Julie Gélinas has a bachelor’s degree in communications and public relations from the Université de Montréal. She began her career by working for prominent firms like Optimum Cossette. In very little time, she developed a remarkable level of flexibility as an account manager for the sports marketing agency Desjardins Bibeau Inc. A number of high-profile clients, including Les Producteurs de lait du Québec, Metro Inc. and Gaz Métropolitain, valued her drive and her multidisciplinary skills during this period of her career.

She then joined the team at food retailer Metro, where she contributed to the success of many advertising, promotional and sponsorship programs. Provigo recruited her to launch the non-food retail segment of its Maxi chain. Her talents were sought out by the Caisse de dépôt and its Ivanhoé Cambridge division, which was managing over fifty shopping centres in the country at the time. Her efforts at the company would earn her the highly coveted Gold Award of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Next, Julie Gélinas took on a new challenge with Les Éleveurs de porcs du Québec. As its marketing director, she planned and coordinated an ambitious strategy to elevate the Quebec pork brand. Her strategy turned out to be highly effective, greatly appreciated by pork farmers and well noticed by agri-food industry leaders.

In November 2014, Julie Gélinas became Marketing Director of Les Producteurs de lait du Québec. Her bold, creative and innovative approach quickly set her apart. Time and again, she has succeeded in coming up with fresh strategies in constantly changing markets that give top billing to the group’s 10,000 members and numerous industry partners. Her impressive portfolio includes the prestigious brands of the milk family (La Famille du lait): milk, chocolate milk, our cheeses, yogurt, cream, butter and our recipes (Lait, Lait chocolat, Fromages d’ici, Yogourt, Crème, Beurre and Recettes d’ici).

She is also the recognized and appreciated leader and supervisor of a team that boasts wide-ranging expertise and an outstanding ability to execute her strategies with rigour. Many of the campaigns she has led have won prestigious honours. In fact, she has received over one hundred national and international awards. In recognition of her unifying, innovative and creative leadership, she was named Infopresse’s Marketing Person of the Year in 2017.

Speaking on: Changing the face of an industry won't happen overnight; Lunch and learn