Marie Lesaicherre, PhD, MBA
Entrepreneur • Scientist • Advisor • Author
Marie Lesaicherre is an entrepreneur, scientist, advisor and author.
She’s spent twenty years founding and scaling healthcare and technology businesses for corporations and startups across five continents, while cultivating her inner life, spirituality, and the arts.
Her work sits at the intersection of business, well-being, meaning, technology, and spirituality.
She identifies the underlying patterns that block progress in people and organizations and translates insight into practical change.
She holds a Ph.D. in chemical biology from the National University of Singapore and an Executive MBA from Columbia Business School and London Business School.
1. I sat at my desk. I opened my laptop to work. I tried to click on the email icon. But my hands refused to move. I willed my hands to move. But they didn’t move. I looked at my hands. I looked at my laptop. Damn, what’s wrong with me? I thought. It’s Monday morning in London. It’s already afternoon in China. I am late replying to emails. I have meetings with investors lined up this week. I need to work. I looked outside. The sun was shining. Passersby were going about their day. I stood up. I paced the small apartment. What’s happening? I thought. Why can’t I work as usual? I’ve spent the past six months flying between Shanghai, Boston, and London. I’m exhausted. But I’ve been exhausted before. I could always push through. I love the business. The plan was to spend the week in London. Then fly back to Boston to get my things. Then relocate to Shanghai. I can’t continue living out of my suitcases. I need to settle down. What am I going to do? I decided to call Jonty. I sat back down at my desk. “Jonty, I can’t get to work,” I said. “I don’t know what’s happening!” I stood up and paced again. “Why don’t you take the day off?” Jonty said. “You deserve it.” I am in no mood to take the day off, I thought. “Why don’t you go shopping and treat yourself?” Jonty said. I am exhausted from lugging my suitcases around. I don’t want to carry more stuff. “Why don’t you go visit an art museum?” Jonty said. I sighed. Well, if I can’t work, I might as well visit an art museum. I closed my laptop.
Marie has built a life on intelligence, achievement, self-reliance, and an ability to keep going no matter what. When her body suddenly refuses to keep pushing, she hears a Voice that seems to know her.
She decides to follow this Voice in search of answers across countries, therapies, spirituality, creativity, and work. She is forced to reckon with a past buried in silence, a past she fears might overtake her.
The Wave Broke Down My Fortress is a gripping, beautiful memoir about reconnecting with what has been silenced, aligning inner and outer lives, and living a fuller, more meaningful life.
Transform stress. Reach your full potential.
Akesa is a self-guided, science-based process that transforms stress into insight, helps you build resilience, and live a fuller, more meaningful life.
The journey
From Brittany, around the world, and back to the self
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Nothing in my early life predisposed me to travel so much. My parents were farmers in Brittany, France, and I received scholarships for most of my studies. But opportunities came, and I seized them. I was finishing my Master’s in Chemical Engineering when I pioneered an exchange program with the National University of Singapore. I was 22. I earned a Master of Science, a Ph.D. in chemical biology, and completed a year of postdoctoral studies. I moved to Shanghai to improve my Chinese and was hired by General Electric to build research labs and hire a team of scientists. I was promoted to manage a joint venture with a biotech startup in San Diego and later served as program manager for GE Security in Boston. After earning an Executive MBA from Columbia Business School and London Business School, I ventured into the startup world. I spent a year in Africa, consulting for a social venture and working on a solar business. I spent three years in Dubai as the turnaround CEO of an education startup and co-founded and globally scaled an InsureTech startup. Climbing the academic and corporate ladders was satisfying but also an escape from confronting buried childhood traumas. But in October 2012, stuck on a flight from London back to Boston, I burst out crying uncontrollably. Toughening up and pushing through no longer worked. I embarked on a journey in search of answers across countries, therapies, spirituality, creativity, and work. In Africa, I met shamans. In Maui, I wrote, created art that was exhibited, and realized that even halfway around the world, I couldn’t escape the past when flashbacks woke me up screaming at night. In 2019, I returned to the US and worked with digital health startups. With EMDR, I was eventually able to complete a long journey of healing. I realized the answers I sought weren’t outside me, but within. I reconnected with parts of myself I had long ignored. I learned I can be both analytical and intuitive, scientific and creative, pragmatic and spiritual. In 2021, I founded Akesa Health to translate scientific innovation into accessible tools that help people transform stress into insight, build resilience, and live fuller, more meaningful lives. Today, I speak, write, and work with people and organizations to identify the patterns that block progress and translate insight into practical change.
