Episode 15

🎙 Meet Christian Dupont.

👉 A man of many lives, and a committed coach supporting teams for over 20 years, Christian Dupont is an integral part of the Ekkia Sport family.

🛣️ His journey? (Anything but typical!)

🗓️ How did he meet Ekkia?

🐎 His vision of Ekkia Sport as a company?

Christian, can you tell us about your career path?

I feel like I’ve lived several lives and built my entire career on two parallel tracks. One is clearly dedicated to psychosociology, which I’m deeply passionate about—I taught for many years at Paris 8 University. The other track is business. I worked as an HR Director in two large multinational companies. In the first, I experienced the boom years when we were hiring nonstop; in the second, I witnessed the company go from 17,000 employees to… zero. That experience cured me of the corporate function, because at heart I am a humanist. So I founded a consulting firm that truly reflected who I am, based on the Palo Alto systemic approach, which eventually grew to include up to 300 consultants. I sold the firm and decided to follow what genuinely brought me joy. I started coaching friends who were facing challenges, and step by step, I became involved in politics and sports—always behind the scenes. Even today, I support around ten executive committees.

How did you cross paths with Ekkia?

I clearly remember being on Rue de la Cavalerie about twenty years ago, in Pascal’s office. At the time, he was responsible for development at Padd and wanted to strengthen the management skills of store owners. He was a bit cautious, having had a previous coaching experience that wasn’t very successful. We got to know each other, and the collaboration worked extremely well—especially on a human level. Pascal is a man of his word, with a great ability to listen and question himself. There’s no gap between what he says and what he does. I believe there is a deep mutual respect between us. After that, I worked on other projects: creating training programs to develop store staff skills, setting up recruitment processes for franchisees, and supporting the integration of Horsewood and later Ohlala. Our paths have never diverged since.

How have you seen the company evolve?

At the beginning, I felt there was a lack of structure and shared reference points. Over time, however, the project became increasingly coherent. A major turning point was the decision to develop a franchise network alongside company-owned stores. Another key moment was when Pascal took the helm of Ekkia in January 2019. He left his mark on the company and applied the successful strategies he had developed at Padd. I’ll never forget his brilliant intuition at the start of Covid: increasing stock levels in anticipation of the recovery—offering extremely competitive pricing—while everyone else was doing the opposite. There aren’t fifty companies like Ekkia in France. And leaders like Pascal are even rarer.

Would you say Ekkia has a true company culture?

This year, I attended Padd’s 50th anniversary, and the emotional dimension was tangible. I truly believe this is a company that leaves a lasting mark on people’s relationship with work. There were current employees, former employees, and long-term partners—all sharing an extraordinary attachment to the company. Pascal has grown the business with common sense, surrounding himself with committed people and granting them a rare level of trust. No one cheats in this company, which is why I’m happy to continue working regularly with Padd—training on leadership or customer culture, for example—or with Ekkia, using behavioral tools validated by neuroscience: a true trust-building system.

Ekkia in one word?

Professional

Padd in one word?

Family