In 1 month, the first pop-up store of Flair will open, the brand specializing in ready-to-wear bodysuits 100% made in France that I created 7 months ago.
Being in my shop, advising you, playing shopkeeper… a little girl's dream come true. The top of the roller coaster in the emotional elevator of the entrepreneur's life!
On this occasion, and because I'm really looking forward to meeting you, I decided to tell you a little more about myself before knowing more about you !
In my career, nothing extraordinary. No HEC, no Centrale or Science Po, no position at L'Oréal but a lot of experience , dreams and carefreeness .
It all begins with a deep appetite for the Anglo-Saxon education system . The French system oppresses me. This method of "learning by heart", which goes against the very development of critical thinking, frustrates me.
So I'm leaving for 1 year in university preparation in the United States in San Francisco and New York with the aim of integrating the most prestigious universities such as Berkeley or NYU. Let's be honest, I'm discovering much more US culture than the benches of the prep school!
1 year later, here I am back in France, matured and enriched. It's decided, I will be an "entrepreneur" of my life. That's what they all say over there!
So I joined the American University of Paris (AUP) and studied there for 3 years. At the same time, I set up 3 companies to make sure that time wouldn't pass!
Act I | Mobi2Rent – 2011 (22 years old)
Student furniture rental company
The concept: for 30€ per month , the price of an internet subscription, we rented you a sofa bed, tables, chairs and wardrobe. With my partner, whose idea it was, we launched the concept in Troyes, our hometown.
Full house!
We end up spending our summer in a truck delivering our packs every weekend.
The following year, similar concepts were launched in other cities, but our development stopped there. It turns out that my partner was my boyfriend. Not the best idea, but this experience gave me a taste for entrepreneurship and allowed me, early on, to make a few mistakes that I would not repeat later.
Act II | SmartRent – 2013 (24 years old)
Furniture rental company for landlords
B2B version of Mobi2Rent , an offer for landlords who do not want to have to manage the furniture while benefiting from the tax advantages of the status.
Yes, but that same summer, the Duflot law, which calls these advantages into question, was brought forward, which blocked the market a little. I still joined an incubator that encouraged me to partner because it was still more complicated on my own. They then introduced me to an older girl with more experience in researching a business concept. We decided to do a "test" for 1 month and discuss shares and other joys afterwards.
It was after a big meeting that she told me she wanted 70% of the shares. I then told her kindly that she would go and get them elsewhere. It was already not easy but this episode finished me off and I decided to stop.
Not an easy experience, but I still won the Paris Startup Weekend in January 2013, which earned me an article in Forbes and invitations to speak at conferences on entrepreneurship in Milan and London, all expenses paid, at the age of 24. Lunar!
Which proves that doing things, creating, always leads somewhere... Often where we would never have imagined.
Act III | Voilà Productions – 2013 (24 years)
Offbeat interviews with French entrepreneurs
" Voilà " was a concept of interview shows of successful French entrepreneurs in a very offbeat tone and especially focused on their personalities rather than on their business. It is with a friend that we made the observation that only Americans know how to highlight their entrepreneurs in an inspiring way to set them up as "role models".
On the other hand, this unfounded French bashing (we still have quite a few headliners and the conventional break remains the best invention!) makes us decide to launch our show… NO we don’t know how to film, NO we are not journalists or interviewers. However, we know that it will ONLY work if we have these famous headliners. So before they answer us we have time to see what’s coming…
Yes but no!
The email for Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet, founder of PriceMinister, goes out on a Monday at 7pm. At 7:05pm, an appointment is made for an interview 1 week later.
So this week was one of the most intense and exciting of my life. The very next day, we were touring film schools trying to sell the dream with our unpaid "internship"... We also set up the show's framework, the concept, did all the research on PKM. It wasn't easy, but we did it!
A week later we were in his office and the interview went perfectly…
JB Rudelle , Michel et Augustin , Catherine Barba , etc. followed one after the other… So much so that Maddyness decided to broadcast us!
That's when I joined Uber. No more time to continue, but I was extremely lucky to have been able to meet these "greats" so intimately! There's no doubt that it still brings me a lot today.
Act IV | Uber France – 2014 (25 years)
Expansion and brand marketing
I joined Uber in August 2014. At that time, there were only about fifteen of us in France. Today, there are more than 100...
The 3 years that followed were intense in terms of workload and learning. I, who cried at the idea of becoming an employee (I had never worked in a company other than my own before), would do it again without hesitation for a single second!
I met brilliant, persevering, and decisive people there. In short, very inspiring. I participated in the development of this "startup" that became a social phenomenon and learned everything I know today.
This gave me the keys and the confidence to make Flair a success.
Act V | Flair – 2017 (28 years old)
Ready-to-wear bodysuits 100% made in France
I took this big leap without really thinking too much. I knew, however, that my current life no longer suited me. So I went for it instinctively, hoping that I would have some flair… ;)
I designed my first collection in December 2016 and left Uber in April 2017. After a month of vacation, everything happened in quick succession between appointments at the workshop, learning about materials and modeling, defining the brand identity, launch strategy, etc. The best summer of my life!
October 2, 2017: Official launch of Flair! The world begins to live in a bodysuit :)
So far, I'm really happy about it! Since I took that big leap, there's not a day I regret it, but to say there's not a day I have doubts would be a lie.
In 24 hours, the opposing emotions follow one another, sometimes accompanied by cold sweats, sometimes accompanied by a feeling of world conquest but, in any case, every morning, getting up is a pain and the Sunday night blues? I don't know.
Flair is already a 2nd collection and soon a 3rd... thanks to you.
THANK YOU
Looking forward to hearing more about you!
See you soon in Paris,
Clemency.