When a business leader publishes philosophical tales…

Damien Roux présente le premier tome de sa série. Jm – JM

Damien Roux, director and co-founder of Locavorium has just published a philosophical tale. A work born from the reflections and journey of this resident of Saint-Paul-et-Valmalle.

A homeless man who becomes a business owner… The story of a self-made man in "success mode story" would look great. But "I was never homeless, just without housing. Homeless is even worse, humbly corrects Damien Roux. The manager and co-founder of Locavorium: "first locavores stores in France", from a modest family of winegrowers, has just published, with Editions Beaudelaire,  "The secret of the happy giants who had their feet on the earth and their heads in the stars&quot ;. A philosophical tale which, far from literature, very fashionable, on personal development, plays with metaphors to suggest some keys to happiness. A light recipe which, however, finds its springs in a laborious journey…

A founding experience

"I had to take out a loan to study as an agronomist, I started life with 10,000 € of debt, it's not huge but when you're a student, it's a lot." However, without a network, without knowledge, Damien and two fellow agricultural engineers had launched, in 2015, this idea that is totally relevant today: opening a 100% local mini-market, therefore in a short circuit , on the basis of fair trade with producers… A first store is created, in Saint-Jean-de-Védas before the opening of a another mini-market, in the middle of Covid. " During the first two years, we worked more than 90 hours a week, and we didn't get paid. I had no accommodation, I slept in the shed, in the cold, with a down jacket and a hat, for eight months. It's very long. And during the day, I was at the checkout, as clean as possible, even if it's not easy to shower when it's 8 degrees", reminds the thirty-year-old. 

An optimistic perspective

An experience which was founding and gave material to the writing of his book."We can work a lot when a mission drives us on a daily basis, when it's a chosen project and not suffered". As for more than Spartan comfort, "we can hold on when we know that it's only temporary". Many other elements of his experiences, "m'also provided useful elements to nourish my thoughts on this book. ", confides the young dad. Like fatherhood. "The birth of my children was a turning point. When they were born, I asked myself what I could pass on to them so that they could always have an optimistic perspective on life."

First part of a trilogy of happiness,  "The secret of the happy giants who had their feet on the earth and their heads in the stars&quot ;, is published by Editions Beaudelaire. It is possible to order it on the Cultura, Fnac, Amazon, Decitre platforms or find it in Locavorium stores. I subscribe to read more