Marc d’Entremont | Father | Environmentally Conscious Entrepreneur | Mental Health Investor | Race Car Driver |

“Having good mental health is more important than anything, that’s why I decided to invest in Tranquility. I wanted to do something good for mental health and for the community”

Growing up in a small rural fishing community, as the 4th generation of a fishing family Marc had spent a lot of time working in the family business. When it came time for Marc to attend university he completed an accounting degree from Saint Mary’s University in order to return home and continue to help the family business prosper. Only to later venture out on his own as an entrepreneur, hoping to minimize the effect of fishing trawls on the environment by creating a line (of trawls) that do not touch the ocean floor. 

Tell me about yourself and why you decided to invest in Tranquility? 

There’s actually a long-standing family connection with Tranquillity, Joel and I grew up together. His mom was my mom’s bride’s maid!

Once I heard what Joel was trying to do with Tranquility I was sold! Mental health has been something that I’ve had difficulties with in the past, I’m doing better now that I’m on medication.  It’s no secret that the health care system here is strained and we need more mental health resources to help people. After my experience with the medical system, I realized that I wanted to help improve mental healthcare in Nova Scotia.

I’ve always had a higher purpose in mind, I wanted to help other people and do good for the environment. Its why I branched out and started my own trolley business. The trolleys we make don’t touch the ocean floor and so far we’ve been doing well! 

Right now, I’m looking after my mental health and I’m on medication for depression, having good mental health is more important than anything because it affects everything you do. 

What were the early signs that you started to notice about your mental health and what did you notice that wasn’t right? 

For me, it was really a lack of motivation and not wanting to do things - that was the first sign. When I was in my 20s it was on and off, I had good and bad days, months etc… The first signal was really a low mood. At the time you don’t think much of it, it’s only really now looking back that I can see that it was a sign of a bigger problem. 

What were the reasons that made you decide to not get help at those points? 

I really just didn’t realize that there was something wrong, and I thought that everyone felt like I did sometimes. That line of thinking led to suicidal thoughts - I really didn’t see a reason why I was feeling depressed. I grew up comfortable but depression just doesn’t work that way. Sometimes there really isn’t a reason, its a chemical imbalance in the brain that can change the way you feel.

Do you believe your journey with mental health and seeking help for it was affected by where you grew up - in a small town compared to a city?

The lack of information and resources to deal with it immediately is a big thing. You only have your family doctor and they aren’t really trained to deal with mental health. There are no real guidelines. Yarmouth is a fishing community and everyone is sort of “manly” or “tough” when it comes to dealing with mental health.

Looking back at it now, I believe that the people that look for help are actually stronger. You become a better person and parent - it just helps. The real issue is where do you even start? It’s hard to.

What did you do and how did you start? 

At first, I was really convinced that I had a medical (physical) problem, so I went and got tested for everything and when it all came back clean… I had to face my denial and just start meds. For me, it works, the depression medication really helped. You could tell if I missed a day, like I just felt off. 

How was the experience of telling your family about your mental health?

My life was sort of mapped out for me, and that’s not the route that I wanted to take. They (my family) took it really well when I told them about my mental health. I wasn’t able to be myself in the family business. You have certain expectations you have to meet being a leader in the community - you have to act a certain way, and I thought everyone should be able to just be themselves. 

I spoke with my wife, and that’s when I came to the realization that it was time to move on. My family was really supportive of my decision. They only questioned why I wanted to leave something that was financially stable. To me, it’s about your life and what’s best for you and your immediate family. 

Do you think there’s anything that Tranquility does that’s different? 

I like that it’s real science and real psychology to convince people that this stuff is real. It is stuff that you would do with a psychologist. People are wary about gimmicky things but that’s what I like about Tranquility. Its real science,  things you’d actually do in therapy. You offer a real service that’s science-backed and everything. 

As a race car driver, you’ve added the Tranquility logo onto your car, as well as “Let’s Talk Mental Health”.  Now that we have you here, what is it specifically that you hope people will talk about?

I’m just trying to do my part to help end the stigma because racing is traditionally viewed as a sort of man’s world and it shouldn’t be. That’s one of the biggest barriers of stigma that we’re trying to get over. We just want to get the word out there that mental illness is real, and you shouldn’t be scared to get help. I just want to do my part to help out locally - I would be happy if what I’m doing would help one person. I just want to do my part to end the stigma. 

You’ve mentioned previously that racing is a hobby that helps you with your mental wellness, can you elaborate?

It just gets you out and racing on a specific day, you have to go out to the garage and really work on the car otherwise you wouldn’t be able to race. So it kind of forces you to get out there, once you finally do get out there you feel really good. You feel good because you end up interacting with people and its a small community. You’re working with your hands to get things done, it gives you a sense of accomplishment when you actually work on the car between races.

What does positive mental health look like to you? 

People who have positive mental health have decided to accept themselves for who they are and to not give a sh*t about anything anyone says, if you’re gay or something and your parents don’t accept you that’s some seriously tough sh*t. Like its, a lot easier said than done and you just have to keep working on yourself as you grow. I had to go through the process and go through the motions, but I’m better for getting help. 

What’s it like being a father? 

It’s hard to explain. Its kind of like this is all that’s important and the rest isn’t. It’s more just to try and enjoy life. You really have to balance, if you’re not happy at work you aren’t happy at home. When you have a child it really is something extraordinary and really does change your life! 

Do you have any advice for anyone else out there that may be reading this, that may be struggling at this moment?

Find a place or people that let you be yourself. There’s a lot of pressure out there to be someone else and I think that has a lot to do with mental illness. It’s why I’m not on social media. But just really do something for yourself and find a place or an activity that you can really just be yourself and be happy doing.

There’s so much pressure to just be someone else. I think that’s really just a lot - be it familial or social pressure or anything else. You really just have to find people that will be there for you and support you. 

Mental health is something that we all must work through, it’s rarely just one large movement but rather a series of smaller steps that are taken to move forward and grow. Like Marc said, “you just have to start” because that’s the hardest part but once you start you’re one step closer to becoming the best version of yourself.