Émile on his new job, his top toys, and whether his siblings are jealous.
Can you tell me a little about what you had to do to get the job? There must have been a lot of competition.
When my mom saw the competition on the Toys “R” Us website, I really wanted to do it. So I applied and I had to do a little two-minute video telling why I should be the next CPO and what was my favourite toy. Then in the finalist round we were 10 finalists and I was chosen out of those 10.
That’s incredible. What is your favourite toy?
My favourite toy is my pogo stick. It’s like a stick that you jump with and I love to do tricks, I love to do it handsfree, I love to turn. It’s so fun.
I saw a picture on your father’s Facebook page of you riding a unicycle.
Yes, I go to school on a unicycle.
So do you want to be a clown when you grow up?
When I grow up I wanted to be a computer engineer, but now since I’m doing this it’s really more fun working in the same kind of place.
Do you have brothers or sisters?
I have three older sisters.
So are they pretty jealous of your new gig?
They’re really happy for me.
Because they get toys as well?
Yes. They’ll play with me.
I know your job was just announced (Monday) but what has happened? Has your life changed at all?
Yes. I’m getting a lot of calls for interviews. All my friends are really happy for me. It’s a great start for this really awesome job.
Did you have to do anything to prepare for the job?
Yes. I needed to study a lot of toys. I needed to study the words to say to practice. It was a really fun period.
As I understand it, people will be delivering toys to you and you’ll be trying them out before they will be sold?
How it works is that there is toy-- training day and different vendors come and show me the toys. So I play with them and try to find out what’s cool about that toy. Then I go on interviews and talk about them. What’s better than that?
Sounds like you’re ready for the job.
Yes I am.
Your first training session was two weeks ago. What was it like? Can you describe it to me?
It was really cool. I met a whole bunch of people and I even went to the warehouse, which was amazing. There was even a big Lego Woody.
A Lego what?
A Lego Woody, like from Toy Story. It was really fun to go see their office.
When you’re playing with toys and you’re trying them out, what do you look for?
I’m trying to look for what is so cool about this toy and why would a child like this. That’s what I’m trying to find out. It’s really fun.
What else interesting has happened since getting this job?
Receiving toys to my house, that was exciting. They come to my house and I play with them. Sometimes I am even the first person to play with them, so that’s what makes this job great.
My son is eight years old and I have to tell him to stop playing and take a bath, stop playing and do your homework, stop playing and come for dinner. Are you allowed to keep playing because that’s your job?
It’s like homework, I’d say. So I’ve got to practice my toys. It is homework. It’s fun homework. This interview has been condensed and edited for length.