From Skater to entrepreneur: a Glendon experience put to work
When Toronto-born figure skater and entrepreneur Chantal Fry flew to France to perform with a European ice show company, she completely forgot to notify her Glendon professors.
“It was a great adventure until my midterm grades came back,” she recalls, laughing. “Although sitting in a classroom trained my brain to think, my slightly rebellious and very curious 20-year-old self craved adventure.”
Midway through a degree in Political Science and International Relations, Chantal decided some experiential education was in order. She set off for Europe to tour across France with Holiday on Ice. Rather than the unforgiving response one might expect from a university, Glendon’s staff and faculty were quick to find a way to support her individual learning journey.
“When I finally shared with the Glendon Principal what I had actually been up to, they worked with me so that both my education and adventurous spirit could succeed.”
With her degree in hand, Chantal spent the next eight years in Marseille developing what she saw as the next logical step in her skating career: her own performance company, Glisse on Ice. Among the many unique things about Glisse is the fact that the company uses a portable synthetic ice surface. This allows Glisse to set up and perform in unlikely locations, like on a beach in Mediterranean Marseille.
When Chantal moved back to Toronto, she brought Glisse with her. The company now performs over 150 shows per year at galas, weddings, and festivals.
It wasn’t long until Chantal’s desire to connect France and Canada manifested in another business venture: Savourez Fine Foods, a company started with her French husband. Savourez provides the finest French food products to Toronto chefs and restaurants. They offer duck products, caviar, chocolate, and delicious Rosé wine. For Chantal’s family, Savourez is a way of maintaining their strong ties to both countries.
“It has organically become my calling to encourage and authentically live France-Canada relations. As a family we crave the experience of travel and learn from the diversity, all while embracing two complementary cultures and refusing to call one country over the other home.”
This calling makes her continued involvement in the Glendon community a natural experience. Chantal loves to organize events that bring that French culture back to campus. Last winter, she was one of the minds behind the Marché d’hiver, a holiday market in the Manor that featured artisans selling everything from paintings to lavender soap and French literature to foie gras. More recently, she was featured at April in Paris, a French Wine Dinner organized for the Glendon community, where she “shared culinary, cultural and travel secrets about France, as well as business insights and social customs ideal for members travelling to French-speaking countries or doing business with French-speaking people”.
It’s safe to say that Chantal is continuing her quest to bring the cultures—and the people—of France and Canada together.
Neya Abdi, BA’16 International Studies
Published in September 2018
