Today we are shining the spotlight on a true trailblazer in the tech and media scene. Cristina Garces is CEO and founder of Optiva Media, a niche engineering services company that delivers audio and video technology solutions across the entire digital TV and audio media market chain.
(0:31): Who is Optiva Media? Cristina provides the background.
(1:43): A Women in Business 2020 Grant Thornton report says Spain has 5% more than the global average of gender equality in the work place when looking at women who hold senior management positions in mid size companies.
(5:00): Career journey of CEO Cristina Garces from studying arts and literature to earning a computer engineering degree, founding a company and becoming CEO. She tells an interesting “trail-blazer” story about how she continually forced changes and made decisions that often went against conventional thinking when she left reputable companies and high job security in search of new challenges and ventures.
(16:47): As a woman working in male dominated industries, was there ever a point in your career where you felt you needed to change, act or speak differently and adopt “mannerisms”? Cristina states that to be taken seriously especially for younger women, you need to act and be more serious and bold than your colleagues. Also she suggests young women be over-prepared and be prepared to take control in meetings.
(26:06): Women being proactive at Optiva Media through their “Coffeeology” initiative in order to: 1) hire more women; 2) retain them; and 3) how can they change/evolve the Optiva culture to support and continue the advancement of women.
(34:58): What is your best piece of advice to women aspiring to progress through the ranks in your career?
Connect with Cristina on LinkedIn
Check out Optiva Media on LinkedIn
Report Mentioned: Women in Business 2020 Grant Thornton
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