Es war einmal eine Entourage: Eine Pariser Changemakerin erzählt ihre Geschichte

From time to time we invite guest bloggers who are part of the Emily’s Entourage (EE) community to contribute their unique voices to our blog. Today’s guest is Chloé Plissonneau-Duquène, a 21-year-old active member of the Entourage. 

“Once upon a time lived this Parisian college girl who was trying to learn economics. On the random day of November 29, 2016, she found herself lost in the labyrinth of YouTube algorithms while she was supposed to study for her upcoming math test. But, as with all fairy tales, everything happens for a reason, and indeed this story is no exception.

It was about 6:30 pm when the love story began. EE is breaking through: one video, three hundred and three seconds of pure inspiration. A replay button almost broken and a purple fire that she knew would keep on shining its light right from the very bottom of her heart.”

So yes, that’s how it all started: I watched a video, reached out, and then crossed the ocean. Three and a half years later, when people ask me about what made me want to get involved with EE, my first reaction is first and foremost to smile. Not the timid smile that you make when you need to pose for a beautiful photograph. No, the genuine smile that makes your eyes sparkle, the one that’s impossible to fake…because I’m reminded of how great life is when you are lucky enough to have the right people by your side. I’m smiling right now, writing these lines and just thinking about how incredibly special EE has been to me over these past three years.

When I first reached out to EE on social media, Emily replied to me, writing these words: “keep the mountain-moving, in world-changing ways.” And through these words and the ones we shared later, I could feel the sincerity of a girl fighting for her future. I could sense the unbreakable bonds of a united family whose endless love fueled them to places where no one had ever ventured before. This Entourage, for sure, did not leave me indifferent. This Entourage does not leave me indifferent. They always have the right words, the ones that not only make you want to keep fighting, but more important, the ones that make you want to fight harder.

It’s been three years since I’ve known EE and I am convinced that this Entourage somehow has magical powers. Maybe their powers exist in their grateful hearts, or maybe it is in their belief and passion for their community. But whatever their powers are, they ignite a fire in the heart of others, including mine. I want to run for EE. I want to breathe for EE. I want to shout out to the whole universe about how world-changing they are. EE pushes me forward. It makes me believe that anything is possible if you just dare to take action into your own hands and do it with passion.

“EE pushes me forward. It makes me believe that anything is possible if you just dare to take action into your own hands and do it with passion.”

In 2017, determined to become more involved, my best friend and I became the very first international EE Champion Team and fundraised for EE using our personal networks leading up to the annual Abend mit Emilys Entourage gala that year. I could not be happier that other international champions have now joined this incredible challenge to push our own limits and take the chance to find a breakthrough into our own hands. We embody the apostrophe that breaks apart the word “impossible” to read “I’m possible.” And that drive for change is, for me, the purpose of EE. I’ll keep that apostrophe alive for EE, forever.

So, that’s my EE fairy tale. From Paris to Philly, from YouTube to real life using a five-minute video as a bridge, I crossed the Ocean and joined an Entourage—both physically and metaphorically. There is just one more thing to add to the story. My dream was fulfilled, but my mission is not yet totally achieved. Real fairy tales always end up with a happy-ever after. Here is how I picture mine:

“And as an EE Champion, she wholeheartedly committed herself in the fight, alongside those purple superheroes. And as things always happen for a reason, she smiled like never before when she eventually wrote that line: ‘a cure was found for all mutations of Cystic fibrosis, by Emily’s Entourage.’”

The end.