Back

At 28, Sarah Lagarde-Gillot (who graduated the Grande École Program in 2017) already seems to have undergone several professional incarnations. What connects them are the themes of authenticity, listening to oneself and the transmission of information. Her latest venture, “Écris-moi un souvenir“, allows her to bring together her passion for writing and entrepreneurship. By creating personalized fiction based on her clients’ memories, she reminds them of one of her own maxims: time passes, words remain…

Sarah LAGARDE-GILLOT, how did your passion for writing come about?

Ever since I was eight, I’ve been writing in the pretty, colorful notebooks I was given every year on my birthday. In my first year of secondary school, I wrote my first short story: “The Mystery of the Red Notebook”, and this activity became an increasingly important part of my life. Then, in high school, I was a finalist in a competition, at which point my French teacher suggested I take a Literary Bac. In the end, I opted for a Science Bac. Then, while I was at IÉSEG, I discovered the joys of professional writing and was awarded the Prix Guerlain.

What was the effect of winning this award?

I was published in a collection by Éditions du Cherche Midi, and decided to set up my own business to put my writing and marketing skills to use in the corporate world. At that time, fiction was a passion, not a business project, because making a living from my writing seemed an impossibility. At the end of 2022, my husband and I decided to take stock: our first business suited us less, I had mastered the skills of e-commerce, I was a mother and wanted to put my true aspirations back at the center of my life.

You then set up “Écris-moi un souvenir”. What exactly is this?

I write unique, personalized, fiction short stories, based on memories, as gifts for special occasions. An online questionnaire allows people to tell me their anecdotes and details, which I then use in the writing process. Fiction and reality are then brought together in a an original text in which the clients are the heroes. The stories are printed and packaged by us, ready to give or to keep. A lasting, moving, original and memorable gift.

What requests have touched you the most?

I’m touched by all commissions, but I’d like to single out two in particular. Firstly, a story given to a mother by her son for her 90th birthday, in which I used stories from his parents’ 1958 honeymoon in Norway. Secondly, I recently had the pleasure of writing a mother’s birth memories for her child. She entrusted me with the little moments that preceded the birth. In a digital age, my approach appeals to more and more people: paper lasts, it can be passed on and shared. Like memories…