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Anne-Julie Navarre (SKEMA 2018): Area manager at Amazon Logistics
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Anne-Julie Navarre holds an MSc in International Business from SKEMA Business School and is currently Area Manager at Amazon Logistics in France, with 4 years' experience in the transport and logistics sector. In this interview, she talks to us about her career path, including a wonderful interlude in China.
Does your Chinese name (Sun Wen) have a specific connotation?
Yeah, well, back in 2016 during my first Chinese class, we had to choose a Chinese name. At the beginning, since I hadn't learned any Chinese before coming here, I thought it would be easiest to write. Also, it's a reference to Sun Yat-sen's politics in China. I thought it would be a fun and interesting fact to mention when Chinese people asked about my Chinese name, to say, "Oh, you know, just like the Sun Yat-sen politician." And yeah, I think it sounds good, and it was easy to write at the time since I didn't know any Chinese. It has a good meaning, right? Following the steps of a historical hero in China. I enjoy these kinds of things, and it makes it easier when introducing yourself to a Chinese person to have a discussion and break the ice.
And you mentioned that you took your first Chinese class in 2016. Is that when you came to SKEMA Suzhou for your programme?
Yes, actually, it was in August 2016. I flew to Shanghai. It wasn't my first time in China, to be honest. I had visited China in 2005 with my parents for a trip, but this time was different. This time, I was there to live and study, which was surprising because I didn't expect to live there. To me, China was just a holiday destination, not a place to live and study.
Everything was new, everything was a first, like eating Chinese food, not just as a tourist, but living in a Chinese environment and attending school with Chinese lecturers. It was my first Chinese class, and I was worried I wouldn't keep up because I had never studied Chinese before. I thought I'd have to start writing characters from the first class, which was daunting. But the lecturers were amazing, and I was the only one who had never studied Chinese before. [...]
Let us move to your professional roles at Amaton and your current role as an area manager in Amazon Logistics. Your roles at Amazon involved managing sortation areas, shipping activities, and serving as the TOM. Could you explain further?
Being a manager at Amazon is a unique and fulfilling experience. , as an area manager, I was responsible for various aspects of the warehouse. Depending on the size and activity level of the area, my responsibilities differed. When I started, I was at a smaller site, launching a site near Paris called CDG9, which was a sortation center. There, I managed a team of 120 people on the morning shift from 5 AM to 1 PM. My responsibilities included overseeing productivity, quality, team management, employee well-being, and most importantly, safety. [...]
