Presentation: who am I and where do I come from?
Pauline Chossec, 29 years old and from Brest. I graduated from ESC Brest and EBS Paris in business and international relations. I started my career in Paris as a recruitment manager/consultant, where I developed and managed the real estate, engineering and Supply Chain departments.
I really enjoyed working for my specialized clients in technical sectors.
In spring 2019, the family group (specialized in the distribution, warehousing and logistics sectors), offered me the opportunity to ensure the development of an innovative service on the automated locker market dedicated to bulky items.
The Supply Chain sector was therefore not unknown to me, but I still had a lot to discover.
Let's talk about female entrepreneurship in the Supply Chain sector.
To give you some context, today, E-Picking is an XXL deposit solution, which facilitates the deposit and withdrawal of bulky packages. Our customers are mainly logisticians, transporters and retailers.
Our solution allows you to reduce operational and last km costs.
And our clients can thus offer a differentiating service, make accessible 24/7 their products, while maintaining a high security level (our lockers are designed to accommodate products with a high unit value) and customer satisfaction (clients are independent and no longer have time constraints).
Creating my company in the Supply Chain sector as a woman was a positive experience for me!
Well, unsurprisingly, it is still a male and paternalistic sector, but one that is progressing.
I arrived with a so-called “innovative” subject on an emerging market in 2020.
And when it was necessary to meet the mainly male management to present my solution, I was surprised to be challenged more on my expertise and my knowledge of the sector than on my product and its functionalities.
In my opinion, this is the main concept to integrate when carrying out commercial development: you have to prove your legitimacy to enter (ultimately) a sector where everyone knows each other. And this by emphasizing perfect control of the environment.
For what ? In my opinion, seniority and expertise prevail in this sector and it is cultural.
So some advice to move forward, be credible and overcome these difficulties:
- Obviously know the activity of your prospects: their organization, their strengths, their weaknesses;
- Know your market sector PERFECTLY: ecosystem, direct and indirect competitors, ongoing tests with a prospect, emerging companies on the same subject as you, etc and have answers to All or try.
And for the little information, approximately 80% of my interlocutors are male today.
I work on a daily basis with project managers, innovation directors, sales directors, marketing directors, customer experience directors, operational managers, and general managers.
As in any customer/supplier relationship, once trust is established, whether men or women, I don’t see any “difference” in the collaboration.
On the other hand, I actually note on my scale that management positions are more often occupied by men.
So being a woman who enters the Supply Chain sector with her male counterparts: CHECK.
I'd like to take advantage of this article to remind you that this is sector that is proving to be one of the most important players in the energy transitions. You can find impactful, innovantive jobs, in a fast-growing sector, regularly updated with the latest technologies!
The innovation topics cover data, technology and ecology.
These are subjects which I think have the opportunity to attract new talents and which provide access to professions that are strategic, transversal, innovative and customer service.
Personally, with our instructions we address an innovative subject, we support our carrier clients on urban logistics subjects, and act together on impacts linked to ecology. I see it as an opportunity to work on emerging issues, and to see how the different actors make their strategic choices to achieve this.
On a daily basis, what I appreciate is the pragmatic vision of my interlocutors.
The key word is “organization”. And to be organized, they know how to make simple and effective decisions.
What I like least: the inertia that slows down opportunities.
It is a sector which is constantly evolving and many innovative subjects concern them.
They must quickly compose to be competitive. Which, on certain issues, slows down development opportunities, so you have to be persistent!
A final word for women embarking on supply chain entrepreneurship?
- Expertise: stay constantly on the lookout for the sector, be curious and move around!
- The network: this is a sector where everyone knows each other, you can benefit from a very large network, join trade shows and meetings which will allow you to broaden your knowledge and do business more quickly.
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