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The Next Levelers

NICOLAS RENERIC

I BET YOU I CAN FIND ANOTHER WAY
TO DO IT

« You are sentenced to death by a king who always tells the truth. What question should you ask him so he spares your life? » That’s the kind of enigma which taught me to think differently from an early age. Then one night, I saw an improvisation match and I got picked up by chance in the audience to jump on stage. My first time ever… The vertigo was strong, the enigma was huge: how should I deal with my partners under pressure? Adapting myself instantly, with no other piece of evidence than their reactions? After graduating from Audencia, I tried hard to solve that enigma and understood how crucial is was to make any interaction work, in all my activities: marketing, magic, developing a national commercial network, making pranks for hidden cameras in a TV program… Finally, we managed to solve the equation with Next Level’s lab! Conducting our trainings is really exciting. In the meantime, if a king ever puts you in jail, here’s what you could ask him: « If you say yes to that question, will you release me? »

CAROLINE GAUDFRIN

EFFICIENCY, ELEGANCE, ENTERTAINMENT !

When he was studying at Centrale Paris, Gustave Eiffel learnt to build towers and bridges… When I studied there, I learnt to build walkways between different worlds. For me, a multidisciplinary approach is the greatest sign of openness and curiosity, probably because of my Anglo-Saxon background. When you are passionate about a project, diversity becomes an expertise in itself! After I got caught by the magic of piano at 5, by the beauty of Broadway musicals in New York at 15, by the challenges of industries at 25 as a consultant for A.T. Kearney, I was struck by the number of synergies there were to explore.

I’m addicted to all types of performing arts : as a concert pianist and former student of the Paris’ Ecole Normale de Musique… as a member of the Vocapeople… as Fantine in « Les Misérables », as the director of Arthur Miller’s « The Crucible », as a writer… And of course, as a guide to solve people’s interpersonal issues in their professional lives. What I find thrilling about being a trainer is to set off the spark. What I find thrilling about being a ghostwriter and a journalist for seminars, is to exalt messages which are so dear to the hearts of the speakers. Long live Frankenstein creatures!

LAURENT JACQUES

I’VE GOT TUNS OF IDEAS

Being an engineer AND a creative artist… of course that’s possible! The years I spent at Centrale Paris and at Dassault reinforced my curiosity and my ability to marvel myself. « How does that work? What if we replace this widget by that thingy? What if we explored another path… »

One day, I realized I had fulfilled my first childhood dream: working for the NASA, building planes, inventing software programs… It was time for me to fulfill a new one: being an artist! I started as an improviser, then as an actor. I went touring as Peter Pan in Lebanon, I created a new concept of improv’ show with « Casino », which we have been performing in front of sold-hout houses at the Avignon festival for a few years now…

My eagerness to create led me to co-found Next Level, where I put my professional experience (as a teacher, project manager, engineer, actor, improviser) to serve work-related issues.

Whether it be workshops for children, MBA students, project teams, Executive Committees or prisoners longing for reinsertion, my mission remains the same: make them dream and give them the means to change!

SOLEN LE MAREC

LET’S DO IT TOGETHER !

I have an obsession: the group is an incredible source of ideas and performance… Soon, I leave my job as an R&D engineer at L’Oréal to devote myself to this vast subject… by doing theater: I start my acting career with forum theater, which will be my first professional experience of collective intelligence! I also create Tutti Quanti with four actresses, a theater company managed collegially. Managing a team of artists is quite an art… and the opportunity for me to put into practice my intuitions about shared governance. In parallel to my activity as an actor, I found Next Level Formation with 11 associates: a network of consultants and trainers in soft skills who have the particularity of approaching training in companies by mixing improvisation and behavioral sciences.

More broadly, I explore living and doing together in my private sphere with collective experiences, each more engaging than the last…

My latest show? “Alice, did you say Wonders? “a story written from the words of citizens in which I interpret Lewis Caroll’s heroine who, despite the injunctions and despite her representation of women, tries to become herself.

My latest challenge? To obtain my university diploma in collective intelligence based on an experience of citizen empowerment around the planting of urban forests and on my thesis “the movement at the service of collective intelligence”.

My next step? To work alongside you … who knows?

OLIVIER BETTACH

IN PRACTICE, IT’S REALLY SIMPLE !

I fell in the « theatre » cauldron at the age of 5, and never left it ever since. I discovered theatrical improvisation by accident (or was it ?) at HEC Business School. Since the theatre club was meant for beginners, I decided to join the improvisation class instead, where I realized I was even worse than a beginner… I was just clueless about what it really entailed! It was a slap in the face, but it was also luck: as I worked hard to change my own reflexes, I understood how important it was to listen actively to others and control my emotions. Those improvisation techniques boosted me tremendously in my professional life: they helped me manage challenging situations, federate and motivate people. Later on, I had another huge revelation when I discovered transactional analysis, a science which theorizes the way we communicate. When I started linking improv’ to TA, I soon had the feeling I had discovered a « superpower » which I was eager to share with as many people as possible. Today, I wake up every morning with the desire to transform companies and renew the 21th century elite: I am convinced the key for future managers is to unite their teams through authenticity.

NATHALIE GOBIN

LET’S SEE THINGS IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT

I have one firm conviction: we all have an infinite potential and many sides to it – whether we express them or not -, and that potential evolves constantly.

As a student at HEC Business School, I was already training to become a professional actress. After that, I decided to launch my career as a communication consultant and maintain an artistic life at the same time, through improvisation, theatre, on-stage or off-stage as a writer…

I love exploring the richness of human nature and push its boundaries, whether it be mine or others’. Helping people (re)-discover their resources is amazing. Nothing makes me happier than combining the magic of theatre with the reality of business! Changing your view angle, taking a step back, mastering an unpredictable situation… these are a few of the many common traits between improv’ and the development of soft skills.

I am also a yoga teacher, which is another way for me to pursue this exploration into well-being and professional fulfillment… head upside down to set ideas in the right place!

GRICHA MIOCHE

INVENT YOUR OWN STORY

After graduating from Centrale Paris, I became a researcher in economics at ENS, before starting a career in politics. I was entrusted by the French Ministry of Finance with the management of the « energy » portfolio of their Budget Department. Throughout my interactions with important actors from the electricity, nuclear, and hydrocarbons sectors, I was faced with problematics of leadership, influence, negotiation, team projects…. The exact challenges which are at the core of our approach!

In 2007, I took off for another adventure: scenario. Passionate about storytelling, I started writing screenplays for TV. I contributed to beautiful projects such as « Criminal Prints » (France 2) and « Falco » (TF1).

At the same time, I started working as a trainer and coach, and giving a leadership class at Centrale and a storytelling class at Sup de Pub.

Last but not least, I continue living my passion for theatrical improvisation. I play in « Showtime » and have been teaching improvisation for over 15 years now.

MARINE MONTAUT

WHAT DO YOU MEAN IMPOSSIBLE, WOULD YOU MIND IF I TRIED ?

At 40 years old I already feel like I’ve had several lives, living several right now, and that many more are still waiting for me. And that’s what drives me: to discover, invent, learn, both intellectually and emotionally. I am convinced that through contact with others we can change, we can help change, and that everything, or almost everything, is possible… but also that we must like to let go because from the moment we want to make things happen in co-construction, the result is never quite what we had in mind at the beginning… and so much the better!
Actress, author and ESSEC MBA graduate, I use all my expertise acquired in the professional world as well as in the artistic spheres to develop “knowing how to be” and emotional intelligence in the professional sphere as an associate consultant at Next Level Formation.
The passion to act on a theater stage, it begian in 3rd grade. The taste for business, not much later and this thanks to beautiful models of entrepreneurs, a lot of small jobs, my years at ESSEC, a crazy experience in India, and at Procter & Gamble… At PG, I rubbed shoulders with the field and trade marketing and I discovered that I enjoy this role of interface a lot. I love to connect people, to find solutions so that they can meet each other and reveal themselves as individuals in and for the team. I devote a lot of energy to it and I miss the theater… So, goodbye laundry and diapers, I enter the Cours Simon. I play, I explore, I open artistic ways but I also want to continue to look for new tracks in the company. In 2005, I was lucky enough to meet other mutants who also believe that one can be oneself by assuming to be “several”: artist, consultant, trainer, coach… We all believe that we can act to help others change, dare, find, invent, assert themselves, build better together… And we created our own business model with 12 partners: Next Level Formation. This company is almost 10 years old, I have been its development director on several occasions and I am proud today that it gathers a community of 40 trainers who make it evolve day after day towards a model that we do not know yet.
Today, I am trained in several training and coaching techniques – edutainment, transactional analysis, NVC, DISC, Process Com, mindmapping, sketchnoting, cognitive neuroscience, interest-based negotiation, creativity, design thinking, collective intelligence – and I intervene on a variety of subjects: service posture, public speaking, management, project management, stress management, team dynamics, conflict management… And I continue to work on broadening my field of play.

As an actor and author, I am currently working on the adaptation of a novel for the Avignon Festival 2021, but also on projects mixing music and theater with a baroque string quartet.
You can also come and listen to the theatrical menus that I have composed and directed at the Restaurant Théâtre Réminisens in Versailles during a real journey through time to discover the Grand Siècle and the secrets of Versailles.

ROMAIN CADORET

YOU ARE GOING TO LIVE AN UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT

I caught the acting bug when I was still in the cradle. At 6 years old, I took my first small steps on stage; at 10, I took my first big steps on stilts; at 13, I lived my first regional tour with an improvisation troupe… Later on, during my studies at Centrale Paris, I decided this dream of theatre would one day become a reality. I spent one year in Western Africa and in Zanzibar where I used « forum theatre » to raise people’s awareness about HIV in bush villages. When I came back to France, I decided to pursue my career in training, both backstage (consulting, training development, process optimization) and on stage (or should I say, on the field!).
Today I have found the perfect balance: on one side working as a trainer for small and large companies, on the other side performing as an improviser and a comedian in renowned theatres. I live my passion to the fullest every day and I’m glad to use it to boost profound behavioural changes and offer participants new visions about their jobs :o) ←because you should always end with a smile…

PAULINE KLEIN

BINGO, THAT’S IT ! HERE’S WHAT WE CAN DO…

In 2005, after graduating from HEC Business School, I started working for Olgivy, an advertisting company where I learnt what it meant to « deal with a customer »: fighting to promote an idea, being the buffer between the client and my team, juggling impossible agendas… Coming up with a beautiful campaign as a project manager brought great moments of euphoria… but what a battlefield it was!

After this incredible experience, I decided to raise up to a crazy challenge: making a living out of my childhood passion, theatre. Actually, putting on a show is pretty similar to launching a campaign! I got into acting (with a wonderful experience in the improv’ show « Casino »), staging, writing… but what I like most is directing actors! Helping an actor dig deep within himself to embody a character with his most intimate resources, that’s exactly what I enjoy about training: helping people change their practices, develop unsuspected skills, live a strong moment of introspection.

LUDOVIC THIEVON

YOU CAN NEVER DO TOO MUCH IMPROV !

One evening in 2001, I discovered theatrical improvisation. The verdict was clear: I fell in love with this art form and will remain so. By immediately launching myself into this discipline, I discovered a universe of incredible emotional and intellectual richness. After studying at EDHEC, an MBA in Canada, and several professional experiences in sales and marketing (notably at Orange as a key account manager), I decided in 2010 to take the plunge and join a Dramatic Art Conservatory. Since then, I have been extremely lucky: to bring together my two cultures in the same job, to merge my training and my passion, to meet stories in multiple universes. Having been or still being on the bill of the 3 main professional improvisation shows in Paris (Theatral Suspects, Casino, Le Grand ShowTime at Point-Virgule), actor in about fifteen short and feature films and in a dozen plays, author, director, I create and lead my Next Level training courses with one goal in mind: through art, humbly trying to re-humanize relations in companies. Improv, because of its values, is an exceptional school of life.

IDA GORDON

I LOOOOOOOOVE THAT IDEA !
LET’S DO IT !

Why wouldn’t we have the right to live our dreams? Studying at ESCP Business School? I loved it… Writing a revival of yiddish theatre and performing it for 6 months in Paris? I loved it… Working at the HR department of EDF-Gaz de France with senior managers? I loved it… Joining the International Academy of Musical Theatre in Paris? Working in business development in London? Playing in « Fiddler on the Roof »? Writing for TV or theatre, taking care of my grandad, touring in Asia as Juliet’s nurse in « Romeo and Juliet », co-founding Next Level, having children, triggering changes in the lives of participants and helping them let go !? I loved all of it…

Everything I did, I did because I dreamed it, because I loved it. And that’s never going to stop…