Pauline Marcel, alumna and founder shareview
Pauline Marcel graduated from the MBA in Luxury Business Development in 2016 in Geneva and is today the founder of the start-up Shareview. This new social network proposes to share videos of landscapes to bring nature into cities through our screens. An ambitious project that she has been maturing for a long time. Spotlight on the genesis of a project.
Tell us about your experience at Sup de Luxe. Why did you choose our school?
After 10 years of experience in communication, I wanted to develop my skills to be able to work internationally within larger structures. I had just moved to Switzerland and the same year, Sup de Luxe created a new MBA in Geneva. I was already familiar with the school's good reputation in Paris. The local alumni network was important and the program was interesting, so I decided to go for it. I loved this period of learning and I was passionate about my thesis work.
What is your best memory of your Sup de Luxe experience?
The meetings with the great luxury professionals were very enriching. I am thinking in particular of Alain-Dominique Perrin and Jean-Claude Biver, who were very willing to share their experiences, with lots of anecdotes. Their global visions and their analyses of the luxury market, its developments and challenges were very relevant and instructive.
Tell us about your career and how it has evolved from school leaving to today?
At the end of my MBA, I joined Baume & Mercier. Within the Communication - Marketing department, I worked on a wide variety of subjects, in daily contact with our teams all over the world. It was really interesting to have this global approach to the market. One year later, the adventure in the watchmaking world was interrupted because the sector was impacted by the global economic situation. I bounced back by developing freelance activities and then I launched into entrepreneurship with the Shareview project.
Why did you get into entrepreneurship?
I have always cultivated a certain taste for entrepreneurship. Endowed with a creative spirit and a strong need for independence, it was the logical next step for my profile. I needed a sufficiently ambitious project, beyond the business model: a company is not only a value creation scheme, it is also an environment of people, challenges, a choice of life, even a mission.
In what way have your acquired skills been useful for your career path?
The MBA offered a broad focus on marketing and digital communication, allowing us to be in tune with the realities of 4.0 strategy. In addition, the curriculum had a practical and concrete dimension, with many business cases that required creativity and teamwork. I loved these brainstorming workshops!
What would you advise students to succeed in the luxury industry?
Be yourself, be passionate and always as close as possible to your professional desires: that's where you'll be the best! Cultivate your uniqueness, that's how you will be remembered. Be proactive, committed, visionary and ask yourself what makes you want to get up every morning!
What can we wish you for the rest of your career?
We are launching the Shareview application in June and hope to see many users. With this audience, professionals will then be able to join us on this innovative media format, and then Business Angels and funds will come to support us in our international growth. We will then be able to donate 1% of our income to NGOs active in environmental protection,... and why not one day, create a global visual fund in partnership with UNESCO... We have to look far!
Do you have an anecdote, remarkable, funny, or other, concerning your career as an entrepreneur? If so, tell us about it.
In 2018, I decided to climb Mont Blanc. After some physical preparation, the day of the big departure finally arrived. I avoided looking at the impressive summit, which seemed inaccessible. I preferred to start modestly, setting myself goals, stage after stage. Each time, I said to myself, "So far, so good! ", until I reached the summit, at 4810 meters of altitude! The lesson of history is that you have to know how to aim far, but accept to go "step by step" with patience, humility and tenacity.
Explain your vision of luxury in one sentence.
In my opinion, true luxury is time, space and freedom... and you can't buy it: it's an art of living that you have to cultivate!
What's the latest news about your company?
After one year of support by the Les Premières incubator hosted by BNP Paribas, we have just filed the articles of association of the company Shareview and will apply for the BPI's French Tech grant. The aim is to launch a beta version in June and then the official version in the autumn of 2020.
What is the concept and ambitions of your company?
Shareview is a social network for sharing landscape videos for individuals and professionals. In concrete terms, it is a mobile application, on which you can choose the landscape you like and then project it on your big screen. It is also a new media format for companies who wish to communicate by enhancing their environment or embodying their product / service through a nature film. They will thus be able to recruit and retain customers, while bringing them well-being. The objective is to reach 20 million users in 2025.