Gary Pinagot, KEDGE graduate, takes over the digital...
This Kedger has launched a committed brand of handmade gold jewellery!
Recent KEDGE graduate, Auréline Schlienger, has founded JOLINE and opened her own business in the creation and manufacture of jewellery and eco-responsible packaging
Auréline is a plastics engineer by training. After working at a luxury cosmetics company in Paris, she decided to devote herself entirely to her true passions: creating, the environment, and photography. She resumed her studies in Marketing and Communication and at the same time learned to create costume jewellery. In 2020, she launched JOLINE and started creating and manufacturing jewellery, as well as eco-responsible packaging.
Her jewellery, with its clean lines, resembles her. Sunny and authentic, they are infused with poetry and blend refinement, quality, and pleasure of the senses. Luminous, golden, meaningful jewellery to gift on any occasion.
Her creations, sublimated by photography, are packed in small fabric bags that she designs and assembles herself. Matching the collections themselves, these unique and original pouches are easily transportable and reusable. - joline-atelier.com.
INTERVIEW 💬
1️⃣ To begin, tell us about your educational background. What did you study, both before and at KEDGE?
After getting a scientific high school diploma, I went on and got a degree in Plastics Engineering at INSA in Strasbourg in 2015. I spent the first three years of my career working as a packaging engineer with the L'Oréal Group in Paris. In order to get a complete understanding of product development, in 2018, I decided to continue my education and enrolled in the Marketing & Brand Management MSc at KEDGE in Marseille – an enriching and indispensable double skill in my eyes. I graduated in 2020.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MARKETING & BRAND MANAGEMENT MSC FROM KEDGE
2️⃣ Tell us what you did after your studies were finished. What positions have you held? What did you learn in those positions?
During both my engineering courses and my management position at L'Oréal, I led cross-functional projects by combining inventiveness and creativity. It was my chance to deepen my desire to become my own boss and give free rein to my inspiration. When my internship at Adidas in Strasbourg was ending, and I was getting my master's degree certified, the idea of creating my own company was born and became a reality. At that turning point in my life, it was the right time. I decided to devote myself to developing my strategy and creating my own business from A to Z. I always wanted to be able to make my passions become my livelihood and be able to express myself artistically. Because of the experience I acquired at a large cosmetics group, and thanks to my dual degree, I launched Joline, a committed brand of handmade, fine gold jewellery. My science education taught me discipline and methodology in my work, and the project management, communication, management, and marketing skills I acquired through my master's degree have been useful to me in this professional venture.
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?
In my spare time, I’ve always given free rein to my creative sense: photography, drawing, making jewellery, sewing, writing, and others. The return to taste for handmade products and the appeal of original and handcrafted creations reinforced my decision to go for it. In January 2020, I started all the administrative procedures to get micro-enterprise status, which I got at the beginning of February. It took me a few months to find suppliers, establish the brand identity, develop a network, build the website, and create a universe that distinctive and appealing, as well as to design and produce my first collection. Jolene’s e-commerce site was officially launched on 8 May. Sensitive to the environmental cause, and with solid experience in packaging, I specifically designed eco-responsible fabric packaging to match my collections. I make necklaces, bracelets, and earrings in my workshop in Alsace. Since then, I have been working on the brand's reputation in a qualitative way, while ensuring the preparation of orders and their follow-up.
4️⃣ What are your development goals for the future?
Some of my development objectives are to increase brand awareness and work with local shops in order to allow short trips that match the brand’s image. At the same time, I want to develop an accessories line and consolidate supplier relations in order to develop even more specific products.
5️⃣ If you were to give advice to any KEDGE graduate who wants to do something similar, what would it be?
To reach the top of a mountain, you have to start from the bottom and take one step at a time. It’s a matter of setting out the main steps to be reached, then setting out smaller ones to take every day to progress towards your ultimate goal.
What I learned at KEDGE Business School helped me on several levels. First of all, I was able to acquire a large number of skills which were essential for setting up a business, such as digital marketing, brand management, and the launch of advertising campaigns. With my masters degree, I also developed skills, such as the will to undertake, curiosity, pluck, and discipline.
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