At Fireside we want to tell stories that will inspire and motivate you, and today’s interview with business owner Louise Garavaglia will do just that.
Louise has been living and working in Paris since the early 1990s and has founded businesses working primarily in the field of language training. She is the founder and Managing Director of Prep’it, a face-to-face and online language training company based in Paris. Anna Malzy interviewed her for Fireside to discuss being a woman entrepreneur in France, motherhood, and hopes for the future.
Anna: How long have you been working in France and in which industry/industries?
Louise: I arrived in France in January 1992 to start my first job in Paris at the headquarters of Moulinex, a household appliances manufacturer. I worked there for 2 years as an in-house English and German teacher, the type of position that is really rare now and I recognise that it was an ideal way to start. It was a fixed-term contract [but] then Moulinex had a lot of problems and closed factories all over France. I worked after this as an English teacher at the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce, but found a full-time position a few months later at Valeo Electronics [as] an English teacher, and also to manage other lessons and training. It was an executive position which changes EVERYTHING in France (social charges, health care contributions, status, your next job etc)
A: When you first entered the workforce what differences did you notice about the way women and men were treated?
L: Aha ! At first, I thought the French were completely sexist and retrograde. I couldn’t believe how everyone looked at me in my first job. I was 23 and I thought it would be full of jolly graduates in their first job who would invite me out in big mixed groups but it wasn’t the case. All the older men especially used to joke around with me a lot, none of the women my age wanted anything to do with me.
But then it got worse at Valeo – on a site of 500 there were only about 30 women, and only 10 of us were executives. This was 1995 and today a lot of the behaviour I witnessed wouldn’t be acceptable. In fact, it wasn’t acceptable then but people just thought I was overreacting if I said anything. All the guys had heard about me and came to have a look, one by one. They used to all get up and follow me to the canteen. [O]ne guy really harassed me (constant, intrusive awful emails, asking me out, not taking no for an answer) and I had to tell his boss. It seems like a litany of woes, but it was no different or worse than for any other young women at that time, I think.
And here’s the thing – overall, I think that women manage to progress better in their careers in France than they do in the UK. The sexist environment was a big cultural difference but it extended outside work, as any girl walking around Paris or going to a bar can tell you!
However, the social protection in France for people at work, and for mothers, is fantastic. Even though I have been my own boss for 25 years now, I really feel that I have made the most of it. Women graduates generally join a company at around 24. In my generation, most French women had their first baby and first maternity leave at age 26-27, because they knew that it is every woman’s right to have a baby and work and go back to their job. In France, you have 3 months maternity leave, and if you have a difficult pregnancy you can stop earlier. It is all considered quite right and normal. Because of this, there are a lot of systems in place such as subsidized nurseries, affordable childminders and tax rebates based on money spent on childcare. Even though as a company owner I didn’t take any maternity leave I did have an amazing full-time nanny and could afford her because of tax rebates and family allowance.
The main outcome in all of this is that most of my French friends have worked continuously in professional jobs for the last 25 years or so, and most of my English friends (clever graduates, middle class like my French friends) have only started back into new careers in the last 5 years or so. It’s not easy to manage commuting and expensive childcare and restricted nursery hours.
A: When did you set up your first business? Please could you tell us about that experience?
L: In 1995 I was coming to the end of a fixed-term contract at Valeo. They couldn’t make the position permanent, but they suggested that I set up as a freelancer and invoice for the lessons. At the time there was a grant for setting up your own business. This helped me for the first couple of months, and I also did an entrepreneurs’ course on admin and accounting for small businesses. I started teaching 4 days a week at Valeo, then by word of mouth I was offered more lessons and I began to hire teachers. After 3 or 4 years I rented an office and a classroom.
A: In your opinion, has the situation for women business leaders changed over the years? Would you say it has improved and got easier for women to own and run businesses, or not?
L: The #MeToo movement has been monumental in changing the way people (men and women alike) act in the workplace.
A woman’s appearance or the fact of her being a woman is not meant to have any import at all on the job she is doing. I hope that now there will never be any element of surprise or expectation of entertainment if a woman is in charge. It is very sad to say that one great thing about getting older (I’m 51) is having less hassle all the time and I hope that it’s over for young women now.
To answer the second part of your question, I think that it has got easier for both men and women to own and run businesses. Technological progress has made it possible to start a number of careers as a freelancer (for example, graphic design web design, on-line marketing, video editing etc). Now you can work from home, make connections on-line, and have access to the whole country. And because so many more people are working from home it has become the norm and companies are more open to hiring freelancers. There are agencies specialised in providing freelancers to corporates, and there has been a boom in co-working centres, although unfortunately these will not be able to receive anyone for a while.
I think that France is moving (slowly) in the right direction to simplify administrative processes for starting and running companies. In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis and its impact on the economy and small businesses, the French government has introduced one-off payments of 1500€ for freelancers who have had a drop in income, and they have implemented government-backed loans for all companies. Not only are these practical measures which will help these companies survive, but it shows faith in entrepreneurs and tells them they have value.
A: What rights or protections would you like to see introduced ?
L: What is needed for companies is investment and credit. This means more and easier access to bank loans and small businesses grants. To date, there has been next to nothing and I am hoping that the current health crisis will change things long-term.
A: What words of advice would you offer to young female entrepreneurs wishing to start out?
L: If you are sure that you can sell what you are doing, just go ahead. You may have to keep on a second job to start with but remember that a bit of hard work won’t kill you for a while! Also, you will have ups and downs, but the hard times don’t mean that you have failed, they just mean that you have learned something and business and life will still carry on.
And I would also say, don’t put off having a baby because you won’t be able to work/you won’t have enough money/ the flat is too small. If you are resourceful and determined enough to start a business you can certainly manage to balance motherhood and work.
By Anna Malzy
Teacher
Professionnal Coach
And translator
Find her on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-malzy/