ESCP ALUMNI magazine - Special Issue 2022 - 38

Career ❙ Interview
by Arthur Jeanne
" We are skin-care
activists "
What is it about?
I decide on the brand's perspective, strategic
priorities, and mission on a global scale.
La Roche-Posay is an unusual brand, as
our unique business model is based on
medical treatments. We work hand in
hand with doctors to make our products.
I like collaborations. I also try to unite
and improve the teams. I really like this
Laetitia TOUPET (98)
La Roche-Posay Global Brand President
Laetitia, what have you done since
you left ESCP? How have you
become La Roche-Posay's global
brand president?
I joined L'Oréal's consumer products
division for my final year internship. After
that, I thought I would do something else,
but L'Oréal offered me a job. Ten days later,
I ventured into the heartland of France as a
sales representative. It was quite a journey
considering I had just had my driving
licence! But it was great to be in touch
with our customers. In 25 years, I have
never left L'Oréal; I have made my whole
career there, I've had various jobs, various
positions. Working for L'Oréal means trying
many things. I was a product manager for
the L'Oréal Paris skincare and makeup
department, and then Garnier's marketing
director. More than 10 years ago, I joined
the Vichy 'Active Skincare' health division.
After that, I became the general manager at
La Roche-Posay France. My purpose was to
expand the brand and improve its turnover.
La Roche-Posay went on thriving. Finally,
6 years ago, I became the global brand's
president.
38 ❙
responsibility. Michael Jordan once said:
" Talents win games, teams win championships. "
I love it.
You quote Michael Jordan. Has the
American mindset had an influence
on you?
Totally. I lived in the USA from the age of
6 to 12. I embraced the double culture; I was
in permanent contact with the American
way of life as I was living in the New York
countryside. I went back to the USA as an
ESCP student; I took a year off and studied
entrepreneurship at Babson College,
near Boston. I love this enthusiastic and
business-oriented state of mind.
Let's get back to teamwork. What
are your thoughts on this? What is
the key to making a good team?
You need to attract people from different
backgrounds to create emulation. I like the
idea of relying on a multidisciplinary team,
with different profiles. In my team, some
people come from pharmaceuticals, some
others come from marketing, some come
from humanities. There are engineers and
data scientists, too. This variety generates
a team intelligence dynamic which helps
go further. But team working is not
innate; it must be bred through a specific
ESCP Alumni Magazine Special issue ❙ 2022
o
Laetitia TOUPET (98) has been the La Roche-Posay president since 2014. She says she is on a mission.
She has made the L'Oréal-owned brand an icon of dermatology and skin care.
environment, and it revolves around two
crucial elements: setting a vision and
creating an emotionally safe context in
which people dare to talk and innovate.
It is great to work with talented people,
but if they don't feel legitimate enough
to challenge other people's opinions, it
cannot work. My job is also about creating
an environment in which every individual
can feel free to be different.
Michael Jordan
once said:
" Talents win
games, teams win
championships. "
I love it.
How would you define La RochePosay's
DNA?
The motto of the brand is to use what's best
in dermatology to change people's lives.
It has been in our genes since a medicinal
and skin-repairing water was found in La
Roche-Posay. Our duty is to be pioneers, to
innovate and create things that are useful
to people, like products that are even more
effective, beauty tech services or public
health campaigns. We see ourselves as skin
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ESCP ALUMNI magazine - Special Issue 2022

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