This Kedger has created GreenBug: the box that lets you take actions that benefit the environment

INTERVIEW 💬

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

After getting a DEUG (General Academic Studies Degree) in economics and management at university, I decided to take the Tremplin exam to attend business school. I fell in love with KEDGE right from the beginning, during the selection interviews. My story began a few months later at the start of the 2007 academic year and lasted three extraordinary years on the Bordeaux campus! That was when the "à la carte courses" started, and I concentrated on finance and management in order to get as many as many DSCG UEs as possible (Higher Diploma in Accounting and Management / Economic and Social Units). At the time, I wanted to become a Chartered Accountant.

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

When I finished at KEDGE, I went to work for an auditing firm, then went to work in the financial department of EDF Group SA on the financial management of new nuclear projects in France and abroad. After five years at EDF, I applied for a Company Creation Leave (CCE) and founded CIVILINC, a collaborative economy start-up that won the Village by CA (Crédit Agricole's incubator) award. I’ll never lose the entrepreneurship bug.

I’m also a teacher and mainly work on business creation modules. My experience as a salaried employee has given me strong expertise in financial analysis and in the financial management of complex large-scale projects. I’ve also developed managerial skills and built a large professional network in the fields of finance and law. My entrepreneurial experiences are still sources of accelerated learning in all areas involving the creation and management of a company. Strategy, business development, IT, HR, law, etc. Most especially, it’s also a wonderful human adventure!

3️⃣ Tell us about your project. What is your situation today? What gave you the idea and why do you want to do what you’re doing today?

The search for meaning, a return to the essential, the need to make an impact on the environment, to leave a different imprint, and a key encounter… I partnered with Angélique and, at the very beginning of 2020, we created GreenBug.

The way it works in that a box corresponds to a membership. This membership allows everyone to move towards "0" by combining two integral aspects: the reduction of, and compensation for, an individual’s ecological footprint. The GreenBug box gives access to themed conferences and workshops every month on reducing our ecological footprint. It also lets people co-finance French projects that have a positive impact on the environment especially aims to support the restoration and creation of natural carbon sinks. As members are systematically involved in the various projects, GreenBug also has a participative approach to it. The official launch of GreenBug will take place in June 2020 through the ULULE crowdfunding platform. Also, don't hesitate to support us on social networks!

4️⃣ What are your development plans for the future?

Developing GreenBug with both individuals and companies throughout the entire French territory will take place gradually and will probably be supported by a round of fundraising, which will take place in 2021.

5️⃣ How did the education you received at KEDGE Business School help you become who you are today, and what was it about its teachings helped you develop your project?

The schooling I received at KEDGE Business School has not only provided me with a high-level academic education, but it also gave me an open-mindedness, a taste for challenge, and a desire to be one of those who change the world and not just watch it change. These contributions and this way of thinking have been decisive in my career and my projects, mainly in that my entrepreneurial projects and have given me the chance to have an inspiring and impactful career.

6️⃣ If you had to give advice to any KEDGE graduate who wants to do something similar, what would it be?

Contractor CSR Entrepreneurship PGE Start-up