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Name: Severine Picquet
Business: MPB Agency, LLC, a full service PR & Marketing firm
Industry: Marketing & PR
Location: New York, New York, U.S.
Reason for starting: Being an entrepreneur is my destiny. I started my business in France when I was 22, having focused on having my own company since I was even younger. I am a very independent person who thrives on challenges and differences.
Related: Read about another female Marketing & PR entrepreneur here.
How do you define success? A happy team with happy clients and a happy family.
Biggest Success: I started my business with no funding, which I believe is success in itself these days. However, my biggest success was when I opened the subsidiary in 2008 in New York during the Financial Crisis. I am still here, continuing to develop my business, and even working in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami, as well as New York. In addition, my company has partnered with OpenTable since 2012 for our restaurant marketing program that provides us with the credibility and visibility I believe is essential to company growth.
What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? I created two of my own marketing programs in 2011, French Restaurant Week® and Bastille Week® and it is a challenge to focus on its national expansion. Now, I am focusing on corporate sponsors to support the expansion. Since French gastronomy was added to UNESCO Intangible World Heritage list, this program offers huge visibility to our current and prospective partners.
Related: Read about another entrepreneur working in the New York City food industry here.
On a personal level, I have fought to protect my daughter since I moved with her to New York. Freedom was, and still is, one of the most important parts of my life. The United States offers this freedom to me and my daughter. Since moving to the United States, I have reviewed the visitation rights of my daughter with her father in France, meanwhile establishing New York jurisdiction. This has affected my business in that, though I work, I work mostly for my daughter, and it was difficult to separate the two.
Who is your most important role model? I don’t have a specific role model. I am me and I like being different. I do however have a lot of respect for women in politics and big business, and align myself with those whose values are similar to mine.
[box_light]Website www.mpbagency.com
Twitter @mpbagency
Facebook www.facebook.com/mpbagency[/box_light]
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Edited by The Story Exchange