HOW YOU SWAN: Her Story - Christelle’s Story

One of the most powerful parts of the SWAN journey has always been your stories - what drives you, why women’s voices in the space industry matter to you, and what keeps you going. With #HowYouSWAN, we began by highlighting the incredible women shaping our industry. Today, we take it one step further.

Introducing How You SWAN: Her Story — a deeper-dive format designed to explore the journeys behind the careers. Through these stories, we go beyond profiles to uncover lived experiences, pivotal moments, and the realities that shape each path.

Because behind every role, every achievement, there is a story worth telling.

And this one is Christelle’s.

A familiar face within SWAN, she is one of our founders and current President. Her journey extends far beyond the alliance - as Space Counselor to the French Embassy in the UAE, representative of the French Space Agency (CNES) in the Middle East, and Vice President of Cosmos for Humanity.

Her Elevator Pitch: When did she use it in her career? How has it evolved throughout her journey?

There are several types of elevator pitches: those that present a product, an idea, or a solution, and those that focus on the person behind it.

At the beginning of my career, I focused on the former. Then, I realized that the two are inseparable. Beyond the product itself, it is the credibility and legitimacy of the person delivering the message that truly make the difference.

After years of experience in launcher engineering and strategy, I assumed, somewhat naively, that my legitimacy spoke for itself. It doesn't. You first have to assert who you are and what you have accomplished before sharing new ideas, especially when they are disruptive.

That’s when I learned to use “I.”

I don’t know whether this is typically feminine, but until then, I had expressed myself only through “we,” referring to the team projects I had led. I realized that this “we” diluted the message and weakened my personal positioning…

One piece of advice you’d give to a fellow colleague: When did you use it yourself?

Halfway through my career, around the age of 35 - 40, I became aware that my ideas – my points of view or strategic opinions – were not being heard, despite more than 15 years of experience in the field. I then began to question the way I was communicating my messages: what if the problem didn’t lie with those around me, but with how I was expressing myself or adapting to my audience?

That’s when I discovered a key method: “self-marketing.” I worked on my own personal marketing, clearly identifying what I wanted to convey and the most appropriate approaches to deliver my messages with impact.

Your story as a woman in a male-dominated field: your fears and failures? How did you overcome them? What did you learn from them?

I believe the greatest difficulty remains self-confidence. When I was younger, during my studies and at the start of my career, I had it in abundance. But it gradually faded when I was made to understand that my ideas - logical, simple, obvious in my eyes - were not “in line” or politically correct. I learnt to stay silent, to no longer openly express my convictions. Without realizing it, this deeply weakened me: I was no longer aligned with myself.

I then had to learn to listen to myself again, to convince myself that I was right more often than I thought. There is no need to convince everyone. The essential thing is to find your mission: work you will be proud of, that you will defend with passion, and an environment where you will finally dare to express your ideas without shame.

What is one thing that everyone who reads this article should know?

To remain aligned with yourself, whatever the environment or your personal and professional life choices. In my view, that is the best advice to give: the kind that allows you to live with peace of mind, even if it is not the easiest path.

Christelle’s story is a reminder that growth is not always a question of climbing higher, but a question of returning to oneself.

Her journey shows us that, beyond expertise, careers are built on courage: the courage to own your voice, to say “I” rather than hiding behind “we”, and to stand by your convictions.

This is precisely why SWAN strives to foster environments where women in space can speak and lead without foregoing who they are.

When one woman like Christelle dares to assert her legitimacy, she makes space for many others to do the same.