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Marion Le Bruchec

Marion Le Bruchec

Sales Manager at Moody's - one of the world's largest financial data companies

  • Location:  London, UK

  • Title:  Sales Manager in Financial Data

  • Company:  Moody’s Analytics

  • Sector:  Finance

  • Degree & University (what did you study and where): Strategy & Business  Innovation at Le Conservatoire National des Arts & Metiers in Paris

How does your usual day look like?

My workday varies greatly depending on the time of year and whether I'm at our HQ in London or travelling within Europe to visit clients.


I typically wake up around 7AM, unless I have an early flight. When going to work, I dress according to my meetings (and the weather). I need fresh air to start the day so I always walk to Paddington Station, and get in the Elizabeth line to our office Canary Wharf. I use the time on the tube to read the news, listen to a podcast, draft emails, or answer WhatsApp messages.

The moment I walk into the office, I get into that bubble of energy and motivation to work towards our goals. 


At Moody’s our internal meetings rarely start until 9.30 am so I use that time to prepare meetings and plan my time.  While drinking my first coffee, I check the latest updates on our business forecasts. As a sales manager, I am accountable for every pending deal and our top management may request the latest information at any time.


I oversee eight relationship managers who have full responsibility handling our European clients. Our sales cycles involve lengthy negotiations, requiring internal discussions, creativity and good preparation. Depending on the time of the year my team members work under high pressure as they have to finalise negotiations within very tight deadlines. I make sure each day to have dedicated time to support them in finding solutions and meeting clients. 


I would try as much as possible to get a couple of breaks during the week either “Me” time for a quiet lunch or yoga session or social time with my partner. That helps me to step away from work and come back into it with a fresh mind. 


 I would sometimes work extra in the evenings/weekends if something requires urgency or when I need to anticipate some of my work for the next day. 

In my job, every day is unique, there is nothing I can ever take for granted. That can sometimes be challenging and I love it!


What are the things you like the most about your job?

At Moody’s, I lead a team of 8 sales people from 6 nationalities and we manage clients based in 8 different countries. That means everyday  being immersed in different cultures, ways of doing business and communicating. Every interaction is special  and requires me to stay open minded and adaptable. That’s what I love about my job - the daily variety and the people I work with. 



What are some of the skills you utilise the most in your day-to-day?

I am an extravert and I am a motivator. Depending on the situation I take a step back to listen or I get proactive to support my team. 


What was one of your happiest days in your career and why?

I started my career in a start up business selling finance training. That was my first role in sales and at the time I had very basic knowledge about finance. As we were a small organisation, my manager quickly decided to give me full ownership of some of the territories. Through my then recent network and hard work doing cold calling I secured a first business trip to Morocco where I got to meet a couple of CEO’s from the local leading banks. 

At the time I felt very proud and happy that my boss trusted me to run it all on my own. It was a perfect opportunity to step up and prepare well to run the show on my own.

What has been your greatest challenge on your career path and how did you overcome it?

As part of completing my bachelor in international marketing and business we had to complete 3 to 6 months of internship every year. It was always challenging to get into an internship the first few years as my professional experience in that field was minimal. In my third year I really wanted to have an experience working at a communication agency. Through a family member I got  connected with an  event agency who quickly accepted to take me in. After a month in the role, I started feeling very frustrated as I realised that I had been parked in a corner of the office completing  all tasks that no one else would want to do. I started noticing that a lot of conversations were about criticising previous interns for the mistakes they had done. It was a tricky situation because not only did it have a very negative atmosphere but also there was also no feedback shared with me. I was lucky to have a very inspiring mentor at University who helped me navigate that situation and put an end to our collaboration . 


What is something you had to learn to become better at your job?

To become a good manager I had to learn to communicate priorities and expectations. 


Through experience and strong support from my manager I have learned that it is important to be defining expectations and to set standards. Perspectives and perceptions differ from person to person and need to be continuously managed. A feedback culture, strong listening skills and a supportive business environment at Moody’s help me to make my team successful. 


How did you get to become a Sales Manager in Financial Data?

The first 10 years of my career in sales were for either small companies or European satellite offices. In this context I always had quite expanded responsibilities managing large regions/clients but also managing colleagues. In 2020, I was at the Global Association of Risk Professionals for more than four years, my role had expanded and although I loved it and had memorable experiences I realised that there was a ceiling on my career progression due to the limited size of the organisation. This is when I started reflecting on what I wanted to be doing next. After many conversations with professionals from my network and headhunters, I got introduced to Fulya who has been my manager at Moody’s Analytics ever since. She was looking to hire a new relationship manager in the data sales team for clients in the financial services. At that time I knew about financial services, I knew a lot about financial risk management but I did not know anything about Moody’s Analytics data and content. 

I took on the role which on paper could be considered a downgrade from my previous role as I had no management responsibilities.

I had to learn a lot and I was ready to take a step back as it would open wider opportunities for my career. I spent almost two years as an individual contributor in the team, learning from the best, until an opening for Manager appeared to be the perfect next step. Although I liked my role at the time I was missing the bigger picture that you get as a manager. In February 2022, I got the role and started managing the team I have today. 


What makes you gracefullyBOLD?

Embracing self-love before seeking it from others. 

What are the top three pieces of advice you would give to other women aiming to achieve long-term success in their careers?

Put yourself into the right circles that will stimulate and support your development. Be conscious about who you surround yourself with. Your  friends, your life partner and mentor will have an impact on your success. 


Professional networking for women matters because…

It's a source of inspiration that is essential to my personal and professional growth. Together we grow better.


How do you deal with stress and build resilience?

To me, stress is a natural part of the lifestyle I've chosen: having a demanding job, living in a big city etc ... Some form of stress has an adrenaline effect on me that makes me feel powerful and capable of achieving more. 

In order to manage my stress level I would make sure that it aligns with my choices and decisions.

For example, if I need to run an important meeting I would make sure I start preparing early enough and have enough time to digest the information so that on the day despite the stress I would feel confident about it.


What would have been your alternative career path?

Having started my career in the field of education, and with parents in that field I would have loved launching my own school. I find it very rewarding to be able to advise people on how they could develop new skills and help them through their career path.  Some of the new educational models such as 42 are very inspiring as they break the traditional approach of education by focusing on project-based learning and teamwork, rather than theoretical education.


What strategies or practices have you found most effective in building and maintaining confidence in your professional life, especially during challenging times?

Like everyone I am not always confident but I have realised that if I don't believe in myself nobody else will. So from there I would say the number one strategy is to be gentle to myself when I feel I have failed or made  the wrong decision. I own my decisions and try to learn from my mistakes. Sometimes that requires that I push myself to move on and focus on what comes next. Ultimately, I want to stay focused on moving forward.


Who is a (female) professional that inspired you along your career journey? 

During my first decade at work, I was primarily surrounded by male leaders. I have learned a lot from them but I found inspiration in a female leader  I do not know personally: Christine Lagarde. 


Her journey from becoming the first female partner in a world leading law firm  to one of the most powerful women in global finance serves as a powerful example of how determination, skill, and perseverance can overcome numerous obstacles. On top of that her French background and the way she communicates with a certain degree of directness have always resonated with me.


What’s the one question we didn’t ask you, but you’d like to answer? 

  • Question: In times of doubt, what do you do?

  • Answer:  As children, we play and dream every day. As we grow older, I find that we often limit that imagination.

    So in times of doubt, I sit with myself , sometimes take a pen and paper and envision how I want to see my future self. I tap into that childhood ability to dream and create stories about who I want to be and how I will achieve it.


The previous interviewee left a question for you: How do you stay productive and energised on busy days?

Busy days actually keep me very energised and efficient as I need to be super organised to manage different moving parts of my day. So for me, keeping energised on a not so busy day is where I need to make an effort in planning: take a step back and create a list of tasks/projects I need to work on.


One word answers & quick fire round. Let's go!

  • What's your superpower: My positivity

  • Favourite restaurant (state name and city): Daphne’s, London

  • Favourite fashion brand: Max & Co

  • Favourite beauty product: Nashi hair products

  • Favourite perfume: Coco Mademoiselle, Channel 

  • Book recommendation (state title and author): Resilience, Boris Cyrulnik

  • Next holiday destination: French Riviera

  • Your hobby: Dancing

  • What’s your mantra? Self Love

  • Who inspires you: People with strong resilience 


  • Tea or Coffee: Coffee

  • Red wine or White wine: Beer !

  • Morning bird or Night owl: Morning

  • Cat person or Dog person: Cat

Thank you Marion for sharing your journey & wisdom with us!

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