Aliénor de Menthière, alumna and entrepreneur in the pastry sector

Aliénor de Menthière, graduate of the MBA Luxury Brand Marketing and International Management in 2013 and co-founder of Appart Gourmand, shares with us her professional career after Sup de Luxe and her experience in entrepreneurship.

Why did you choose our school?
To have a global vision of the luxury sector and learn from professionals in the sector.

What is your best memory of your Sup de Luxe experience?
The Grand Témoins conferences in a global way because each one is more interesting than the next.

Tell us about your career and its evolution from school leaving to today?
After graduating from Luxury School, I did Business Development with fashion designers. Then I passed a Cap Pâtissier with an entrepreneurial spirit in the gastronomy sector and especially in pastry making. I was finally called for a mission in Purchasing & Product References for shops, especially for the opening of the Acclimatization Garden. The desire for entrepreneurship was greater, so I decided to create Appart Gourmand with my partner I met on the CAP bench.

Why did you get into entrepreneurship?
Want to create a concept, to be able to be on several fronts, freedom and professional and personal independence, the taste of the challenge.

How have your acquired skills been useful to you for your professional career?
> As a company manager, I manage marketing, management, communication, purchasing, sales... It was therefore important for me to know all these professions. Our concept being on a very high end positioning, it was also necessary to be able to apply some traditional luxury codes to our concept.

What would you advise students to do to succeed in the luxury sector?
Passion for the sector, listening to the customer, adhering to the brand images of the companies for which we work, innovating

What can we wish you for the rest of your career?
May my company develop in a sustainable way!

Do you have any anecdote, remarkable, funny, or other, about your entrepreneurial career? If so, tell us about it.
> When the banker told us that he would follow us for our financing, and even that he wanted to double the initial investment.

Explain to us your vision of luxury in a single sentence.
Excellence in beauty, goodness, service and anticipating demand before the customer even thinks about it!

What are the latest news from your company?
Appart Gourmand offers confidential and gourmet workshops, especially pastry workshops, in a typical Parisian apartment furnished as a real living space with a kitchen open to a warm and modern lounge. The Appart Gourmand is located in a lively and authentic district of Paris: Montorgueil. Our courses are aimed at a clientele sensitive to French know-how & savoir-vivre, whether French-speaking or foreign, in search of exclusive and confidential experiences. Specialized in macaroons worked as real pastry jewels, we also offer courses on cabbage, pies, brioches, pastries, but also cooking followed by a French-style meal... Our workshops are made in a gourmet and modern way! Our speciality is tailor-made, so we make the most gourmet dreams of our customers come true! Ambitions: open a second apartment in Paris, become an essential capital experience and then go to New York!

What are your company's news?
We opened in April and are enjoying a very encouraging start, especially with an American clientele! We are now in the process of developing the Asian customer base.