Early years and where you came from?
I was born in Lisbon, and as my parents were both from Mozambique, I never had a “hometown” to go to for holidays and festivities. Algarve was then adopted by my family as our second home and we’d spend our long Summers there, as my mother was a teacher. I’ve always loved reading, writing and drawing/painting, so those were the passions that led to my studies and then career later in life.
How were you introduced to the world of the Portuguese tech industry?
I haven’t (yet) worked on Portuguese tech companies, but I’ve worked on subsidiaries of multinational established here, whether they were marketing to Portuguese customers or just hosted their shared services from Portugal.
Walk me through your work and what you are doing now in the tech industry.
I’m currently Head of Content for an international company specializing in language services and technology. Integrated in the Global Marketing Team, our team owns website and blog platforms, including strategy, content creation, SEO and UX. We also work with pre-sales and solution & product managers to support go-to-market and sales enablement, using a digital asset management platform as the central distribution point for all collateral.
What part of what you do, you love the most?
First, my work combines both of my passions — writing and art (in a broad sense). I love to make things happen and have a direct, positive impact on business growth, either by bringing visibility to the brand in the digital world or by impacting lead generation and customer nurturing/cross-selling. Those are my motivators, and as with everything in life, as you achieve something, you always want to go further and further and improve on past achievements, get new ideas and innovate. And I’m lucky to work in a company that values this spirit and welcomes new ideas and change.
How do you think that your background and knowledge impact the way you approach your work in the Portuguese tech industry?
The technical marketing background is fundamental, but what I think is most important when you work in a technology field is to enjoy the fast pace of change and innovation and be prepared to follow this pace in your domain of work. At Acolad our expertise focuses on language, as the world is constantly moving and globalization is no longer a trend, but in fact, translation technologies are also constantly evolving to keep up with emerging business models and societal changes.
What advice do you have for young women that want to get into tech and don’t know where to start?
In the technology marketing field, I’d say first educate yourself on marketing technologies and trends, and it doesn’t imply formal training. In this field, we tend to value more expertise and practical experience than a lot of diplomas that might not bring any added value. In the last couple of years, marketing needs have evolved a lot with the increased focus on the digital world and alternative channels, and I see a lot of demand to all kinds of profiles. Don’t neglect opportunities because it’s a startup or you have never heard of the company (marketing students tend to think the dream job is at Microsoft or another globally recognized company). Focus on the potential learning opportunities you’ll have — especially as in start-up structures, your work will probably be more visible and have a direct impact even if you’re just an intern.
Walk me through a day in your life as a Portuguese women in tech.
No day is the same. I try to start the day by checking and prioritizing emails and checking what happened on (Microsoft) Teams during the night, as we have team members in the US and Eastern Europe. After then, it’s getting my hands on content projects — +planning, discussing, implementing, or writing. Preparing meetings with marketing stakeholders and finding solutions to problems also happen daily. Somewhere in the middle of everything else, I’ll be reviewing content, checking out our platforms, and adding improvements/changes. If I’m lucky, at the end of the day, I check my email again and try to plan out the next day.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
If you’re not working in a healthcare facility or emergency service, no one will die when you close your laptop. Work will never stop coming, and it will be there tomorrow, waiting for you. It’s your responsibility to balance work priorities and life outside of work, taking care of yourself to ensure you give your best on both sides. Something to keep in mind even when you’re starting out and thinking you need to “give everything” to evolve or be recognized.
What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?
HubSpot, Excel, Analytics, Confluence, Microsoft Teams, (and not surprisingly Google — I should count the number of searches I do in a day)
Any links that you want to share? In what are you working on…
We recently launched a new website — https://www.acolad.com — after a rebranding process that followed the latest acquisition of the Acolad group. This website is based on the latest version of the enterprise WCMS Adobe Experience Manager, and includes a translation connector API that links our content platform with our in-house language services, and that’s how we secure high-quality content in 10 languages in fast-paced delivery. We followed an international SEO approach for the content strategy and introduced a lot of UX improvements compared to our old website. Curious to hear your feedback!
👉Find Inês on LinkedIn
