Interim management · Fashion, beauty, sport, culture & lifestyle · Paris
Interim CEO, COO & CCO. Finance and branding.
I take the lead of fashion, beauty, sport, culture and lifestyle brands for 3 to 18 months: turnaround, financial restructuring, organisation, repositioning. I hold both ends: the numbers, and what makes people want to buy.
- Available for a new mandate
- Start within 15 days
- French · English · Mandarin
Three roles
I take the role that's missing. Not a consulting assignment.
A mandate has a scope, quantified objectives and an end date. I lead, I get things done, I recruit or train my successor, then I leave.
Interim managing director
Turnaround, financial restructuring, 13-week cash plan, 3–5 year strategic plan, relations with shareholders and banks, preparing a fundraise, LBO or sale. I own the P&L.
Interim chief operating officer
Organisation, executive committee, governance, management rituals, supply and collections, key hires. For fast growth the team can no longer keep up with.
Interim chief creative officer
Brand platform, image, campaigns, art direction, social media, e-commerce, content and AI tools. For a brand that has lost its customers or its desirability.
My difference
Most interim managers can either fix the numbers or relaunch a brand. I have done both, in the same company. In the lifestyle industries, one doesn't hold without the other.
Restructuring, cash, Bpifrance financing, preparing an LBO with an investment bank: I run finance hands-on with the CFO. And I keep control of what brings customers back: creation, image and culture. As a photographer, producer and campaign art director, I bring a network of photographers, directors and designers.
Collections & merchandising
An offer people want. Margins that hold.
I structure the offer into clear product ranges: collection architecture, the role of each product, pricing, margins by family, merchandising in stores, department stores and online, licensing and collaborations. That is often where the first margin points are found.
Industries
The lifestyle industries.
Markets where value depends on desirability as much as on margin, and where new generations decide fast.
- Fashion & ready-to-wear
- Luxury & craftsmanship
- Beauty & cosmetics
- Sport & sportswear
- Lifestyle, home & living
- Culture: art, music, publishing
- Kids & kiddults
- Retail & e-commerce
When to call me
Do you recognise one of these situations?
The earlier the decision, the more options remain. Thirty minutes are enough to know whether I'm the right person.
Results
Roles held, results measured.
OMY · CEO · 2024–2026
From a children's colouring company to a desirable brand for kiddults: financial and cash restructuring, reorganisation, collection and iconisation strategy. Deals with Chinese partners, experiences at Selfridges and Galeries Lafayette, travel retail with Selecta. Revenue +30% since 2024, executive committee, LBO preparation.
Marine Serre · COO · 2021–2023
Annual revenue growth at a Parisian fashion house. Led 110 people, set up an executive committee and a new organisation, Bpifrance support.
Nike · Brand architect · 2006–2014
Eight years turning sneakers into a global cultural phenomenon: 3-year product strategy, link between European markets and design in Portland, a $500M business across wholesale, concept stores, key accounts and digital. Nike Women “Make Yourself” campaign, Nike x FFF x colette “The Away Project”.
Résilience · Co-founder
People back into work through a national project to relocate textile production in France within the social and solidarity economy, with factories opened.
Formats
Four formats, agreed in writing.
Scope, indicators and duration are set before the start. Formats can be combined.
Interim leadership
I take general or operational management: turnaround, financial restructuring, reorganisation, repositioning, growth. Monthly reporting to shareholders.
On quotation · indicatively €1,500 to €2,500 excl. VAT per day
Interim CCO
I lead brand, creation and communication: brand platform, campaigns, art direction, social media, e-commerce, rolling out AI tools in the teams.
On quotation · indicatively €1,500 to €2,500 excl. VAT per day
360 diagnostic
Cash, margins, stock, organisation, offer, brand, image and channels reviewed. You leave with a prioritised 90-day action plan that I can carry out with you.
€7,500 excl. VAT, payable on order
Advisor & board
About 2 days a month alongside the CEO or on the strategic committee: review of the numbers, trade-offs, key hires. Operational version at about 4 days.
From €4,400 excl. VAT / month · operational from €8,800
Offers for businesses only. Fees exclude VAT. Mandates carried out under a written engagement letter.
FAQ
Interim management, clearly.
What is an interim manager?
An interim manager is an experienced executive who takes a leadership role for a set period, against written objectives: turnaround, reorganisation, repositioning, growth or replacing a departing executive. At Le Beau Monde, Carol Girod Battesti works as interim CEO, COO or CCO on mandates of 3 to 18 months.
What is an interim CCO?
An interim Chief Creative Officer temporarily leads the brand, image and communication: brand platform, campaigns, art direction, social media, e-commerce and digital tools. It is the right format when a brand loses its desirability or its youngest customers.
How is it different from a consulting firm?
A consulting firm delivers recommendations. An interim manager takes the role, decides and drives execution with the teams, then hands over to a successor.
Which industries do you work in?
Fashion, luxury, beauty and cosmetics, sport, lifestyle and home, culture (art, music, publishing), kids and kiddults, retail and e-commerce: independent brands, designer houses, SMEs, group subsidiaries and portfolio companies of investment funds.
Why an interim manager who masters both finance and brand?
In fashion, beauty and lifestyle, a company's value depends as much on its accounts as on the desirability of its brand. Carol Girod Battesti led the financial restructuring of OMY (EBITDA ×3 in 2025, LBO preparation) while repositioning the brand and the collection.
How quickly can you start?
Reply within 48 hours, written proposal within 7 days, start possible within 15 days depending on availability.
Do you work outside France?
Yes, in French, English and Mandarin: Europe, the United States, China and the Middle East, especially for market openings and running subsidiaries.
How much does an interim manager cost?
Leadership mandates (CEO, COO, CCO) are quoted individually, indicatively between €1,500 and €2,500 excl. VAT per day depending on scope. The 360 diagnostic costs €7,500 excl. VAT for 5 days. Advisor support starts at €4,400 excl. VAT per month.
Contact
A role to fill? Let's talk this week.
30 minutes, free and confidential. You describe the situation, I tell you whether I can help.