I discovered the viola when I was only seven years old. Viola is kind of the big brother of the violin. I quickly fell under its spell, so I entered the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional in Angers and graduated in 2004. I received a gold medal in music training and a silver medal in viola.
At the same time that I was practicing music in an orchestra or in a quartet, I trained as an engineer in Arts et Métiers, then in Supélec. In 2011, I graduated with two engineering degrees and a master in economics. Then, I co-founded a first startup in order to develop a smart charger for mobile phones. Unfortunately, the product was only a prototype due to a lack of adequacy between the price of this technology and the market. Afterwards, I worked a few years for the RATP Group as a low-carbon transport project manager. I decided to co-founded a second startup, a marketplace to put craftsmen in relation with individuals for home repairs. Although this experience was extremely rewarding, the economic model was not viable, so we were forced to terminate this business. I then joined the RATP Group again, this time as Innovation Manager for the Engineering Department. For three years I managed more than 40 innovative projects, set up partnerships with start-ups and created the first RATP fablab.
2018 was a year full of doubts about the future of our societies, the impacts of technology on our lives, and about the environmental crisis. Music was a crucial help for me to overcome this phase. I had only one desire to travel the world to better understand it, with my viola. So, for a year, I travelled more than 15,000 km by train around the world. I visited seven El Sistema associations, I performed in Ulaanbaatar with the support of the French Alliance. But, above all, I had the opportunity to talk with hundreds of women and men. Through these meetings and through my readings, I became aware of the cultural and natural wealth of our world, but also of the tensions that drive it and the dramatic consequences of climate change, especially in such fragile environments as the Gobi Desert, Patagonia or the Great Barrier Reef.
When I came back to France, I was deeply moved by the desire to transmit my experience in order to encourage people to break out of the boundaries in which they have locked themselves. I wanted to encourage them to act, especially for the protection of the planet. At first, I decided to pass on a message through musical conferences and through the production of a show for children. Then, considering the enthusiasm of the spectators, I wanted to write the story of this journey as an essay in order to reach a wider audience with information about culture, environment and geopolitics. This is how the book Un viola pour passeport was born.
Today, in between shows, lectures, writing and traveling, I still have room for my passion for innovation and entrepreneurship. I am a teacher in colleges as well as an advisor to companies who want to show their students and professionals that economic development and the environment can go hand in hand.