Audrey left Monmouth College in 2004 and worked for Hilton and other famous brands after graduating with an MBA in luxury marketing from the Paris School of Business. She talked in depth about the thrill and peril of launching her own service business which is only three months new.

Being at MC opened doors to the international, Showed Audrey another way to consider business & marketing (more quantatatively oriented than the Paris Business School, used intense business plan & rigor at MC). Her international orientation from her experience at Monmouth was critical in finding an internship and jobs afterwards

What she learned at Monmouth that was the most useful for her was the Entreprenerism Capstone Business 406, incorporating a Business Plan course & Marketing Communication (BUSI 367) which was one very practical course that Audrey already had in France  but Her Monmouth instructors taught in another way ; treated the subject differently.

“It was truly the first time I experienced to live with people from another new culture. I had to adapt myself still keeping my French background. In Rome you live like the Romans. That’s what I did and that’s what works worldwide.

I did several internships and then had several positions in International companies such as: Christian Dior Couture, Barclays Bank, Hilton, Euphorie, Tellus, Gc…

Main positions were in marketing and sales: Dior Couture – marketing survey

Hilton Paris & Chicago – sales & marketing assistant

Euphorie – Creation department manager/supervisor

Met & contracted with big partners such as Ritz Hotel in Paris, Lancome, Decleor & Carita and very famous French boutique hotel such as 3.14, Hi, Hotel de Sers, Pershing Hall

Tellus – International sales & marketing manager  – travelling

Gc : International marketing/brand manager – travelling

And then, I decided to leave all this… to start with a new challenge  and create my company.

First, I knew I always had the entrepreunor fiber within me and knew I would have my small boutique hotel concept in a few years…. however I had no idea of the project externalization concept…

Came to me thanks to an opportunity in hotel & real estate I chose to take – I worked on this project 6 months before leaving my company and slowly but surely —-Epykomène appeared as the natural next step. I am one of those persons that get involved to 150% into projects and bored easily… when it’s not their own company – 2 years is getting bored… lol and it came to me that I could probably be a marketing manager for several companies at the same time if I could do for one. Wanted/needed to take a new challenge now that I couldn’t put off until later. I choose this because I want to work/move wherever I need to. I needed autonomy/ was not totally in a good place in my previous job.”

How I got there?

To prepare the best for this new challenge :

“I thought a lot about the challenge, put the pros & cons together like a thousand times

Bought and read around 20 books about entrepreneurship, consultancy & so on

Completed a market survey on advantages & disadvantages of entreuprenorship on Internet, inquired as to the best legal status to take in France compared to what I wanted to do and how I planned to grow.

Talked to people a lot, took appointments with friends that were entrepreneurs

Completed an analysis of the market and my potential competitors.

I announced my departure to Gc almost 7 months before going actually. I saved money away & received a little from the government which I live on right now.

I wrote a huge business plan that took me about 3 weeks to finalize, day and night. Complete analysis of the market, competition, product mix development, USP, Strategy, budget & profits…

I didn’t have a mentor but do not hesitate to contact my previous professors like Professor Capener & asked their advice.

I took some risks of course but not too many… I didn’t touch a lot of my savings and I gave myself a year of runway to see how it goes…. otherwise I’ll go back to work in a company.

I realized the risk I was taking and was very anxious at the beginning… didn’t sleep at night anymore and so on. But then, I understood that I really had to try because I had it in me for so long and it would be a way for me to be happier at work which I realized could not happen while I was working for others.

I had legal advice from several of my friends that are lawyers and from entrepreneurs like me. But we learn new stuff everyday… and have to be very rigourous and flexible. My business is a sole proprietorship for now and I would like it to remain the same. I do not plan on hring full-time employees, but I will actively engage people who are independent like me.  I will hire an accountant at the end of the fiscal year to check that everything I did was legal and correct and she/he will help me complete my tax declaration.

I work from home right now but spent most of my day in meetings with clients or appointments with associates & networking people. My headquarters is well located in the Paris 8 District.  I opened a professional account in a French Bank very well located in the 8th arrondissement. My start-up capital was 2500 euros and I spent 5000 in total… (website, company registration, business card, computer…). The money came from my savings.

What is my strategy ?

I do my own marketing but I prefer to do others so I depend mostly on referrals.

As I am in Luxury, so I have to be very selective & and work with niche products…as a result my marketing accounts are very small but detailed oriented. Quality over quantity

My goal is to build my agency as a Brand – emotional environment. I have a logo & a name both of them are trademarked. I value networking and Relationships !!

I plan to do a direct mailing 2 to 3 times a year to solicate new business. Bouche a oreille/ networking

Social networks – twitter, facebook, linkedin will be my primary focus.

My innovation/difference is in :

360°

concept

my youth – complete decalage from the consulting segment

external project management

Internationalization

My market is actually a very small niche : I talk mainly to small companies or entrepreneurs that work in Services or Luxury/upscale segment.

My goal is to develop the agency as a brand, that reflects who I am. The clients might like the concept or not but they are much more likely to retain my services after they see what I can do for them.”

We hope to bring Audrey back next year to see how she has done.