Philippe Lucas

Director of Operations

Philippe was born in Normandy, France: yes, the home of D-Day beaches, camembert cheese, B&B liquor and 13th century houses and cathedrals. As a kid, none of this mattered to him, as he spent all his time playing tennis. His ultimate dream was to become a professional player. He quickly realized some others would do a better job at it! After graduating in Marketing and Business Management and completing his National Service in the Police Force, he decided to relocate to England in order to gain some foreign experience.

He lived and worked in England for 6 years. He first found himself in the north region of the country where he not only worked on his accent – and still is – but more importantly, started his career in Marketing. In addition, he also discovered a new world outside work: English pubs. This was “the best school” to learn vocabulary he surely would not have learnt otherwise. In 1999, he joined an American company located near London, his first foray into the American business environment. And, another opportunity to work on his accent, as well. He also developed most of his project management experience with this company while still being involved in the marketing area. After moving back to France for a couple of years, he then moved to Chicago.

Philippe has accumulated a multitude of professional experience in the marketing and project management areas across many industries. Wow! That sounds very serious. Does he even have time to go to parties? His family and friends confirm that he surely does. Nevertheless, his favorite word is “processes”. Epson Europe, Lexmark, Fujitsu-Siemens and The Royal Academy of Arts of London are part of his list of clients. He thrives at making sure project requirements are always met without making people’s life too difficult. His dream is to conduct business without a piece of paper, except for his yellow Post-Its!

His favorite animal is the penguin. Why? Philippe saw “March of the Penguins” and he realized how hard their life can be but also, they can be so disciplined and still have fun. Philippe’s favorite 80’s series are “The A-Team”, “Alf” and “Miami Vice”…all dubbed in French. Good memories, even though Philippe was disappointed when he found out that American policemen do not drive Ferraris like Don Johnson did.

If he had $10,000, he would keep travelling and adding more cities and countries to his list….On his time off Philippe enjoys seeing plays and is very keen on painting exhibits. He also appreciates live jazz and spends a lot of time in the swimming pool whenever his busy schedule allows it. Other times, Philippe likes to cook and taste (read: drink) red wine. As he says, “I’m French, it’s mandatory”. When asked if he likes Inspector Clouseau, he replies that he appreciates Peter Sellers in this role and always concludes with “but zis iz not my dug”. However, Philippe shows a special interest in The Monty Python and British humor. His personal motto is: “Adapt and overcome.”