This KEDGE Alumna launched her consulting company in Strategy & Marketing in Los Angeles

I obtained my BAC ES, and then participated in an HEC prep programme, finally I joined the ESC programme at Kedge in 2000 and graduated in 2003. I was very invested in community life, as Entertainment Manager at the Student Home. At the time, there was a very festive ambiance. We launched a DJ contest, Sup de Mix, organised a festival, and hosted lots of school parties. I have a lot of fond memories of this time, but it was also a great personal and professional experience! These various events taught me a lot about management, public relations, finance, and communication. I chose the SME SMI speciality in order to learn how to create and manage a company, and Marketing to specialise in the field, even though at the time my professional project wasn't clearly defined. I remember our great Strategy professor, Mr. Michel I think it was, and Olivier Pelazza and Jean Marc Bornarel, who were very kind and always there for us. I also become very involved in the orientation of new students, a great way to promote this great school that we were so proud of. 

 

After regular internships in communication agencies, I started working in the Marketing department at Eurocopter, then I moved to Annecy to work for an independent agency, and then Lyon, where I worked for Saatchi & Saatchi (Publicis) for eight years, mostly on strategic counselling for major industrial companies. I moved to the US in 2012 because I wanted to 1/ Save some time on my career 2/ Improve my English 3/ Live abroad, since I didn't do a gap year or semester abroad during the Sup de Co programme.

 

Today, I have been living in Los Angeles for four years. I finally created my Strategy & Marketing consulting company, and I work for all markets, as long as I am interested in them. I specialise in brand creation/re-branding and my strong suit is my ability to work with clients with complex/technical issues. I learned the methods I work with, in part during my studies, but also during my 10+ years in agencies, working with a great mentor, the Director of Saatchi in Lyon. I worked on BtoB subjects, but also with the general public, and I still have that broad perspective. As such, today I work with startups as well as major groups, and my clients can include a wine tasting company in California, a company in the music industry, a major e-commerce company in France, or even a company in the Legal Tech sector, which is very promising in the US. 

 

In June 2017, I decided to embark on a one-year tech tour in order to attend the best conferences on new technologies taking place in Europe. The objective: to develop my business in Europe. The idea: go to a different country every month. California doesn't have a monopoly on innovation, and it is interesting to find new talents, all the while travelling. So for three main reasons, I have been travelling while I continue to work for my clients.  

 

In parallel, I co-created a pool of French experts based in Los Angeles, www.frenchcluster.com, in order to offer a highly qualified network of professionals to any French person who wants to move here. Propose content and free information, and also guide them in their project to move to the US. All of the professionals are French and have lived in the US for years. They are reliable, recommended and renown for the quality of their services. I intend to expand this non-profit throughout the US and propose an alternative model to other organisations, because we have an added-value that is under-estimated: Excellency.

Simply put, my education gave me the foundation I needed to develop my skills throughout my career, helped me become open-minded, gave me the desire to become an entrepreneur and taught me that personal success is also obtained through the success of others. I remain available and happy to guide others who want to move to the US or start a career in Marketing.

 

Learn, learn, learn and move on to something else when you aren't learning anymore!