Skip to content

From Apprentice to Entrepreneur

Career path: At the end of the ninth grade, Thibaut wasn’t sure what he wanted to do for a living. Then, almost by chance, he enrolled in the Gorge de Loup training workshop, discovered mechanics, and kept at it for six years. Thanks to this experience, he was able to create his own small company in 2016, which he now runs with a partner from the same school, one apprentice, two interns… and a dog!

   From Apprentice to Entrepreneur

Thibaut:

I’m Thibaut, 24 years old.
I’m started my own company in 2016, specialized in 3D printing and machining.
There are two partners: Valentin and me.
In September, we took on an apprentice on a cooperative education contract.
We also have two trainees, plus my dog!

Our machining work is for industrial subcontracting, in the food industry, with special machines and maintenance.
The 3D printing is for spare parts and prototypes.

After finishing junior-high school, I didn’t know what to do. And in Lyon, I happened accross the Gorge de Loup Apprentice Workshop. I knew nothing about mechanics, it was totally by chance. But it was so interesting, I spent 6 years there.
I passed my 2 high-school exams, and then my Technician Certificate, alternating study and work. And a friend and I decided to star tour own company.

I wanted to start my own company so I could be involved at every stage: customer relations, establishing estimates… A bit of everything. Because as an employee in a big company, you work only in machining, or in sales, or in methods.I wanted my own company so
I would deal on my own with eventual problems.

In this school, students aren’t being prepared for a diploma, but for a trade. Companies know that a graduate from Gorge de Loup will be much more competent than a graduate from any other trade-based high-school.

Such schools needs to diversify. Not just in mechanics, but in every trade that’s hiring, and there are lots of them in France. They’re off a good start, bu it needs to go further.

It’s also a school of life.
It teaches values like respect, patience, and notably precision.
Because it’s high-precision mechanics, down to the nearest micrometer. Yes, it’s a school of life.