Posted Oct 3, 2022, 7:00 AMUpdated Oct 3, 2022, 12:13 PM
Every Sunday since September, Flora Ghebali, 28, comments on the news on the BFMTV set, alongside former minister Roselyne Bachelot, economist Olivier Badeau and journalist Benjamin Duhamel.
In one hour, the columnists give their opinion in turn, with red or green buzz, on subjects as varied as gender-based and sexual violence, the energy crisis or the rise of the far right in Europe. Often at odds with the panel of commentators, this jack-of-all-trades, all-terrain, plays the assumed role of generational spokesperson, scratching version.
The weekly exercise of live television is not easy and the fate of its “comfort zone”, recognizes Flora Ghebali, who is nevertheless an expert in communication. The Parisian has even been to a good school. Freshly graduated from CELSA, the great school of communication and journalism, in 2016, she began her career in press relations at the Elysée, for two and a half years.
“It gives audacity! »
A school of rigor – “at this level a small detail can cause a storm” – and a school of audacity: “When at 21, you speak with a President of the Republic, in this case François Hollande, you are no longer afraid of much! » comments the one who is not inserted in any party.
An inveterate slasher, she doesn’t like labels. At the head of her consulting firm called Coalitions for two and a half years, she supports companies engaged in environmental and social transition. Alongside, she finds the time to publish an essay for decision-makers entitled “My generation will change the world” (Ed. de l’Aube, 2021) and to host her own podcast “BLA BLA BLA” since February. , a fortnightly 20-minute “political awakening” format.
When asked to describe herself in one word, Flora Ghebali, experienced in the media, still makes the effort: “I am an activist and ‘unsilting’ entrepreneur.” She explains: “I try to build bridges, I break down silos. » It is among other things for this transversal commitment in favor of the ecological transition that Forbes magazine selected her in May 2021 among the 30 most influential personalities under 30 in France. It all ended with a TEDx conference at Paris-Saclay last June.
No career plan?
Adding rope television to his multidisciplinary arc was not really part of his career plan. (Does she only have one?) What is certain is that when an opportunity arises, the young woman knows how to seize it. Even if it means sacrificing your Sunday evening by crossing Paris to get to the confines of the 15th arrondissement at 6 p.m., in front of the BFMTV cameras.
The workload does not scare her, but she admits that transversality is costly in terms of energy. And its justification, painful. “After each broadcast, I must remember that I am not a journalist but only a columnist. Ditto in the middle of entrepreneurship, where I am told ‘you have to raise funds to be credible’, but I don’t want to become a unicorn, just be profitable. As for my publisher, he pushes me to do a doctorate to specialize and become an essayist…” Flattering, but no thanks. Flora Ghebali prefers to browse, take risks, seek contradiction.
“Daughter of” but not only
Coming from a line of media personalities, having cold feet was not really in her genes anyway. Born in Paris, to a father of Egyptian origin, executive vice-president at Suez and founding member of SOS Racisme (Eric Ghebali) and an Italian-Tunisian mother, a successful radio and television presenter (Daniela Lumbroso), this “daughter of” assumed but not asserted said to have grown up in a culture of debate.
“ For me, having an opinion and defending it is valued. At the table, I can tell you that it shakes! », says the youngest of a family of three sisters.
Her strong convictions and her thirst for debate were nevertheless put to the test during her studies at the law faculty of Assas where she validated a license. She can’t find the “place of militant development” which she dreams of. Besides, what counts, she realizes, to be here, is above all to have the “correct zip code”. She praises free access to the university but this system of reproduction of the elites revolts her: “It’s not meritocratic, it damages our country and our businesses…”
From this time, she takes away one “legal way of reasoning” and a certain technicality of which she is proud. “I am buffered by the right for life”, summarizes with a smile the one who completed her studies with a master’s degree at the London School of Economics.
” That’s where it happens “
But it was much later, in 2018, at the crossroads of communication and the SSE, that she entered the world of entrepreneurship. She was then in charge of communication and the development of the La France s’engage foundation. “A bit by chance, I discovered the ecosystem, it’s joyful, innovative, engaging. I think that’s where it’s at. »
Witness of “considerable sums of money badly spent by companies on CSR”, she decided in January 2020 to found her own box. A “social innovation agency” for companies, working with a pool of freelance consultants.
“I started when I had never been in a structure with a turnover”, she remembers with a smile. Objective: to better direct the budgets of CSR boxes towards what it calls “the France of solutions”. Today, it claims about fifteen customers including Danone and Engie but remains discreet about the amount of benefits.
In front of the COMEX, she knows how to alternate between her different hats, sometimes militant, sometimes communicating. Her friend and regular collaborator for four years, Léa Scherer, 30, admires her “capacity to embark” without being afraid of ” chock “, anyway forever ” to dare “.
Having now mastered the company’s vocabulary perfectly, Flora Ghebali encourages her clients to prioritize the creation of values for the common good: “soft profits”. “Money is the sinews of war, but I don’t think that creating profit is the only goal of a company. »
Spiderman and the UN of Billionaires
Flora Ghebali is convinced of this: the ecological and social transition will go through companies or it will not happen. “Who has more power between Patrick Pouyanné [le PDG de TotalEnergies, NDLR] and Christophe Bechu [ministre de la Transition écologique] ? » she launches a bit provocatively.
To give substance to her punchline, she invokes Spiderman: “With great powers, great responsibilities. » And let his thought unfold, inhabited: “I often say to myself that we should create the UN of billionaires, because they are the ones who have the most room for maneuver and therefore potentially have the most impact. »
Remember that last February when we said the word sobriety, we were fired by the bosses!
But is she angry? ” No, not at the moment. I prefer to be constructive.” she retorts with as much malice as determination. Because she sees opportunities in every crisis. “Despite the war launched by Putin and its consequences, I remain optimistic when I see the speed at which we have evolved… Let’s remember that last February when we said the word sobriety, we were fired by the bosses! »
Above all, she savors the victories. Two months ago, on her LinkedIn account, the entrepreneur congratulated herself on having encouraged the government to organize its own training as well as that of 25,000 civil servants in ecological issues. And this, thanks to a petition signed by more than 85,000 people. We can read in capital on his post: “PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER. »
Make privacy political
Throughout all her activities, Flora Ghebali manages to find a balance between professional and personal life. She does yoga “good boho eco” (she rolls her eyes and laughs at the same time) but leaves Paris as soon as she can to go hiking and avoid the burn-out she came close to barely a year ago. “I love Paris, but with the pollution, the noise, the hyperactivity, it’s an anxiety-provoking city! »
Even if since she publicizes her commitments, the border between the public and the intimate is thin. Hybridizing her personal and militant life is for her a “political act” but also a way of not dressing up between 9 and 5 p.m. Only one regret in this whirlwind: not seeing enough of her grandmother, a founding figure of her feminism, who nevertheless lives a ten-minute walk from her home.
To maintain the border, she says she is now thinking about her working hours, although she deplores ” an annoying” tendency to do a thousand things at once and “to get eaten” by his phone. “I’m addicted to the last degree, I’d rather quit the cigarette than the smartphone…” In short, Flora Ghebali is a girl of her generation.
His three tips for getting a message across in a debate… gently:
– To understand his interlocutor and talking to him “on his ground” is the best way to defuse the invective.
– Avoid words that split and who irritate on hot topics (for example: “patriarchy” in a debate on feminism).
– Never show your anger because 80% of the message goes through the body. What you need to remember is the message, not the emotion it arouses.
