Gary Pinagot, KEDGE graduate, takes over the digital...
Make your own tea combinations thanks to this KEDGE Alumna!
Who has never wanted to put their favourite ingredients in their tea? Why do we always end up with the same flavours in our mugs? It's based on this assessment that Clarisse Petit (ESC 2016) created Mytmix.com
Hello, Clarisse! To start with, what did you study at KEDGE and before going to KEDGE?
I started out with a BAC STG in Marketing (I have always had a passion for marketing and management, which is why I naturally gravitated toward this field). Then I pursued a BTS in Management of Commercial Units to get some field experience while obtaining my degree. The year following my BTS, I really questioned what I wanted to do, because I started a Master's programme at a school specialised in IT and multimedia in order to obtain a double degree in IT and sales, but I felt like the programme lacked seriousness, and I needed to learn. I didn't want to just buy a degree. So, I started looking for a quality school with more requirements (classes, professors, employability, practice, etc.)/ KEDGE BS opened its doors and was very transparent. So, I decided to pursue a Masters in the ESC programme at KEDGE Marseille.
Today, you have graduated and are launching your own brand.
Yes, I developed an interest in the business world thanks to my parents, who own their own company (Araquelle SAS), which has been specialising in organic herbal teas for 30 years and is a leader in their market today. After obtaining my degree, naturally, I joined the family company to use the skills I gained during my studies. I worked in several positions, first managing major accounts, then as communications manager and finally as export manager. In my last position, I had to build the export service from scratch because it did not exist in the Franco-French context. It was a really interesting challenge. That is where I got the idea for Mytmix, after travelling and meeting many different actors in the tea industry.
Mytmix.com is a new concept in the tea industry, that allows consumers to create their own mixes (by choosing all of the ingredients and flavours) but also by personalising the name of their tea. I always wanted to create a responsible project that is respectful of all of the actors in the chain (producers, suppliers, consumers). This project was born from a realisation that my partner Alexis and I had (we are also business partners for this project): the market for tea is highly fragmented, but the offer is always the same, mixes, marketing, wellness... and 98% of the time, the marketing is misleading. For example, when they talk about a black tea with berries, there are no berries inside, just flavours... By choosing your own mix, we can guarantee that you are adding real ingredients, and of course we are using only organic products. We were also inspired by a German success story, Mymuesli.com, which allows you to make your own muesli online.
We are currently conducting a Crowdfunding campaign on Ulule in order to get our project started, in addition to spreading awareness about the projects existence, if you want to test the concept of creating your own unique tea mixes and receive tons of gifts, don't hesitate to:
What are your objectives for the future?
For now, we want to spread awareness about the project in France! Even if we know that the market for personalised goods in the food industry is mainly abroad, it's a first step before we turn to bigger markets (like the USA for example, which is a big fan of novelties such as this). In the medium term, we want to open a concept store in a unique and luxury universe and then move into franchising. Our international expansion will happen in a second phase. Today, Mytmix is a young brand that needs to make itself known on the web before we can consider a larger fundraising operation in a year or a year and a half.
How did your time at KEDGE Business School help you get started?
Kedge Business School reinforced my interest in entrepreneurship. In addition to all the tools the school equips us with for the future, it's mainly a certain state of mind a left with. Perseverance is the school's guiding principal and the success of this project will largely reside in my capacity to persevere.
If you had one piece of advice for KEDGE Alumni who want to follow in your footsteps, what would it be?
Without a doubt, go for it! France is far from perfect, but it is a good country to be an entrepreneur in. It's audacious, but we often have nothing to lose by creating, and everything to gain: an adventure, meetings, a unique learning opportunity, lessons. There is nothing more exciting than seeing your project launched and your first products being sold. For once, it won't remain just a PowerPoint presentation at school.
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