Our Incredible Life Paths: François RAÜCH DE ROBERTY (TBS 2009)

Would you tell us about yourself in a few words?

François RAUCH de ROBERTY, 34 years old, actor, TBS Class of 2009.

Why did you choose to go to Toulouse and TBS, to continue your education?

I discovered Toulouse in 2003, at 18 years of age, when I went to prep school. I was thrilled to keep on living in this city and going to TBS. What’s more, I was really pleased with the welcome I was given by the admissions staff at TBS. At the time, I wanted to work in Sports Marketing, preferably for a football club.

Would you tell us about your time as a student at TBS? 

I specialised in Marketing et Communication during my first two years at Toulouse. Then, after a gap year in Paris and London, I spent my third year doing a BtoB marketing option at the Barcelona campus.

Do you have any anecdotes from your graduating class to share? (Student associations, projects, professors…)

Stories from my graduating class? I don’t have anything but! I was very active at the school, and lived two unforgettable years.  From the Open Bars to the Aposia, the student council campaign with our Spor'Rabbit, the WEI, the "semi-snow", evenings at various bars and parties at the flat, the PPP, winning prizes at the Sept d’Art, my nickname ChatMan, parrots, nightingales, singing, Ecricome sporting events from Reims to Toulouse, the “Admissibles”, the show of welcome in "118-218", and also the studious but relaxed atmosphere through the humour shared with some teachers, the group projects, the sleepless nights to complete reports on time, and the friendships that last today. In conclusion, I took everything, I threw away nothing, and if I had to do it again, I’d do it the same way!

Who are you today?

Today I am an actor. I’ve been able to live completely off of acting since July 2017, only two years after my programme at Cours Florent (2012-2015) ended. I mainly do dubbing for series and films, and theatre.  This season, 2018-2019 I’m in the play “Twelve Angry Men”, directed by Charles Tordjman, which has given me a chance the play at the Hébertot Theatre, a major acting hall in Paris, then touring France and Belgium.

I started my career change late, at 27, and only after a year of amateur theatre in Lyon, and working for three years in jobs in which I was completely bored. Although I have always been drawn to the stage and acting, it took an upheaval in my private life for me to go for it. It was like taking a leap into the void! But I’ve never regretted it because, despite all the fears and doubts, I immediately felt the career change as a relief, and even a rebirth.

How did your studies help you reach your personal and/or professional achievements?

Over the course of my apprenticeship and early in my career, I realised that many of the skills I learned and developed at TBS are essential, such as networking, organising, defining short-, medium-, and long-term goals, the ability to create one's own needs, managing projects (to stage a show for example), memorising, different communication techniques, or the thirst to learn - to master several areas of expertise. In fact, as an actor, I am the boss of my own micro-company whose goal is to sell myself.

How do you see yourself as part of the Alumni network ? What advice would you give to TBS alumni, students or graduates?

The only advice I can give is: believe in your wildest dreams and make them happen!

I am proud to be part of TBS alumni, and the alumni network must be a strength for everyone. I find it important to keep a link with the school that has seen me grow. Moreover, I thank Marion Felix and the team that organised the Re-Generation Party. It's really what we’ve missed: an event to hold over and over again, a party between those of us from Toulouse!

"At the edge of the Garonne, at the foot of the Pyrenees, in a big city, Toulouse is drawn, Toulouse and its school- the E.S.C.. Toulouse, E.S.C. exists. It must be encouraged! "