This episode is like no other. It is not an interview, it is a story, told like a tale at a child's height. Under the gentleness of the telling, though, lies the key to everything Domitille Kiger argues for today on stage: people perform better once they have found their place in a collective, and fear gets overcome by acting, not by thinking about it.
Les Nouvelles Héroïnes · Domitille Kiger
A tale, not an interview
Les Nouvelles Héroïnes is a narrative podcast by Céline Steyer, which turns into stories the lives of women who dared make their dreams real, to help those listening grow in confidence and find their own path. The format is immersive: the voice tells of “Domiti”, a little girl, and unfolds her story like an adventure. That choice changes everything, because it brings to the surface the roots of her vision, the ones a conventional interview often leaves in the shade.
The child who could not find her place
The story opens on a lonely child. At school, Domitille does not tick the boxes of the popular girl, does not wear the right sweater, and watches the groups form without her. She finds more warmth among the ponies of the nearby riding school than among her classmates. It is a quiet wound, and it is the one that lights up what follows.
She found her place at thirteen thousand feet
At twelve, on a dropzone near Arcachon, everything tips. She sees skydivers landing, grinning from ear to ear, and feels something new: for the first time in her life, she is drawn to a group. A few years later, accepted among the adults of the club, she finally feels she belongs, says the story, unlike at school.
That is where her obsession with the collective comes from. The girl who spent a long time looking for her place made belonging the center of her life, then of her work. It is the base of perform together and of the pillar she calls the Parachute: the trust of a group where everyone has their place and knows they are held.
The secret: fear disappears by acting
Toward the end, the tale delivers a secret, addressed to whoever is listening. Domitille did not make her fear disappear, she made a friend of it. In the air, she says, she is no longer afraid, because she is in the action, the focus, the wonder. The lesson is universal and holds well beyond skydiving: to overcome a fear, you have to set yourself in motion. Thinking about fear sustains it, acting dissolves it.
From heroine to a message for teams
The format addresses women and self esteem, a theme Domitille also carries on stage, around empowerment. But her message goes beyond that frame. Finding your place, daring to speak up, turning your fear into momentum: that is what she now helps individuals and teams do. What starts as a children's tale ends as a toolbox for leaders.
- People perform better once they have their place. Someone who feels they belong commits differently from someone who is simply executing.
- Belonging gets built, it does not get decreed. It is often the person who lacked a place who knows best how to give one to others.
- Fear dissolves in action. Faced with uncertainty, a first decision beats a long rumination.
- Daring to take your place is something you learn. Speaking up, making yourself visible, gets worked on the way a jump gets prepared.