The “Practice” section of your newsletter continues the 15th anniversary celebrations for the EVE Program with emblematic figures in women’s leadership. These are the women who have shaken up the entrepreneurial, cultural, or political landscape, and have forged a path for others who want to dare.

To kick off 2026, we met with Myriam Cohen-Welgryn, General Manager of L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty, and author of “Et tu oseras sortir du cadre !” (Harpercollins, 2018). Her motivation is to help lighten other people’s loads and have a positive lasting impact. “That's what gets me up in the morning,” she shares.

You were at the first edition of the EVE Program 15 years ago. What changes have you seen take place in the 15 years since EVE began?

Myriam Cohen-Welgryn: So much has changed! There has been MeToo, social revolutions and such. Feminism has finally been able to become explicit. I’ve always been a feminist, but at the beginning of my career, it was almost an insult. Back then, even saying the word was an act of bravery. What’s so encouraging today is the growing recognition that the problem isn’t personal, it’s systemic. What was implicit can now beexplicit. I no longer feel the need to justify why I’m a feminist. We’ve moved on to correcting bias instead: both the bias men bring to how they assess women’s performance, and the internalized bias that holds women back from moving forward.

And this is all guided by the belief that a equal world is a more fulfilling world for everyone. I experience this every day, because in my division, there aren’t enough men. After working for a long time on addressing the obstacles women face, I’m now fighting to empower men to feel confident and dare to join the beauty industry. We need men just as much as we need women. And this ‘reverse imbalance’ is a reminder that it’s not solely a women’s issue, but a matter of diversity, perspectives, and harmony.

At what point did you become aware of your ability to inspire?

Myriam Cohen-Welgryn: To my mind, it’s very Beauvoirian: you’re not born a role model, you become one through the way others see you. I’m thinking of one particular moment in my career. When I was a director on the executive committee at L’Oréal France, our CEO scheduled meetings for 8:00 a.m. But I was determined to take my children to school myself. I asked him to postpone the session by thirty minutes. He replied: “If I agree for you, why wouldn’t I allow everyone else to do the same? The answer is no.”

So I arrived late every single time, in an act of disobedience. I walked into the room, I looked at him, he looked at me, and he knew there would be a scandal if he dared to make a comment. At the time, people said: “You’re so brave! I’d love to dare to do that.” I smile about it now, but it didn’t make me laugh at the time. I took a deep breath each time I stood in front of the door.

I believe you become a role model when your actions show you have the courage to stay true to yourself, when they demonstrate integrity and alignment. And when they quietly say to others who don’t yet dare: “It’s possible.”

How can a role model inspire others to take the road less travelled?

Myriam Cohen-Welgryn: I believe that when you have succeeded, you have a duty of responsibility to support others. I take this deeply to heart, and I spend a lot of time helping women grasp what co-responsibility actually looks like. It comes down to three main levers.

First, you need to defuse paralyzing perfectionism. Choose which issues require perfection and which are a waste of time.

Then, assert your ambition. When you’re a woman, people often expect less of you. It’s essential to help them dig deep and uncover the ambition they don’t yet dare to voice, sometimes not even to themselves. In business, there are many people who believe that if you don’t ask, it’s because you can’t do it.

Finally, it’s important to understand that company rules are not school rules. Communication is just as important as know-how. You also need to go out and make yourself known, because you must be able to grow and nurture your network.

How do you keep reinventing yourself when you become a role model?

Myriam Cohen-Welgryn: You can only evolve by being your true self. And you change and inspire others by being curious and interested.

The world we live in is undergoing radical change. All these technological revolutions force everyone to adapt. The challenge is to do so while staying true to yourself. At first, I thought new technologies were extraordinary tools to allow women flexibility. Then Covid hit, and the illusion faded: women were still carrying the bulk of domestic work. Since then, the widespread adoption of remote work has created real opportunities to allow different parts of our lives to coexist, but it has also brought new tensions. It’s about finding the right balance. And in times of such change, we’re inevitably pushed to change ourselves as well.

If you had one final piece of advice to share with the EVE community to help them take more daring steps themselves, what would it be?

Myriam Cohen-Welgryn: Stay curious and dare to be yourself. But before that, you must know who you are and identify what motivates you. We do our best work when it’s powered by what truly drives us. So identify what makes you come alive, and build from a place that feels true to who you are.