Breaking Through

Preface

MY FATHER WAS A BRILLIANT MAN who saw no difference in the intellectual potential of his children—boys or girls. Despite this, however, he was reluctant to see me choose a career, and my choice to become an entrepreneur would have been unimaginable to him.

But the values ingrained by my upbringing—for example, that we were expected to make an effort, overcome obstacles, and work toward our goals—helped me pursue my ambitions both as an employee in a large corporation, and later when I found my true role as an entrepreneur.

From the beginning of my career as an investment banker, I encountered skepticism from my predominantly male colleagues and business leaders. I was indeed one of the first women investment bankers in France.

People in the investment banking environment simply did not believe that I could succeed, and when I did, the bank's general director told me, “We thought that you would give up after six months at most.” That same person thought he was giving me a compliment when he told me that despite my appearance, I had all the qualities of a man.

When I started working at that bank, my managers did not really help me: in fact, they specifically discouraged me from taking on existing clients. This turned out, however, to be a real opportunity, since the path was left open for me to pitch and approach all the other companies that were not yet clients, while leveraging the sizeable reputation and capabilities of the bank.

I started offering deals to foreign ...