Self-declared nomad and social entrepreneur Guillaume McMartin, 41, has moved to Calgary, where he intends to spread his message of overcoming hardship by staying true to oneself and living meaningfully. 

Before becoming an experienced public speaker and author, McMartin, who recently published his sixth book, worked for eight years as a firefighter at a department in his hometown of Gatineau, Que. He said he enjoyed the job until he responded to a call that changed everything.

“We lost a baby on the call, and we had to give CPR to the baby,” he said. 

“Hearing the father cry and shout while the police were trying to hold them — that was extremely hard.”

McMartin said that he and his team were deeply affected by the incident, and that, despite the fire chief hiring a psychologist for support, few sought help. He said that, in working heroic roles, it did not feel acceptable to “admit that we have a problem.”

“The next six months were horrible — I couldn’t sleep anymore, and I almost took my life,” said McMartin. 

“But at that moment, there was a voice in my heart that told me I had a purpose and I had to find it, and that voice saved my life. So I swore to always listen to my heart after that.”

Losing it all to uncover purpose

Soon after, he took a year-long sabbatical from firefighting and pursued law school, which he figured would come naturally given his parents working in the field. McMartin found that it wasn’t for him, but credited university with introducing him to entrepreneurship.

This led him to leave school and launch his first e-commerce start-up. Through this, McMartin worked on major projects related to railway and airline expansions in Manitoba, and the company quickly grew into a million-dollar business. 

“I was wearing a three-piece suit every day, and because all my life, I let people bully me, I became the worst bully to myself,” said McMartin. 

“Well, now I was successful, and I wanted people to recognize me. My greed, my pride, my ego took over, and eventually, I went bankrupt.”

He said that he lost everything, including the investments, property, and franchises that he had accumulated. McMartin said that if this hadn’t happened, however, he wouldn’t have realized what he wanted to do with his life. 

“I lost it all, but that was really good,” he said. 

“That was really important in my journey, and it got me to reconnect with nature and go pray and meditate in the forest.”

Upon moving to the Toronto area in 2020 and spending more time outside, McMartin noticed the alarming amount of trash lying in wooded areas and floating down nearby waterways. He started picking it up, and when others joined in, the initiative grew. 

“I started making videos about it five or six times a week for two years,” said McMartin. 

“I had people around the world send me videos and pictures of them doing it because they were inspired by my actions…it was the first time in my life I saw the power that my voice mattered.”

Finding family in strangers

Without a nine-to-five tying him down, McMartin travelled around for some time, including visiting his family’s cottage in northern Quebec. To get there, they drove through a First Nation reserve. 

“I saw two young women on posters, like missing young women, and it put a seed in my heart that I had to do something about it,” he said. 

“I called the Chief there, and I said, ‘I want to do something about it, but I don’t know what yet,’ and he gave me his blessing. Two days later, I was on my bike.”

With little money to give to the cause, McMartin worked with what he had and decided to ride across Canada wearing an Every Child Matters T-shirt to spread the message. He said that the experience showed him the impact of finding community in strangers. 

“I would never ask for help, but people just welcomed me, and they wanted to share their stories,” said McMartin. 

“Eventually, I was riding to deliver a message of peace, love, and harmony.”

As he continued travelling, he documented the journey on his online blog. McMartin said he connected with a woman from New York who commented on one of his posts, and he met her in person. 

Within four hours, they were engaged, and just under a year later, they had a daughter. The trio moved between Quebec and Nova Scotia, then eventually settled at a camp on Mexico’s east coast. 

Sharing his story in Calgary

McMartin and his wife separated just before moving back to Calgary to be closer to family. Since he had been working for shelter and volunteering in Mexico, he found himself homeless, but treated the time tenting on Alberta Crown land as a “writer’s retreat.” 

It was then that he wrote a majority of his books, including a series advising adults on how to find their purpose, a memoir about healing trauma as a first responder, and his latest children’s book, titled “The Little Seed Who Dreamed Too Big,” which is available on Amazon.

In the four months since McMartin moved to Calgary, he took a job at a fine-dining restaurant and obtained a stable place to live. His newest venture involves offering storytelling services to local schools.

“I want to give hope to children that the situation can change as it did for me,” said McMartin. 

“I want to show them to believe in their dreams, to believe in themselves, to believe that each of us has a purpose.”

Uplifting adolescents and newcomers are areas that the dad of a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter is particularly interested in. McMartin said his conviction grew from lessons he learned himself, and has since evolved into a drive to make the world a better place.

“We’re all a piece of the puzzle that is humanity,” he said.

“When you find your right place in the puzzle, the magic happens, and the puzzle pieces — the people that you connect with — it’s going to create magic together. That’s what we need to do, and so never give up.”