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Superheros Inspire Airbrush Artist
Thwaap! The sound of a spider web hitting the wall. The superhero's blue and red spider suit is instantly familiar to comic book fans worldwide, as he swoops to conquer another villain. Spider-Man and friends helped out in real life world too, when their exploits caught the eye of a young Sackville kid, Eric Lafontaine. The web-slinger's actions might easily be Eric's major career influence.
The web-slinger and other cartoon heros inspired Eric's love of drawing from an early age. "I was always into art, drawing
spidermen and skeletons," recalls the high school student at L'ecole Carrefour du Grand-Havre.
Thwaap! Twelve-year-old Lafontaine reels off an impressive list of comic books to a customer, pausing from time to time to critique the stories in some of them. For more than four years, he sells, organizes and advises at a comic book store, building quite a level of expertise.
Then, Eric is 16 and store folds. He starts high school, but is out of work and bored. "I was used to working. Now I was at home, getting under my Mom's feet." Then Mrs. Lafontaine gives Eric the idea of starting his own business. It's easier said than done. Eric searches for an idea at the start of summer, 1995.
Thwaap! Teaching staff at Lafontaine's Dartmouth Francophone school, Carrefour du Grand-Havre, complain that it's hard to find French greetings cards, and Eric finds his business.
A teacher at the school points Eric toward the YES program. Armed with a well-researched business plan and advice from Dartmouth airbrush artist Roy Girard, (an "excellent man," says Lafontaine) Eric takes out a $1,150 YES loan. He buys art supplies and a compressor for the airbrush and starts practising.
A conversation on a bus leads to Lafontaine's first order of 40 cards. "I was so excited when I got home, I ate, and started work at 7:30 p.m. I was wired. By 7:30 a.m., I'd finished the lot," he recalls. He also 'fries' his compressor in the process, and has to plough the profits back into new equipment. But it's start. A school bazaar helps refill the order books and Eric is busy again.
While Eric sees the greeting card business as a stepping stone to college and beyond, he is the first to say that the YES program gives him some important benefits. "Confidence. The YES people believed in my idea and it was very reassuring. I don't see myself as a professional, but people are calling me that. I must be doing something right."
Thwaap! A true entrepreneur, Lafontaine is quick on his feet and learns from his mistakes. When a customer points out one of his cards opens the wrong way, he calls it a left-handed card and a left-handed person in the line-up orders five. Eric goes on to sell cards in France on a school visit. He's commissioned to airbrush a truck and his designs are used as murals on homes. In the spring of 1996, he win a bursary at school, for entrepreneurship.
Now Eric's design is on the cover of this book, all across the province of Nova Scotia. He employs another student as his accountant. "He keeps my books in order and we both get experience!"
Eric is now in his final year of high school, with some extra money in his pocket, a keen eye for art, and a keen eye for business. Whatever the future holds, he'll be the first to tell you the YES program was a good place to start.
June 1997
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Home > Publications > YES > YES! Discover Nova Scotia's Bright New Business Stars
