Ms. Marie Guillot

biography

Marie Guillot is the Chairman & CEO of ABACO International Executive Search Consultants.
Marie's professional history includes a unique set of experience with 14 years as an executive and consultant working within Internet-based technology companies and e-marketplaces across a broad range of industries with a concentration in the Oil & Gas, Energy and Petrochemical markets. Marie has held executive roles leading e-procurement and supply chain strategies for companies such as Shell International, Dow Chemical, Conoco-Phillips, Solvay, Total, Statoil, Repsol YPF, Eni, Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Dresser-Rand and many other large and small companies on both the buyer and supplier side of the petrochemical industry across upstream, downstream and retail operations.
Prior to founding ABACO International, Marie led the Oil & Gas/Energy and IT practice areas for a retained search firm in Houston where she was a Partner.

In previous roles, Marie has served as Vice President at Polestar Corporation, where she worked as an executive consultant, leading the change management practice for an e-business consulting firm, supporting initiatives such as a global ERP implementation, technology deployment, business process redesign, organizational top-grading/re-alignment, and strategy for Fortune-level clients in the oil & gas, energy and manufacturing sectors. This role included management coaching, communications, training and culture strategy.

Marie also served as VP of Communications and as Global Account Director of the Shell International account for Trade-Ranger (now CC-Hubwoo), a global e-marketplace serving the Petrochemical industry with Internet-based and hosted purchase-to-pay technology solutions. In her role, she helped deploy Shell's e-procurement initiative in many locations around the globe. She also spent 1 year leading a special project as Director of Global Suppliers to develop the business plan to further engage suppliers with the exchange and increase Trade-Ranger’s value proposition to its large global supplier base, with suppliers headquartered in Europe, South America, the United States and Canada.

Prior to that, Marie spent several years as an executive leader in the dot-com industry including her role as VP Site Operations and Customer Experience for DrRedDuke.com, a medical diagnosis site; She served as part of the start-up team and as Director of Interactive for Ashford.com, a B2C luxury goods retailer of fine watches, jewelry and accessories, where she recruited and managed a team of 50 employees focuses on the design, development, photography and production of the site. During Marie's tenure, Ashford.com went public in 1999 and is still an active and viable e-business today. Prior to Ashford.com, she led two start-up multimedia firms; as the Vice President and leader of Synergy New Media, formerly Altair Interactive, and as a partner and leader of a start-up multimedia design firm, Eleventh Second Communications.

Marie realizes that the growth she has seen unfold in the last 14 years is only the beginning. As technology continues to reinvent the ways that businesses compete and operate, the demand for technology savvy executives and management teams will continue to rise. In addition, with the growing demand of the energy industry, including the entrepreneurial burst that the search for alternative energy is generating, quality employees are becoming more and more difficult to attract and retain.

Marie's distinct experience with clients in industries such as Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Energy and Technology, as well as her exposure to supply chain, B2B, B2C, and e-business strategy gives her a well-rounded foundation to assist clients with a variety of hiring challenges.

Marie has spent much of her career working abroad, with clients on location in the UK, Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Norway and Italy, enabling her with the cultural sensitivity and skill set to develop relationships, rapport, and understanding with clients and candidates in international engagements.

Marie holds a BBA, Marketing from the University of Houston, as well as a BBA in Entrepreneurship from the University of Houston Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (now the Wolfe Center for Entrepreneurship).

Marie has been an Associate Member of the Silver Fox Advisors since 1997 (www.silverfox.org), a Houston-based group of successful executives and entrepreneurs who comprise over 1000 years of business experience and who have shared their years of experience and advice to help hundreds of entrepreneurs, owners and executives. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Dover Club (www.thedoverclub.com), an alliance of entrepreneurs.

Marie is a native Houstonian but equally comfortable abroad, with family, friends and a business network in both the UK and Western Europe.