Relive Stéphanie Rivoal’s speech (E93) at the ESSEC Gala

 Stéphanie Rivoal (E93), Secretary General of the Africa-France 2020 Summit, took to the stage in front of students and graduates at the 2019 ESSEC Gala at Palais Brongniart in Paris, in a motivating speech largely inspired by her career (which she tells us about, here). Selected snippets.

“As I stand before you today, students and alumni of many years, I have to say that time really flies. I’ve had experiences and adventures, met an incredibly diverse range of people, and if I had to die tomorrow, I could do so without any regrets.” 

(…)

“I don’t regret starting my career at Goldman Sachs in London, even though I was made redundant after two years and left deeply hurt, annoyed, and humiliated by this episode in my life. There are moments, days, minutes, which you can look at and say to yourself: “In that moment, my life changed. If that minute hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be who I am today.” This redundancy was one of those moments, a key moment, a painful yet beneficial moment, a revelation. In the words of Nelson Mandela: ‘I never lose, I either win or learn’”. 

(…)

“For the first time in my life I thought about what I wanted to do. Through this shocking experience that came without warning, I realised what really mattered to me. My freedom to choose. I swallowed my pride and bounced back so much stronger than before and with such a clearer view of myself that nothing would stop me on my new path: one that I had chosen for myself, alone, far from the influence and contamination of the world, of other people, of what they thought I was, their ideas, and their beliefs which weren’t my own. I also learned that I could survive shame, that it was a social but not a personal feeling, and that though this episode may call my career into question, it does not define me.”

(…)

“I could tell you that I’ve been lucky, but that could lead you to believe that these things came out of the blue. That was never the case for me. I was always looking for the next adventure. I asked my successive managers at the corporate bank to give me more responsibility. Sometimes these were ambitions that even I thought beyond my ability. I was daring, some would say pretentious. I learned and I grew.”

(…)

“Adventures, I’ve had so many. I’ve sweltered in Darfur, and shivered in Siberia. I’ve sat beneath the parley tree tens of times with village chiefs, rebel commanders, and villagers in far-flung places. I have so many stories I could tell you, each more outlandish than the last. I’ve seen the eyes of Sudanese children gleam with wonder watching Ocean in a refugee camp. They’d never seen so much water and asked me if you could eat all the fish.”

(…)

“Humanitarian work isn’t what most people think. It isn’t exciting or romantic, it’s hard and frustrating. But what we do, what we live, it matters. We get back one thousand times more than we give. After travelling the world, having seen both the horror and the beauty of humanity close-up, I chose to represent my country abroad. Once again, nobody came and asked me to be a diplomat. I asked. It was surprising. Yes, it was unusual. But it worked, as you can see. I often felt like an imposter. Sometimes I doubted myself. But I hid it. I put on a persona because other people don’t like those who doubt themselves. And I’ve never let myself down. Not everything has been a success, but I never stopped trying.”

(…)

“Tonight, I’ve been asked to inspire. I want to say that we should all inspire those around us, spreading goodwill, sharing positive energy, proposing and implementing solutions. What is at stake is our planet, our caring society, our community, our freedom, and that which defines us as profoundly as can be: our values. Humanism, republican values, freedom, human rights, equality, dignity, and that which we often forget: fraternity. I’ve often said these words at the end of a speech as ambassador. And the further we are from France, the more meaningful they become. Sometimes these fundamental values aren’t there. We need to fight for them, for ourselves and for others. Especially for others.”