Carole Grouesy, alumna and founder of the web-magazine ATTITUDE LUXE

Carole Grouesy, a graduate of the MBA Luxury Brand Marketing and International Management in 1997, is today the founder and editor of the high-end web-magazine ATTITUDE LUXE, with the objective of being a source of different information and contemporary reflection and to provide its readers with a real moment of pleasure and relaxation.

Tell us about your experience at Sup de Luxe. Why did you choose our school?
After a master's degree in logistics and sales organization in Dauphine and seven years in institutional real estate, I was very keen to continue my career in the luxury sector. A designer friend of mine, with whom I had discussed these projects, told me about the school. This is how I was led to look for information about Sup de Luxe and finally chose to register to complete my training, with the objective of then finding a job in the luxury sector.

What is your best memory of your Sup de Luxe experience?
The conference of great witnesses where Jean Louis Dumas, President of the House Hermès intervened. The very fact of meeting him was already great! His intervention was a summary of the fundamentals of the sector; he had a vision of luxury that was very exciting for us, who were next to him, novices. He knew how to captivate his audience and despite a certain shyness that could be guessed at the turn of a sentence, he imbued the atmosphere with his charisma. I also remember his humanist side, because he was very attentive to the craftsmen of the House, proud of their work, interested in their training and concerned for their well-being.

Tell us about your career and its evolution from school leaving to today?
I have fulfilled my objective! Once I graduated, I contacted a headhunter to apply for the position of General Delegate to the National Federation of Independent Watchmakers, Jewellers, Jewellers, Goldsmiths and I obtained the position. A few years later, I was appointed Deputy President and for 17 years I supported the retail business in its evolution. This experience was fascinating because the spectrum of our members was very wide: from the creative craftsman, to the provincial jeweller to the Maisons de la Place Vendôme. Following the merger of my Federation with the union that dealt with the companies and branches, I decided to start and create my own company.

Why did you get into entrepreneurship?
It is a desire that has gradually sprouted in me without my realizing it, but which became obvious when I left my post. My character allows me to work without the need for supervision, I am very autonomous. I also wanted to create something in this world of Luxury that fascinates me and probably also to tell stories, because writing and image are vectors of sharing and escape that are important to me.

How have your acquired skills been useful to you for your professional career?
The in-depth knowledge of the sector and its actors, but also of the codes of the professions in the world of Luxury are very important tools, especially since Sup de Luxe has given us the opportunity to meet many personalities who have shared their knowledge and experience with us. In addition, one of the factors that also influenced the choice of school was that the courses were given by professionals working in Luxury Homes. I had suffered a lot at the Panthéon-Sorbonne faculty from this distance from the business world. I had the impression that I was training to hold salon conversations, certainly economic, but I had difficulty imagining how, in my professional life, the work done in TD would bring me operational skills!

What would you advise students to do to succeed in the luxury sector?
Never forget Michel Guten's mantra: "You only get one chance to make a good first impression. » To create and maintain an address book with all the people they will have the opportunity to meet during their year of Sup de Luxe. Like many sectors, Luxury is a small universe and they will certainly have the opportunity to meet many people they met again during their studies. And a network is maintained, otherwise it will spread quickly. Being active, not thinking that just graduating is enough to find a job, you have to look for a chance. And be curious, get out of the box, listen to others and their intuitions.

What can we wish you for the rest of your career?
To continue to develop both my magazine for the general public and consulting missions for the sector's stakeholders. My dream would be to be able to make a new paper edition of the magazine for each end of the year, for that I need advertising and subscriptions!

Do you have any anecdote, remarkable, funny, or other, about your entrepreneurial career? If so, tell us about it.
After many discussions with Jean-Claude Ellena's press attaché, the perfumer, I managed, at the time of the publication of his book, "Ecrivain d'odours", published by Editions Nez, to uncheck a 20-minute interview. I was thrilled because he is a personality for whom I have a lot of admiration. Finally our exchange lasted more than an hour and a half! I was dazzled by his career path and by his personality, both honest and poetic. And he enlightened me on one of the questions that was bothering me, namely whether in everyday life his precious "Nose" could make him live a hell and unfortunately for perfumers, the answer is yes, because no smell escapes them, including the most nauseous ones... there is not only the rose in life!

Explain your vision of luxury in a single sentence.
Luxury, for me, whether it comes from a beautiful object, a place or a particular moment, is by definition rare.

What is your company's concept and ambitions?
My base line is: Inspirations & Sensations For the enhancement of know-how, beautiful materials, creations, places and women or exceptional men or women in order to provide emotion to the reader.

What are the latest news from your company?
- The creation of a section entitled "My Address Book", which will list the companies and houses I have discovered and whose values and quality of work are exemplary.

- The implementation of a regular Newsletter.