This year we are celebrating International Women’s Day at Zink by interviewing female role models in marketing. We talked to 4 different inspirational women from our 4 different locations; Palma, Amsterdam, Galicia and Madrid. Read their stories as woman working in the marketing industry, how they built their career, the challenges they faced and their advice to other young women working towards similar positions.
Today we interview Anna Esteban, an Executive Director and Head of Business Development Continental Europe at CBRE España in Madrid, one of our locations at Zink Marketing! Let’s hear her story…
1. What do you think about the present and future of digital marketing?
For us, as for many companies in more traditional market areas, the big challenge is the transition to digital. And it’s not just about adding a new channel; it affects everything we do. The profiles we hire, the way we communicate with our customers or provide our service, the way we measure success and more. These online networks increase reach and give greater visibility, and that in turn requires greater transparency, greater brand consistency and greater knowledge. This helps us understand how to use that visibility and data to create value for the company. And as if everything wasn’t already moving so fast, Covid came along to speed it up even more… A great challenge, and at the same time a great opportunity!
2. What challenges have you faced as a woman in your career and how have you overcome them?
Unintentional biases. They exist in men and women, family, co-workers or friends. Most of the time they are so ingrained in our culture or in mentality that we are not even aware of them. Discrimination often comes with a friendly face, such as “but why are you going to get into this mess with two small children”. Or “with so much work, how do you organise yourself at home”, “be gentle with her, she is the first woman we have put in a management body”. Phrases that sound supportive and understanding but in reality hide huge widespread involuntary biases.
3. What advice would you give to a young woman trying to get a position like yours?
Don’t hold back. If something makes you happy, pursue it with conviction and determination. There are a lot of misconceptions around top female executives, misconceptions that often demotivate female talent. You have to choose, you can’t have it all, it’s impossible to reconcile… but none of this is true. You can be very happy growing professionally whilst maintaining a happy life at home. It’s not necessary to choose one of the other. You just have to find the right path and above all, the right personal environment. Personal life should always come first and professional life second. Without the support of our personal lives, it would be difficult to succeed professionally.
4. How important is it for women to support each other? Can you share an example?
Of course. Above all, bust the myths about women’s success in the workplace and encourage young talent. We have to join together and help each other get over those hurdles. Accompany one another and create support networks, whether they be formal or informal. This can be done by Mentoring, showing visibility and transparency as well as developing inclusion policies. The benefits of promoting diversity in business are huge and in my experience, once the door is open and these benefits are visible, there is no turning back.
