🎶 Yeah, I won't make it to the radio 'Cause my words aren't too pretty 🎶 *
I wanted to go live abroad 7 years ago and found myself face to face with a blank page.
I tasted the extraordinary sides of life: freedom, discovery, creativity 🎆
I tasted the existential thrills: Where am I going, who am I? There are no more certainties, there are no more habits.
🤯 With RFI - Radio France Internationale in "🎙️ du soir", we reconstructed this life course abroad. I don't have much experience in journalism, but I really enjoyed this live moment. I forgot what I said during the interview 🤭 and I was very excited to rediscover myself later on the radio!
Thank you Laurent Couderc for your kindness: it was magical to chat with someone passionate about his craft! Find the video interview in French below.
Pssttt: you got a taste of the white page too (Covid disrupted the usual routine) and I'm sure it was the start of new adventures, wasn't it?
Anouk, co-founder of Libréa
#libreagurl
The interview took place on Thursday, October 13, in the morning, in the RFI Romania studio in Bucharest.
Anouk Ragot, an engineer graduated from the École Nationale des Arts et Métiers, has been living in Bucharest for seven years. After several positions in multinational companies, he chose painting as a way of expression. Before launching into an original business for women ...
What was your experience as an artist in Romania?
Romania is truly a country conducive to saying that everything is possible and where you can fail. In France, we always push ourselves to succeed and put up more barriers. I would not have dared to approach art galleries in Paris. But that's what I wanted to do in Bucharest, where I found a gallery in the spring of 2017, Elite Prof Art, located in the Cotroceni district. They immediately agreed to exhibit for the next two weeks. The exhibition addressed the theme of women, paintings very vivid in colors. It was a timeless moment, at least for me, a very powerful sharing experience. Before, at my jobs in multinational companies, professional satisfaction was in the order of excellence, teamwork. With painting, you are alone, but you think of others differently, perhaps in a more human, intimate way.
Today, another initiative is taking up all your time... Indeed.
If painting remains in me and I will continue to paint, I wanted to be involved in a business for women, for their welfare. Whether it's about my paintings or life in general, I've always been very sensitive to women, their journey, their ability to combine many things in their lives. It is not a break from what I did previously, but a continuation, the consequence of several experiences. Entrepreneurship also allows me to take care of my three children in a more flexible way, as my husband is also very busy with his work in Bucharest. The business I launched a year ago with my colleague, Laurence Blondiaux, is called Libréa. We manufacture and sell menstrual panties. I wanted a concrete and above all very useful product. It is a panty that absorbs and retains menstrual blood. It came out in the United States about seven years ago, before it came to Europe three, four years ago. So far, there has been very little innovation in this area. However, 25% of the world's population is affected by menstruation, which is generally experienced negatively. And that's about 12,000 tampons and wipes in a woman's lifetime. The environmental impact is therefore significant. While menstrual panties can be reused after washing, like any other panties.
What is it made of?
It is made of natural materials, bamboo, and the central part is made of organic cotton, an absorbent material and another more technical, waterproof material. Above all, it is very reliable, which is probably the most important aspect. The woman must have total confidence in our product, the fear of getting dirty being always present. The panty is enough, there is no need to use other types of protection; and there are different patterns in absorption. It is a real relief for women, a regained freedom.
The interview is also available at https://regard.ro/anouk-ragot/
