Alexandra

I was born in Paris, France and I’ve been riding horses and competing internationally since the age of 8. I frequently travel between Paris and the US, especially to New York, where my sister studies art at New York University, and Palo Alto, California. Before coming to AUP, I’d spent a year studying finance at Université Paris-Dauphine but soon discovered that I didn’t feel comfortable with its teaching structure or its classes. I’ve always enjoyed the American school system because I think it helps promote students who want to have a more concrete and open-minded educational foundation.

I knew that I wanted to create my own company and so while I was at Dauphine, I founded a startup called Horsealot, a social network dedicated to the equestrian community, which now links over 110,000 riders around the world. We strive to allow riders to easily connect with each other, in order to share their experiences and knowledge in a fun way. We’re now a team of six people and are really delighted to be working on challenging and compelling projects with our American and European clients. My passions are tech entrepreneurship and riding, which makes studying business at AUP a perfect fit, as it allows me to combine these interests while also cultivating the fundamental skills I’ll need in order to establish a healthy business.

I love how international AUP students are: I’m constantly learning from their diversity. AUP’s professors and advisors are very dedicated to the students and take the time to get to know each one. There’s a support system here that I wouldn’t have been able to find elsewhere and which continually guides me towards the tools I need to successfully balance school, riding, and Horsealot.