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Madame Figaro: "Delphine de Canecaude: "My job is a dream job: designing museums all over the world""
INTERVIEW : The CEO of Chargeurs Museum Studio, which recently acquired the grand immersive palace, oversees the creation of museums worldwide.
Delphine de Canecaude, CEO of Chargeurs Museum Studio. Lea Crespi
Madame Figaro. - A wake-up call?
Delphine de Canecaude. - 7 hours. That's reasonable, given all I have to do.
If we go back to the origins?
I came from a middle-class background, but without any straitjackets. Parents who weren't afraid when I said I wanted to work in a creative profession. My mother, who became an entrepreneur at the age of 40, left her mark on my childhood: I was very impressed by this working mum.
Your job pitch?
It's a dream job: designing museums all over the world, from A to Z or just one end of the chain, by bringing together the best talents. The Titanic Belfast, the NASA Museum or the White House... When it comes to the launch, the prototype, I'm there to help with everything - the financial model, the media plan, connecting the teams... It's easier for me to steer the project afterwards!
Any results to report?
We now employ 400 people in six countries, and are growing by 30% a year.
A stage that started it all?
In 1998, as a student at the Beaux-Arts, I entered a competition to design a film museum in Angoulême. To respond to the public invitation to tender, I set up a legal structure, Étoile Rouge, which later became my company, a communications agency with my first clients in the fashion, beauty and luxury sectors.
A mentor?
A lot of people helped me, but when Mercedes Erra and Rémi Babinet(founders of BETC, editor's note) bought my company seventeen years later, it was something else. I was happy to enter a new home, to have a boss who challenged me.
Your career gas pedals?
The BETC culture, the demand to do things you've never seen before or anywhere else. I was "amplified" by learning from people who were very good strategists and very good creatives, with a strong identity and methodology. It's an essential building block in my career: without it, I wouldn't be where I am today.
Obstacles in the way?
When I tried to imagine what my life would be like afterwards, it was complicated. I've always had an image of a five-legged sheep. For the big houses, my profile was too eclectic. I was surprised: I thought that winning was all about being different.
Who trusted you?
Michaël Fribourg, who runs Chargeurs(leader in industrial textiles, the group has diversified into cultural engineering and production services, editor's note). It's a very international group, whereas I'm not. He saw my way of working, and it's a talent to know how to capture others. He recruited me after seeing a video of me that I was hiding! (Laughs.)
A challenge for tomorrow?
Create new revenue streams through publishing: via our Skira publishing house - which specializes in art books - museum boutiques, exporting exhibitions around the world...
What would you like to pass on?
The tribal aspect and the fact that we're always happy, even when we're working hard.
In offline mode?
Fifteen years ago, a famous Parisian homeopath received me, listened and concluded: "You've said the word 'manage' seven times in two minutes, here's Lindsey Syred's contact information." She gives me restorative yoga classes and massages me every Thursday evening. Without her, I can't do what I do.
Your definition of influence?
Making others think they've come up with an idea?
Escape?
Corsica - Porto Pollo, near Sartène - is the anchor of my life.
Read the article on www.madame.lefigaro.fr
By Lisa Vignoli
