Trouble Maker Interview Series: Elise Maillot - "Success, for me means feeling fulfilled. And in order to feel fulfilled, I think the most important thing is to feel alive and to achieve what I think is really meaningful."

In march 2017, during a sunny week-end in Paris, I was on my way to work. I remember I was in a big rush because my boss was waiting for me at the office. And I heard a band busking. Today I can say that I immediately felt mesmerized. I moved closer and closer and stood motionless for 40 minutes (!) holding all my files in my arms. I was in shock! I was late to work and while I was standing there in awe, my boss was continuously trying to reach me but I couldn’t have cared less about my phone vibrating in my bag. When you stopped playing, I had a look at the name of the band, written on the floor, remembering it, while making myself the promise to find you on the internet. The following months, I was listening to your music E-VERY-DAY.

A FLAT FOR A GROUP OF STRANGERS

When a few months later I saw you were looking for a place to be hosted in Paris, I did not think twice and I offered you my apartment (although it meant I had to find another place for myself because my apartment was too small to stay with you haha). I remember some people telling me : “are you crazy, you are allowing strangers to stay at your place without you?”. Honestly, in this moment, I did not offer you to stay because I was a “groupie”. I just wanted to be helpful, because I was thankful to you for the positive vibes I was feeling when listening to your music and that I had never found elsewhere. As crazy as it can be.

IN THE NAME OF LOVE AND HELPFULNESS (TRUE ALTRUISM)

Many people will tell you that real altruism does not exist. Maybe it is true, but actually, is it really important to know if you like helping people for themselves only, or for yourself as well? It is true that I feel happier when I feel useful. And my job does not bring me that achievement because it is quite disconnected from human interactions. So I think that I naturally found a way to compensate in helping others outside my professional life.

THE NEED TO FEEL FULFILLED

My definition of success would have been completely different if I had met you some months ago. Today, for me, success means feeling fulfilled. And in order to feel fulfilled, I think the most important thing is to feel alive and to achieve what you think is really meaningful. In my case, I can tell you that I feel happy in my life but that I will be much happier when I will have children (which is really important to me) and when I will have more time to dedicate to my hobbies and to others (which implies, probably, to change my job…).
LOSE YOUR TIES

I feel that I am at a turning point in my life and that I will probably have to make some very important choices soon. But it is not easy to bring change into my life by myself, especially because it implies questioning many choices made in the past. I am certain you know exactly what I mean, in respect to your personal journey and the decision you took some years ago…I admire you so much for that. If I could make a change tomorrow….(without any adverse consequences) I would probably quit my job immediately and leave France for some months, in order to clear my mind a little and think about the new life I want to build for myself. Our relationship helped me to realize that I must not be lulled into a false sense of security that my current life is providing me today. And you definitely give me the desire to develop my creativity which was in a dormant state. It may sound crazy, but thanks to you, this has been the first time for a long time that I am deeply connecting with my soul and spirit and understanding what really matters to me in life.

The theme Lose Your Ties therefore resonates soooooo strongly with me: it refers to the choices I will have to make soon. In a sense, it is encouraging but in the same time, it is quite disturbing because it forces me to face my responsibilities to make the right choices and to move on.

Thank you guys for being so inspiring. I love you!

We meet you in every city that we travel to, magicians – likeminded souls that we want to portrait as The Troublemakers. Our mission is to give each one of you a voice. Life is about exchange and sharing a picture. We believe all of you have a unique and individual connection to The Trouble Notes and therefore we want to digitally bring you a bit closer together. Even though you all are spread around the world. We believe we can grow together. This project is the brainchild of our manager Stefanie Tendler (@lalalopoberlin), who is responsible for connecting our troubled universe.