Women in communication: interview with Cristina Martella of Deborah Group

Coming of age is certainly an important milestone, both for a person and for a brand and, in this very particular case, for ours.
As the female turns 18, we have decided to start a Women Empowerment project that focuses on women who work in the field of communication.
Cristina Martella, Digital & PR Manager in Deborah Group, answered 5 significant questions for us, explaining the importance of facing joys, pains and daily races with a smile.

1. What is "being a woman" like in the world of work?

Being a woman is beautiful, fun and colorful. Of course, it must be admitted that this is also very difficult at times. I currently work in a company of women for women and therefore I live in a particular context, but if I look around me, or think of all my past experiences, I see that the difference between men and women is still an important issue. We women have, in the world of work as well as in life, a different approach, we put desire, energy, curiosity into it. We work very often with the satisfaction and pride of seeing a project born and grow and we also like to see it walk alone without thinking about the difference in salary compared to colleagues working on the same project.
When they present you a new project with the words "I have a great opportunity for you", for women it is always about great opportunities. I, a very energetic person, do not perceive these proposals as challenges but as real opportunities. I like to adopt them, look them in the face and live them one small step at a time, without being frightened from the height of the mountain to be climbed. I am not saying that the problem does not exist, the problems are there, they are real and concrete but women have determination, irony and a great ability to play down. This is why, day after day, we are beginning to fill important positions also thanks to our being smart.

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2. What was "women empowerment" for you at 18?

I lived my 18 years in the late 90s and the world was very different from how we know it today. I wanted to do a "man's" job because they were the ones who carried out the tasks that I thought were most interesting, they were the ones who had more responsibility and I always thought I'd be able to hire them.
The women around me, who lived in the beautiful Italian province, did other jobs. I also attended the Magistral Institute, so I could have become a teacher .... I just wanted to think, create ... I realize that I am very lucky because I do exactly what I wanted to do in my life and I got there by conquering it: at 18 I arrived in Milan with the idea of ​​what my path would be .

3. Three words you associate today with "women empowerment"

The first is "freedom", to be able to live the life we ​​want and to do the work we choose, freedom to be able to express one's point of view. Today it is obvious to hear me ask "Cristina, what do you think about it”But I realize that it has not always been like this and still today it is not always like this.
The second word is "energy", always believe in it and with passion. If I want to reach a goal I am not elbowed but I put passion, study and get to the end because the passion for the subject will allow us to do it. The "energy c" is in every field and makes us "move towards", whether we are talking about workers or housewives the situation does not change. You have to believe in it, make your own project and aim for the goal without ever forgetting the most important question: what do you want to be?
The last word is "smile". Women having to manage so many work and family dynamics have learned to smile, to see with the right perspective and find the right energy for everything. I happened to be in meetings with men and to find myself in To "play down" some situations. Not with the aim of diminishing the problem but of focusing on it in a different way.

4. What would you say to the 18-year-old yourself?

I would advise you to redo what I did: "don't stop and don't miss the opportunities. Give yourself a goal, believe it and work on that'.
I recognize that I had a goal and it is the same as I would say to the 18-year-olds of today, think about what you want to be and work towards becoming one. I have always lived with transport and positivity and I have never lost a chance, everything has brought me something.
I started working in the fashion world, then in the DIY world, then I went back to beauty ... I knew I liked digital, "web" at the time, and I invited others to get involved in projects that I knew were interesting. I built up a competence in a field that I loved and I exploited it at the best moment.

5. How much need is there to talk about women empowerment today and what should be done?

There is always a need to talk about it, because there is still a tendency to belittle this issue when, in my opinion, the enhancement of women and the lexicological recognition of women's roles are in my opinion a form of social evolution. I hope that the boys of tomorrow will find it normal to know that a woman does certain jobs or holds certain positions, and that the girls of tomorrow know that they can be whatever they want to be: housewife, mayor, baker, paratrooper, astronaut!
I also find it important that women themselves become aware of the results achieved. We have gone from 0 to 1 in a few decades, we have built a lot and we must first of all be proud of it. This is where it is important to start in order to continue to evolve, not allowing empowerment to become an overly exploited theme in marketing presentations where women are invincible heroines who can manage everything with a snap of their fingers and also have to smile. Because it is true that we can be invincible but we are invincible in our own way, as a song says we are "gently complicated": we know how to be strong but we are wonderfully imperfect while we seek perfection in everything we do; we know how to smile but a message on whatsapp is enough to make us cry; we know how to wobble on our heels and move forward; we know how to fall and get up, helping others too; we are the ones who can feel the things that are under the surface, we are the ones like me who, when I was 18, I rode 30km in first because I was too excited to get my driver's license ... But then, a few years later, I learned that we can enjoy a victory: after all, there is the automatic gearbox