How does Harvard University student Apollonia Poilâne spend
How does Harvard University student Apollonia Poilâne spend
How does Harvard University student Apollonia Poilâne spend her time between classes? Running one of the best French bakeries in the world—in Paris. When people asked her father, baker Lionel Poilâne, what his daughter wanted to do when she grew up, Apollonia would announce she planned to take over the bakery. Then when her parents were killed in a 2002 helicopter crash, France lost its most celebrated baker, and Poilâne did just that. Because the name Poilâne has earned a place with a very small group of prestige bakers, the 18-year-old determined to continue the tradition of customer satisfaction and quality her grandfather established in 1932.
With organization and determination Poilâne, who is studying economics, manages the Paris-based business from her apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “I usually wake up an extra two hours before my classes so I can make sure I get all the phone calls done for work. After classes I check on any business regarding the company and then do my homework,” she says. “Before I go to bed, I call my production manager in Paris to check the quality of the bread.” In fact, she receives a shipment of fresh Poilâne bread each week as a flavorful and welcome change from cafeteria food.
“Apollonian is definitely passionate about her job,” says Juliette Sarrazin, manager of the successful Poilâne Bakery in London, the only Poilâne shop outside of Paris. “She really believes in the work of her father and the company, and she is looking at the future, which is very good.”
Experiments with sourdough distinguished Poilâne products from bread produced by Paris’s other bakers and it soon evolved into the crusty loaf that has remained the company’s signature product. It is baked with a “P” carved into the crust, a throwback to the days when the use of communal ovens forced bakers to identify their loaves. But it was her father, Lionel Poilâne, who turned the family’s scrumptious bread into a globally recognized brand, shipped daily via FedEx to upscale restaurants and wealthy clients in the United States, Japan, and elsewhere.
Poilâne has retained control of important decisions, strategy, and business goals, describing herself as the “commander of the ship,” determining the company’s overall direction. Each day is a juggling act, with Poilâne solving problems in Paris while other students sleep. Is it worth it? After surviving numerous changes in consumer tastes over the years, the company is now profiting from a growing interest in healthy eating. “More people understand what makes the quality of the bread, what my father spent years studying, so I am thrilled about that,” she says. And this young woman understands the importance of keeping customers happy, albeit from a long way away.9
Critical Thinking Questions
1 What type of entrepreneur is Apollonia Poilâne?
2 How does she ensure that customer satisfaction and quality are being maintained after her parents’ death?
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