Marine Serres is a graduate of EM Normandie (class of 2016). She has always been passionate about healthy eating, and has built a rich and coherent career path, combining agri-food marketing, pastry exploration and involvement in high-impact projects.
Today, she puts transmission and social usefulness at the centre of her professional project, with a strong ambition: to give meaning to her profession by supporting those who need it most.
A career fuelled by a passion: the food industry
From the very beginning, I've always had a very clear idea of the direction I wanted to take, mostly due to advice from slightly older people. When I was exploring the specialisations on offer at EM Normandie, I came across a Master 2 in Marketing, Communication and Engineering of Food Products : it was exactly what I had in mind.
Before joining the school, I already had a foot in the sector thanks to a DUT (French 2-year post-baccalaureate diploma) in Marketing Techniques with a food industry option. What's more, the passion had been there for a long time: I grew up in an environment where ‘eating healthy’ made sense. My grandfather was a market gardener, my parents are agricultural engineers, and I've always loved cooking, discovering products and sharing meals. For me, food is a world of creativity, encounters and transmission.
A first experience: discover the reality of the product manager's profession
Before starting my Master 2, I took a gap year with a 6-month placement as assistant product manager at Petit Navire. This first experience was very important, because it gave me a real understanding of the food industry... and above all it showed me the difference between theory and reality.
In class, we learn about the 4Ps, SWOT matrices and very structured methods. But in the real world, everything takes on a different dimension. This internship was a major revelation for me: I discovered the job of product manager and I confirmed that it was what I loved.
What I really enjoyed was the role of team manager: developing a product from recipe to market, coordinating purchasing, R&D, sales... and working as part of a team. I also loved the analysis part: working on panels (Nielsen, Kantar), observing performance, understanding what works and what doesn't, anticipating the impact of a competitor's promotional campaign. At that point, everything clicked: I wanted to continue along this path.
Alter Eco: making my job meaningful
For my end-of-studies work placement, I joined a very different organisation: Alter Eco, a brand of organic and fair trade products. That's where I added something new to my career: meaning.
Alter Eco works with small cooperatives around the world. Behind each product, there is an ethical approach and a human and social commitment. And for me, that was crucial: this experience made me realise that I didn't just want to develop products... I also wanted to feel useful, and to know what my work was contributing to.
The CAP (2-year professional diploma) in pastry-making: a period of passion... and a real revelation
At the end of my course, I made a decision that surprised a lot of people: I chose to study for a CAP in pastry-making. It wasn't an easy decision, because on the one hand I had my family telling me: ‘it's time to enter the professional world’, and on the other, I had this deep desire to go further.
In my job, I particularly liked the R&D part: making a recipe, testing, understanding the impact of sugar, salt and ingredients on the final product. I thought that doing a CAP could give me a double qualification: marketing, but also a more practical and technical approach. And then there was a childhood passion: pastry-making.
I took this CAP in Paris, an intensive 4-month course. I got up at 6am every day and was really happy to go there. I loved learning, producing and practising for the 7-hour mock CAPs. That experience taught me something essential: I love learning, and I think that's a major key in a world that's permanently changing.
Francine: autonomy, projects, responsibilities
After this stage, I joined Grands Moulins de Paris to work on the Francine brand, with a direct link to flour and baking: a logical follow-up to my CAP.
I joined on a fixed-term contract as a replacement, and ended up staying on as a permanent employee for two years. I discovered the fascinating world of flour milling, with visits to mills, cross-functional projects and a real team dynamic.
What made this experience particularly powerful was the size of the team: there weren't many of us, but we were working on a very well-known brand, with a challenging budget. The result was a lot of autonomy, a great deal of freedom in the proposals, and a real ability to test ideas. It was a key stage in building my confidence, skills and experience.
The trigger: the quest for impact and the desire for change
At the same time, I was a volunteer in an urban beekeeping association, in charge of the school section. And even though I was happy with my job, something gradually became clear to me: I couldn't see myself remaining a product manager for the rest of my life.
I needed to see a more tangible impact of my actions on society, on people and on the environment. This desire was already there... but it became clearer thanks to a training course called “Fais le bilan calmement” (“ Assess calmly ”) with Switch Collective: 7 weeks, in a group, with exercises, discussions in pairs, and a lot of reflection.
This experience helped me structure an intuition: I wanted to develop, change direction, and move towards the social economy.
Explore to make a better choice: what if I became a pastry trainer?
What I really love is passing on knowledge and skills, helping others to grow. So I had an idea: what if I combined pastry-making and passing on? That could lead to a career as a pastry trainer.
But before committing myself, I wanted to try it out. So I did a two-week work placement as a pastry chef. And that's when I realised something very clear: it wasn't for me at all.
Spending all day in a laboratory, with the same team, often working on the same productions... I realised that if I did that for several years, I'd be miserable. And in the end, this exploration was very useful for me: it prevented me from going down a path that wasn't for me.
Télémac: building an impactful project from scratch
While talking to a friend, I discovered the Télémac association, which is committed to equal opportunities in education, through a dual mentoring scheme between schools and companies. A job opened up: a new position was created, so “everything had to be built”.
And that's something that stimulates me a lot. I applied for a job, ended up as project manager, and I developed a programme virtually from scratch. At first I was on my own, but then I was joined by an intern, a skills trainee and a volunteer.
It's been an intense, demanding adventure... but it's also been a great learning experience. I've given so much of myself, and I've learnt what it means to be involved in a project that makes a real difference to people's lives.
An entrepreneurial project built around three pillars
After that experience, I went abroad, to Mexico in particular, and rethought my career plans. For a long time, I'd had lots of entrepreneurial ideas, but they had never really materialised. And yet, by taking a step back, my whole career path became very logical.
I understood that my project was based on three essential pillars :
Food, agri-food, eating well, it's always been there.
Passing on this passion is what drives me deeply.
Social impact, the desire to make a positive difference to the lives of others.
The combination of these three factors led to the idea of setting up a bakery and patisserie school for women outside the employment system.
I gained a better understanding of this target group through my experience at Télémac, where I helped set up a scholarship to support young girls in scientific subjects, which are still very masculine fields. Then, I was made aware of the importance of supporting women and creating concrete opportunities.
Today, I'm working on this project. My aim is to develop it in France, where I have my network and my references, and then to replicate it in South America or elsewhere in the world.
The advice I would give: dare to try and don't be afraid
If I had to give one piece of advice, it would be this: dare to try, dare to take the plunge, don't be afraid to try.
It's by living through experiences, meeting people, confronting reality that you get to know yourself, that you understand your needs better... and that you naturally move towards a path in which you can really fulfill yourself.
