Women in communication: interview with Antonella La Carpia from Teads
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.
Antonella La Carpia, Marketing & Communications Director EMEA and APAC at Teads, answered 5 significant questions for us, telling us about her path and how she acquired her awareness.
1. What is "being a woman" like in the world of work?
Being a woman in the world of work is not a simple undertaking, nor is it taken for granted. Obviously the risk of hiding behind stereotypes is quite high, so I want to be direct: it has not been easy for me to build my credibility in recent years, and above all to build my leadership, especially in a territory like the Italian one where there is a cultural heritage behind the other European countries regarding the role of women (although I must admit that in recent years the situation has been improving). Working, in general, is in some ways much simpler, because we women, being multitasking and having to take care of many aspects of our life, even in the private dimension, are able to carry this ability also in the workplace; it is not easy when it comes to building one's own credibility and leadership. In recent years it has been tiring because we have brought up the problem of difficulties encountered by women in the workplace, which has created resistance (we have often been defined as "feminist" in a derogatory sense) in male colleagues. Fortunately in a company like mine it is easier, because the idea of finding a common space in which to build a path to support the development of women's leadership is something that is growing in a very interesting way and I am happy to say "I am a woman with an important position in a" company that cares so much about enhancing our role ".
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2. What was "women empowerment" for you at 18?
Among my great ambitions there were the degree, meeting the expectations of my parents and becoming a good wife and mother. The job was a kit of my aspirations for personal growth. Obviously growing up, studying and experiencing you realize that working it does not necessarily mean sacrificing private life and the possibility of being a mother and a woman. I think that being able to find the right balance, strength and a positive work environment allows a woman to return home more satisfied with her personal identity. a woman must try to exalt herself, explore the best of herself, even from a professional point of view, because above all in this way she can deal with private life in a much more exhaustive way. Otherwise, inevitably she will not be a 100% complete woman. From this point of view I often compare myself with the figure of my mother: she made a choice dictated in part by love and in part from the cultural heritage, in fact after having studied chemistry for some years he left the university to devote himself full time to his children. Later in the years, however, he confessed to me that he sometimes felt a feeling of repentance in the face of a choice that led to the failure of a part of himself to be realized. This lack often leads her to think "if I had pursued my career, what further lessons could I have given my children?". Undoubtedly we need to find the right balance between career and private life, since the basis of our humanity is given to the quality of relationships (both in the workplace and in the private one).
3. Three words you associate today with "women empowerment"
Freedom of thought, the ability to remain consistent with one's way of being, and to have a say in ensuring that one's leadership is recognized 100% on decision-making levels equal to those of a man.
4. What would you recommend to the 18-year-old you?
In the working dimension, in addition to knowing how to do, one must know how to be: one must never stop studying and deepening the specific knowledge of one's field of work. Furthermore, it is essential to cultivate one's curiosity. My career path was very tiring: I joined a "company whose market I did not know, since this market was being defined, at the same time I had to understand how to interface with certain levels of leadership, occupied mostly as a "nerd" with difficulty in relating to other people; my curiosity allowed me to understand their language in order to establish a comparison. In order to grow in a "company it is necessary to bring added value, which must be primarily for oneself (fill in one's gaps, understand one's psychological balance between private and work life, understand what one needs in everyday life to do a "qualitatively interesting activity and find the right" vitamins "to better organize all one's commitments and interests) and subsequently for colleagues and the working environment in general. My vitamins are the fact of questioning myself every day, organization and happiness. In my work I do not save lives, but I try to save the media to make the world more socially interesting, so that people's brains can become their own. time more interesting: Honesty, curiosity, happiness, determination and the fact of taking care of others allow in turn to take care of themselves, even at work level.
5. How much need is there today to talk about women empowerment and what should be done?
It is necessary to talk and address this issue, not so much for us who have reached an awareness (if we can talk about it it means that the market is already ready), as to help women from other countries who are nowadays far behind on this front. . We must do this for those women who today do not have the opportunity to give voice and right to their role both in society as human beings and, in the future, also as workers.
