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Camille BRÉGEAUT, a graduate from IÉSEG (Grande École Program, 2010) and co-founder of the 100% natural cosmetics brand “Les Petits Prödiges,” has been honored as one of Forbes 40 Women 2023. Her brilliant career path since her studies at IÉSEG makes her an inspiring example of success. Today, Camille introduces us to her brand and explains how she has helped build a successful eco-responsible business, while bringing a touch of pleasure to the beauty and personal care routines of many French people.

Les Petits Prödiges is the first French brand to offer a solid deodorant in an eco-responsible cardboard tube…

Absolutely, it’s something I discovered in the United States. I thought it was great to have solid deodorant in a cardboard tube that could be used like a roll-on. Because in France, at the time, there were only a few solid natural deodorants in jars, which you had to apply by hand. Clémentine and I felt that having to apply a deodorant by hand was really unappealing to consumers. So, we decided to create our own product that would meet our own expectations. By the way, it is thanks to this product that Monoprix, which was looking for this type of deodorant, listed us on its shelves. Shortly afterwards, competition began to set in. It can be scary at first, but after a while you realize that it’s actually a good thing! If there’s competition, it means there’s growing consumer demand. So all in all, it’s a good thing!

Can you tell us more about ‘Les Petits Prödiges’?

We’ve reworked the essentials of the beauty/personal care routine in order to eliminate all the extra items from the bathroom. As founders of the brand, we wanted a name that echoed the fact that the products we offer are the “little gems” of the bathroom. Our products are made with 100% natural ingredients, packaged in eco-friendly packaging, while adopting a colorful and attractive design. At Les Petits Prödiges, we believe that just because we offer eco-friendly products, the packaging doesn’t have to reflect a raw, unattractive look. The notion of pleasure is very important to us. In fact, it’s one of our 3 pillars at Les Petits Prödiges: naturalness, eco-responsibility and pleasure. We want to offer eco-responsible products without any compromise for the consumer. We don’t want consumers to adopt eco-responsibility at the expense of pleasure.

We’ve also added an umlaut to the “o”, in a nod to the Scandinavian alphabet. In Scandinavian countries, the “Hygge” lifestyle prevails. This concept, which originated in Denmark, places particular emphasis on well-being, comfort and conviviality. In particular, it encourages the pursuit of happiness in the little things in life! Les Petits Prödiges aims to contribute to this in the lives of as many people as possible.

‘Les Petits Prödiges’ has been successful because of….

Our magic balm! It is fully in line with our unwavering commitment to our three pillars: eco-responsibility, naturalness and pleasure. Clémentine and I aren’t chemists, but we had in mind a special product that would do (almost) everything! We knew what we wanted: a multi-use balm that nourishes, protects and soothes face, body and even hair. It can be used for a wide range of purposes: make-up removal, face or hair masks, eczema and psoriasis relief, baby skin protection, after-sun, after-shave, lip balm, beard care…. The idea was really to get people to adopt a single product, easily transportable anywhere, thus limiting the waste associated with multiple packaging. Consumers were won over by the concept, and now it’s considered as the Swiss army knife of bathroom products for the whole family. Our customers sometimes come to us with new ideas for uses we hadn’t even thought of! What’s more, it is formulated with 100% natural ingredients and it is rated 100/100 on the Yuka app.

Somme key fugures?

Over 1 million Magic Balms sold to date! A team of 12 people, including 1 intern who is a student at IÉSEG. We like to recruit IÉSEG profiles because they’re always resourceful, friendly and open-minded. 

How do you manage this exponential growth and success? 

It’s true that when we launched our company, we could never have imagined all we’ve achieved. In fact, maybe we don’t take enough time to congratulate ourselves and take a break, because every time we do something good, we’re already moving on to the next project. But on the whole, we manage it all pretty well. What we like about it is that it allows us to discover new areas as we grow. That’s why, even after five years, we’re still learning every day. We give our all to the company, but we also know how to cut back in the evening when we get home to dedicate ourselves to our families. These breaks allow us to take a step back and, ultimately, gain in productivity.

You’ve really built up your business from scratch…

Yes, in the beginning, everything was very basic. We had a cupboard full of Les Petits Prödiges products at home, and we did everything ourselves. Little by little, we developed our product range and built up a strong team. Now, we think it’s time to move up a gear. We now want to expand into the pharmacy sector, which is a challenging one. Unlike a chain like Monoprix, we have to negotiate with each pharmacy. What’s more, pharmacists are called upon by many other brands, and we have to keep a close eye on every outlet to ensure that our products are always available. It’s an intense and time-consuming task.

As an IÉSEG graduate, can you tell us what the School brings to entrepreneurs like you?

One of the main advantages of IÉSEG is that you get to learn about a wide range of subjects, not just one particular specialty. On the contrary, you acquire a basic knowledge of many different fields. When you set up a business, you don’t need to be an expert in one field, you need to have a global understanding of everything. You need to know how accounting works, how finance works, how to draw up a business plan, and IÉSEG really provides these varied skills.