The Virtualiens *

Originally from the island of Maurice, Arshad came to France in 2001 to study Architecture! Today, he is a Quality Manager for VirtualExpo Group’s six online marketplaces. Arshad has been working with us since 2013.

As a Quality Manager, Arshad ensures that all company products and services meet quality standards before they go online as well as a post-online control. His primary responsibilities include understanding customer expectations and needs, outlining quality standards, and developing quality control processes for all our B2B marketplaces. This facilitates the customer journey and makes it the best experience possible.

Arshad’s spoken languages: French, English, and Mauritian

Favorite company value:  “Stronger Together” because I truly believe there’s strength in numbers!

Fun fact: I’m the Vice President of an Astronomy and Astrophotography Association called AstroGeek 13.

Allyson comes all the way from Brooklyn, New York and moved to France 3 years ago right after graduating from university. She quickly learned French and launched her career in Marseilles.

Graduated with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Art History and Communication from the State University of New York, she worked on the marketing teams of major museums in New York City such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In 2017, Allyson joined VirtualExpo Group marketing team and, as Brand Content Marketing, she works on creating online content to reinforce our six marketplaces’ brands and online reputation, to educate and accompany clients on using our services, and promote content. She also manages the company’s social media and promotes client products and posts on industry news and trends on various platforms.

Allyson’s spoken languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, and French.

Favorite Company Value: “I think the company value I strongly believe in is 100% ‘Living Diversity’ because it embodies so much of my identity and personality! It’s part of the reason I am so comfortable at work. Everyone is so culturally diverse, it’s beautiful. It’s a very international environment.”

Fun Fact: “I’ve met or run into over 20 celebrities back in NYC…I’m really good at sneaking into places where I don’t belong.”

Former developer within the TMA team (front, back, batch), Alexis has integrated our “project” teams during 2018! From now on, he develops Java back-office applications for the company’s internal functions and for our clients.

After obtaining a Master’s degree in computer science in La Rochelle and working in Niort for 5 years, Alexis was looking for a change of scene and headed for VirtualExpo Group here in Marseille in 2017 !

“Open culture, flat structure, open-space office…VirtualExpo Group is a company where everyone is accessible, without the hierarchy and barriers of traditional offices.”

Born in Morocco, Naoual moved at the age of 5 to the South of France where she has lived ever since. She has a BTS as a Management Assistant in a small and medium-sized business in a metalworking company that unfortunately did not survive the real estate crisis.

“After that, I decided to redirect myself towards a BTS in Accounting and Management of Organizations because I liked accounting very much. In 2014, I applied for a position as an accounting assistant at VirtualExpo Group.”

Her function and missions as Accounting Assistant at VirtualExpo Group include accounts payable, general purchasing, outstanding recovery, administrative, expense report, etc.

Naoual’s spoken languages: French and Arabic

Favorite Company Value: “Living Diversity is the value that suits me since I have a double culture. I think it’s a strength. I’m proud to work in a society where there is great diversity. It allows us to learn from each other and open up to the world around us.”

Fun fact: “I like traveling and foreign cinema (I like to watch foreign films and series like Korean, Turkish, Lebanese, Indian, Danish, Dutch)!“

Nathanaël began his career at VirtualExpo Group as a highly-skilled salesperson and was soon promoted to the Sales Manager of the Distributor Service for VirtualExpo Group. “I have been leading and coaching a great team of salespeople who develop the sales network of our 6 B2B marketplaces. By the way, we are recruiting!”

After an English LLCE degree in Toulon, Nathanaël had the exciting opportunity to complete an Erasmus stay of 6 months at the University of Amsterdam. Followed by a Master’s degree in International Studies specializing in English at Paris III Sorbonne-Nouvelle.

Nathanaël left for Uruguay where he worked for 2 years as an Inside Sales for a French CRM software editor (Ines CRM), and then, as a Strategic Buyer at Altisource, an American financial services company. He also moved to Switzerland where he worked for 3 years as a Client Manager at the United Nations Federal Credit Union. “I was traveling around the world from my office at the Palace of Nations in Geneva meeting United Nations employees from all over the world!”

Nathanaël’s spoken languages: French, English, Spanish, and currently learning Portuguese.

Favorite Company Value: Born to Dare. “I love the spirit of innovation at VirtualExpo Group, and the idea of not holding anyone back in moving forward with our ambitious projects – especially when it comes to the changing behavior of online B2B buyers.”

Fun fact: “As a student, I earned a good part of my rent by doing street entertainment with the dance group ‘Les Zinzins 2 La Rue’.”

Initially hired as E-marketing Coordinator, Asmaa later became Product Manager at VirtualExpo Group. In 2019, her position evolved and she became our Brand Content Manager.

After graduating from high school, Asmaa left her hometown of Rabat to study in France at the University of Aix-Marseille. “I lived in Aix-en-Provence until 2012, then moved to Marseille to pursue my Master’s degree at the school of journalism and communication.” Looking to perfect her e-marketing skills, she joined VirtualExpo Group’s marketing department for her end-of-study internship.

Today, her mission as Brand Content Manager is to accompany our audiences throughout their journey on our B2B marketplaces and corporate website (employer brand) through an engaging content marketing strategy. She also coordinates the specific communication for our marketplace launch strategy.

Asmaa’s spoken languages: Arabic, French and English

Favorite company value: “Proud of your Success” because for a long time I suffered from the “impostor syndrome” which prevented me from living up to my full potential in my professional and personal life. With a lot of patience, commitment and the support of my managers, I was able to build up my self-confidence.”

Fun Fact: “I’m the influencer in our marketing department. I created my blog in 2014 with a deep desire to transmit, through the art of living, the values of my native Morocco. I pay special attention to my coworkers who follow me and who interact with my Instagram page, especially on my Friday publications: #FridayCouscousDay 🙂”

 

Born in Vienna, Austria, Anja obtained her Master’s Degree in Tourism Management starting her professional career in the organization of international sports events.

Then, Anja continued her career as Marketing & Sales Manager in the headquarters for an Austrian Hotel Group. In 2011, she moved to Rome, Italy to work for an American company in International Business Development/B2B Lead Generation for the IT & High-Tech industry.

In 2015, life led her to Marseille, France where she began working with us at VirtualExpo Group! She quickly made her way to becoming a Team Leader in our International Sales department after only 6 months in the company.

She accompanies our clients in closing sales, using our services, improving their sales, utilizing their stand to the max to attract the best buyers ready to make purchases. In addition to developing its customer portfolio, about 50% of Anja’s job revolves around management.

Anja’s spoken languages: German, English, Italian, French, some Spanish too
Anja’s favorite company value: Stronger Together
Anja’s mojo: “SMILE ALWAYS! We have our clients in the whole world but we all SMILE in the same language— even on the phone you need to smile in order to succeed 😄 ”

Alain is one of our Senior Content Manager in Customer Service at VirtualExpo Group. He supports our customers in the optimization of their stand as well as animates our training webinars for our clients so that they can have the best experience selling their products on our websites.
Alain has a background in scientific studies: a diploma of Engineer Centralien and a PhD in Material Science. He started his career as a Researcher (doctoral student) in a CNRS laboratory and university lecturer.

“I am an entrepreneur at heart! I like to discover new horizons and push knowledge a little further. I am curious about everyone by nature and I am interested in everything. When I tackle a subject I like to go all the way and in-depth. I like to be at the junction between two worlds to establish bridges of knowledge between others. Most importantly, I like to teach and help.”

Alain’s spoken languages: French, Spanish, and English

Favorite Company Value: “Proud of your success because my job at VirtualExpo Group is to give the client the tools and the means to strive for success. I like to help, listen, teach, and guide. These are altruistic values that are part of my DNA in everyday life.”

Fun fact: Alain is passionate about photography and even does professional photography outside of his job!

Vincent develops back-office Java applications for internal company functions and for our clients. As scrum master, he is responsible for keeping the team on task and maintaining progress toward established goals.

With a degree in computer science, Vincent acquired experience in Java development at DCNS, Eurocopter and Spir Communication before joining VirtualExpo in 2016.

“In addition to the pleasant atmosphere here, I’m at home with VirtualExpo’s philosophy and start-up spirit. Decisions are made quickly and everyone pulls in the same direction.”

Sergio is VirtualExpo Group’s Spanish translator since 2015! Sergio is part of our amazing team of dedicated translators who work hard to translate our content into different languages.

Originally from the province of Alicante in Spain, Sergio has two native languages: Spanish and Western Catalan (Valencian). He studied French, English, and Russian during his Translation and Interpreting Studies at the University of Alicante, and obtained another university degree in Teaching French as a Foreign Language at the University of Le Mans in 2012.

Before starting his career at VirtualExpo Group, Sergio had already accumulated quite a lot of experience: translation agencies, Slavic Languages Department of the University of Alicante, Medimar Private Hospital of Alicante, Protocol Office of the University of Alicante, Euro-PE Encuentro Project of the European Parliament.

Some of Sergio’s main missions as a Spanish translator at VirtualExpo Group include translating targeted emails, SEO keywords, SmartBlog articles, different sections of our 6 online marketplaces, company legal documents, purchasing guides, webinar materials, and the list goes on! And as if that weren’t enough, he has recently enrolled in the Master’s Degree in Legal and Economic Translation English/French at the University of Córdoba.

Sergio’s spoken languages: Spanish, Catalan, French, and English.

Sergio’s favorite company value: Living Diversity, because at VirtualExpo Group we can express ourselves as we are.

Fun Fact about Sergio: Sergio is a keen lover of music (12 years of music theory and French horn!)

After training in lead generation, Nathalie is currently responsible for an AgriExpo portfolio. She still has a hand in lead generation as a tutor for new arrivals.
After a career as an Italian teacher, Nathalie joined our sales team in 2016. She’s a perfect example of the career shifts common at VirtualExpo.

“At VirtualExpo, we recruit individuals before recruiting professional profiles. Interesting personalities, enriching contacts—we enjoy an environment of mutual support and goodwill.”

As a key account manager, Ervin is developing long term business through renewal and continually searching for new business opportunities.
Born in Albania, Ervin settled in the UK where he acquired a solid sales experience before joining VirtualExpo in 2011.

“VirtualExpo is like a metropolitan city : a fast evolving, multicultural company with a lot of sales opportunities and possibilities to prosper. You can’t help it but to grow fond of it !”

As Senior International Sales Manager, Laetitia manages the company’s most loyal accounts, mostly clients of 10 years, specifically on DirectIndustry. She also works with clients to optimize their business and SEO on their stand.

After studying in Marseille, Berlin and Valencienne Laetitia graduated as an International Business and Finance Associate. She’s had a diverse career ranging from development manager at the Valenciennes Chamber of Commerce to export zone manager in Germany and the United Kingdom in a company specialized in luxury food, to finally bunkering manager for oil tankers and export manager for luxury hotels and the aeronautics sector.

“My philosophy is to dare to dream big because the dream is a door wide open to the future. You have to know how to overcome your fears and limits to gain the experience of life!”

Laetitia’s spoken languages: French, English, and German

Favorite Company Value: “Born to dare is my motto since my childhood”

Fun Fact: “When I went to a salon in Hannover, I went to a restaurant with my work colleagues. I was able to make friends with a manufacturer and his team who was also there by chance. The evening ended with a contract on a piece of a paper tablecloth!”

 

Previously a JEE developer and development team leader, Aurélie is now an agile methodology referent. She coaches workshops to help the company adopt the agile philosophy.

Aurélie studied math and computer science. After discovering coding, she fell in love with software development and got her masters in computer science. She honed her IT consulting skills at Capgemini and Thales before joining VirtualExpo in 2014.

“VirtualExpo is an atypical company, a comfortable cocoon. There’s a good balance between private and professional life. Everyone who’s motivated and committed can manage their career while implementing company strategy.”