| Marie-Joelle Parent |
| Written by Rishbha Bhagi | |||
| Thursday, 16 December 2010 16:13 | |||
 SUCCESS AND THE CITY: An Interview with Marie-Joelle Parent With her multiple talents and charisma mixed with her infectiously simpatico personality, Marie-Joelle Parent has been able to use her diverse education and experience to make a name for herself in the journalism world. Working in New York as a bilingual news correspondent for Sun Media, Parent is able to soak in the essence of being a true New Yorker, all while maintaining a positive and friendly outlook. Parent is like a modern-day Carrie Bradshaw, except a million times better… because she’s actually real.
TS: So how did you get into journalism? Was it something you were always interested in? MJP: I actually studied biology first at the University of Montreal, so I never thought I would be a journalist. Still to this day, for me to write for a living is the most like, absurd thing ever. I really never was the “intellectual” one – I was more into science and everything. I also modeled when I was a student from 16 to 23. Biology was not for me at all. At 21 I stopped everything and I took a year off to live in Paris, and this is where I kind of rediscovered myself and what I wanted to do. I was someone who was really curious! It was really hard for me to stick to a program at university… everything was too specific. That year in Paris, every night I would flip the pages [of the university program book] and try to figure out what to study… I was so lost. And journalism looked like a very interesting area because it’s so general. You learn about very different [sorts of] things. So I did my BA really fast and I started working right away at Journal De Montreal. I was still doing school full time and working there on the weekends. After 6 months over there in 2006 they gave me a permanent job [in] the entertainment section. So I did two years there as an entertainment reporter. […] Eventually, in 2008, they posted a job offer for a correspondent job in New York. They opened a new bureau here; they never had anyone in the United States [before] and they decided to do this test of sending someone [there], to have a journalist write articles in French and English about any stories that might interest Canada, from entertainment to sometimes politics, to social stories.... and [they wanted that person] to do multimedia work. So…that’s what I do for LCN [French news channel in Montreal] in the morning – it’s live from my apartment. I have a mini TV studio! And its at 8:30am for the LCN morning news. I always talk about two subjects from New York. [I also] shoot videos for the internet and take pictures [as part of my job]. So I do all this! It’s been two years and it’s fantastic. TS: Why did you always want to go to New York? MJP: I traveled to Europe a lot and even though there are beautiful cities over there, I was always obsessed with New York. New York was my first love. I came here the first time when I [was a child]. My parents brought me here and I was so impressed by the buildings and the energy...it was like this big playground. Then I kept coming when I was student doing my CEGEP [name for college diploma in Montreal] and I would take all these spring and fall weekends [where] we would take the bus or drive all the way to New York, and I would literally just not sleep [the whole time]. I was fascinated – I wanted to know everything about the city. I never got to come here for modelling and now I’m so thankful for this because when you model here, it’s so hard and I probably would have started hating the city! Being a journalist here is the ultimate passport. As a profession, it’s so respected here […] New York was in my head since I was 10 years old and I always wondered how I would make it here. Either [that or] you’re a student and you have debts for the rest of your life! [laughs] I think that by throwing it in the universe, it just happened. And now my biggest concern is how I’m going to stay here. TS: What kinds of things do you like covering the most as a journalist? MJP: Covering the most…they’re not necessarily the things that are watched or read the most. When I do star stories like red carpet things or interviews with stars these are the things that people watch the most… but its not necessarily what I enjoy the most. What I enjoy the most is doing feature stories about all these New York characters that I find in the city. It could be a shoe guy on 6th avenue or… this photographer in the Lower East Side… the mayor of the Lower East Side or the mayor of Strawberry Fields…like, all these really authentic New York characters that have been here for decades and are so New York. They tend to disappear now. I mean, there’s only a few of these [kinds] of people now. So this is really what I love. They still carry in them the soul of the city. TS: New York sometimes has a reputation for being pretty cutthroat and competitive…do you find that those stereotypes are true? MJP: It’s so funny because…it’s the first time in my life – I’ve been here for 2 years – I have absolutely no negative story or no bad luck that’s happened to me. This is unbelievable! TS: I noticed that there’s a lot of “Sex and the City” references around you – from your bio on your blog to other articles about you…it’s safe to say you’re a fan then?
MJP: Oh yeah! I watched a few episodes lately since I moved here and you know what I realized? Oh my god, the dating life – I loved watching the show because it was in New York. It’s the only reason. Yeah, of course, the fashion and blah blah blah, but - New York. And I thought all the dating scenes, all the crazy men, [they were] exaggerated, but I realized that it’s the exact same thing. It’s so accurate! The dating scene is insane here, it was invented here. All the men you see in the series – they all exist. TS: What character would you associate yourself with the most? MJP: I am a mix of… Carrie, maybe for the shoes [laughs] and because I’m writing on my laptop all over town in cafes and from home like her. So a mix of Carrie and Charlotte because really…maybe…[she’s] the romantic one. [I] have that. Because [otherwise] I’m really career focused very serious, very determined. TS: Oh man, I was hoping you’d say Samantha or something! MJP: No, I’m sorry! [laughs] I’m not. Well…maybe a little bit from her because I can be a little bit…I can say things really in your face, sometimes? I’m not scared to speak up. But you have to take your place, you know. That’s what I was talking about – the attitude – earlier. You know, when I’m on my bike (that’s how I move around town), you can’t be scared. Sometimes I [have to] yell at the taxi – you have to become a New Yorker. You can’t be shy – you have to really be out there. That’s how it works. For more info, check out: Marie-Joelle’s photos on Flickr
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