We recently had the chance to connect with Jean-Luc Martin and have shared our conversation below.
Jean-Luc, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What is a normal day like for you right now?
Normal day for me right now involves wrapping up our summer programming, which includes evening classes, a few workshops, and 11 summer camps. This year’s camps were especially successful, thanks to an outstanding group of teachers and we sold out very early.
Personally, I’m now and for the past month and a half have been shifting my focus to preparing for the fall programming at the academy 2025/2026. Students will be arriving from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In previous years, we welcomed international students as well , but due to complications with J-1 visas, they were unable to attend this year.
We’re expecting 38 Academy students, and I’ve been dedicating a significant amount of time to preparing their programs. My goal is to ensure that, from day one, we set a strong foundation for what will be a nine-month to three-year journey for some of them. At the moment, I’m finalizing the last details to welcome our new students.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am the founder and owner of the San Diego Circus Center, and many of my students affectionately call me the Grand Chef, a nickname given to me years ago by an old friend who taught here for a few months. The idea is simple: I’m the chef, the students are the salad, and together, we make magic.
I wear many hats, including serving as the program director and overseeing the development of our pedagogy. While I lead many aspects of the center, I rely on the communication and support of our incredible teaching staff.
Over the years, the San Diego Circus Center has gained international recognition. Many of our graduates now perform with world-renowned companies such as The 7 Fingers, Cirque du Soleil, the Flint Creek Circus, Circus Mechanics, and many European circuses. Some of our students have gone on to create their own shows and establish successful performing companies.
Becoming a program director was as much a surprise to me as it was to my family. However, over the past 15 years, it has become a major part of my life. It has given me countless creative opportunities, to direct shows, mentor students, and engage meaningfully with the broader community.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I’m going to go with the first question: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
That’s an interesting question, because who is the world? Who holds the power to define us?
For me, the world is my why. As I moved through life, I always knew my why, even if I wasn’t consciously aware of it, because I was living it.
When I was younger, I was an adventurer. I climbed the big walls of El Capitan, kayaked Class III and IV rapids, and took long 17+ day canoe trips in northern Canada. Nature was my why. I believed in it wholeheartedly.
But everything shifted when I discovered circus. That became my new why. I had no clear destination, I just knew I loved it. So I followed my passion. In essence, passion became my why. It felt like a vision quest, a search for truth. And over time, I realized: I was the truth, because I was the one living it.
From circus, I found my way to Hollywood, where I became a stuntman and actor, eventually transitioning into a line producer. That too became my why. Throughout it all, I held on tightly to creativity, passion, and the dream of building a family. That became my why, too.
In hindsight, I was always in discovery mode.
Now, after 15 years here in San Diego, I no longer rock climb, kayak, or work in film. I’ve become a teacher, a leader in the circus community, a builder. We have an incredible lineup of projects in development, and every year, I’m so excited to bring these ventures to life, especially as we collaborate closely with our talented students and dedicated teachers.
If I had to look back and ask myself how I arrived here, maybe the answer is: it was all on purpose. And I consider myself incredibly fortunate. I’m happy with where I am and what I do, because I feel like I’m making a difference in the world.
And to cap it all off:
I am happy.
My wife and I often tease each other because we sometimes have to remind ourselves just how happy we are. So every now and then, we look at each other and say, “I am Groot,”, which, in our language, means “I am happy.”
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
With all the questions surrounding struggles and resilience, I’m reminded of storytelling, and specifically how we develop a narrative for our shows at the Circus Center. We often follow a structure known as the Hero’s Journey, a widely used framework for building a show’s beginning, middle and end.
If I reflect on my own life through the lens of the Hero’s Journey, I see that struggle and resilience are essential parts of everyone’s path. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more aware of the value in embracing struggle, and even finding joy in the process of resilience, or just let go.
You hear it all the time: you have to fail to succeed. Whether it’s four failures for every one success, or some other ratio, the numbers don’t really matter. What matters is the lesson: life is about the struggles we face and how we grow from them. Struggles shape our character.
This is a concept I actively embrace, not only with my students, but more deeply with myself. There have been moments in my life where I’ve felt like I was at the bottom. In the Hero’s Journey, that stage is often referred to as the cave, the place just before the crisis or transformation.
When I find myself there, I remind myself: I’ve been in the cave before, and I know how to get out.
That’s life. That’s what we discover as we grow.
I openly share both my struggles and my successes with my peers, mentors, and students. And I walk alongside them through their own challenges. It brings me joy to be part of their journey.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
This is a tough one, describing your values, your thoughts, your views, because I have many. But I’ll focus on one question: What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
Honestly, I’m not sure how to express this, or even how to articulate it fully, but one truth I return to often is this:
I don’t know everything, and I don’t need to.
That simple realization has been essential to my creativity. That’s where imagination begins. If it’s a math problem, there’s a process. You follow the steps and solve it. But creativity doesn’t work that way. When you’re searching for something meaningful, the answer doesn’t always come through thinking, it comes through not thinking. You have to let it live inside of you. You have to struggle with it. You have to share it before you can express it clearly.
At the Circus Center, one of my core values is something I call the “no-censor rule.”
It means that, at a certain point in the creative process, everyone is free to say exactly what they feel, without worrying about how it sounds or whether it’s right. The goal is to speak from the gut. That raw honesty sparks questions, ideas, and solutions. Then, when it’s time to execute, we refine. We build a mission, we follow a process, and we move forward with intention.
So, with all that in mind, I’d say my values are this:
I hold on to what I know, express it openly, share it with others, listen deeply, allow myself to change and grow, and then, when it’s time, let it all go and begin again.
I value communication.
I value camaraderie.
I value collaboration.
And when it comes to leadership, I try to lead not as a leader, but as a follower. That can be difficult, especially when people are looking to you for answers and expecting results. But with age, I’ve gained the confidence to trust the process. I’ve learned that results always come when you give them space to emerge. And people, too, they rise when given the opportunity.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
Legacy. You had a list of questions, but I couldn’t resonate with any one of them, because when you think about legacy (something I hadn’t really considered until the past three years), it implies an end.
And I’ve never thought about the end. I’ve always been focused on the process, on growth.
Every year, we welcome new students, new ideas, and new passions. Our returning students continue to deepen their own journeys. There’s a kind of reunification that happens annually. That cycle keeps me young and alive.
But thinking about legacy requires forward-thinking while simultaneously looking back, to reflect on what I might be leaving behind.
Recently, one of my students, who graduated five or seven years ago—came to meet with me. She said that after her performance career, she plans to go back to school, get her MBA, and then return to take over the San Diego Circus Center so she can continue my legacy.
That moment stopped me in my tracks. I had never thought of what I’ve done as something worthy of a legacy. But in truth… it is.
So, in reflecting on what legacy means to me:
I’m not done yet.
But if I had to give a clear answer, I’d say this: The best legacy I could leave is the continued growth and evolution of what we’ve built at the San Diego Circus Center, a place that keeps getting stronger, more supportive, and more in tune with the needs of the young artists who pass through.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sandiegocircuscenter.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SDCIRCUSCENTER
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/6609627/admin/dashboard/
- Twitter: https://x.com/SDcircuscenter
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SanDiegoCircusCenter
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SanDiegoCircusCenter
Image Credits
Photo Credits: Melisande Martin and Jean-Luc Martin
