Moka Smart City: Raphaëlle Lamusse, a Brand Manager with a passion for cycling

After studying marketing, you gained your first work experience with ENL. How did your career develop within the group and what does your everyday job involve?

I was only 19 when I started working as a Communication Assistant at ENL Property in 2012. At the time, I was carrying out the marketing for some of the property developments in Moka, including Kendra, Les Allées d’Helvétia and Vivéa Business Park. The territorial brand of Moka and a Master Plan for the region already existed but we did not have a comprehensive communication strategy for the destination. Things really changed in 2017 with the introduction of the Smart City Scheme: the region’s branding and our communication were completely revamped, and I became Brand Manager for Moka Smart City. We are now fully focused on city branding.

I have the responsibility with my excellent team to turn Moka into an attractive destination! My daily work is really exciting because of the variety of tasks I am involved in: print campaigns, events, digital marketing, etc. on themes ranging from property to culture, through sports or citizen-based initiatives.

Are there any projects that you look forward to seeing through?

Telfair, the future city centre of Moka Smart City! This dynamic neighbourhood will be bustling 24/7 and Oficea is currently developing 4 office buildings with ground-floor retail space between the Square and the Amphitheatre.

You are also a professional cyclist. How did this sport come into your life?

I started cycling in 2017 by taking on the challenge with a friend to take part together in the Colin Mayer Tour, a team stage mountain bike competition. It was just for fun but I wanted to do things properly and hired the racing cyclist, Yannick Lincoln, as my coach. It was an eye-opening experience: I immediately fell in love with the sport – but I wasn’t looking to practise it at a high level, as it seemed impossible to combine cycling with work. I simply rode up to 6 hours a week.

In 2018, I took part in my first international mountain bike race, the Sani2C, a mixed pair stage race in South Africa. That experience gave me the urge to improve further. In 2019, I started training on the road to help my mountain biking – and I ended up developing a liking for local road races! That same year, I joined the national team for the African Mountain Bike Championships in Namibia before taking part in a second mixed pair stage race in South Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic unfortunately prevented us from racing abroad for almost 2 years. It was only in early 2022 that I was able to compete again in races in Africa.

And how do you reconcile your passion with work?

Self-discipline is key to be able to balance my career and passion for cycling. I give everything at work to be as efficient as possible. It’s the same thing in training. This can be difficult at times, as there is little time to socialise, whether in the office or outside. Every minute counts in my day, from the time I wake up at 4.45am to the time I go to bed at around 9.30pm. But it is worth it!

Can you tell us a little about your recent feat at the African Road Cycling Championships in March 2022?

Before heading to Egypt for the competition, I was in Cape Town, South Africa, for three weeks’ preparation and took part in two races. It was a very rewarding month and I was able to refine my time trial technique and compete against other women at continental level. The African Championships were intense: I took part in all the events (individual and team time trial, mixed relay and road race) and despite the difficulty, I came out stronger mentally and physically. The icing on the cake was the gold medal in the mixed relay! We also won a silver medal in the team time trial and put in a great team effort in the road race, where our leader, Kim brought home the silver medal!

One of the main reasons for my success is the – tremendous – support from ENL Property. I feel very grateful to have such an open-minded employer and colleagues who understand that my goals are twofold, which allowed me to go away for a long time while working remotely: I was able to continue working in between training for the African Championships!

You subsequently took part in the African Continental Championships for MTB XCO in Namibia. How did it go?

It was not easy to switch from road to MTB in such a short time but luckily, we took part in a technical clinic in Durbanville, South Africa a week before flying to Namibia, where we had the opportunity to practise on the itinerary 5 days before the competition. The altitude and technique were the biggest challenges for me personally. I was familiar with the course, which hosted the 2019 African Championships. I feel so happy of how I have improved since then, even if the level in Africa remains very high. I finished 5^th and ultimately had a lot of fun!

What will be your next objective this year?

If I manage to qualify, it will be the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in England in July.