{"id":16351,"date":"2023-06-27T14:32:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T12:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altaviawatch.com\/?p=16351"},"modified":"2024-01-25T14:35:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T13:35:16","slug":"women-executives-in-retail-3-cathy-collart-geiger-1st-female-ceo-in-the-french-food-sector-when-i-grow-up-im-going-to-be-a-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altaviawatch.com\/en\/rethinking-retail\/responsibly-inclusive-retail\/women-executives-in-retail-3-cathy-collart-geiger-1st-female-ceo-in-the-french-food-sector-when-i-grow-up-im-going-to-be-a-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Women executives in retail #3: Cathy Collart Geiger, 1st female CEO in the French food sector: \u201cWhen I grow up, I\u2019m going to be a CEO\u201d."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Cathy Collart Geiger has been head of Picard Surgel\u00e9s for three years \u00a9 Ludovic Lecouster<\/h6>\n

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\n\n\tW<\/span>omen who have reached senior positions in the retail world are (all too) rare, not to mention invisible, which is why we decided to get to know them better by inviting them to tell us about their career paths, the challenges of the past and those of the future.<\/b><\/h4>\n

She started out as a department manager at a hypermarket at the age of 23. Two decades on, Cathy Collart Geiger is CEO of French frozen food specialist Picard Surgel\u00e9s. Her success may have been achieved through pure merit, but it is still very unusual in the French food sector; indeed, the Lille native is now the 1<\/b>st<\/b> and only female CEO of a major chain. We went to meet this multi-tasking woman with a will of steel.\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

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You are the only female CEO in the French food sector. How did you come to reach this level of responsibility?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

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My father was a professional soldier, and as the head of a team he had the ability to bring people together based on a common project. He was a member of the Blue Helmets and was deployed to Yugoslavia, and his men, who put their lives on the line when they went off to fight, had stars in their eyes because my father had united them based on a common project. It was this \u2018leader of men\u2019 side that first motivated me: I wanted to manage people, to unite them, to make my teams want to follow me. This initial driving force was further aided by my significant experience at Auchan. Having joined the group in 1994, I spent 20 years there learning everything I could. I remember going to see my boss with a piece of parquet flooring and telling him I wanted to create a lingerie section. 20 years later, they still have these sections in the stores!<\/span><\/p>\n

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My ambition developed gradually, although I know this word still sometimes comes as a surprise when used by a woman. At the time, I was a department manager and I told myself, \u201cwhen I grow up, I\u2019m going to run a hypermarket\u201d, and once I was running a hypermarket, I told myself, \u201cwhen I grow up, I\u2019m going to be a managing director\u201d. The people I was working with at the time smiled at that, but I believed in myself! I didn\u2019t know how long it would take me or what pathway I would take to get there, but I knew I\u2019d get there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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What was your secret to never giving up hope?<\/b><\/h3>\n

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I was always very focused on what I wanted to do and I never listened to what anyone told me. I even left Auchan after a 20-year career because I couldn\u2019t progress any further, I\u2019d reached that glass ceiling. I\u2019ve never just put up with anything and I\u2019ve never fit into any mould anyone wanted to force me into. I knew what was driving me, namely the desire to make an impact, to be enterprising, and I carved out my own path, step by step. I\u2019ve been running Picard, France\u2019s favourite food retailer, for three years now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Department manager, hypermarket manager, regional manager… you\u2019ve had many different roles over the course of your career. Has this become an asset for you today?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

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I\u2019ve worked in all aspects of retail, which has made me extremely robust and given me a 360\u00b0 view of the issues and challenges facing the company and the sector. I\u2019ve been involved in everything from data and the digital sphere to HR policy and expansion, and this rich career path has given me some highly operational skills, which I think is a real bonus for a company director at a time when we are experiencing one crisis after another. I\u2019m also very committed to the issue of equality; my management committee is made up of 50% men and 50% women, in fact, and our latest gender equality rating was 99\/100. This is a great source of pride because it recognises our efforts in this field, particularly in closing the gender pay gap.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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What is your strategy for Picard in 2023?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

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Our strategy is to continue with the transformation plan we initiated in 2020, which is based on four pillars:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n