Work is health!

Marie is Marie. She is unmatched in the group. And for good reason, she is the only woman in charge of a production site within Charlois. Originally from Mouchin, a small village in the north of France, she settled in Charente with her husband and children.

Safety shoes and earplugs always at hand, that’s Marie Goussen and her daily life. A life marked by work and family. Marie is neither from Cognac nor a cooper. Yet, she manages one of the most renowned cooperages in Cognac, one of the oldest created by the oldest Cognac house, Martell.

When there’s a will, there’s a way!

With her high school diploma in hand, Marie headed to Lille to join the Arts et Métiers engineering school. Five intense years during which Marie would combine theory and practice: welding, milling, fitting… “I’m a jack-of-all-trades. I love it. I like to understand things, how they work, to analyze.” It was in an industrial bakery in the Reims region that the young engineer began her professional career. A tenure of thirteen years during which Marie not only honed her skills in maintenance but also in management. “At 23, leading an all-male team is not easy but it’s educational.” Tenacious, Marie cut her teeth and earned the respect of her colleagues. These years were marred by the onset of a cancerous tumor in her breast, against which she fought, supported by her husband and her children, then aged 3 and 6. “It’s a trial, a real one that makes you think and forces you to prioritize, to make choices. I hardly stopped working, while making sure to remain available for my family, above all.

 

Observe, understand, analyze

“Vincent, my partner, got a job offer you can’t refuse from a Cognac house. I couldn’t even locate Cognac on a map. I thought to myself, let’s GO! I would find work. The main thing, the priority, is family, my family.” Marie gave herself some time, the time to settle in with her little family in this new region, time to discover, time to take time for herself. When the time came, Marie started looking for a new job and landed a contract at a cooperage as a quality manager. “I didn’t know much about quality. But like everything else, it’s learnable.” On the ground, tirelessly, Marie earned her stripes. Quality, environment, safety… her resume grew. In the small world of cooperage, she made a name for herself. Something that did not escape the attention of Charlois’s industrial director, David Le Gac. “We knew each other. He called me in January 2022, telling me: Marie, I have a challenge to offer you at Tonnellerie Leroi.” Marie saw in the offer an opportunity that suited her. “I started in April 2022, as supply chain manager. No matter the position I hold, I invariably ask myself this question: ‘What can I bring, what do the teams need?’ I observe, I analyze, I propose, we test. If it works we continue, otherwise, we try something else.” That’s what Marie has been doing at Leroi, successfully. Marie then became site manager: “I take care of everything that’s not sales, including the works, it’s vast and there’s never a dull moment. I’m lucky to have a good team; I know them, they know me. We’re here to produce barrels, true, but I like it to be done under good conditions. The atmosphere is important.

 

Three questions for Marie Goussen

 

You work in a decidedly male-dominated professional world and you are the only woman in charge of a production site within the group. What does that feel like?

(A brief moment of reflection) … Actually, not much. It’s a matter of habit. Ever since I chose the technical track in high school, it’s been like this, in engineering school it was the same, my first job was also like that. It’s all about balance, respect, skill, and proper conduct. I make sure that I am recognized for my abilities and not because I am a woman.

 

What is a typical day like for you, Marie?

I don’t really have one. Every day is different. One thing I never skip is making the rounds of the site to greet everyone, every morning. I arrive, put on my safety shoes, my earplugs, and head to the workshop.

 

Two years at Charlois, soon three, how do you feel?

On the day I was hired, I went to Murlin and thought, ‘Ah yes!!! Quite something!’. The welcome is friendly, simple, it’s tidy, it’s beautiful, it’s like a family. The tasting room, the environment, the forest, the inn… it’s ‘Charlois Land’ (laughs). More seriously, it’s a group that gives us the means to work well, to advance, to progress with our teams. We have full freedom to take initiatives, we are heard, there are important values that I believe in, that I found in the Charlois group. The strength of the group is also not being alone: there is real teamwork among site managers and we have the support of resource people, I’m thinking particularly of HR.

 

 

 

Photograph © Christophe Deschanel