Powerful Women Build an Unrivalled Industry Every Day
Alejandra Zambrano, CEO of Banana Ponch talks about her role as a woman in the industry and gives her advice to future generations of powerful women.
Q> How do you feel about being a Girl Boss in the industry?
Alejandra> It seems to me that more than a gender issue, it is an opportunity as a person to be able to lend all the creative and leadership skills you have. Really more than being a boss, is to be a leader where I listen to my team and that leads me to grow every day. Without a team you are no one to take a project forward, it has been a very positive growth.
The industry is growing every day, there are new technologies, more skills, new people. However, the most beautiful thing is to understand that each person has a talent and that talent contributes, so being in charge of the leadership and the baton of each project makes me feel very privileged to be in this environment. Learning from each of the people in my team, from the experiences, from each project, from each challenge and even from the clients themselves who contribute from their experience.
Q> Have you faced any kind of challenge (discrimination, comparison, undervaluation) being a woman?
Alejandra> I have not faced this type of challenge; these issues of gender, capacity, believing yourself to be more or less because you are a woman or a man or whatever gender you belong to, does not mean that you are better or worse in any area of your life, it is a question of being a person, of how you see life and that is the challenge. Regardless of what gender you are, I feel that as a person you make your own way depending on the vision and skills you have. I have always believed that the human being, regardless of gender: man, woman, trans or however you define yourself, has the capacity to achieve incredible things, to always give the best of yourself, life itself gives you the opportunities, you are born with talents, you are a creative being so you have all the capabilities for everything you set your mind to.
Clearly there has been a change and we have seen the progress where the whole female issue has awakened and said "I want to take the baton of this", but more than a gender issue for me it is an awakening of people. It is a different sensibility because there is something that I have realised and that is that women have determination and throughout history I have felt that, we have that gift to finish things, to do, to organise, to say let's do it. Personally I have never felt that kind of discrimination or comparison and I have never felt undervalued, I feel that this is a mental issue, maybe having thoughts of: "I am a woman and in the industry I am not worth anything", no, it is the power to say I am a person, thanks to my talents I can achieve many things and I also try to transmit this same essence to my team.
Q> How do you define women who are becoming more and more important, with higher positions or roles in the industry (advertising, production and post production)?
Alejandra> They are 'berracas' as we say in Colombia, I admire several of them and as I have mentioned, I feel that women have that determination when they set their minds to it, to really be at the top in any medium, it is not a question of gender, but it is that courage, that power to reach a good end because there is vision, this is a very good example that discipline, putting your eyes on the things that really matter leads you to great things. I feel that before saying that this woman is ahead of the men or this woman is leading, it should be more a question of attitude, and that this person takes hold of that position; for me it is an example that despite the fact that they do a thousand activities, incredible things are achieved, because women not only fulfil a role in their work but also play the role of mother, a role of wife or often a role of daughter, this is what I value most, how discipline, the organisation of their own life, of thoughts, guide you to that important position.
I know women who are now very important in the industry, directors, managers and they have really had to work a lot with the I can, I am capable. In addition, I think it is very important to be organised, in my case: being a mother, being a wife, being a leader, is a matter of organisation, and many times at the end of the day one gets tired and one says: I need time for myself, but at the same time it is something very nice to experience because it is successful in spite of all the things that have to be done.
Sometimes I feel that the busier you are the more time you spend on what you love, that's what I mean by that determination, that discipline and that to get to the top, there was a journey and a very interesting process where you didn't become who you are in one day and that's it. Again, it's determination and discipline and the results are evident.
Q> What plus do we as women bring to this industry?
Alejandra> I have realised something and that is that women have the gift of multitasking, I think all of humanity has realised this, but it is that discipline, that leadership, that we will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. What I was talking about before, the determination of a woman is impressive, when a woman sets her mind to it and says I am going to take this project forward, she takes it on, whether it is difficult or easy, come rain or shine, we also have methodology; the simple fact of being able to do several things at the same time allows us to take on several projects and take them forward. I have really spoken to women in the industry and they are impressive; it is important to value the whole executive aspect, leading teams, I feel that it is more a woman's default, I have noticed that they put all their passion and determination into a project, if there is an adversity they bring out that determination.
Q> What makes Colombian women different in the workplace?
Alejandra> The differential is commitment, discipline, the businesswomen I have spoken to and who I have as references, are women who every day are looking for ways to grow, to generate strategies, Colombian women do not 'stick to their guns' as we say here in Colombia, they 'go forwards', they do not stagnate, they are looking for solutions. An example is that many times in projects we go against the clock with a creative idea and there is no budget, but we get the best way forward, the cleanest, what is sold. I have seen women directors, managers, executives, and I feel that they stand out more for their leadership and organisation; clearly there are women colourists, editors, illustrators, and they are impressive. I have had contact with impressive Colombian women artists, but it has been more that common denominator of seeing that woman who leads, that producer who takes the project forward in a very organised way, even in the middle of a shoot where everything is impossible, she takes it forward calmly, she knows what the formula is and applies it, she has that methodical part.
Many women I have met over the years come to my mind that I admire, that I have learned from and that have left a mark in each process and I have understood that things can be solved with a very good team and a good organisation. The Colombian woman is a risk-taker and sometimes very daring, she takes her idea, her project to the end, she does not give up and even though she sometimes has conflicts with her emotions, the Colombian woman says let's stop these thoughts and what stands out is the work and the project, she does not let herself collapse, she is a woman who is not afraid. It is nice to see that she has the formula to make things successful and that even if the team is tired from long hours of filming, long hours of post-production, they bring that spirit and say: let's go forward, with everything to achieve this goal.
Q> What kind of advice do you give to those women who are on the road to becoming producers, CEOs, art directors, and perhaps have encountered barriers along the way?
Alejandra> We must recognise that we all have limits. I think those limits are barriers of fear, as I mentioned, human beings have the capacity to be great in every sense of the word, if they set their mind to it they can be very successful but the word fear is everything that makes you stagnate.
My advice is to take those barriers and turn them into a strength, if at this moment I am feeling that I don't have the talent, you have to understand that the project, the company, the studio doesn't really depend only on you. They depend on a team and you are the one leading that team, so you shouldn't feel less or more what. A leader must understand that these limits that you put in your head are fears and those fears are broken down with discipline, with daily work and strategies. As a leader is to take a team to a goal, to push them, to advise them, to have them in the right human conditions, but really you are the result of your work team. You are not putting the lights on a project, you are not making the 3D, you are guiding that project to go on air.
The second is to understand that you are the reflection of your work team and the third is that discipline is what makes you great, and to have a clear vision of your project. To work and believe that you will take it far, to be sure that maybe when those limiting thoughts arrive you will say no matter, I know I have fears but I want to reach this objective and I am going to stick to the work model I made. Maybe we feel that it is a Russian roulette since everything depends on time, on the client's feedback, and if we start blaming ourselves nothing will come out of it, we must calm down, breathe and continue in that discipline of a leader's mentality, not a boss, but a leader.
Image credit: Banana Ponch
