Interview: Bérénice Covarel
March 8: International Women's Rights Day
For this month of March, the Exertier Trésor des Alpes team has decided to talk to you about several women. Why these women? Because we admire them and because we believe their words can inspire you as much as they did us.Today, read Bérénice Covarel.
Bérénice Covarel, is a former ski champion, a wonder mother and above all a talented decorator! She is the one who designed the sublime decor of the Refuge de Solaise in Val d'Isère (where you can relax at the Exertier spa after a grueling day of skiing, or not ;-)). Bérénice probably doesn't know it, but she was a turning point in my life. One day on the phone she explains to me that if she doesn't take time for herself then she is a bad mother, a bad wife and a bad working girl. That this time is essential for him to take care of others. It seems simple written like that but it made me TILT . Perhaps that's the secret of girls who manage to juggle their job, their lover, their children and their friends... is that they understand above all that they have to take care of themselves!
Who are you and what does International Women's Day mean to you?
My name is Bérénice, I am the mother of 3 little boys, Léon and Emilien, my 10 year old twins, and César who has just turned 5. I turned 40 on March 9, I am an interior decorator specializing in mountain projects. I grew up in Tignes, my parents were traders, and I was a wild mountain Heidi, who moved with my friends in nature, combining skiing and studies... Passionate about sports in general, I chose to join ski studies, in order to reconcile my passion for sport with studies, starting with alpine skiing, then mogul skiing for the more freestyle side. Through hard work and passion, I quickly joined the French mogul ski team. Injuries, training, difficulty reconciling skiing and higher education, I decided in 2003 after a victory in the Ski World Cup in Japan to put an end to my skiing career to live a freer life as a young woman. .. International Women's Rights Day is first of all an opportunity for me to realize how lucky I am every day, to do a job that I love, alongside the life of a woman, of an extremely fulfilled wife and mother. This brings me every year to think of the women who fight for this development. I am not talking about equality, because personally I do not demand it, and I am very admiring when entrepreneurs propose actions for women's centers.
Who is your biggest female inspiration?
My mother Régine has always been my great feminine inspiration, I couldn't have dreamed of a better maternal model, thanks to her I am a balanced woman, filled with love with solid foundations. Generous, courageous, strong, caring, loving... I benefited daily from an extraordinary model and, I am delighted that my sons can grow up and evolve close to this wonderful grandmother. My passion for reading also brought me another source of feminine inspiration, when I read the book La Promesse de l'aube by Romain Gary, which I literally adored. I am a fan of this mother, driven by love and unconditional faith in her son. This mother - son story is very inspiring for me, full of humor and tenderness, I admire the extravagant energy she deploys so that her son experiences a grandiose destiny. I try to match the energy of this mother every day with my 3 little boys ... Finally, my long-time friend Laurence Bertholin, has also been a very important feminine inspiration in my life, a sister of the heart, who also practiced high-level skiing and who was able to accompany me in my development as a teenager, a young woman, a woman, a wife, a mother... our long herbal teas by the fireplace, or our long telephone conversations brought me a lot... wisdom, perspective, renewed energy, questioning, rants, tears, laughter, but above all a lot of love and kindness . Without forgetting, my nugget Inga (Ingrid Omeragic) my prodigious friend, who every year is forced to accompany me on the wonderful adventure of Burning Man.
What were the difficulties when you started your professional life and how did you overcome them?
High-level sport taught me a lot, a great school of life, and made me mature very quickly, much faster than a non-athletic teenager. So I started working life very armed, trained, and sharpened to face the difficulties of entrepreneurship... When I launched myself as an interior decorator after the birth of my twins (10 years ago years), it was with great self-confidence that I began this new activity, having been passionate about fashion and decoration since I was very young. My past as a high-level sportswoman did not allow me to study in this sector, so I opted for a Higher Business School, telling myself that the general side of these higher studies would contribute to the solid foundations already in my possession, and that the diploma was only one means among others to succeed, and that my personality and my person would do the rest... By becoming a mother, in addition to a woman, a wife and an entrepreneur, the free electron that I claimed was shaken, my balance was upset, and I felt consumed... Saying no was for me a form of weakness, went against the cool woman that I like to be, and implied conflict for me! Then with time, long discussions on the experiences of my divine friends, sport, yoga and my naturopath, I discovered that saying NO with a smile to limit intrusions or explosions, for your personal well-being and his family's was just wonderful.
What is your ultimate advice for balancing your life as a woman and your work?
I don't have one ultimate piece of advice but 3 ultimate tips for balancing your life as a woman and your professional life... Trust yourself, surround yourself with caring and loving friends and make time for yourself every day ( sport, meal or aperitif with friends, reading, exhibition, cinema...). And never forget that the person who knows you best and loves you the most is yourself, so leave yourself alone and don't be too harsh.
Julie Exertier
Bérénice's news: Bérénice has just completed the sublime interior decoration project REFUGE DE SOLAISE in Val d'Isère: Exertier hotel, restaurant and spa perched at 2,550 meters above sea level, a gem accessible only by cable car or seal skin . Find out more about the Refuge de Solaise on their Instagram account @lerefugedesolaise Bérénice is working on the renovation of a hotel located in the center of Val d'Isère, hotel VAL D'ISÈRE , with an opening planned for December 2020: she is therefore in full "effervescence of artistic inspiration" She also has various interior design projects, for private mountain enthusiasts, visible from time to time on her Instagram , because Bérénice is not very technological!