The story of JB
Growing up across countries and cultures
JB was born in southern France while his Canadian diplomat parents were posted in Africa. He spent his earliest years in Nigeria and Kenya before returning to Canada around age five. Moving between countries, schools, languages, and social settings made a stable national identity difficult, but it also taught him to notice who was excluded. His mother reinforced the importance of not humiliating newcomers or extending private frustration into cruelty.
JB became comfortable moving among different groups and bringing outsiders into conversations, a habit that later shaped his approach to online communities. His parents were direct, expected discipline, and discouraged complaints that did not lead anywhere. From those experiences, he developed a view of life as a set of contradictions that must be managed rather than simplified away.
Recovering direction after college disruption
During his final year of high school and first year at the University of Ottawa, JB struggled with an intense academic system, frequent moves in his family, partying, and a lack of direction. He spent his savings quickly, missed academic obligations, and returned from a family trip to a room that made the consequences visible. A prolonged difficult period then disrupted his sleep, concentration, relationships, and ability to work.
Reading The Power of Now helped him stop treating every recurring thought as an instruction or verdict, and he gradually rebuilt routines around reading, exercise, and focused effort. When ordinary student jobs remained unavailable, he volunteered on administrative projects, earned strong references, and used that work to enter government service, where he advanced by taking responsibility for neglected operational problems.
Rebuilding Mars Cats around gaming community
JB's economics background first led him toward gold and skepticism about Bitcoin. Learning how mining secured a decentralized network changed his view, and Ethereum mining introduced him to NFTs, digital ownership, and virtual worlds. He joined Mars Cats Voyage early, became close to its founders, and later worked with other major holders to acquire the project's intellectual property, website, and operating control after the original team lost momentum.
The new group received no treasury and funded the rebuild itself. JB focused on visible participation, careful partnerships, and sustained community presence rather than blaming members for changing interests. Mars Cats Voyage now aims to sit at the center of Web3 gaming through streams, events, game integrations, artist collaborations, and deep participation in platforms such as Nifty Island.