Our series “The idea that changed their lives”
Mawa, the triumph of the American dream thanks to luxury pancakesGuillaume, the teacher paid to test the most chic establishments (to be published on July 18)Jean-Sébastien, clever calculations and complete retirement at 39 (to be published on July 19) Mathilde, young head of a billion-euro start-up (to be released on July 20)Charline, professional chocolate taster (to be released on July 21)Zoé, the teenage YouTuber from Angers crowned star influencer (to be to be released July 22)Daniel, geek and self-taught hacker turned “bounty hunter” (to be released July 23)
New York stretches out at his feet. On the 55th floor of the One Vanderbilt tower, on Madison Avenue, Mawa McQueen surveyed the skyscrapers of Manhattan on this Sunday in June. The decor is worthy of the “Succession” series, which depicts a dynasty of billionaires. The Franco-Ivorian giggles in her white dress with black flowers. Already a millionaire, she too is aiming for “one billion”. At 48, she travels in business class, sleeps in palaces and runs to starred restaurants: these are, she laughs, her “little pleasures”.
The elevator that leads to the Centurion lounge displays only one button. Her way to the top, Mawa owes it to a simple and probably a little crazy idea seen from home: a concept at the crossroads of a luxury creperie and… a fast-food chain at the Starbucks.
In the very posh ski resort of Aspen, a kind of Courchevel on the other side of the Atlantic, The Crepe Shack offers its rich clientele take-out pancakes with beef bourguignon, foie gras or even a “smoked salmon, caviar and cream fresh” displayed at… 148 dollars (135 euros). The owner picks an oyster from a three-tier seafood platter: “We sell plenty! »
Its past is written far from the hushed lounge where a privileged few brunch. It’s a destiny as America likes them, the success story of a woman raised in the destitution of Africa, passed through the red light districts of the Parisian suburbs and catapulted into the big world by a mixture of twists of fate. and unwavering belief in herself. A butler approaches without a sound to fill his glass of white wine. Mawa, gently, unrolls the thread of her story.
Separated from parents from birth
On July 27, 1974, a “bastard child” was born in Abidjan (Ivory Coast). Her mother, a Christian, is 18 years old. His father, a Muslim, has two wives. “These two beings had nothing to do with each other. The undesirable is immediately handed over to a distant aunt.
Other kids frolic in his yard. “We ate once a day. I slept under a table on straw. Her parent finally took her in when she was 8 years old. This is the first time she has seen the man whose name she bears: Sidibé. At the same time, she discovers the existence of a 6-year-old little sister.
Four years pass. Hands clap, voices shout, people get angry. The adults hold a large council in the yard. The grandmother is worried. In France, she grumbles, the little one will start drinking. Hidden in a corner, Mawa does not understand. The next morning, her mother-in-law dresses her and her sister. “She said to us: You are leaving. My father was not there. I couldn’t say goodbye to him. »
The little girls land in Trappes (Yvelines) at their mother’s. Square Yves-Farges, long gray bars along a national. “In the 1990s, that was the zone. The ghetto. Madame is a housekeeper. His companion works in IT. Their four offspring share bunk beds, two per mattress.
The eldest understands that she has been brought in to take care of them. “I take them to the crèche, I bathe them, I prepare food for them. I am doing the dishes. I’m 12 and I’m already the maid. »
“I decided to be the best”
The matriarch has a chain of pregnancies: she gives birth to 11 children. A social hotel accommodates them for a while. At school, the schoolgirl is “not the smartest”. She obtained, willy-nilly, a CAP at the hotel school in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. When you leave, nothing changes. “In the kitchen, everyone wanted me to do the washing up. I was a housekeeper. I wiped out kids. I hated that. »
A severe depression begins. “I felt like the destiny I had wanted to avoid was being imposed on me. It pissed me off. The young adult begins therapy. Her dreams keep bringing her back to the United States. “I was rocked by this culture. The only blacks I saw succeeding – not singers or athletes, but doctors, lawyers, businessmen… – were Americans. »
First step: learn English. At 22, Mawa crossed the English Channel as an au pair and, very quickly, applied for a job as a cleaning lady in a beautiful hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon, the city of Shakespeare. The manager offers to serve him for breakfast. “My career started there. I decided to be the best at what I did. If the knife must be straight, we put it straight. We don’t do things by halves. »
A life-changing lottery
Quickly promoted, the young woman received diction lessons. His English is improving. On TV, the African-American presenter Oprah Winfrey, a symbol of success and a fervent follower of personal development, inspires her. “She changed my life. Mawa starts reading “lots of books”. “I did my education. I learned to accept myself. I want more, so what? And fortune finally smiled upon him.
In April 2002, the now manager receives a letter from a lottery in which a short-lived boyfriend had entered her. She has just won a green card, the famous Green Card, the key to residing in the country that fascinates her so much. After sending “1,000 resumes”, Mawa “McQueen”, as she renames herself, is hired in Maine in a luxury establishment. Again, the rungs give way one by one.
Mawa McQueen, here in New York, intends to reach a fortune of a billion dollars. LP/Robin KORDA
When winter comes, his hotel chain offers him several destinations. The soap opera “Les Feux de l’amour” and its pretty mountain scenes come to mind. She asks for Aspen, Colorado. She moved there for good in 2004 and, two years later, launched herself as a caterer.
In 2012, she married a former German colleague, Daniel, and opened her restaurant three years later. The first times are hard. The entrepreneur multiplies the projects. Oenology courses for women, remote help service for the kitchen, tailor-made menus delivered to homes… All went bankrupt.
“And now, how far can you go?” »
Around her neck, a pendant set with diamonds symbolizes resilience. At the worst, over-indebted, she thought about suicide. “I said to myself: I cannot leave this Earth like this. I’m here for something. His creperie, at the end of 2018, changed everything. Less than five years later, the entrepreneur oversees 120 employees at four locations, including two The Crepe Shack. It anticipates openings in New York, Houston, Miami and Denver, then the launch of a franchise. “In 10 years, I want it to be everywhere. Even in France ! »
In the meantime, the manager is spending her holidays in the Caribbean, posing with star DJ Martin Garrix and giving interviews in “Forbes “. In 2022, the James Beard Prize, the American equivalent of the best worker in France, the semi-finalist class in Colorado. The “Today Show”, audiovisual high mass from across the Atlantic, invited her twice.
For a long time, in Aspen, Mawa cleaned offices to make ends meet. She bought the whole building last year. “You can’t sit on $17 million and say to yourself, ‘I didn’t make it. But, deep inside me, there is always a voice that says to me: And now, how far can you go? »
This eternally dissatisfied works “more than 100 hours a week”. She took advantage of the confinement to launch her brand of granola and is simmering the marketing of a high-end pink gin. In New York, the French chef Daniel Boulud, voted best restaurateur in the world by the association Les Grandes Tables du monde, invited her to the kitchen in mid-June for a charity gala. “She has so much personality, character, talent,” enthuses this double-starred Michelin guide. She is an inspirational woman for our industry. She is more than a chef. »
After cutting ties for years, the adopted American sent her mother a green card in 2018. The two women work together as best friends in the world. During his long story, tears sometimes come to him. Some are filled with joy. A few months ago, young people from CAP sent him a letter full of admiration. As an aside, their teacher wrote to him that his example had given him back the desire to teach. Mawa made an appointment. In September, she will come to see them in Trappes.
2023-07-17 07:30:00
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