Why a career in tech?
Passion, quite simply 😊
Your professional experience?
I started with a Baccalaureate in STMG (Sciences, Technology, Management), because I wanted to program video game ... But I was bored in lessons. So I decided to stop my studies, on a whim, 6 months before the Baccalaureate! Small jobs followed one another for a few months, catering, baking, but I didn't see myself there all my life... So I heard about several trades, and about machining mechanics. I didn't know anything about it, but it awakened my curiosity, the one I had lost for months! I went to visit the apprenticeship workshop in “Gorge de Loup”, I did an internship, and I never left. Afterwards I was able to graduate as Production Plant Operator, a Professional Baccalaureate in Machining Technician, but I wanted more... So I decided to go on in Product Process Design on a work-study basis in a company that works in the nuclear industry, on machining machines. After that, I went on to a preparatory year for engineering school, but I missed using my hands a lot... So I joined a company that sells machining machines on a work-study basis in Business Development: Carrying out parts tests, programs and preparation of open days, etc... then I was hired as a Service Engineer at my current company. Company in which I am itinerant: I install machines at customers' homes, train them and advise them. I still have a long way to go.
Your first experience with technology?
My first professional experience was in my production school, the Gorge de Loup apprenticeship workshop. A production school consists of having 2/3 of the time in the workshop, and 1/3 in theory! For workshop work, we make parts for real customers, like a real company! The first real company I worked in was Velan SAS, I was a machining technician for 1 year and then 1 year in the methods office.
What do you do today, and why?
Today I am on a permanent contract, Service Engineer in the company DMG MORI (machine tool trade). I do this job because I am passionate about machines and above all, to become good at machining, I have chosen to get to know the machines by heart, and this involves installation, training and mechanics (after-sales service).
Your strengths in this role?
I think I'm good at listening to customers' needs. First and foremost, you need to know what they need to provide them with quality work. I'm also very meticulous, it helps a lot with all the details.
Past challenges, failures and disappointments?
The biggest challenge for me was to be accepted as a woman in the workshops, I honestly thought it would be harder, even if it was sometimes, I think my character helped me a lot. The most important challenge also for me was to catch up on my 2 years of delay in school compared to my colleagues. Something that was done with passion and motivation!
I would say that my failures are the moments when I deviated from my passion because I didn't feel heard and listened to enough as a woman. Today, this is no longer a problem!
I felt alone when I moved heaven and earth to learn new things, and I still wasn't doing enough. But this is wrong, before wanting the compassion and pride of others, you must first be proud of yourself.
Best moments, successes you’re proud of?
The success I'm most proud of is being in tune with myself. To live from my passion, to like to get up in the morning to go to work... And for me that's priceless. To have represented the production schools of France at the Elysée Palace, with the Total Foundation, the same, there are no words to express my gratitude to all the associations that have trusted me to represent women, and men, before the President of the Republic! Thirdly, I am proud that I did not give up and that I was patient in the face of situations that, for me, were really meant to make me give up on my dreams.
People who helped, influenced -or made your life difficult?
There are many people who have helped me and believed in me. Manoelle Lepoutre, mainly, my former director of a production school, Mr. Daniel Chambodut, my parents, Mr. Pouyanné, even the President of the Republic... My boss, Sylvain Badin, as well as my colleagues who proudly and kindly adopted me into this big family that is DMG MORI. I was so well surrounded! Who knows what would have happened if it hadn't been the case?
However, yes, many have made my life difficult, I think out of machismo... Especially men who didn't want a woman to become strong in the profession. Insults, no help, it wasn't always easy.
Cependant, oui, beaucoup m’ont rendu la vie difficile, je pense par machisme... Surtout des hommes qui n’avaient pas pour but qu’une femme devienne forte dans le métier. Insultes, pas d’aide, ce n’était pas toujours simple.
Your hopes and future challenges?
My strongest desire today is to learn even more about the profession. To give women more credibility in the eyes of all, to open doors to those who don't dare to push them! My challenge will be, in the near future, to set up an association to push women to do what they love, it's up to them to decide and not to others.
What do you do when you don’t work?
My first passion is my dog, who helps me to completely disconnect. The second is biking: facing the handlebars of my trusty steed, nothing stops me! And the walks are more beautiful 😊
Your heroes -from History or fiction?
In history? It's my mother, Fabienne Bargagna. Because even though she's not famous, she was the first woman I admired in my entire life. She supported me during my teenage crisis, and I can tell you that it was really heroic!
A saying or proverb you like in particular?
"The future belongs to the bold and to those who make the necessary effort." And even if the person who told me let me down, it was the sentence that allowed me to move forward the most.
A book to take with you on a desert island?
"Surviving in the Wilderness" by Emilie Cuissard and Nicolas Clémendot, it seems to me that this is the best match.
A message or advice to young women?
The person you will live with the longest is yourself, so don't restrain yourself on anything at the risk of being unhappy!
