See It, Be It 2024: Carina Toma

I’m not even sorry, but actually feeling lucky, because I can’t decide on one, so I’ll give you two of the most amazing women who will never stop inspiring me. 

The first one, also known as my life’s OG “influencer”, is actually my mom, the first woman I’ve seen to make it on her own and the one who once told me one very important sentence that I hope will stay with you, reader, as it always stays with me: “To make it in this world, you can only count on yourself. And this is more than enough.” 

Next, it’s my high school English teacher, who believed in me especially when others didn’t and who taught me that even if you are a mother (as she is), if you feel that your career is a defining element of yourself, there’s nothing wrong with it, embrace it (as she does) and remember that courtesy of the women who fought before us, we have the luxury to write our own rules, so that the women who come next don’t think of it as a luxury. 

There are a lot of other women who made an impact on my life (which also includes my career), but I’ve already passed the recommended use of characters so, now excuse me, I have to give this text to my English teacher to check it for typos. See ya in the next answer! 

Well, to be honest, I think that the most important conclusion I’ve drawn from these almost-illegally-inspiring women is that I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not as I am enough the way that I am. And if I’m not, I must be in the wrong place, or let’s say in a not-for-me place. These learnings led to a very open and vulnerable ‘me’ in both my personal life, and my career – I actually am the same ‘me’ in both contexts, which sometimes can be considered unprofessional as I’ve heard before. Unprofessional not in a “let’s get drunk at work” way, but rather in a “wow, this girl has a voice, an opinion, and a direct way of expressing herself. She considers herself an equal at a men’s table and won’t settle for less” way. So yes, I can handle carrying the ‘unprofessional image’ as long as it inspires other women to do the same—to be fallible, to be authentic, and to be unafraid of being fearless. Roar!

Some of the most exciting projects I’ve worked on are the Netflix ones, but not necessarily from the creative-excellence POV, but the way-of-working one. It is because this is a client that breathes equality and who sees you for who you are: a professional that’s at this table because he/she/they deserve to be there. They don’t question your competences based on gender biases, which, unfortunately, still happens in some organizational cultures I’ve experienced. I kid you not that I was once judged on a sexual orientation bias (lol, but not lol), which, OK, it happened once-only, but it’s still numerically more than it should have. 

Now back to work excitement! One project I’ve worked on and I really value is not a big-budget-image campaign, but a content series on Dove Men+Care where we took stereotypes out of taboo and challenged the toxic culture that men must navigate on a daily basis – I believe this to be a crucial part of the feminist movement where not only men have to help us, but we must help them as well. This toxic ‘manly’ culture is empowered a lot-lot-lot in Romania mostly by men (influencers, priests, political figures, you name it), but also by some women KOLs (WTF): If you’re vulnerable, if you have emotions, if you don’t objectify women, if you have a body-care routine, you must be less of a man. False, ofc. And that’s what our ‘#RealMen’ campaign did, with local influencers, we challenged these toxic traits and put ‘em out there while no other brand did, to empower men to define their very own masculinity with no room for toxicity. 

I honestly hope to better answer this question after I experience the See It Be It programme, but there’s one thing I really care about and I wish more and more women would believe in: Being your true self is contagious. And it’s also your most valuable weapon of choice.