Our Alumni around the world

In the great ICD Alumni community, each link is unique. Through these portraits, discover the remarkable, diverse and even atypical careers of our graduates in every corner of the globe. Discover Michael Roche, alumni and land sales manager at NW GROUPE, a Scale up of the French Tech Next40 and 1st unicorn of the energy transition, since last July.

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Michael Roche, alumni and land sales manager at NW GROUPE

Introduce yourself.

I am Michaël Roche, I graduated ICD in 2013. I'm 33 years old, soon to be a father, a bon vivant, lover of travels, sports and life.

 Why did you choose the ICD Business School Paris for your higher education? What did you learn from it?

When I left high school, I didn't really have a precise objective for my future job, so I wanted a generalist program where I could choose a specialization later and discover new environments and jobs thanks to the many internships that ICD offered.

I was also attracted to the last year of the work-study program offered by the ICD because it allowed me to take my first step into the professional world.
 
Finally, having traveled little during my youth, the numerous partnerships that the ICD offered, with magnificent universities all over the world also appealed to me and allowed me, in 5 years, to spend a year and a half in England, in the United States and finally, in Thailand! 

What did the international course at ICD Business School bring you?

I would say above all, a great deal of confidence in myself. It is so important to have self-confidence when we grow professionally in positions of responsibility, especially when it comes to management.

The semesters abroad also gave me a great opening of mind, they taught me to manage in new environments, in different cultures and of course allowed me to improve my level of English and Spanish.

Finally, the general curriculum, the variety of subjects, the numerous oral presentations that I had at the ICD Business School help me today in my daily professional life, in my organization, my presentations, my public speaking. These are qualities that I was able to develop throughout my studies.

What is your job? What are the challenges of your job ?

I'm a land sales manager at NW GROUPE, a French Tech Next40 Scale up and 1st unicorn of the energy transition, since last July. We are developing an electricity storage technology that allows us to be the leader in this market.

For the past year, we have also been developing high-powered charging stations for electric vehicles associated with our storage solution.
I manage a team of 9 people with totally different profiles and different backgrounds. I have to adapt to each of them to help them succeed.

The company is in hypergrowth with very ambitious objectives in Europe and in the United States, which makes the project very exciting. We all want to contribute to this success and this hypersonic development.

How did the ICD Business School prepare you for your professional career?

As I mentioned before, the open-mindedness, the self-confidence, the numerous internships and semesters abroad have allowed me to become very mature professionally and personally.

Which skill learned during your course at ICD Business School is the most useful in your professional life?

Organization in general, preparing my exams, my presentations, organizing myself in my work, that's what I do every day. 

Why did you choose France for your professional career?

I loved my semesters and internships abroad, but I am also someone who is very close to my family and friends, so being away from them for long periods of time would have been complicated for me.

Besides, I love France. Being employed in France has some nice advantages. However, I hope to participate in the development of my company internationally. This will allow me to work while speaking English and to do business with other cultures.

What inspires you in your job?

The daily challenges, managing and directing my team, accompanying them in their success and therefore, in mine.

The idea of participating in the development of a hypergrowth unicorn with promising environmental developments also inspires me a lot. 

If you had one piece of advice to give to our students, what would it be?

Make the most of these 5 years! It goes by so fast, travel, be curious, discover the world! Get involved in everything you do without asking too many questions, fate will do it! But above all, always remain curious.

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