Early years and where you came from?
I was born and raised in the beautiful city of Porto. I graduated in Journalism from the University of Porto in 2013, but all my professional experience has been in online marketing.
How were you introduced to the world of the Portuguese tech industry?
I was struggling to find a job in journalism, so I applied for an internship in Marketing and Communication. From then on, it has been an incredible journey. I started to learn about content and social media. However, data analytics and strategic thinking caught my eye. My main focus has been to improve my skillset in those areas.
Walk me through your work and what you are doing now in the tech industry.
My daily work is quite challenging. I focus on improving the results of my customers, by analyzing data, creating campaigns on different channels and building journeys and automation.
What part of what you do, you love the most?
What I love most is definitely implementing new strategies and constantly tweaking those until we find the perfect balance between investment, results and generate lifetime value.
How do you think that your background and knowledge impact the way you approach your work in the Portuguese tech industry?
I did a number of sports growing up, however, Karate was and is a lifetime passion. Karate taught me the value of discipline, character, team-work and resilience. I believe that’s where my biggest strengths are drawn.
What advice do you have for young women that want to get into tech and don’t know where to start?
I believe it takes a lot of courage for women to get into any area which is dominated by men, as it’s for men to enter areas dominated by women. The problem is that there are many more areas where men are protagonists that the scenario is never seen in the other direction. However, we’ve been growing in areas such as web design, UX/UI, CRM, front-end developing for instance. And, step by step, I believe women are building a leading voice in tech.
Succeeding in an area dominated by men is an incredible thing to do! But if the meaning of success is placed in a third party, then the sense of fulfillment is also placed outside of yourself. My biggest advice to anyone who is purely starting is to strive for success, for knowledge, for evolving regardless of your gender and your area of expertise. Just take the chance and make the best out of it, and don’t expect anyone to congratulate you. You are strong enough to know when to congratulate yourself!
Walk me through a day in your life as a Portuguese woman in tech.
My day is pretty straight forward. I start by browsing my Twitter and LinkedIn account, before checking my agenda for the day. In the office, I’m a very focused person, but I make time for a cup of coffee and a little bit of humor. A must in my daily life is to learn something new every day. Right now I’m taking on an online course on Data Science and I’m learning SQL. But even if I wasn’t doing so I would find some new platform to check out. I usually finish my day watching a series or a movie with my lab on my lap. Sometimes I make time to go to the gym. I should make it a daily goal!
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
For those who only know how to use a hammer, every problem is a nail!
What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?
For work, I’m addicted to Google Analytics, Salesforce Mkt Cloud and Excel. In my personal life, I must confess I check my Instagram account more times than I’m proud to say.
Links that you want to share? In what are you working on…
So far, I don’t have anything to share. But there is news coming soon!
👉Find Catarina on LinkedIn
