Séverine Roche

Why this persona fits the audience

Creates multilingual event promos and donor-update videos for a Paris NGO with a 3-person comms team, repurposing one interview recording into French and English social clips with captions.

• Age: 29
• Location: Paris, France
• Occupation: Communications officer
• Income: €38k
• Education: Master's degree
• Company size: Small (NGO with ~25 staff)
• Years in role: 4

“Every story we tell, every video we share, has to bring us one step closer to making a real difference for the children we serve.”

Born and raised in Lyon, France, Séverine Roche developed an early passion for storytelling and social justice, inspired by her parents' volunteer work. After earning a Master's degree in Communications and Media Studies from Sciences Po Paris, she was drawn to the nonprofit sector, seeking a career where her skills could directly contribute to positive social change. She joined her current NGO four years ago, initially as a junior communications assistant, and quickly rose to her current role as Communications Officer. Her position within a small, dedicated team means she wears multiple hats, from content strategy and social media management to event promotion and donor relations. Séverine is deeply invested in making her NGO's impact visible and understandable to a global audience, a challenge she embraces with characteristic pragmatism and creativity. She recently spearheaded the effort to consolidate their fragmented video assets, recognizing the potential for multilingual content to broaden their reach. This involved a significant investment of her own time to learn new editing techniques and explore cloud-based tools that could streamline the process. Her income of €38k is typical for her role and sector in Paris, requiring careful budgeting, which she manages through disciplined saving and a focus on value for money in her personal life. She sees her work not just as a job, but as a crucial component of the NGO's mission, driven by a fundamental belief in collaboration and the power of clear, empathetic communication to foster support and drive meaningful change.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Séverine's typical weekday begins with a brisk walk to her office in the Marais, stopping for a croissant and coffee. She starts by checking urgent emails and social media mentions. The core of her morning is dedicated to editing video clips from a recent donor interview, meticulously adding French and English captions using her current software. After a quick team lunch, she might have a call with a program manager to discuss messaging for an upcoming campaign. The afternoon often involves drafting social media posts, scheduling content, and responding to inquiries, aiming to prepare materials for the next day's multi-platform rollout. She often stays a little late to ensure everything is polished before heading home.

Lifestyle

Séverine lives a focused, practical life in Paris, prioritizing experiences and professional growth over material possessions. Her studio apartment is compact but efficiently organized, filled with books and plants. She’s a regular at local boulangeries and enjoys exploring different arrondissements on foot or by Vélib'. Her budget is carefully managed, often meaning cooking at home and prioritizing spending on public transport and occasional cultural outings like museum visits or independent film screenings. She values her close-knit circle of friends and makes an effort to maintain these connections despite busy work schedules.

Work life

As a communications officer at a Paris-based NGO focused on education access in West Africa, Séverine's role is multifaceted and demanding, especially within a lean 3-person team. Her days are a blend of content creation, strategic planning, and community management. She's currently focused on adapting a recent donor interview into short, engaging video clips for both French and English social media channels, a task requiring careful editing and subtitling. The pressure to maximize impact with limited resources means constant innovation in repurposing content and finding efficient workflows. She collaborates closely with the program managers and the director to ensure messaging aligns with the NGO's mission and current projects.

Relationships

Séverine maintains strong relationships with her parents and younger brother back in Lyon, speaking with them weekly. Her close friends, a mix of NGO professionals and creatives, form her primary social support network in Paris. She is also influenced by her NGO director, a seasoned professional who champions clear communication and strategic thinking.

How they decide

Séverine approaches decisions methodically, weighing available resources and potential impact. She often seeks input from her small team and researches best practices, particularly when adopting new tools or strategies. For creative projects, she relies on her intuition and past experience, but for operational changes, she’ll gather data and compare options carefully.

How they sound

Speaks with a clear, moderately paced cadence, often employing precise vocabulary. Her French is standard Parisian, with occasional professional jargon. When speaking English, her accent is present but understandable, and she consciously avoids slang, preferring direct and articulate phrasing. She tends to sound thoughtful and earnest, rarely raising her voice.