Her secret? She easily adapts to any new situation while staying true to herself. Through hard work, she has carved out a well-deserved place in the renovation field, and at 27, became General Manager of the Yves Gagnon Group. It must be said that Geneviève Gagnon takes after her father. As the daughter of Yves Gagnon, who was President and CEO of BMR Group Inc. from 1995 to 2015, and President of the Yves Gagnon Group since 1973.

For her side of the story

She likes to say that she "fell into it when she was little."

Born in 1977, she literally "grew up in a lumber yard" since the family home stood in the same yard as her parents' business, Bois de Construction Chénéville inc. As a teenager, she already enjoyed working not only in the hardware store during the summer vacation, but also on the farm where they has moved when she was 6 years old.

In 1997, during her second year at HEC Montréal, she did a four-month internship in Copenhagen.

In May 1999, where she obtained her baccalaureate in international financial management and In June, she left for South Africa, on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then in the fall she went to Tunisia, where she carried out a market study for Panasonic.

It is no wonder that, in September, after devoting 35 hours per week of volunteer work to her student association, she was awarded the prestigious Relève Mercure prize by HEC Montréal.

This award honors the graduate who has distinguished themselves the most during the year, both academically, socially, culturally and in sport.

In 2000, her father sent her to "straighten out" one of their stores. Subsequent to her success, she was hired by Groupe BMR inc. to reorganize and restore some of their stores in all corners of the province.

In the spring of 2001, she was already a strategic assistant to the finance department of Groupe BMR inc.

In the fall of 2002, "still looking for challenges" despite being pregnant with her first child, she decided to re-enroll at the University of Montreal for a master's degree in tax law.

In 2003, after giving birth to her first child, Justin, she returned to the finance department of BMR Group. It was then that, the following spring, her father finally offered her the position of General Manager of the Yves Gagnon Group. She happily accepts, as if it all went without saying.
“It just happened naturally,” she says.

Everything was now in place for the Yves Gagnon Group to take a new turn, the green turn. Under her leadership, the group continued to acquire hardware and related businesses, build and renovate stores. Two of the latter, adopting a resolutely green attitude, which earn them the Cecobois prize in 2013, a prize that recognizes excellence and innovation in non-residential wood construction, and in 2014, the Reconnaissance Hydro- prizes. Québec and a Mention awarded by the Association Québécoise pour la Maîtrise de l'Énergie.

“My father and I,” she said, “consult each other on a daily basis. We really don't like to stand still. So, we bought, sold and renovated stores, then built green stores. You don't necessarily want to get bigger, but to improve. We always have to look for something new in this rather conservative field,” explains Geneviève Gagnon.

Thus, while successfully reconciling family and work - she has since had two other children: Alice and Flavie - Geneviève Gagnon consolidates her achievements and still dreams of new challenges… Positive right through to her fingernails for whatever she can to reveal to us about the future holds;
it is: "Who will live will see!"