Pauline le Clere helps companies promote their archives

“I experience a lot of joy in participating in this dynamic of creation and transmission.” This is how Pauline le Clere, 43, explains what makes her get up every morning since 2008, the year she founded the Perles d’Histoire agency.

At the time, with a solid historical and artistic culture inherited from her parents, and holder of a master’s degree in marketing from Paris Dauphine University, the one “who always wanted to lead” was already seeking to design a service “that made sense”.

The young woman then imagined offering to family businesses to help them preserve their memory. Faced with leaders who are often unreceptive to the discourse of historians, the strength of his idea can be summed up as follows: “Heritage is an asset that will be used to create value.” It also approaches large groups: Citroën, Lagardère Ressources, LU, EDF, etc.

The Pearls of History offer begins with the digitization of the archives and continues, after an audit, with the valorization of this fund with the publication of books, films, and even exhibitions for internal and external communication.

“We must convince decision-makers not to obscure the gray areas of their society’s past, if there are any – for example the role of a leader under the Occupation – in order to prepare a calm response, if one day questions were asked on this subject,” she specifies.

Beyond their image, Perles d’Histoire helps its clients find the roots of their corporate culture in their heritage: “They draw ideas from there to innovate, firmly anchor their brand and strengthen their employees’ pride in their profession.”

Vary the projects

Today, the president is exploring new markets, such as the project of a municipality wishing to promote the Art Deco building and the know-how of a local company: “It is not simple because private and public interests mix. We work there with engineers, architects, lawyers.”

In its new premises in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine), the agency has nearly twenty employees, half split between archivists and cultural engineering specialists.

In 2019, Pauline brought her husband, Arnaud, a historian, into the adventure: “I needed a general manager,” she laughs, “and that’s how we, in turn, became a family business.” The circle is almost complete: in January, she signed a partnership with her former university to transmit her expertise to marketing students.