Yan, Kering Keys

From literature to fashion innovation

How do you go from studying Alexandre Dumas and Milan Kundera to implementing a data excellence project from scratch? Yan’s journey has had many twists and turns, but the 27-year-old faces any challenge that comes her way with serenity. “Everything is part of the process. All I can do is give my maximum and see what happens.”  

Yan grew up in Nanjing, near Shanghai, and got her bachelor’s degree in French Literature in Beijing. Even at the time, her choice of major surprised quite a lot of people: “Everyone would ask me why I majored in literature, because when you work with me you see pretty clearly that I have a fascination for numbers.” But studying French was the stepping stone to France and a Master’s degree in Management at ESSEC Business School. At the time, Yan didn’t have a specific idea of what she wanted to pursue but decided to make the most of her time in France to gain experience in the luxury industry.  

After a rewarding 6-month internship in the communications department at a perfume and cosmetics house, she flew back to China for an 8-month internship at ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok for a taste of the tech sector. “Tech is a completely different world. There is a start-up mentality. Everyday brings a new challenge. Everyone is on their toes all the time.”

At the end of her internship, after an exchange at Dartmouth University in the US, it was time to graduate and find her first full-time job. Scrolling through LinkedIn, she spotted a post about the Kering Keys program. “What initially appealed to me was the focus on the APAC market. If you look at Kering’s results for 2024, 8% of revenue is from Japan and 30% from Asia Pacific, so in total around 40% of revenue comes from APAC. I felt like I could contribute to Kering by bringing local market knowledge to their Paris headquarters!”

Kering Keys is an 18-month program open to graduates from China, Japan and South Korea who are looking to build an international career in luxury management. It gives them the opportunity to experience three out of six corporate functions: Finance, Tech and Digital Innovation, Strategy, Sustainability, Audit or Human Resources. Graduates have a permanent contract from the very first day and gain a job offer within the Group at the end of the program. “I loved that I got to try different things, and that I was able to gain experience in Finance, specifically as a fan of numbers,” says Yan, who did her rotations in Digital, HR Control and Finance Treasury. “Everyone made me feel like I was part of the team, I didn’t feel like an observer or an outsider. I was fully integrated”.  

During her rotation in Digital with the Client Service team, Yan discovered the complexity of the Kering universe while working on a Salesforce tool. “I learned about the specifics of Kering’s organizational structure: there is Kering Corporate, as well as all the Houses, and everyone has to collaborate around this same tool.”  

This led to her biggest challenge: implementing a project from start to end during her rotation in HR Control. “I had the opportunity to work closely with four HR directors at a senior level, which was a great experience given that I’m a junior and relatively new to the company. Having this exposure to senior executives at an early stage in my career, getting their feedback, insight and vision on data excellence, will always be something I am very grateful for.”  

Yan’s Kering Keys experience drew to a close in the Finance department, where she came to a career-defining realization: whilst she loves working with numbers, her real passion is designing and implementing innovative ways of working. “At Kering, I discovered the joy there is in having real agility and making an impact.”  

At the end of the Kering Keys program, Yan was offered an exciting new position at Kering Beauté in Shanghai. “I am very lucky, because it perfectly aligns with what I discovered I want to do: strategic project management. They needed someone who has knowledge of both the group and the local markets, so it perfectly fit my profile. I hope that I will be able to continue bridging the gap between local markets and headquarters.”

Yan in 6 questions

Current state of mind: Going with the flow and appreciating what I have.  

Your passion: I dance two to three times a week, either K-pop dancing or traditional Chinese dancing.  

A personal goal: To work and live in as many different countries as possible!  

Greatest achievement: It’s not an event in particular, but I'm proud because I’ve learnt to trust myself and what I want.    

A trait that you admire in others: Emotional intelligence! I think it’s really important.  

First impression of France: That it was incredibly beautiful, I will never forget the first time I saw the Paris Opera.