Around the Campus: Isabelle Andrieu, the path of female leadership

Isabelle Andrieu has been living an adventurous journey as Co-Founder and COO of Translated and as Co-Founder of Pi Campus. She masters change and defines balance as “finding peace while you’re climbing a ladder”. She is also able to juggle while standing on that ladder, as she takes care of her family of 4 as well as her Pi Family.

Today, Translated is an internet based translation company with over 150.000 customers and Pi Campus has recently added its 6th villa (ours!), being home to dozens of startups and hundreds of citizens. Isabelle is directly involved in the recruiting of new talents and the one behind every detail, such as a fully loaded pantry and beautiful spaces to work and relax.

We sat to talk about female leadership and ended up talking about the true meaning of feminism, which is equality. Just one of many proofs of what a special leader she is.

“Behind every great woman, there’s a great man”. Wait, was it the other way around? Isabelle and her husband, Marco Trombetti, are making their dreams come true since they first met in France. “Marco is the soul of everything we are doing here. I’ve always supported him and I do my best to overcome every barrier in achieving his vision for Pi Campus”.

Isabelle is surely the master of operations. Her leadership style is very personal and you can see it in the way she deals with her teams in Translated. One of the best examples is Isa’s Kitchen, an initiative born from the will to break down the barriers that her position within the company might suggest, and to establish peer contact with her team. Bearing that in mind, once a week, Isabelle cooks for a small number of people from different departments, so they can all get to know each other better while learning about other areas within the company.

“We are now divided into three headquarters and we are still growing. It’s becoming harder to know everyone. The more you grow the less people feel like they are part of the same project. My idea was that of gathering people on an informal occasion, so they would feel more at ease and saw me for what I am, just like one among them.”

Translated is also a great example of gender equality. And that happens very naturally: “for us is all about meritocracy. We give the same opportunity to everyone, we make no distinction in terms of admission or salary”. Other than having women in leading roles, 80% of the Project Management department is formed by women. Some women who are now Directors at Translated started as interns years ago. Isabelle and Marco followed their growth and gave them more trust at every step.

Thanks to her experience in the startup and tech world, Isabelle is at the front line of change of female empowerment in business: “today we see many different female realities such as Women in Tech and, if you think, it all started less than 10 years ago. It’s a great sign of a process that is taking place every day.”

Change is a constant in business. It is true for female leadership and it is for Isabelle. “During these years, I’ve learned that you can’t be afraid of change. Marco always dreams big, and he has fun with it, that’s his motto. I love that and I let myself go. It’s a journey and who knows where we are heading” she says. It all started when she was 22 years-old and made plans for the future as every young adult. She fell in love and, together, the couple decided to take the next step in their career and on their life. Plans never turn out the way we expected, and sometimes, they can really exceed expectations.

When things change, there is always an adjustment phase that Isabelle describes as a cycle that alternates from disruption to settlement. “Comme un phare au milieu de la tempête” like they say in French, Isabelle is a solid rock for those around her. And like in every partnership, there’s always someone more steady and realistic, “Marco is completely absorbed on his visions and sometimes he needs to be called back to earth!” she says smiling.

And what about balance? That elusive concept that no-one really knows how to define. “Balance is about making the most of every occasion. Find happiness in the details. Now we’re having a coffee and chatting, I love that, this makes me happy”.

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