Carol Burton, apart from showing a conscientious and impeccable style, does not have "apparently"” nothing to do with fashion, but it is very interesting to discover through his words a new business trend: women who do not give up a job projection but are honest with themselves and their philosophy.
I met Carol at Grenade Launcher, some talks by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs that are in many cities. What seemed like an entrepreneurship talk turned into a vital and almost sociological revelation that made me discover the value, the naturalness and strength of this argentina. I think that mujer puede, and must, find a place in the business world putting many personal interests before, and without giving up his philosophy, I will tell you about my experience discovering its Denomination of Origin Last weekend I was lucky enough to attend a press trip organized by the Rueda Denomination of Origin to learn about the process of obtaining its wines and the strict standards that, your personality or your desires. An example of this is Carol Burton, CEO of the Granada company Cilab, que he has extrapolated his global awareness to his company and has made it an exciting way of life.
– As you let see in Starter, you have a particular vision of the concept of family, current business and society. ¿How would you define it?? ¿what is it based on?
It's as simple as being honest with myself, I know my limitations. Today, my husband and my children represent my great company and my best contribution to society. They are the engine of my life, consequently my professional career is driven by that energy. My particular vision is that for the proper functioning of a company, there must be an organization behind it that works well, so that its contributions to society are valuable and coherent. My personal philosophy cannot be opposed, not even different from my company, it would be like throwing stones at my own roof.
It is based on my personal definition of success, and my success is directly related to balance. I'm a happy woman, is my nature, but without balance it is very difficult to feel happy and lucid. A family, a company or society, to be successful it must be balanced. Not only as an independent entity, but also in the relationships they establish with each other. Base the success of a company on the absolute dedication of its workers, unbalance their lives, and consequently the society that contains them will be affected. The search for success outside of ourselves leads to great disappointments. The inordinate pursuit of success valued in money has brought us to where we are today. As a society I think we are failing.
– A company thinking about "the future of your children"… tell us Carol Burton.
CiLab was born from a serie of long conversations at the beginning of the 2008 with my husband and current partner about the global situation at the time. The crisis was already between us, but what concerned us most was the environmental aspect. The planet is reaching its limit. We became aware of the relationship between what seems to be the end of a way of life and the delicate state of balance between what we consume and what our environment can support and the end of the productive world as we know it., so in 2009 We decided to join forces and knowledge in a venture that would allow us to look our children in the face and tell them that in some way we contribute to stopping the systematic destruction of their environment. We want to leave them something they can be proud of and at the same time consistent with the education we give them every day at home.. Without forgetting that, like future parents that we were at that time, we already knew we wanted to spend a lot of quality time with our children. We needed to work as a team and the objective was clear.
– ¿Would you consider Cilab one of the so-called ethical companies??
Today by ethical company we can find every frivolity, that I think I prefer to distance CiLab from that concept, but not his spirit. At CiLab we understand ethics in three senses.
- Dedicate our efforts to a universally acceptable and ethical purpose: Work to improve the state of the environment, to leave our children, and therefore to a whole generation, a better place to live.
- Treat everyone around us ethically, empleados, partners, and in general everyone with whom we have to relate. We seek to do business as much as possible with people with whom we share our philosophy and objectives.
- Carry out our work ethically, both at the level of corporate commitment and in the professional seriousness with which we approach the challenges presented to us by our clients. We are a community working for the community that contains us, we do not allow ourselves to forget about it.
– ¿What do you think should be the basis for establishing these ethical companies??
consistency, respect for people and our natural environment. Day by day, respect for life itself. Transparency of and in business or production processes is essential.
– Explains the exceptional family conception – business of the hackneyed term reconciliation of work and professional life.
It's just that giving big and eloquent names to everyday life is not my thing. The reality is that we must achieve a balance between family life and our professional activity. and it is very difficult, that's why we talk about conciliation, but it's not impossible. I am of the idea that this is like everything in life. To obtain “something” We must leave “something”. Simplifying and prioritizing is essential from my point of view; then be consistent, but also flexible. Reduce our expectations in every way and go step by step, day to day. in this relationship, family must come first if you want work to work. And therefore accept that work will go slower or will be "less successful” depending on where you look at it. It is a balance between expectations and dedication. Success will follow, and this is a personal matter purely and exclusively.
I base it on intensely living my intimacy, I am very jealous of our family time and very homemade. I do not allow interruptions. Then I have the head and the strength to dedicate myself to 100% to my work. I love my career and my company, but I am very clear that my children come first, and everyone around me knows, I don't waste time with anyone anymore since they were born.
– Explain how it is possible to adapt to the “own market” and at the same time fight for ideals in the XXI century, I think a lot of people have given up…
It's a daily job. Reading the newspaper in the morning can be very harmful in this regard., but you can not live uninformed, so you have to move on. If the values you fight for are dictated by the very society that destroys you, it's a fact that you'll give up. If instead your ideals are personal and non-transferable, the fight vanishes, Now there's just a lot of work ahead, I'm not saying it's easier, only more satisfying.
– ¿How do you go from technical work? – artistic as architecture is to a company like Cilab? ¿What does Carol Burton miss and what have you learned to value??
Bueno, CiLab is architecture and technology, is urbanism and WSN (wireles sensor network). My daily work involves projecting, manage resources, draw scenarios, strategize, combine ideas, I am an architect by training and every day I apply something from my career to my work. And to get me excited, I design my own offices and make furniture and toys for my children., from design to construction. I miss the common dialogue, surrounded by engineers and telcos the atmosphere is different, but no less interesting for that. I have learned to value teamwork a lot., the discipline, and the order. All inherited from my training. I miss college, I studied at Blas Pascal in Córdoba, Argentina, and I was lucky to have an exceptional teaching team, I miss those years in college!
ABOUT THE BUSINESSWOMAN
– Women in the world of work… ¿Do you think women see the business market differently?? Eternal fight reason – heart.
I think everyone, women and men, we see the business market differently. I know women who see it exponentially different from how I see and perceive it and men with whom I share a lot. Especially today in which the conditions for each other are getting closer to being equal.. Within the women's group we then entered the "working mothers” and that's another category, but beware, which also has sub-categories.
My perception of the business market changed radically the day my daughter was born. Only then did I become aware of the difficulties that would entail inserting myself knowing that I did not want to be separated from my children for more than six hours a day., and this just from his first year of life. Creo que es, day by day, a very personal fight.
when i started my search, single and childless, I had no limits, I was willing to move anywhere in the world for a job as an architect with a regular salary, my perception then was that I could drop everything to get everything. The market presented no obstacle or difference for me. Today my vision is quite different, it's clear.
– ¿What happens when they have to give up certain things to progress in their profession? ¿How do you think they should deal with it?? ¿how would you manage a priority felling in that case?
it's crazy. But it's the natural course of life itself. I insist, you always have to leave something to get something. It is very important to stop and think about "so that” of what you want to achieve if you have to give up something so valuable, how can time be with our children. How to deal with it will depend a lot on each person, of their capacity for self-organization, the type of relationship you have established with your children and your partner, of a large number of factors that can mitigate or worsen the impact of a decision that harms the family environment. There is a lot of valuable information, libros, blogs, webs, organizations of mothers and doula groups for this type of situation. Advancing on the professional path must go hand in hand with the family contingency plan. If things go wrong at home there is no risk insurance.
I personally have no doubts, my family is first. Every day I am more aware of the ephemerality of everything, and that leaves me in a very firm place for decision making. If my career asked me for more than I am willing to give now, the felling would be in the professional.
– ¿They have to be a superwoman to face it all?
Each one is a superwoman in her own life. No need to combine work, maternity and organic gardening to be a superwoman. Dedication, amor, respect and patience in any field or circumstance make a woman a superwoman. I think that term is put moda who want to underestimate our natural abilities as women. It is not a term that we women should use to refer to ourselves. Just being a woman and having those qualities that I mentioned before makes you super. A superwoman is a fictional image, therefore unattainable, does not do justice to the reality of women today.
