I arrived at the meeting. It was in a house located in Paraíso neighborhood (“PARADISE” - what a great start!). The meeting hadn't started yet and I was talking to “Jesus” so he could show me a sign of what my next step should be. I was having a cup of coffee in the corner of the main room of the house when Luiza asked me: “What's up? Have you resigned yet?” I, surprised, said: “What do you mean? What happened two weeks ago that I missed?” Luiza: “You called me in the morning and in the afternoon, Sonia Hess suggested that this house be the headquarter of the Grupo Mulheres do Brasil. I need someone to be the owner of the house now! You will be the Executive Director of the Group”. At that time, insecurity hit – I wasn't looking for a position, I was looking for a life experience, an opportunity to live purposefully, connect with my essence. Without me saying a word, Luiza added: “Don't worry. Let's learn to work with each other!”
And so it was. I resigned the next day (after 10 years at the same company) and officially started my job at Grupo Mulheres do Brasil in January 2016. An amazing and unique experience. It is difficult to list all the learnings.
Living with women from different social classes, colors and shapes. Deconstruction in the way of working – there was no pre-conceived model, no procedure to be followed. Everything was emerging. Working with volunteers required having a genuine connection, an understanding of what moved each one. The trade-off had to be worth it! And I learned the most important thing: making mistakes is part of the learning process. You don’t have to avoid mistakes, quite the contrary, mistakes are here to show the way for improvement (for someone who worked for almost two decades in companies that were paid not to make mistakes, this was a huge deconstruction!).
Entrepreneurship experience in the vein, with daily inspiration from strong women, seeking to build something meaningful, learning to work in a new chaotic model, which was taking shape, without haste, but firm and authentic. I took on several roles where I had never acted before: on stage, with microphone in hand, responsible for coordinating the house (including housekeeping and cleaning), organizing events, partnerships, visits to the outskirts and private jet trips. I visited the Sertão (hinterland) and got to know the reality of the drought and its consequences. I visited a humanized prison. Many experiences that broadened my view of the world and about the HUMAN BEING.
I was beginning to question the NGO model from the point of view of sustainability, when Daniel, in May 2017, commented that he was eager to live an international experience and an opportunity arose. I felt at that moment that the time had come for him to fulfill his dream.
