My first day at Look ski bindings…

On Monday, September 2, 1974, I rode the train from Thonon to Nevers, and made it to the brand new Look factory in Nevers, smack in the center of France. 

I remember that I was wearing my brand new, green corduroy suit, with a matching tie. I felt a mixture of excitement and trepidation as I didn’t feel that I was much prepared at all for the job that had been offered to me. 

I can’t recall the exact details, but what I remember is that I first met with Madame Beyl, then was introduced to a bunch of key people inside the organization, like Jacques Vauthier, the accountant and Michel Lamy the export manager. 

Then I was taken through a quick stroll inside the factory before I entered a large office with a bunch of desks disposed in circle, facing each others. There I met a group of young folks like me, albeit a few years older. This would become my shared office space with them. 

That’s when I met Eric Chevasson and Jean-Noël Vacher both accounts executives for international sales. Sitting where they could, where a bunch of promotional agents, Joel Gros, Jacques Thomas and Philippe Sipp that worked in the United States to promote Look products and reported to Eric. 

I was excited to meet this lively group that blended a spirit of adventure with a tinge of cynicism and deprecating humor, particularly on the part of Jean-Noël and Eric. I’ll never forget some material adorning their desks, making fun of a venerable competitor from Switzerland or playing on words with some seat-saver cards from TWA. 

They stood in stark contract with the company’s management that was quite stuffy and perfectly illustrated yesteryear’s France...