The main reason I decided to found a Real Estate Brokerage in Brazil (www.EmCasa.comaka the Brazilian Redfin) was because I knew about the Brazilian Real Estate sector very well and saw a huge opportunity – and the reason I knew Real Estate pretty well was because I spent 14 years of my life seeing my mom, Denise, working as a broker day & night, on the weekends and on holidays, nonstop.
Although in the end she excelled as a Broker, she struggled for a long time, fighting prejudice and bad working conditions on a daily basis. Also, that was not her first choice: she passed through significant difficulties to find a job after she gave birth at age 21, and after hundreds of failed interviews, she decided to be an independent Broker because it was basically her only option to make some money and help feed our family (Uber didn’t exist in the 90s, otherwise that could have been a possibility too).
Her story is similar to millions of women all over the world. Camila Villanueva, EmCasa’s Head of Sales, went through the same thing. At one interview, the interviewer told her “you should be taking care of your child, not looking for a job”. Working as a Real Estate Broker has one incredibly positive benefit, which allows people to avoid all these outdated companies and stupid interviewers: Flexibility.
Flexibility can be achieved in a number of ways, such as in a part-time job, flexible hours, home-office and so on. A great initiative that was recently launched in Brazil is UponJobs, a talent marketplace for Flexible Jobs. Monica Saggioro, Founder, has been helping women to find jobs that match their needs, whichever they are.
I want to take this Women’s day to say “thank you” to all the women who fight inequality on a daily basis, in special to these three women: my mom, Camila and Monica. I’m very proud of you, of what you’ve accomplished, and your relentless efforts to overcome challenges. As a company Founder, I commit myself to provide better opportunities for women, to be flexible in terms of work schedule, and to never accept any type of prejudice or disrespect in any company I end up launching or working for, never. What about you? What do you commit yourself to?
Fonte: Gustavo Vaz