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Womenpreneurs Project: an up-close and personal view of women creating power.
“The creative process, like a spiritual journey, is intuitive, non-linear and experimental. It points us toward our essential nature, which is a reflection of the boundless creativity of the universe.” -John Daido Loori (June 14, 1931 – October 9, 2009) Zen Buddhist Rōshi.
There is no doubt that life is a journey with many, many stops and deviations. It’s never one way only. We need learning and training; tools and materials; means and energy; resources and expertise. We come across obstacles and wonders and we share a life-time experience full of emotions and growing with many other people alongside.
All in all, it is never a boring journey, and mostly, it is a journey that depends on each one of us, as individuals and as part of our society.
Change is, in my opinion, positive and necessary to move forward and grow up. It’s a matter of paying attention to our inner voice and our own hunch. The importance of being in silence for some time and just doing the exercise of listening to your soul, our heart and our intuition. That’s what matters the most. Our own noises. Your body is a reflection of your soul. And your brain is just some loud music that offers you some bittersweet tune as a distraction of who you really are or want to be in essence.
We, as human beings, are like projects with a lot of potential. We just need to know how to exploit and make the most of it. For me, it’s just a simple feeling. When I am not doing what I really want to do, I just know it, deep down. It’s like a machine with a piece missing. There is no flow, it is not easy and it does not work… and there is too much noise in my brain and discomfort in my heart.
The real change is having the courage to get rid of all the unnecessities and distractions and believing in what we REALLY want to do. And DOING IT.
What comes next, once the decision has been made, it’s about effort, creativity and hard work. However, once the path of the new way has been found, anything coming after will be a piece of cake, simply because it will be in sync of what and who you want to be.
You should be proud of yourself, once you know, YOU KNOW. Be happy for that. It’s time to BE.
LAURA CASARES, age 44 OWNER AND FOUNDER of KASARES
FIELD: Personal and professional coaching, to individual and inside companies
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Meeting point, Skype (Granollers- Landsmeer)
9.30 am
Laura is our 3rd woman of interest, and I must say she represents the essence of what determination, courage and self-consciousness should be. I am so glad I got to interview her. Women’s community need more voices empowering the importance of oneself and the message of learning to choose in life what’s best for one and for the world. We have a choice, so let’s use the power we have to choose.
Our meeting was the first virtual one in the series of Womenpreneur Project, since Laura lives in Holland. It was a delightful and intimate conversation, despite being a long distance video chat. It’s a real pleasure when I have the possibility of having an open conversation with someone who is not afraid of telling the truth of themselves, without any restrictions, including the highs and lows, the strengths and flaws. I can tell when the person in front of me is in a constant state of #liberty and in #alignment with their feelings and their inner truth. Their message is clearer and transparent, which usually means that it is easier to understand what they say and it is much more #reliable. And she sure is free.
Laura is the example of how we are our past. She is the result of some hard life events that dragged her to be an independent and resourceful young woman since she was 18 and she traveled to Holland with her own means. There, she found a reason to fight for her future and later, after years of studying hard, she became a successful woman, all on her own. Her spirit is in the present and the right now, a position she has reached after what I assume and guess must have been a difficult personal #journey of self-analysis and change. She broke with a past of #security at work, as she was not comfy with it, it just did not feel right; she wanted to know why, and she turned around in order to get to know her in a deep and complete way, bringing all her protection walls down; and, after going through a reconstruction of herself in mind and soul, she has decided to flourish up, stay and flow. Going back to one’s essence is a very tough process. She reached the top and then she realized it was not enough, it was empty and now, she is fighting for what she thinks should be a sustainable and conscious leadership in the same field she once decided to step away. She has a huge challenge purpose ahead: providing the Business World with a soul and a new conscious.
When chatting with her, you can truly feel her inspirational message. The change starts in ourselves, and the clue is being conscious about our skills, capacities and limitations.
ONLY WHEN WE CONNECT OUR STRENGTHS, WE ARE CAPABLE TO MOVE FORWARD AND BE BETTER, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS A RESULT, AFFECTING THE WHOLE COMMUNITY AND THE COLLECTIVE SOCIETY.
It’s a matter of acceptance and finding our right purpose. GET OUT THERE AND FIND YOURS LADIES!
- INTRODUCE YOURSELF, WHO are you?
My name is Laura, I am 44 years old and I have one daughter and now I am living in the Netherlands. I was born and raised in Spain. My parents emigrated from Uruguay to Spain and my father died when I just became 8 years old. So my mother raised my little sister and I alone, having her family in another continent. Growing in such a situation already teaches you how #strong can be a woman and the #effort that it means to be alone. So, from a very young age my goal was to study to achieve a good job and be #independent. I achieved my first #goal, I studied, I achieved very good jobs, I became mother and when my daughter was 2 years old I got apart from her father. Again, I proved myself that I was also a strong women rising a child alone and having a good job. However, I still didn´t had the feeling that I was real independent, so, that´s why I started my own business. I also learned that we are not the things we have or the things we have achieved. As I grew up with #limitedresources, I thought that having material things would make things easier, and at some point it does, but just the minimum things, the rest are not making you happier. Actually, we think everything is outside, but instead, happiness, richness and everything is inside yourself.
1. COULD YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR PROJECT? WHAT MADE YOU BECOME AND ENTREPRENEUR?
I have been working for 20 years in the Purchasing and Supply Chain field as #manager for different big companies where I had to travel a lot and negotiate big contracts. I have had the privilege to learn and experience a lot, but I also could feel that I was just a number and I was #dependent from my employer. I also experienced that I lived in an extreme rational world where I couldn´t be really myself. So, I decided to quit and start my #ownbusiness.
After all these years in the business world I had to deal with many people and also from different cultures and then you learn that we are all the same in some way. My strongest quality was to connect people, to understand and solve issues and to find solutions good for the business but also good for the people. However, the last years, I had less space and freedom to find good solutions for the people and I didn´t like that. Nowadays, we talk about the sustainability of the environment, what I totally support, but there is no talk about
the sustainability of people. Most people do not feel realized and valued at their jobs. The concept of human resources says it all, people are not resources…people is the motor and the spirit of the company, but unfortunately not many companies can value that.
My purpose and project is to unfold the innate potential of people and business through training, mentoring and coaching to create awareness and activate a positive impact on the world. Conscious businesses and leaders should have higher purposes that serves, align, and integrate the interests of all major stakeholders. In this new era, it´s time to integrate rational and emotional intelligence where men, women and diverse profiles will contribute to shape the change, living and working with passion, purpose, love and creativity to create a world of more #freedom, #harmony, #prosperity and #compassion.
2. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST HURDLE YOU HAVE FACED AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND AS A WOMENPRENEUR?
As entrepreneur the biggest h#urdle is the radical #change of direction I have made. People know me as a tough negotiator in the big industry and they don´t understand the change.
It´s also #difficult to convince companies to bet for something that will bring results in the mid-long term, most companies want short-term results. As a woman is sometimes difficult to convince men to do a transformation, mainly because their ego.
3. HOW DID YOU SORT IT OUT?
You need to show #confidence, #professionalism, #reliability and explain very well the benefits of your program. It´s also very important to flow. You can´t force situations. Every step, even if you think is negative is showing you the right way. So, go ahead with your plan and be alert of the signals and flow.
4. WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNT AS AN ENTREPRENEUR? WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE FOR SOMEONE WHO IS CONSIDERING BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR?
For me, the most important lesson is to belief in yourself, to belief in your dream. It will be tough, hard and you really need to be convinced, so you can transmit your passion to your customer. If you know the Why, your real Purpose, you will be aligned and the rest will come. It´s also very important to have focus and chose a market niche, you can´t do everything. So, make a very clear strategy on your goal and who is your customer, then look for support as well and try to learn from the people who has previously walked this path.
5. DO YOU CONSIDER CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION AS BEING ESSENTIAL IN CREATING YOUR OWN COMPANY/PROJECT? HOW DO YOU MAKE A USE OF THEM?
Yes, of course, creativity and innovation are essential. Creativity for me is to listen to your inner compass. We are so used to use only our rational part that we forgot our intuition and there is where creativity is. Big companies have a lot of resources, but nowadays you see a lot of successful startups because they are listening to their inner compass, they are listening and using their #creativity. You don´t have the resources as a medium or big company, so you need to find out how to do the things in a creative way. For example, if you need something and you don´t have the money, maybe you can suggest an interchange of services. Innovation is also key for any company or project, because it will differentiate you. Most probably you want to do something that exists already, but you want to do it with your personal touch, at your way and that will force you to use your #creativity and #innovation.
6. COULD YOU MENTION A ROLE MODEL OF YOURS? IF ANY, ARE THEY STILL A ROLE MODEL AND AN INSPIRATION FOR YOU?
Yes, as I explained, my first example is my mother. She showed me the #power of a #woman and not in a hard way, but showing also #tenderness, care and #vulnerability. So, I know now that we can be very powerful and maintain our authenticity. I have also a high admiration to Frida Kahlo, I really love her story and how she transformed her pain into creation power.
As you may have realized, Laura is a powerful woman, and her words are full of live and presence. Follow suit and break the rules of what you are expected to be, do and think. Life is much better when doing so.
Thanks a million Laura for BEING JUST what you want to be IN FULL! We all are amazed by your self-empowerment!
Written by Noèlia Ribó
Pic by Laura Casares
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