MBA Student Profile: Philippe Reyre, EMLYON Business School

As Philippe Reyre pursues his MBA at EMLYON Business School, he shares some of his experiences with TopMBA.com

Philippe Reyre’s most admired companies don’t exist yet. He believes they’re still to be shaped from scratch, and with an MBA next to his name, he could be an entrepreneur in the making

“The MBA is not as well known in France as it could be,” says Reyre, a student of EMLYON Business School. “Companies have an overview of what an MBA is, but they don’t always see the added value it could bring.”

As a young graduate, Reyre was already thinking of studying for his MBA. But it was after he spent six and a half years in Russia, working for Auchan, a French international retail group, that he embarked on the business qualification. “The MBA was, and still is, the best way to capitalise and maximise my international exposure.”

Reyre’s most admired businessman is Marco Polo, the trader and explorer responsible for opening new commercial roads and building cultural and commercial bridges between Asia and Europe which have lasted for centuries. So, it’s perhaps no surprise that Reyre’s main criterion for an MBA was entrepreneurship and everything that revolved around this topic such as finance, strategy, marketing and management. “Most important was the notion of “making things happen”. This is what I’ve experienced in my career and what I wish to achieve in the future. That is why EMLYON was my first choice and I haven’t been disappointed.”

One of Reyre’s chief characteristics is his desire to face new challenges – and his MBA has been one of them. “I am married with two children (eight and five-years-old), so the balance of personal life and study is highly important, but to be honest, not easy to achieve. The program is really demanding - learning, involvement, readings, research, group work - so I’ve spent a lot of time working. As my MBA has been a family project, my wife and my children have been helping me a lot by giving me free time when it was necessary.”

Reyre acknowledges he’s lucky when it comes to the financing of his MBA. He’s been one of the few to have a “FONGECIF”, which is a free period of paid study. “You must have an institution, the agreement from your company, and the most difficult, the agreement of the FONGECIF. Only a few MBA applications are accepted, and I was one of them, so they have taken care of the tuition fee, and I have the equivalent of 90% of my salary during my MBA studies.”

In ten years time, Reyre has his sights set on a position as a director on the board of a multinational company, helping to drive the company, and its CEO, in their strategies. “My MBA is helping me to free my mind and acquire new knowledge, to come back better, stronger, and better prepared for future challenges.

“The best things about business school are the learning, the sharing of experiences, and the long lasting worldwide relation you build. Some say the worst things are being so far from the daily life of the firm, and they could be right, but my answer, is that when you do a full-time MBA you know everything upfront.

“I take this year as gift which will change my future career."