In the beginning, Valentine Duong was hardly destined to become a hip-hop pro, but her encounter with Jérome Gaspard, a stuntman by profession and a fan of hip-hop dancing, would change that. “I had lots of assumptions about that world,” she admits. “But in the end, I got into it.” She made her first foray when they created a dedicated website together in June 1998, responding to the Internet users on the forum. “At first, I participated as a journalist, a profession I was drawn to,” she says. “I covered hip-hop events and met the participants. Ultimately, I discovered a truly artistic world that I was passionate about.” In fact, she was spending at least as much time in the hip-hop world as on her job as a human resources project manager. That’s because before she gave in to hip-hop’s siren call, Valentine was a serious student of business and management. “My initial training was extremely helpful,” she says. “I take a realistic, concrete approach to our work, which has helped me find partners and grants to self-finance our site and even hire an employee.” That’s made it a viable proposition – and a “planet hip-hop” essential. This travel lover has even found and met ardent fans of style2ouf.com in Vietnam and Morocco. Now, it’s a matter of further enriching the content, which will happen with the Web TV broadcast, to be produced and promoted with the help of her Talent grant.


WEB TV BROADCAST
To see the web tv brodcast, produced thanks to the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation, please click here (video in french)


AGE: 28 I PASSIONS: theatre, travel, pottery and painting. I PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE: : everything is possible. I GOALS: to continue tackling everything – my personal life, my professional life and my passions. I FAVOURITE SITES: www.style2ouf.com;  www.connaisseursduvoyage.fr; www.abm.fr