Nicolas de Villiers
Running the show and making history

As a child, you spent a lot of time in the Park. How did it affect you?

For me, school was like being in prison. I hated it. I know it sounds rather exaggerated but as a little boy, I would look to Nelson Mandela and think: “if he can survive in jail for so many years, then so can I!” I felt that the teaching was boring and totally disconnected from real life. Forced into this passive mindset, I certainly wasn’t learning anything.

I was a dreamer and I have had the privilege of growing up surrounded by performers, which triggered a fascination for the stage. As a child, I loved putting together puppet shows; and anyone visiting our house would be summoned to attend! I spent my teenage years learning first-hand what goes into putting on a show by being on stage, backstage, and in the writing room.

I also grew up around horses and I have a real passion for stunt riding, performing in the Park’s shows from the age of 16. I took acting classes in Paris, but by 18, I knew that I wouldn’t pursue this as a career. I became assistant director on one of the shows at 20. The penny hadn’t yet dropped that the Puy du Fou would one day become my destiny, but I was already hooked on directing.

My parents let me choose my own way. They gave myself and my siblings a lot of freedom, and my father, who founded the Park, was actually relieved that one of his children was showing so much interest in how it all worked.

Tell us about your Audencia years

None of my high school teachers had managed to suggest any paths that might be a good fit for me. So, like so many uninspired students, I went into law. Later, some friends recommended that I join a business school, and I picked Audencia for its reputation, as well as its proximity to the Puy du Fou. I had a fantastic time at Audencia, but as I was riding horses about 5 days a week at the Park, I didn’t have much time to get involved in the school’s social life… just enough to turn up for the big parties. Interestingly, classmates who knew me well were much more far-sighted when it came to my future. They told me repeatedly until I finally accepted what they had been telling me: “Nicolas, don’t worry about not finding your path. It’s crystal clear to us that you will run the Puy du Fou, you’re made for this!”.

What were you able to leverage from your experience at the school?

Thanks to Audencia, I made peace with any preconceptions I had about teachers. Most of them were – or had been – business professionals “in the real world”, aside from being teachers. I felt that I could finally benefit from their valuable experience.

I also discovered leadership management. I realised that to run a company, you must understand the language of the specialists in charge of each department, but essentially you must be a good generalist. I really enjoyed exploring each discipline, wondering what it would be like to run each department at the Park… I struggled to pick a single one though, which in hindsight should have been an obvious sign that I was attracted to an overall leadership role.

Could you share the first steps of your career journey?

At the end of my Audencia curriculum, I bumped into the then CEO of the Puy du Fou. He told me that he was looking for a team manager and offered me the role as an intern. I had already accepted an internship at Deloitte, so I politely declined. My friends from Audencia urged me to reconsider: they knew that I was never happier than when I was making shows, and none of them could picture me with a suit and a tie, in an office at La Defense (Paris’ business district). It took me two hours to mull this over. I called the CEO guy back, and confidently said: “I have changed my mind; I will of course take you up on your offer!”

So, when I left Audencia, at 23, I became team leader, then artistic director of the Park’s Viking show. A few months later, the artistic director of the Park left, and I raised my hand. There wasn’t any other obvious candidate, so they let me have a go. My first big challenge was to oversee the big night show for which 1,200 performers were on stage. It was a success, and a few months later, at 24, I became the president of the Park. My progression happened in steps, but swiftly.

How did you manage to find your place next to such a charismatic father who had founded the company almost thirty years prior to you getting on board?

When you are the son of the founder, you must be comfortable and honest about where you come from, what your ambitions are, and what you want to bring to the table. I know several “heirs” who took over from their parents but ended up quitting because the parents weren’t prepared to relinquish their position.

Fortunately, my father and I have always had a very open relationship. He knew that I hoped to oversee several different aspects of the company. I warned him that if he thought I wasn’t cut out for it, then it would be better if I didn’t take on any leadership role at all. But my father gave me my chance and rapidly let me define my own vision and strategy. He was sceptical with some of the changes I wanted to introduce, especially with regard to expanding internationally and diversifying into hotels and schools. But he let me go ahead, and he saw the results. I haven’t worked in his shadow nor have I worked against him. He hasn’t been involved in the running of the business for a while, but he likes to put his two cents in once in a while, but mainly because he’s curious about the upcoming artistic plans.

Running the Park has pretty much been your first and only job. Getting “a job for life” goes against today’s career recommendations. What do you make of that?

Frankly, that’s not something that’s ever crossed my mind. In today’s world, we change jobs, cars, houses and even partners when they no longer suit. Personally, I believe in stability. I am not sure that people from my generation who follow the “mobility mantra” are any happier than me. I certainly don’t feel that I am missing out on anything.

I may have kept the same title over the years, but my job is incredibly varied. I wanted to tell stories and this is what I get to do every day. I always dreamt of having my own farm, and I have set up a beautiful organic farm. I loved restaurants, and now I own 25! Plus, I have the sensation that I am constantly learning, progressing, building something, looking forward. I feel that I have only achieved 5% of my vision.

We have a saying in French that to become president of the Republic, you need to think about it all day long, from the moment you shave in the morning. I have the same obsession with my own role at the company. The day I realised that it was possible – with luck and determination, to combine my passion with my job, I knew that I would never do anything else.

Within the grounds of the Park, you have built the school that you wished you could have attended yourself as a child. What’s it like?

It’s an academy where children from the age of three don’t just learn the academic curriculum, but also engage in a fantastic artistic programme with the aim of performing in one of the shows. This programme focuses on gymnastics – the basis for stunts, and drama. There is a strong community spirit in the school, with the staff and kids of all ages helping each other. We use the Park as a giant learning and playing ground: children look after their own vegetable plot and they learn biology with living animals – we’ve even had wolves coming into the classroom! An imposing Shakespeare has also made an appearance in full costume, and this made such an impact on the children that they will remember the author for the rest of their lives.

The best compliment I get, is when parents admit that when their kids don’t behave during the weekend, they threaten not to send them back to school the following week!

What makes your job so fulfilling?

My purpose is to give happiness to people through the heritage that we share. In the shows, we deal with elegance, courage, hope, as well as loss and suffering. All these artistic ingredients create beautiful and universal emotions. We don’t split the public by age group; our objective is for the whole family to experience the show and to share those emotions together. State-of-the-art technology as well as input from history experts are essential to the shows; but we think the public shouldn’t notice them. We are not trying to replace teachers. They have the responsibility of sharing the facts and the dark side of history so that we don’t make the same mistakes again. Our mission is different: we tell the history of our country by focusing on the legends. I love Game of Thrones, but their characters are all dark. Instead, we show how men and women can be heroic when they are courageous and generous. Essentially, we want to inspire the public, by illustrating the greatness of humankind.

When I wake up in the morning, I feel that I can have an impact on people’s lives, by encouraging them to show the best side of themselves, and by bringing them together. Today more than ever, we need to highlight how much we have in common.

What message would you like to give Audencia students who will graduate this year?

Trust yourself. I know that it sounds like a basic piece of advice, and one that students hear all the time. But it’s so true. Trust your instincts, your heart, and not so much your brain – which tends to overemphasize the risks. All the successful people I know have this quality in common.

My second recommendation would be not to underestimate the power of the network that you can create for yourself via the school. My Audencia friends and I use a WhatsApp group to keep each other updated on our personal lives, and to reach out for professional advice too. You can form friendships that will last a lifetime, so make sure you nurture this network.

Do you think your children will run the Park one day?

They are 16, 14 and 11 and are all involved in the Park in one way or another. The youngest attends the on-site school, and the other two come along at the weekend to help with artistic workshops as well as performing in the night show. They have been brought up on Puy du Fou culture.

Last weekend, my middle child asked for permission to spend the night in the Park with his friends. He was meant to come home after the night show, but he didn’t get back until 9.30 the next morning and was scared of being told off. It turns out that he and his friends wanted to stay up, all together, to see the sunrise over the Park. I knew he was sincere and there was no way I could get mad at him!

I am a firm believer that the best way to transmit your passion to your children is not just to delegate the practical tasks, but to also encourage them to contemplate and to get a sense of what moves you. But it’s too early to know whether any of my children will be interested in taking over from me.

As a business leader and a visionary, how do you strike the right balance between the need to project yourself into the future, and the need to remain in the present, and appreciate the small victories in everyday life?

I have a clear vision of where I want to take the company, and in my head, I am always thinking ten years ahead. So yes, I have to remind myself to appreciate the present time; but I don’t feel that I need a long break to do that.

Characteristically, I never take holidays, which my friends often tease me about. I like to point out to them that this nice evening that we are spending together in fact feels rather like a holiday to me. I take short breaks – a couple of hours a week is enough, but I make them count by being fully present: no phone, no email, a cold beer and some big laughs. I will take holidays when I am tired of this, maybe in 20 years, when I know that I have found some people – better than me, to take over.