Interview with Geoffroy, Head of the KEDGE Alumni Branch in Buenos Aires

Could you tell us about your educational background, and what you studied at KEDGE? What programme did you do at KEDGE?

I’m from Toulouse where we really love airplanes (laughs). My studies were somewhat technical at the beginning, focussed on aeronautics. I got a technical degree (DUT) at the University of Toulouse in mechanical engineering and aeronautics. After the first two years, I didn’t see myself as an engineer all my life so I started to look for a business school to be able to open myself up to other skills. 

I found out about KEDGE in Toulouse at a student forum. It was distinctive in that it trained those with technical programmes, such as my own, in business management, but still focused on industries and B2B, which is why I moved to Toulon for three years in 2005. I then chose to do an international exchange in my third year and went to La Plata University in Argentina. I did a semester in the faculty of economics there. Then, for my last year, I did my end-of-studies internship with Thalés in its satellite department, and finished my courses in August 2008. In the meantime, the school in Toulon merged with that of Marseille and became part of the Euromed group.

After that, I worked for a week in an SME in Toulouse and, at the same time, applied for a VIE in Mexico at Airbus. I was smitten by this VIE, so I quit after a week (laughs), and left in December 2008. I went to Germany for a short time at first, where the team for which I worked was based, and then I moved to Mexico City, Mexico, for two years.

 

 🎬 Fast & Curious 🎬 Today, meet Geoffroy, an Alumnus from Toulouse who now lives Argentina, in Buenos Aires! 🇦🇷 After a very successful professional career in the field of aeronautics, Geoffroy has started his own business and is currently in the process of creating a drink with a base of Yerba Maté: TÉMA 🌱 https://www.temamate.com/ A well-known traditional plant in Argentina and the entire world. Even Antoine Griezman drinks it before his matches! You will find out more about his career and drink in this interview! Enjoy! 😉 Posted by KAS - Kedge Alumni Success on Thursday, 25 July 2019.

 

Why did you decide to move to Buenos Aires? Did you really want to go, or was it just that an opportunity came up and you seized it?

I came back to Argentina after living in Mexico. I wanted to start an engineering company. In Mexico, I did global sourcing, which was developing providers in Mexico for all of Airbus’s entities. I had seen in Argentina that there was potential for engineering activities, so I came to Buenos Aires for a few months in 2011.

The political and economic situation was somewhat difficult and I saw that it wouldn’t work. At the same time, in 2011 there was the crisis, but in Europe, particularly in regards to low-cost engineers. Low-cost engineers were Indian, Mexican, or Brazilian but were mostly Spanish engineers. They were easy to recruit with the same culture, and were more competitive.

So, I returned to work for Airbus in Toulouse for three years. I began by a factories project in the United States, then worked on the A350 in its planning stage, followed by the A320. Afterwards, I signed on with CapGemini, also in Toulouse, because I had met consultants with whom I worked well. I was interested in what they did (all involving LEAN, and improvement of procedures and work methods).

For a year we worked on a project on quality. We toured all of Airbus’s factories in Europe, which was very useful. We improved procedures at each factory. The part of the plane was assembled was revised and audited. The auditing procedure wasn’t very efficient so we worked on that to improve it. My position was a consultant on everything that was LEAN.

Then I married an Argentinian in Toulouse. She was offered a job in Chili, so we moved there in 2015. I knew the region a bit because I had lived in Argentina as a student, had worked Mexico, and had lived in Ecuador for three years, and this gave me the chance to get to know a new country. I was able to distance myself from everything while there and do something other than aeronautics. I was hired by PWC, still in consulting. I worked for the third largest producer of wine in the world, an Australian company which managed several copper mines in Chili, and then I sold my first project as a consultant for a Paris airport that managed Santiago’s airport.

The common point in all these projects was the improvement of procedures and standardisation of methods of working. I also did a lot of project management. That was for two years.

After two years, a Chilean company was looking for a LEAN specialist who knew something about the aeronautics sector, so I went back to the aeroplane world for a year for the company SkyAirline. It was a small, low-cost company with some twenty planes and that wanted to renew everything. After that job in Chili, my spouse had the opportunity to return to Argentina. There was a new president who had a new dynamic for Argentina, and so we told ourselves that it was the right time to go back there.

So, I started my business creation project and currently I’m trying to launch a Yerba Maté drink. I had been drinking yerba maté since 2007, which piqued the interest of my friends and work colleagues. Over the last few years we’ve had free advertising in France and Europe with our football players and the model Gisèle Bundchen, who swears on this drink, so everyone knows what it is. It’s a plant with a large leaf. It's not as fine as tea. Yerba Maté is in the container and they fill it with hot water. It's very cultural and if you're not used to drinking it, it's very intricate. We are working on a ready-made yerba maté, which is an iced tea cold tea. I started working on this last year, and I had already done some research. Iced tea is booming, especially in the United States with all that is considered healthy (plants that have health properties).

I’ve also received funding from the Argentinian government. So that been my experience as an entrepreneur so far. Have the motivation and people want to help you. Know how to manage and spend the funds that have been advanced to you. In Chili, I also took an entrepreneurship course at Stanford, which taught me the American business model. I applied what learned, and took advantage of the network that I made there. At the milestones of the project, either it works and we launch the drink, or it doesn’t and we'll see what we'll do. It’s a very good experience and to do it in Argentina is beneficial because we it’s in difficult context and there is always the Argentinian side of determining what’s important and necessary. Argentineans are also very creative, which is why now we plan all marketing (we the story of the product). It's very good to do that here. And since the product comes from here, it's better to do everything from here, from Buenos Aires.

 

What differences do you distinguish between the manner of working in Argentina compared to France?

Finally, we are close because most Argentinians are immigrants from Europe. Being from Toulouse, I am Southern and feel pretty close, I don’t notice any big differences. What I do find interesting is that the Argentinians take their time with their studies. For example, they prefer to do a few subjects and have a job on the side. I also find that they come from universities or schools well-trained. Whether in business or engineering, they have very good profiles. And those who study in European universities fit in perfectly. Afterwards, when working for a company, they always form a team, a relationship with everyone. Otherwise, I don’t see many differences. 

 

🎬 KAS - ROAD TRIP - ARGENTINE 🇦🇷

➡️ KAS - ROAD TRIP - ARGENTINE ⬅️ Après deux mois à voyager sur le continent sud-américain à la rencontre des Alumni, le KAS est arrivé il y'a quelques jours en Bolivie. Retrouvez nos aventures en Argentine, pays dans lequel nous avons passé plus de 40 jours. 🇦🇷 Bon visionage à tous ! 🎥

Publiée par KAS - Kedge Alumni Success sur Mercredi 5 juin 2019

➡️ KAS - ROAD TRIP - ARGENTINA ⬅️ After two months travelling around the South American continent meeting Alumni, the KAS team arrived in Bolivia a few days ago. Find out about our adventures in Argentina, where we were for more than 40 days🇦🇷 Enjoy! 🎥  Posted by KAS - Kedge Alumni Success on Wednesday, 5 June 2019.

 

What are your plans for the future? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? In 10 years?

I hope that this yerba maté business works. The next step is a crowdfunding campaign. We are looking at the United States and Europe. We also have a social objective with this drink: access to drinking water. It’s a problem that affects a lot of northern Argentina even if they have access to a lot of water. We’d like to work on that part now, and later on the social issues aspect.

 

How did KEDGE help with your international project?

The internship I did in Argentina played an important role because I got to know the country and subsequently meet my wife. And I'm here partly because attending a school that facilitates exchanges and emphasises the international aspect is important. Additionally, the Alumni side has grown the merger of Kedge Group with Marseille and Bordeaux, which I find very helpful too. The network is very current, I believe that 80% of the jobs are found by the network, in France for example. In another country, it's very important. There’s also the help you get with visas and other things. It’s important to have people who help and have experienced these steps before settling in.

 

Did you have any apprehensions before you left?

No, not really because I travelled a lot with my dad’s job. And then there wasn’t really many to have. You have to research, pay attention to the level of security, be aware of the country in which you are, and pay attention to your health. You mustn’t come with any preconceived ideas because you have to understand that we are very privileged in France.

 

What advice would you give to a young KEDGE graduate who is hesitant to start his or her professional career in Latin America?

It’s always good to go to another country, to open your mind, to discover. France is truly a comfort zone and it’s good to see that most other countries don’t function in the same way. For example, the 35-hour work week, 5 weeks of vacation, and retirement. And even if you don’t want to live here all your live, it’s good to be able to observe it so you can return and develop it further.

 

What do you think the growth sectors in this country are? For example, are there positions for new graduates?

The current government has done a lot of things for entrepreneurship. It has created a network of incubators and aid programmes. The Argentineans, through the crises that they are used to living with, are creative, ingenious. They are very good at technology.

It’s also a large agricultural country that’s always been at the forefront of research, GMOs, and genetics. There is this whole agriculture-technology fusion. For example, there are many who create online banking and insurance banking, and agricultural apps.

The government facilitates all this through certain actions, such as "a company in one day" and the network. They want to facilitate employment and jobs created by SMEs, so they need entrepreneurs and want them to work out. 

 

What have you found here that you wouldn’t find in France?

Lots of things: the family side, the friends, and the group living in a group is very strong here. And they have a passion for everything: politics, economics, football, tango, etc., which is funny when you are foreigner and interesting when you are actually living it. And then there is a then this questioning, live the difficulty I find it trainer.

And then in France I personally feel that we are disconnected from the United states and here you often see exchanges with the United States, which can be a good bridge for knowing another way of doing business. 

 

What as a role as an Alumnus? You’ve gone through KEDGE and are now part of our global network.

It’s all new. In January I created a branch with Florian. It’s very good from the networking aspect. For example, as an entrepreneur, I’m able to have enriching exchanges with other Alumni. Additionally, you find your project great because you look at what is done abroad. In business school we are open to the rest of the world, but it’s important to live in a country. And I like participating in that and answering students' questions. The network is everything.

 

 

 Interview conducted in Buenos Aires by the five KEDGE Alumni Success Pro-Act students. 

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