One of my favourite things about attending trade shows like In-Cosmetics is discovering companies that make you stop and think, "This is where the future is heading." One of the companies we had the pleasure of meeting during our time in Paris was Ariah Bio, a biotechnology company based in Sophia Antipolis on the Côte d'Azur. At first glance, they are an advanced imaging laboratory. In reality, they are helping researchers and companies answer some of biology's most difficult questions.
​
Ariah Bio specializes in Spatial Biology, High-Plex Imaging, and AI-powered tissue analysis. Rather than simply looking at whether a protein, biomarker, or cell type is present, they study where it is located, what cells surround it, and how those cells interact with one another within a tissue. This may sound like a small difference, but it completely changes the level of information researchers can obtain. Think of a traditional tissue image as a map showing where all the buildings are located in a city. Spatial Biology goes much further. It helps us understand which buildings are connected, who lives in them, how they communicate, and what happens when something in the neighborhood changes. Suddenly, the story becomes far more interesting.

Fifteen years ago, my entrepreneurial journey started for a very practical reason: I was a young mom, and I realized early on that I needed flexibility. I wanted to parent, build a life, create opportunities for myself, and have the freedom to shape my own future instead of fitting into someone else’s schedule. That realization is really what pushed me into entrepreneurship. What I didn’t realize at the time was that once you start building companies, something changes in you. For many founders, entrepreneurship becomes a bit of an addiction — and honestly, I mean that in the best and worst ways possible. There is something incredibly powerful about having an idea in your head, turning it into reality, and then watching the world respond to it. The moment someone pays you for something that once existed only in your imagination is kind of magical. And once you experience that feeling, it’s very hard to go back to a “normal” way of thinking.

But entrepreneurship is also deeply misunderstood. Social media often sells the glamorous version of founder life — the beach photos, the expensive dinners, the luxury hotels, the motivational quotes posted from airport lounges — but very few people talk about the actual reality of building companies. The reality is that entrepreneurship can be incredibly lonely, even if you have employees, partners, clients, or a large network around you. Founders often live differently than everyone else around them. We keep strange hours. We think differently. We push ourselves to uncomfortable limits. We sometimes make impulsive decisions because speed and instinct are part of entrepreneurial culture. Sometimes those risks work brilliantly. Sometimes they absolutely do not. Either way, you learn to live in uncertainty.

A lot of people around founders do not fully understand the mentality behind it. Family members may not understand why you work weekends or answer emails at midnight. Friends with traditional corporate careers may not understand why you can’t simply “turn work off.” The reality is that when you build something yourself, your business becomes intertwined with your identity, your future, your survival, and your dreams all at once. Entrepreneurship is not just a career path — for many of us, it’s an attempt to build life on our own terms.
​