MONACO WORDS OF WISDOM
ENG
HelloMonaco: You are celebrating 20 years of Boutsen Aviation. What inspired you to start this business? Thierry Boutsen: I had a passion for airplanes from when I studied engineering. I went to university after school to study engineering, got a degree and was very much involved in the mechanical side of life: cars, car racing, and also airplanes. I flew my first airplane when I was 21 and all my travels with Formula One were organised and done by myself as a pilot. And I did a few transactions myself in my Formula One days, buying and selling planes. That’ s really how it all started.
HM: What kind of criteria do you have for success? TB: My motto is do things right, or don’ t do them. Life is so short, I want to enjoy every moment. And to enjoy every moment, you have to put all your cards on the table and play them the best way you can. And therefore, I try to organise myself to do it right. Whether I’ m selling a plane, having a business meeting, or with family, or a performance with sports, I’ m happy. So each achievement of every day and every second, for me is satisfaction.
HM: What does money mean to you? TB: Money, for me, is a consequence; it’ s not a goal. If you do things right in business, you will collect money. And the better you work, the more efficient you work, the more efficient your team works, the more money you will make. But this is not the # 1 goal. Of course you need money to survive, you need money to have a certain lifestyle, but I don’ t do this business just to make money, I do it because I enjoy it.
HM: What is your purpose in life? TB: My whole life has been driven by passion. Whether it’ s business, racing, family or children, I have a passion for it. That has been driving my life all the way. And I communicate this to my family and my employees because it is so enjoyable. With passion, if there is a big wall in front of you, you will destroy the wall and go further. And that is what I would like to communicate to people. Never give up. If you have a passion for something, just go for it and you will enjoy the results very much.
HM: How do you find harmony with yourself and the universe? TB: I must say that I am in harmony with myself. I like what I do; I like my life, I like how my life has not been organised. I’ m extremely proud to have been successful in sports and racing in Formula one; and to have a successful company selling airplanes now. But the most important thing is the family, of course. I have a wife, who I really love like you cannot imagine, and wonderful kids. And that makes me very happy and satisfied. And I’ m extremely lucky. But it does not come automatically; it comes with a lot of work, a lot of attention, a lot of challenges put in front of you that you need to achieve.
HM: How do you deal with feelings of loneliness? TB: This is a feeling that I learned to fight alone in motorsports. When you are taking your position at the start of a Formula One Grand Prix, you are totally alone. You have your problems, you have to manage to be calm, manage the race and make many decisions in a fraction of a second and it is really a character building exercise. And I learned to be able to solve problems without being affected by the problems. The most important thing is to find the real reasons why there is a problem. Never lie to yourself. And try to find a way to solve the problem. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can’ t. But be clear facing the problem. When I have a problem, I try to go deep into the problem and solve it and I can either do it alone, or the other way to solve my problems is to talk to my wife. She is a very good consultant and helper. She has been with me for many years and she understands how I think and feel. She understands, even without speaking, what I want to achieve. She is helping me in doing that and she is a wonderful support.
HM: What is love for you? TB: I could not live without love. Love is part of your life, whether it’ s love for somebody, or passion
You have your problems, you have to manage to be calm, manage the race and make many decisions in a fraction of a second and it is really a character building exercise. And I learned to be able to solve problems without being affected by the problems. for something. It’ s also love for either a sport or business, or I love old cars as an example. That is a hobby that I have. Love is the most important thing in life, for me. To love your wife, to love your kids, to have a family. It’ s something so important, I couldn’ t live without it. And I’ m extremely lucky and happy that I found the perfect wife for me and together we have the best kids in the world.
HM: Do you think that loving yourself and accepting yourself is important? TB: Yes, 100 %. It takes a long time to understand that. But I learned from life that in order to enjoy it, you have to be a happy person. And to be a happy person, you must analyse what you are; what you have done; why you have done it; what your mistakes were and how you can improve it. And all this brings you to a place of happiness with yourself. Many people ask me this question:“ what would you have done differently if you had to start again?” And most people say, oh I would have done this, and this, and this. I say, nothing. Zero. Every time you do something wrong, you learn something. And that brings you higher. It moves you forward. I don’ t regret any moment.
HM: Have you ever had a life-changing experience? TB: Two times. The first is when I met Daniela. Because at that time I was really not happy with my life, the things happening around me and not so sure about myself. And she really helped me come out of this situation with my feet on the earth. She gave me the possibility to be confident in myself again, something that I had lost a little bit around 1993 when we met. I don’ t know what I would have become if I had not met Daniela. This was a turning point in my life.
TB: The second was in 1999, when I was racing in Le Mans with Toyota. I went to do Le Mans as my last race and then do something else. But it [ ended ] in a very bad way. I was leading the race and I had a big accident. A really big accident. The car was destroyed and I was almost completely destroyed too. Three vertebrae were totally broken, my spine was compressed, and I was paralysed in the legs. In fact, I survived only because I was extremely fit. I had physical strength that allowed me to
Hello Monaco – Winter 2018 / 37