BOSTON -- A 22-year-old college student is making a name for herself as she balances attending Harvard University full-time and being the CEO of a multinational company.

NewsCenter 5's Susan Wornick reported that Appolonia Poilane, 22, seems no different than any Harvard student, but her classmates have few clues she's leading a double life.

"No big deal other than that, I just happen to have a job. It's a great job," she said.

Poilane's job is on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in Paris, where she runs one of the most famous family bakeries in the world -- Poilane Bakery. Her 150 employees turn out about 9,000 loaves of wood-oven, sourdough bread each day.

The classic "Poilane loaf" got its start with Poilane's grandfather, Pierre, and its reputation grew with her father, Lionel.

But four years ago, Poilane's parents were killed in a helicopter accident, and the responsibility to uphold the tradition fell on the then-18-year-old Poilane.

"I had always known I would take over the company, so it just happened earlier, well sooner, that it should have," she said.

By e-mail and conference calls, she has kept the $18 million company running -- all while studying economics at Harvard.

Poilane said her double life calls for clear priorities.

"I have no requirements to get good grades. I just need to get passing grades. Yes, it is demanding," said Poilane. "People think of bread as just food, but it is so much more than food. It's linked to languages, politics, economics, history and so on and so forth. And my studies at Harvard is an extension in a way of this work I have been doing in the bakery."

Last year, Poilane finished the book on bread her father always wanted to publish. When she graduates, Poilane said she will return to France to carry on where her father left off.

"My father was extremely passionate about his job, and I think that I understood that. But I understand it more now," Poilane said.