[A career coaching story] - Augustin SIMON

• Can you briefly introduce yourself and your academic and professional background?

My name is Augustin Simon and I’m a graduate of Cohort 21 of the Grande Ecole Programme and MSc in Sports Leisure and Tourism at Rennes School of Business. I was part of the Sports Bureau Association (BDE) as the Head of Tennis.

Professionally, I worked at Nike for 7 years as a team manager at the France head office (2014-2021). Since 2019, I have been a development advisor for a racket sports complex: the Padel Arena in Normandy. Since 2021, I have been working on my own business creation project after moving to Vannes in the Morbihan department of Brittany.

• Can you tell us a bit more about your business plan?

Shh, it's all still under wraps but it will obviously be linked to sport and running a professional network using a unique and innovative location 😊

• What is your greatest success?

I am very proud of how I have been able to shape my personal and professional lives. I experienced a very difficult period professionally in 2018 and managed to bounce back through some work on introspection. This led me to make the best decision of my life: leaving Paris and Nike in order to embark on a professional and personal journey that I enjoy every day. Today I am building something for myself, and I am proud of what I achieve, even if it’s not always easy!

• Who have you met through the school that have made the most impact on you? 

For me it would be my friends, who I treasure to this day and who know who they are. 😊

I would also like to take advantage of this interview to thank Violaine Pogeant who does an incredible job for the alumni network, I’m really happy to have met her.

• You were able to benefit from a coaching service offered by the School’s career department, what is your feedback on this experience? 

Yes, I was lucky enough to receive coaching and can do nothing but recommend Isabelle Bui! She is a positive and caring coach who helped me a lot in finding the new direction of my professional and personal lives.

In 2018, during a workshop coordinated by the Alumni network in Paris on “finding meaning at work”, I decided to take an interest in this subject, which particularly resonates at this point in my professional life. It was on this occasion that I discovered that the Alumni Association recommends professional coaches and co-finances a support programme for its members!

I realized that I needed this support due to my feelings of unhappiness at work and got in touch with Isabelle Bui with whom I worked on introspection and experimentation for several months. During that time, Isabelle followed my progress closely and was exceedingly kind and supportive. Finally, and to my surprise, I managed to find new meaning in my work by asking the right questions and focusing on what drove me.

Following this, I decided to go further and establish a roadmap for my professional life in the medium/long term.

• What impact has this service had on your daily work? 

After my work on introspection with Isabelle, I became aware of my desire to become an entrepreneur and my aspirations to move away from Parisian life. When I decided to take action, everything came together, and I moved to Vannes in December 2020. I had already achieved my first objective: to live in Brittany in an environment that suited me.

After laying the foundations of my new life, I decided to go further and make my business creation project a reality. I took advantage of a combination of circumstances to leave Nike and fully engage in my new project with confidence and ambition.

Today, deeply driven by my own convictions and motivated by a personal project, I am 100% invested in a project that brings meaning to my life and I am very happy about it even if everything is still in the works.

• What advice would you give to a young graduate?

It is essential to take the time to understand your personal ambitions and discover your drivers before thinking about your first job or your career. If you want to remain motivated in the long run,  it’s important to be passionate about what you do.

• What is your passion?

My passion is sport, I am convinced that it makes people better and the sport of padel holds a special place in my life.

• Anything else to add?

It is essential to take the time to question your desires, motivations and drivers. Without this step you won’t understand what truly inspires you.

I am of course available to share my journey with you with absolute pleasure! (Augustin Simon | LinkedIn)