About

Origins

I COME FROM TRADITION TERROIR

One encounter. That’s all it takes.

Aerial view of a medieval town in Indre-et-Loire, France

I come from a lineage of farmers and servants. Very traditional. Small world. Don’t dare mention vegetarians! My parents owned gardening and fishing shops. My mum is an amazing cook. My dad is a hunter. He was born in Descartes, the town named after the philosopher. Our life was measured by what’s logical and what is not. No space for imagination. But it made me excel at the details. Perfect for investigative work! Both believe in hard work and in l’amour du travail bien fait (the love of a job well done). So do I.

I had two loves of my own. The first, the outdoors: my years as an Éclaireuse de France — literally ‘one who lights the way’, a girl guide. I learned survival skills on adventures in the countryside. I can build a table with ropes and a good saw, or start a bonfire from scratch. The second: writing. Plays mostly, which I directed and acted in, running the local drama club. I wanted to turn this into a job but my parents got scared, so I followed in their footsteps and chose business. No one tells you that what you shine at as a child is what you should pursue as an adult.

I left home at 17 to pursue my studies in the BIG town. Then I left France three years later. I knew I had to leave to be myself. I wanted to feel free of the ‘secret’.

I have very few memories of my childhood. At 10, my brother and I were molested on the same night. We were sworn to silence. Being the oldest child, and having trusted the person who abused us, I buried years of guilt inside my heart. It is not something I want to erase. It has made me pay attention to what people don’t say.

Today

I’M BIGGER THAN MY SIZE

But that is a lesson I learned later.

Because when I moved to Lithuania at 22, as the country was shifting from communism to capitalism, all I wanted was to be heard.

I managed the capital’s first self-service supermarket with 60 staff. I made many mistakes and learned. I learned that the French way is not the only way (I know…). I learned that ‘logic’ is framed by culture. I learned that freedom is about choices, beyond who rules the world.

I stayed for four and a half years.

Now I’m 56. I’ve lived and worked in places worlds apart from the world I come from. England, Haiti, Lesotho, Brazil, Timor-Leste, South Africa, Benin and Bali. I have sat with students, ministry officials, market traders, entrepreneurs, communities and consultants. In classrooms, meeting rooms, shalas and courtyards.

Each encounter challenged something I thought I knew.

And my relationships did too. The men I’ve loved taught me that what we experience differently can’t be reduced to a Women Are from Venus, Men Are from Mars headline. That love is not a fight over who’s right or wrong, but a choice.

Differences themselves don’t distance us. What we do with them can.

I’m still an Éclaireuse de France at heart, casting light on what happens when our differences collide.

Travels

I DON’T JUST VISIT. I ENTER.

72 countries. I’m a failed anthropologist at heart.

I believe every country has a different energy that we can tap into, to understand our emotional landscape. Imagine the world as a Wheel of Emotions. You’ll find peace in Costa Rica, playfulness in Ireland, wonder in Ethiopia.

It might sound weird. But the alternative has a name I coined: ‘yo-yo holidaying’.

We get stressed, escape somewhere cheap or exotic, relax or have an adventure, then come home to the same problems. Sometimes we go further and move countries altogether, wanting out of the Matrix, only to discover we’ve brought our patterns with us.

The places I’ve been to have been rites of passage. They have transformed not only what I think, but what I feel and how I show up in a world I refuse to make smaller.

I see people beyond smiles on posters. I feel nature beyond pretty pictures.

I travel to grow, to discover untold stories and unseen territories, to add depth to my life and, hopefully, to that of others.

Carole dancing with a group in Argentina, arms raised — Argentina

Carole sitting with two men, one playing guitar, in a wooden hut in Vietnam — Vietnam

Carole with a group of men in Benin, all smiling for the camera — Benin

Cross-cultural workshops →