ULTREÏA by Caroline Verhille, the small organisation with big ambition

From data to design: a meeting with Caroline Verhille (Master 2009), Accounts Manager and co-founder of ULTREÏA! 
ULTREÏA is a word of encouragement that since the middle ages has been exchanged between pilgrims as they cross paths on St James’s Way. It means “travel higher, travel further”, which is exactly what we hope this upcoming Parisian organisation will achieve!

EDHEC Alumni: Can you explain briefly how your company came about (origins, team, concept, etc.)? 

Caroline Verhille: Having started my career in film distribution and spent 4 years with the marketing department at Amazon.fr, I finally discovered the world of advertising when I joined Amazon’s internal advertising department as accounts manager. It was a bit frustrating to access that world only through data, and I wanted to move towards something more creative. My meeting with my associate, Julen Aranguren, who’s a graphic designer and illustrator, was decisive. We decided to set up our own design company at the beginning of the year, specialised in branding and visual identity. So far, our work has ranged from creating a logo and graphic charter for a think tank representing the collaborative economy, to producing a website for a prêt à porter store, and designing longboards for a concept store in Barcelona. 

How would you assess this entrepreneurial adventure?

CV: It’s all too fresh to really make any assessment, but so far I would say our enthusiasm and excitement have prevailed. Your concept of work is fundamentally different when you have to get up each morning and ensure the survival of your own project, it brings freedom and a healthy kind of pressure that motivates us. We are also in a period where every day we hear about new start-ups, which it is important to emulate. We meet a lot of young entrepreneurs to exchange views, build up a network and benefit from outside perspectives of our company. The hardest thing will probably be to set limits and stop working after a certain number of hours, but for the moment we are in a phase where we just want to do more and more.

Have you ever benefited from the network of EDHEC graduates?

CV: Not yet, at least not beyond my network of close friends, but this is the opportunity to do so. I have already called on the network several times at different moments in my career to look for advice, and I have always been pleasantly surprised by the availability of graduates!

What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs?

CV: Now is the time to take the plunge. There really are many opportunities to start projects that don’t require huge investments, whether in the collaborative economy or the social and solidarity economy, for example. It’s hard to keep track of all the support structures available for young entrepreneurs with great ideas. People shouldn’t be afraid to talk about their ideas to as many people as possible to test them, and it’s particularly important to have the right people around you, even informally at the start, to look for help from mentors among your friends and family and wider circles to follow your initiative. Personally, I spent a long time looking for a revolutionary idea before I dared to leave the company, but you don’t necessarily have to invent something new, just because a service or product already exists doesn’t mean it can’t be improved and that there is no room for a new player on the market! We are not the first graphic designers in Paris, but we know we do good work and that it’s a bit different from what’s being done in traditional agencies!

What’s next for your company?

CV: We’d like to offer new services (I currently devote all my time to commercial aspects, but soon I hope to offer my services as an SEO/digital marketing consultant) and increase our visibility among start-ups and independents, who are priority targets for us. 

What are your expectations from the community of EDHEC graduates?

CV: A like or a share, an introduction or a project for us to handle directly... we’re starting out and need to make ourselves known! We’re also looking for other freelancers to expand the organisation (web developer, photographer, web designer, etc.).

For more info: 
website : http://ultreiacollective.com
contact : contact@ultreiaco.com

Check out ULTREÏA on these social networks