since it was my last game but I was also exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally. It's exhausting being involved in the community. It's so important to have the conversation about burnout since a lot of people are doing it and don't know it.
00:33:47
Speaker 1: It's really a healing process.
00:33:57
Speaker 3: And, it's so common, especially in the community because we are so passionate about what we do that we do not want to admit it when we are too tired to continue. We just want to, we just want to do it because because we like it so much, because a burnout doesn't mean that we don't like what we do. We don't appreciate the experience we really have, it's as if I too have experienced something similar. And as it opens my eyes as I think I need to take a little step back because here I am doing too much. My body is no longer capable of taking it. It's crazy that we all had it young, and that's where you realize how common it is because we don't talk to young people about it. It's not just people at the end of their careers who go through this, it's anyone. she had time.
00:34:54
Speaker 2: Students, it's so common among students and we don't talk about it. We're talking about repercussions, like we're going to talk about the increase in suicides, but we're not talking about the stages before that.
00:35:59
Speaker 3: No, because when mental health, it seems like it's always classified as depression, then anxiety, it's classic mental health, but professional exhaustion, burnout, it's also mental health. Then it sounds like it should be mentioned because like you can be exhausted, but still not have symptoms of depression. So you're thinking, oh my sanity is okay, but basically it's not.
00:36:52
Speaker 2: Do you see yourself as a mentor sometimes?
00:37:16
Speaker 2: Sometimes, because I have a phrase that says "you are only as good as the people around you". I think this is something to take into consideration. That's why, like every time I meet someone, there is always something you can take from them. And then I, I always want, as I always say to my friends as if I eat you too you eat. I think yes. Sometimes I find myself in this situation of a mentoring like when they need someone to call me no matter what time of day because I'm like I'm always there I tell people like everyone else world needs help. do not be afraid. The best way to solve a problem is to talk about it. I prefer to be the ear that listens than the person who closes the door. There are often high school students who still talk to me today asking for help. I really want to be the person that people need. I like to be there for support and to be a good friend.
00:38:46
Speaker 3: Then to finish, because we could talk about Lydia for a long time.
00:38:51
Speaker 3: But with all that we have just talked about community involvement, being young, successful, mental health as what kind of advice that would give to a young person who wants, who wants to get involved 110% like you did it in 10th grade? What kind of advice would you give these kids?
00:39:12
Speaker 1: I would say do not be afraid to go for it. Take your place in your place. It is important to know who you are, who you want to be and where you would like to go. So don't be afraid and always show who you are. You have to make your own sun inside to shine your work and the path you want to take.
00:40:03
Speaker 2: A big big thank you Lydia. Seriously, we really appreciate everything you do. Thanks for saying yes! When we talked about the podcast and wanted to talk to inspiring people we immediately thought of you. I can't wait to see your future projects. If you ever need a few things know that me and Camille are here for you.
00:41:08
Speaker 3: Thanks again to everyone who is listening! You can follow Lydia on facebook and Instagram! Then don't forget to follow AFO's social networks for the next episodes! So @ myassembly on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. Then, in the next episode, we will talk about entrepreneurship with a woman entrepreneur from the region of eastern Ontario. See you soon everyone.
00:41:32
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you again.