Hi, I am Oriane.
I'm an expert in strategic communication, human intelligence (HUMINT), and navigating the grey zones of power.
My path hasn’t been linear.
It’s been built in the shadows, where influence is subtle, decisions are high-stakes, and understanding human behavior is the sharpest edge you can have.
Where it started
It started at Sciences Po, the institution that trains "France’s future elite". I hated my 5 years of studies. Hated it.
I found the system rigid, hypocritical. BUT it gave me the analytical tools to understand politics, power structures, and influence at scale.
I also felt that if this is going to be the future "elite", I better leave this country soon. It's tough, I know, but this is how I felt back then. I wasn’t interested in climbing existing ladders and being a part of this.
Journalism, narratives, conflict
So I left France for Israel - with my diploma and 2 luggages.
I was thinking of doing a PhD and to be honest I started the process. But in a matter of months, I felt like "real life" was calling: I just needed a job, make some decent money and start a new life. Somehow, this is how I became a journalist.
I was a lonely young woman in a new place, with a certain appetance for risks. When I arrived in Israel, I had 100 questions I needed answers to. I thought being a journalist would help me in this quest for answers.
I reported from Israel and the West Bank: one of the most intense geopolitical hotspots in the world.
I witnessed how media narratives shape perception, how information becomes a weapon, and how truth is often a matter of perspective...
I built a solid network across politics, business, and tech. But more than anything, I learned to read people, decode silence, and see what’s not being said. Eventually, I left. I did not feel aligned with the media world. I needed real impact and not being a part of that "game".
Intelligence, bastard spy, the shadow of the shadows
That’s when I stepped into the world of private intelligence. The recruitment process started this way: a friend of mine, already in the field sent me an announcement for a job. It just said something like:
we're looking for a woman, ready to travel, speaking at least 3 languages, french would be an advantage.
How cool, that sounded just like me.
No details about the job itself, just that.
The recruitment process was long (and fun, to say the least). Until the first day of work, I did not really know what I was going to do, but I just went for it.
During the next 5 years, I discovered a world in parallel to "our world". I worked behind the scenes of influence operations, sensitive negotiations, and strategic advisory. I specialized in Human Intelligence or HUMINT (the art of gathering intelligence through human sources).
Yes, you get it, I was what people call a "spy". I don't like this word for all of the misinterpretation there is around the name.
But I loved the job.
I mastered how to see the world through others’ eyes, to map invisible dynamics, and to help leaders make smarter moves in complex environments.
Time passed and my personal life was evolving.
I loved the adrenaline of the job, its intensity, meeting the people I was meeting, learning the skills I was learning... but on the long term? I could not see myself building the life I wanted in these conditions.
Plus, I was starting to see some stuffs that I despised in the field too. I could not sh*t up anymore... I started to "rebel". I'll let you imagine - it was not particularly appreciated. Eventually, they let me go.
After years inside structures of the grey zone, I felt like I did not fit in any box.
I HAD to create mine.
Creating my "own box"
Leaving intelligence was a tough decision.
I had to go through a very deep introspection to understand my own story.
Why did I go the way I went?
That's when I saw the pattern: these experiences were all connected by... the Grey Zone. All at the intersection of power, decisions, influence, communication and intelligence.
I've honed special skills and knowledge, and I found ways to translate them to the business world.
In 2024, I founded OC Strategic Advisory: a firm dedicated to helping bold, visionary leaders make high-level decisions, navigating complex environments, - often the Grey Zone - all of this, with the tools of intelligence.
My "genius" area is the human factor.
I just see through people. And to be honest, sometimes at a personal level, it can be quite overwhelming.
On the personal side...
There’s more to me than the career. If you follow me for a while, you know that I believe that multiple identities can co-exist with flexibility.
There are other parts of "Oriane" that are more creative and sensitive. Oriane the child.
Here are a few random facts about me:
- I have a dog.
- I am a Scorpio.
- I grew up on the French Riviera.
- I speak five languages (+ learning some new).
- I’m a singer and musician, these days mostly in the shower.
- I measure my brain’s electrical activity everyday.
- I live in Portugal because it’s quiet and beautiful.
- I read obsessively, and crave deep, raw conversations.
- I write consistently since... I'm something like 7 years old.
- I recharge my batteries as much as I can in nature and eco places.
This space is my new "home base".
A digital sanctuary for the thinkers, strategists, off-grid visionaries.
Welcome, inside my mind