Because tracing out a career path has never been what makes her feel strong, Coline has more than once confronted the odds to prove them wrong. It took an unconvincing degree in eco-management for the student, who saw herself simply as “the girl in the fourth row,” to turn expectations and restraints into opportunities to grow: “When the university closed because of major student demonstrations, I felt like the universe was sending me a message!” An end of year sorting out her options, then a BTS in negotiations and customer relations obtained as a major, and by way of work-study, affirmed the desire to literally go further: “I did a gap year as an au pair in Australia when I was twenty! I knew that I lacked the English language skills to apply to top schools, and since I had already been rejected twice… I decided to give myself the means to finally master the language!” From Sydney to Melbourne following the Great Ocean Road, Coline was able to verify her propensity for initiative, immersed in a foreign country, just before the city with two rivers welcomed the one who has always sailed between two waters. Having completed her first internship in the Lands of Maple Syrup, she left the Grenoble region to join INSEEC Lyon. There, she met with distinguished professors, a lawyer at the New York bar and an executive at L’Oréal, as well as with the man who would become the father of her child, and then her husband.

And among all things to which this young active person dedicated her time — as a volunteer on the board of directors of a theater and a chamber of commerce, as a companion to pioneers wanting to reorient themselves in tech — Coline did not forget that the school was already receptacle of more than one energy. Beyond her involvement in student fairs and the general secretariat of the students’ union, beyond the ties she maintains with her classmates — “they are very strong bonds; I will always keep great memories of laughing together about our internship experiences!” — Coline never fails to take an involved stance to fulfill her role as ambassador every time she has the chance: “It’s amazing to be called back to join the jury for admission interviews, as well as for the end-of-cycle competitive exams. It’s a bit like savoring the candy you loved as a child again, and reminiscing about your best years!”Although her degree in international business did not make her “better at speaking English than Canadians,” an immigration to Montreal would carry on under the city’s slogan, “live and let live,” and provide an opportunity to review the basics for someone who “had trouble fitting into boxes.” An opportunity to learn, to see that there are codes that everyone can choose not to conform to: “Once again, I drifted by chance into marketing and the web; and once again I said to myself, “I don’t know how to do that? I’ll learn it then!”

“More than a decade of honing her specialty now leads the Marketing Director of GO HR to develop the image of a renowned Canadian firm, to orchestrate strategy and positioning overhauls from top to ground, and to restore equity by helping ensure that a wide range of talent can be found: “Helping those people who aren’t sure where to go, who don’t feel good about their jobs, or haven’t yet joined companies that give them a real sense of belonging — this work profoundly resonates with me!” With GO HR having “deployed its antennas” in Belle Province and beyond, a rapprochement with their offices in France could well be set in motion, rekindling an intrapreneurial spirit and even an interest in entrepreneurial undertakings. Coline knows this from the feminist club she founded to broaden her reading and interpretation: the biggest obstacle is one’s own censorship and hesitation. So, to reawaken her ambitions as a stylist, perhaps she’ll invite inspiration from the costumes of an animation series like Arcane, the cultures and movements she has learned to identify, or all the women she draws who are “strong and assertive”, even fearless, to resurface at the tip of her stylus. Coline smiles at the adage that has so often dwelled behind what her pencils emit: a path has no wrong direction, only the one we want to give it.