At 32, Marie Ducruet sees motherhood as an entrepreneurial driving force
Marie Chevallier married Louis Ducruet on 27 July 2019 in Monaco Cathedral © Frédéric Nebinger, Prince's Palace, Monaco
Marie Ducruet set up her own agency this year, Imagine & Make, and co-founded Little Wonders, a children’s play area. At 32, she is the embodiment of a new generation of Monegasque entrepreneurs who want to meet the local population’s needs. We interviewed her recently.
Monaco Tribune: 2025 is already a busy year for you: you’re just back from a trip to Osaka in June with your husband, Louis Ducruet, and members of the Princely Family – when the Barbagiuans travelled to Japan – you’ve set up your own agency, Imagine & Make, and launched Little Wonders with Élise Bouillard… all this when you just gave birth to a second baby girl at the end of 2024. Why did you choose entrepreneurship?
Marie Ducruet: I started my professional career in Monaco in 2015 when I was taken on as a marketing intern at the Société des Bains de Mer (SBM). Then I climbed the ladder, working at the Hermitage for banquets and conventions, then in the casinos, until I became events marketing manager for the entire resort business.
This enabled me to discover my true passion: creating events. Like many people, I wondered whether I should start my own business so that I could have the freedom to choose my clients and manage my schedule as I saw fit. But the organisation and coordination of hosting events is very different from creating events to build customer loyalty, while at the same time inventing and fulfilling financial objectives.
The birth of my second daughter, Constance, was the catalyst for me to take the plunge and create Imagine & Make. Not just to balance family and work, but above all to have that creative freedom that I wanted to really make the most of. I spend my evenings designing events, developing visual concepts. I wanted to channel that energy into my own projects.
The event organisation market is already strong in Monaco. How do you plan to stand out from the crowd with Imagine & Make?
There are indeed a lot of event agencies in Monaco, but that shows demand is high. My positioning is clear: to develop long-term relationships based on trust, with a creative but affordable approach. I’m not targeting the ultra-top of the range, but customers who are looking for inventiveness without unreasonable prices.
My specialisation in private events – christenings, weddings, birthdays – means I can offer the ultra-personalisation that makes the difference. Social media and the Internet mean customers have access to what’s being done all over the world. Personalisation is no longer an extra, it’s a must.
How do you see the events sector having evolved since Covid?
The major change is time management. Before Covid, customers would plan their events months or even years in advance. Now everything is last minute. This creates constant extra pressure, because it’s always a race. For someone like me who likes to work under pressure, it’s stimulating, but it requires a complete reorganisation of working methods and constant responsiveness.
Second child for Louis and Marie Ducruet: welcome Constance!
Does artificial intelligence help or threaten your business?
AI can be a useful tool for developing ideas, benchmarking what is being done elsewhere, saving time on administrative tasks and optimising costs. But it will never replace the operational side. Event planning involves cross-functional management of different teams: catering, decoration, reservations, logistics, etc. Above all, it can’t replicate the human dimension of customer contact, the ability to understand their emotional expectations and translate them into concrete concepts.
Tell us about your second project, Little Wonders, which seems very different from Imagine & Make.
It’s a project I’m working on with my partner Elise Bouillard, a friend who also has two children the same age as mine. Our dream was to create a kind of stroller café, an indoor playground like they have in Dubai, Paris or New York. The concept meets a real demand for parents of children aged 0 to 7. Monaco excels when it comes to outdoor activities, but is lacking in quality indoor solutions when the weather conditions aren’t suitable.
We responded to a call for applications by the Hemera residence for a 230 square metre space at La Condamine. The location was ideal, with its family-friendly neighbourhood, pedestrian access and nearby car parks. It’s a substantial investment, but Monaco has significant business creation support schemes for residents. We are aiming to open in mid-January 2026.
The two professional projects seem closely linked to your vision of Monaco and your personal values..
Absolutely! With Little Wonders, we’re planning a birthday area, so naturally the agency could come in for the decorations or entertainment. But more broadly speaking, these projects reflect my search for a balance between my passion for events and my life as a mother. They fit in with my vision of entrepreneurship: creating value for the local population, not just for passing customers.
What really matters to me is affordability. Monaco is right to cultivate its high-end image, it’s a major economic asset. But part of the population has a normal job, and can’t afford extravagant holidays or luxury cars. These people also deserve an offering to suit their means. The ‘bling-bling’ image should not hide that social reality.
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Isn’t it difficult to juggle your life as an entrepreneur with your family life day-to-day?
In the morning I look after the girls, then I go to work, then I pick them up for our family time, and go back to work in the evening in my office. Louis is perhaps the most impacted in all of this (laughs) because our evenings together are sometimes cut short! But as he’s also involved in several projects of his own, we’ve found a balance. Sometimes we end up working together in the evenings, each on our own projects. He’s also my best friend and my confidant. We share everything and give each other advice and opinions. That moral support is vital.
What advice would you give to young Monegasques who are tempted by entrepreneurship?
Firstly, to not be afraid. It took me several years to take the plunge, perhaps because I was over-cautious. In Monaco, we have a favorable ecosystem: substantial public funding, and a dynamic labour market that allows us to bounce back if we fail.
The hardest part is the switch from being a salaried employee – where no matter what happens, you get paid at the end of the month – to being an entrepreneur, where you don’t earn anything for the first few months. But that’s also an extra incentive to push yourself.