If the company’s success story is sudden, the departure of its very young director of the time will be just as much. “The company was funded by Genevest, the structure of my father. The board of directors then decided to make me progress according to the results obtained. I was testing, first as a marketing director, then as director and finally as administent, “says the entrepreneur. The passion with which she directed Novospray earned her her first lesson: politics and communication are often more important than a raw presentation of reality. “In any case when we are dealing with the board of directors. Following an showdown with them, despite the good results and three years of success, they simply fired me. At 27, it was an experience that will have served me for the rest of my career. ”
At the origin of the first incubator
Impossible to write the portrait of Anne Southam Aulas without mentioning Genilem. Today very well known, the structure started in 1994 then served as a precursor project at a time when start-up incubators and other young shoots simply did not exist. “In addition to the Fongit, positioned in the technological innovation sector, no measure or approach allowed the bearers of entrepreneurial ideas to find support,” recalls the co -founder of the company of creation and business development Kalvin K. Associates, the ancestor of Genilem.
“At that time, by seeing what was done in France with the development of the first business nurseries, such as Sophia Antipolis or Novacité, I realized that this type of structures were clearly missing in the Swiss entrepreneurial landscape.” Back in Geneva, after talking about it to Armand Lombard, who aspired to create a micro-bourdes to support local businesses, the idea of Genilem Germe. The success of the formula quickly appeals to political actors, the media and economic circles. From its first year, the structure receives more than 300 requests. Watchmaking, technology or even edition are all areas of activity represented among the first accompanied.
Through the association, Anne Southam Aulas shares her knowledge and field experience with project leaders committed body and soul in their idea. Priority: inculcate the commercial fundamentals essential to any entrepreneurship project. “There is something magical in the creation of a business and it is precisely in this phase that I have always been specialized. A good entrepreneur must be a good seller. On average, it has seven minutes to capture the attention of a prospect. At Genilem, we therefore made sure to translate innovative ideas into commercial language by answering this question: what is the important and urgent problem that your customer can resolve with your product? ”
A good entrepreneur must be a good seller. On average, it has seven minutes to capture the attention of a prospect
A chameleon profile
The rest of her career, Anne Southam Aulas will dedicate it in particular to the hotel sector. New sector, new challenge and new opportunities. We are in the 2000s and the transformation, especially digital, of the hotel practice is at its beginnings. While the prices of commercial real estate objects fly away, mainly because the funds are massively investing in this type of goods, hotel objects seem abandoned, and their price influenced. In particular in a context where 85% of hotels were, at the time, establishments of less than 50 rooms. A boon that the entrepreneur grasped by founding in 2004 hotels and heritage. After being formed in this new sector for it by obtaining the license of cafetier-restaurant, it develops the activity of its new company which consists in buying bankrupt structures to renovate them before exploiting them. Twelve years later, she reiterates the exercise by co -founding M3 Hospitality, who will renovate and operate four renowned establishments, including the Marmont hotel in Geneva.
Transmission and relay passage
2 years ago, Anne Southam Aulas again surprised by the plurality of her journey by publishing her first book Login: Entrepreneur. The opportunity for businesswoman to write in writing her know-how and to complete her commitment in terms of transmission of knowledge. Published by Editions Slatkine, in collaboration with Jérôme Favoulet, the book is very well received in economic circles, also finding an audience made up of close to entrepreneurs. “I am delighted to be able to make my little contribution to the building of young entrepreneurs who embark on the crazy and exciting adventure of business creation. One of my daughters is also part of it, in the purest family tradition. ”
After withdrawing from operational projects from 2024, Anne Southam Aulas continues to sit on the boards of directors of several entities, including the PP Holding group, Smood or Consextified Group. The opportunity, again, to continue to transmit your field experience to help orient the strategy of these economic actors.
