This Kedger has created a brand of clothing that helps preserves the oceans!

1️⃣ To begin, tell us about your educational background. What did you study, both before and at KEDGE?

I did the Master of Management Grand Ecole Programme at KEDGE Marseille after having done two years of prep classes at ENS Cachan in Strasbourg. I did the M1 programme, with the majority of my courses in marketing, entrepreneurship, management, and project management. I then started my gap year with an internship at Procter & Gamble, and then finished my M2 remotely after having been hired.

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I was a member of Citadingue during the two years I was at KEDGE! That experience made me want to start off in sales, but especially made me fall in love with this beautiful city! Now, seven years later, I’ve come back to live here with my girlfriend after having lived in several cities in Europe. This is where we are happy. I also kept in touch with a lot of people through the canvassing and events Citadingue had at the time.

2️⃣ Tell us what you did after your studies were finished. What positions have you held? What did you learn in those positions?

I began with an internship with the ground sales force at Procter & Gamble, then was transferred to its headquarters in Geneva. I was hired during my gap year and stayed there for five years. Since then, I’ve had several sales and marketing positions, at first for the Gillette brand, then became responsible for Hugo Boss colognes for the region, and eventually became in charge of a business management team in retail travel (rollout strategies, P&L management, risk and opportunities, ROI, and brand strategies).

Then I went back to Paris in May 2019 to be the Senior Product Manager of Boss Bottled – the first Hugo Boss brand franchise. I learned a lot there - in B2B relations and the management of suppliers, distributors, and external partners, and especially in marketing strategy. Rollout strategies, positioning, and distribution are the keys to succeed at standing out in this market.

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3️⃣ What are you doing/what is your situation today? What gave you the idea and why do you want to do what you’re doing today?

I’m a fan of nature and sports above everything! My time in Geneva happened at a time when I had an intense amount of work, which I was able to balance out by spending time outdoors in nature to recharge. Mountain and water activities are essential for me to have a good equilibrium. I always wanted to create something with which I could make an impact on the protection of the planet. So I used the knowledge I learned in my different positions to start from a blank page, and I asked myself a crucial question: how can I create a new brand that is important enough for the community and puts environmental and social issues as a priority. That’s how Recif (Reef) was born.

In some places, nature is struggling to recover on its own. Our environment is suffering from climate change and pollution, and our behaviours have a direct impact. Recif was created to help preserve our ecosystems, with its main mission being the protection and restoration of coral reefs. I decided to create this brand to help clean up plastic and textile waste and to help re-wild nature and our oceans.

 One coral is planted, and 2 to 4 kg of waste is cleaned up, for each purchase made. All items are made from recycled fabrics and are manufactured locally in France and Portugal, either from plastic waste collected from the Mediterranean and Atlantic Oceans or from recycled cotton. We use almost zero environmental resources for this project. Very little is water is used because it is recycled and the impact of the manufacturing process is limited because our products are produced locally. They are good quality products which last over time. All our clothes and accessories are made from a single-material, which means that they are 100% recyclable. Most importantly, our movement helps to strengthen coral reefs - an ecosystem upon which 25% of the world's species directly depend, and which is disappearing at an alarming rate.

Key figures: 50% of corals reefs have already disappeared; 90% of coral reefs could be lost by 2030; 50% of our oxygen is created in oceans (one out of every two breaths); and a healthy ocean directly relies on healthy reefs. Recif is more than a brand - it is a positive movement for us and for Nature! It is a different type of brand, which acts primarily for its social and environmental mission. 

I hope that many people will get involved and join us! I'm now at the end of my participatory fundraising campaign on the Kickstarter platform, and we need as much support as possible for the project to see the light of day. There are three days left to participate!

KICKSTARTER

4️⃣ If you were to give advice to any KEDGE graduate who wants to do something similar, what would it be?

Don’t let doubts get in the way and go for it! The essential thing is that your life project and your professional project go in the same direction. And stay true to your values! 

The autonomy KEDGE gives is the ingredient that gave me what I needed to do what I’m doing today. Choose your path at school and after, because that’s where you’ll start doing project management, canvassing, and making yourself visible. Those are indispensable qualities when you are an entrepreneur and you have to stand out in a highly competitive environment.

5️⃣ Anything you’d like to add? A message to pass on?

There are only a few days left to participate in our financing campaign. We need all of you in order to reach our goals and begin this project. We are counting on you!

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