International Women's Day Interview: Marta Gonçalves, Managing Partner, Say U Consulting

Name: Marta Gonçalves

City: Lisbon

Country: Portugal

Occupation: Managing
Partner, Say U Consulting

ST: Please tell us about you.

Marta: I attended the Escola Superior de Comunicação
Social, in Lisbon, earning a degree in Public Relations and Business Communication.
Having acquired essential knowledge to progress in my professional career my
interest for this area has only strengthened since then. At a certain point
during my career path I realized the difficulty for any individual to balance
the personal and professional aspects of life, which drove me to creatingmy own
business. I was asked several times “where I would like to be in five years’
time” and I believethe career path I fashioned to this day was based on the
objective of having my own project. Today, I am the Founder and Managing Partner
of Say U Consulting and a senior communication and marketing consultant for
companies across various industries.

Currently I act as a strategic advisor for the
Portuguese branch of “Doctors of the World” and the entrepreneurship-oriented
organization “Acredita Portugal”.I am also an author of articles in the
subjects of Marketing and Communication.

For a time I was also the Vice-President of “NovosRostos…NovosDesafios”association and a
member of the Management team of the “Associação de Assistência de São Paulo”
association.

ST: Who is a woman that inspires you the most
and why?

Marta: One of
the women I most admire in the context of business management and communication
is Trina Gordon, President and CEO of Boyden World Corporation. I think she is
a person of recognized strength and determination, who views women as a strong
element for the success of an organization. Not only does she routinely and consciously make an investment in female employees, but she also trusts
the benefits of having women in management roles. I find myself looking up to
Trina Gordon as an example to follow, considering her career as a global leader
in the executive search industry.

ST: How are you
celebrating this year`s international Women`s Day?

Marta: This year I will be celebrating the International
Women’s Day at work, with all the motivation and dedication that a project like
Say U Consulting deserves. Since this year’s International Women’s Day will be a
weekday I imagine most women will be at work and feeling fulfilled in their
chosen career path. We are not always
fortunate enough to achieve this fulfilment in our professional life but I
believe this must a permanent goal. Additionally to achieving an acceptable
standard of living, feeling happy and successful must be a determining factor
in the vision we create for our career.

ST: What is the most important message you want
to send out to all the women around the world on this occasion?

Marta: The message I want to convey to all women today is
that first of we must like ourselves so that we can later enjoy the presence
and the interaction with others and what we do. I see women and men as having
equivalent skills and access to the opportunities that come with them. We do
not need shortcuts and we are not weak, so we have no reason to be negative and
think that others are better than us and that we will not be able to achieve
our proposed goals.

Each womanshould be free to express herself, receive
adequate education and the space to create and be a productive member of
society. We may face failurerepeatedly when confrontedwith obstacles but it is how
we deal with those situations that will dictate if and when we reach our target.
The pride we feel whenaccomplishing these goals is something that is not gifted
nor bought, it is truly created through hard work and merit.

ST: What according to you is ‘women empowerment’?

Marta: This is a touchy topic as it is something that currently
still affects women at a professional level. At the moment there are still
barriers to the presence of women in management positions in several organizations,
industries and geographies. However, the participation of women in this context
has undergone significant changes. This transformation is linked to tangible leadership
decisions directed towards change and evolution, increasedcompetition between
companies and an emerging shared corporate culture. Thus, the presence of women
in the hierarchy of organizations began to be valued. The technological advancement
and increasinglydemandingbehaviour of several industries and their customers
has also brought about some changes in the integration of women as a useful factor.
Women have the opportunity to acquire knowledge and create a unique
professional career path, all the while answering the needs of companies and
the market.

ST: What would you say are the main challenges facing
women at present in India?

Marta: The situation of women in India is somewhat
similar to the situation we faced in Portugal not that long ago, something I
attribute to the prevailing culture. Transformation occurs differently across
different countries and societies but I think the dimension, complexity and
dynamics at work in the Indian market will naturally demand more from women in
their professional capacity and create avenues for their career development and
for an increased role of women in Indian organizations and in this country’s
business interactions with the world at large.