Le French Dream

Sneha Ashtikar - A lawyer who became Head of Marketing, shares advice about scholarships, finding apartments, and life in Paris

Sneha [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sneha-ashtikar/] is Head of Marketing at Jus Mundi [https://jusmundi.com/en/], an international legal tech company in Paris, facilitating legal information access thanks to Artificial Intelligence. Before starting a career in legal tech, she was an associate at a well-known international law firm in Paris, France. She has studied law in two countries, India (Mumbai) & France (Paris), and holds a master's degree in international arbitration from Sciences Po, Paris. She is passionate about foreign cultures, languages, and the advertising field. Sneha has been living in Paris since 2012 & has held all possible visa statuses before (finally) becoming a French citizen. In this episode, Sneha talked about how learning French in high school led to a scholarship to study in one of the top universities in France. She also shared her transition from student to employee, and she gave some solid advice for people looking for an apartment, notably how to avoid scams or the challenge of getting a guarantor to rent an apartment. Follow Sneha on Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sneha-ashtikar/]. And check out her blog Life in Paris [https://www.lifein.paris/]. And remember to visit Le French Dream website lefrenchdream.com [https://lefrenchdream.com]

Kyle O'Brien - American entrepreneur, builder of startups, generalist and French Tech evangelizer

In this episode, I had the opportunity to discover the story of Kyle O'Brien, an American entrepreneur who lived in France as a kid and years later felt the callback from France and came back. Today, he is a French Tech evangelizer. Kyle writes a weekly newsletter called "Startup ROI", exploring global technology trends and how they manifest themselves in France. He has spent the past decade working for "Big Tech" and helping build four startups across the US & France. Kyle is a self-proclaimed generalist with experience across Sales, Solution Engineering, Customer Success, Product Marketing & Leadership. He enjoys discussing business frameworks, futurism, and international markets. Kyle has a fabulous weekly newsletter covering the most exciting and relevant trends and their impact on the French Tech ecosystem in a deep, thoughtful yet witty style. Whether you are an entrepreneur, investor, tech enthusiast, or someone considering moving to France, you should subscribe to his newsletter:https://startuproi.substack.com/ [https://startuproi.substack.com/] You can also follow him on Twitter: @RoiStartup [https://twitter.com/RoiStartup] (personal) / @StartupROI [https://twitter.com/StartupROI] (pro) If you enjoyed the episode, please share it with somene who might be considering moving abroad, hopefully they would consider and choose France as their destination. Don't forget to visit Le French Dream website https://lefrenchdream.com/ [https://lefrenchdream.com/]

Saranya Ravichandran - FP&A Manager, Lifestyle Writer and Dreamer from India

In this episode, I enjoyed a fantastic conversation with Saranya Ravichandran. But, first, I let her introduce herself: "Hello, this is Saranya Ravichandran - FP&A Manager at PayPal by profession. As much as I love my career, I also like to explore various things - including travel, photography, and blogging. I'm a lifestyle writer on Quora by passion, where I write about my experiences around the world, different encounters with people, and just about everything under the sun." Then let me tell you that Saranya is my first guest who no longer lives in France. I wanted to have the perspective of someone coming and living in France for a couple of years only. After all, moving to France does not have to be an eternal decision. Saranya is a brilliant woman who described her life in Paris as "living in a poem." But she also candidly shared the challenges she faced and how that made her stronger. She chose France because she was looking for a unique experience and a place with good diversity. My favorite part was her reflection of the girl who came to Paris for two years vs. the woman who came back to India. You can read her essays and reflections in Quora, where she is a top writer, and follow her adventures on Instagram. Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Saranya-Ravichandran-8 [https://www.quora.com/profile/Saranya-Ravichandran-8] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saraa_explores/ [https://www.instagram.com/saraa_explores/] If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your family, friends, or colleagues. Last but not least, don't forget to visit our website: https://lefrenchdream.com/ [https://lefrenchdream.com/]

Sam Soares - From Brazil

Coming from a tech/marketing international background (ex-Airbnb, ex-PayPal), Sam has lived and worked in Latin America, the US, and Europe and now leads international marketing at Swile [https://www.swile.co/en], based out of their Paris office. As a confirmed marketing generalist, he has a transversal role in marketing and International organizations, working with various teams to localize, adapt and deploy brands and marketing strategies consistently in different markets worldwide. He has lived in Paris for more than 6 years with his husband, dog, and 52 plants. I had a fantastic conversation with Sam. In this episode, you will learn about his journey as one of the early employees of Airbnb and how he experienced massive growth in Brazil thanks to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics at Rio de Janeiro. Sam moved to Paris because of love. His husband is a French guy who did an exchange program to study in Brazil. Years later, they moved to France when his husband got a job opportunity. Sam shared his experience as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in Paris and his adaptation process to France. He is an active member of the LGBTech France association, promoting and supporting LGBT+ diversity in the French Tech ecosystem. Get the full notes of the episode in our website LeFrenchDream.com [//lefrenchdream.com/?ref=ep02]

Elizabeth Coleon - From New Jersey, United States

Elizabeth Coleon, American, Mother of 3 and Chief Marketing Officer at Qonto. Liz has been living in France for 13 years. An exchange program in high school made her fall in love with Paris and France. In this episode, Elizabeth talks about how she relocated to France, the adaptation process, the family life and her professional life. Currently, Elizabeth is the CMO at Qonto [https://qonto.com/en], one of the most promising business in the French Startup ecosystem [https://www.gouvernement.fr/en/the-next40-the-showcase-for-french-startups].