up. I went to North America, Argentina, made the move to General Management going to Costa Rica, Australia, and now UK. I’m married with three kids, have best friends around the world and fell grateful for a fulfilling personal and professional life – so I’m a firm believer that we can have it all. Why should women need to trade off precious things like a family to have a career? I could not have predicted my journey, and I think in many ways I outpaced my most auspicious expectations.
I think that was a turning point for me, because I started being more intentional about going beyond leading the business and driving winning results, but also about connecting to people, understanding their dreams, understanding their potential. As time goes on, it becomes less about what I do, it’s about the space I open up for others to come and realise their own potential. And that has been my leadership style helping people to unleash their potential and achieving winning results.
How important were role models in your development and journey?
What would you say to your younger self just starting out in the industry?
I think they were absolutely critical. A few common themes from my role models were the importance of values, standing up for themselves, the power of trust and I feel lucky some of them saw something in me, before I saw or believed myself.
Own your life. Own your destiny. Dream, thank, work, enjoy. The effort to dream small or dream big is the same. Make your choices and then put your thoughts, your words and your actions into bringing those dreams to life.
In SC Johnson, I met one of my professional role models, Ana Dominguez, who was the Marketing Director at the time. I saw someone that I could aspire to. She was a happy and successful woman. She had a happy marriage, she had kids, she had friends, had a big job, had a social life, she had dreams and plans. And she just flowed naturally through all of that, enjoying life.
When it comes to diversity and inclusion, is the UK different to other markets that you’ve led in? Each market has its own qualities. I find UK absolutely fascinating. Here, there’s a real power in dialogue – people can agree or disagree but welcome the debate. I find a willingness to embrace or at least to respect the difference.
The said, the developed world seems to have evolved more in areas like openness, transparency and trust. And when trust is in place, it gives as far more space for collaboration. Other parts of the world have other qualities and challenges. Latin America for example, is very creative and resilient, but also hierarchy and male dominance is far more apparent. I lost count of the situations when I was the only woman in the room, or where there were attempts to underestimating me – which I learnt to turn into a strength, or even have some fun with. If you could have done anything else, what would it be? I could not be a singer, I’m a terrible singer. I would say this: the idea of building a better world for future generations moves me. I think I’d like to do something linked to people development and entrepreneurship, as it provides the opportunity for agility and risk-taking, which I love.
What does great leadership mean to you? It’s about inspiring and unleashing potential. It’s also about guiding and supporting. When questioning myself about different paths to better help people in need, an inspiring coach from CCL once told me, “Hey, do you realise that you touch so many people’s lives from where you are?”
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