Hustle Her
Hustle Her
Hustle Her - Polina
Discover the inspiring journey of Polina Branco, CEO of Two Point O Collective, as she shares her unique life story from growing up under communism in Southeastern Europe to leading a thriving creative agency in Bermuda. With compelling anecdotes from her childhood in diverse countries like Iraq and Cuba, Polina’s narrative is a testament to the power of education and resilience. This episode promises a rich tapestry of insights into how her early experiences have shaped her worldview, leadership style, and personal philosophy, offering valuable lessons on love, happiness, and contentment.
Explore the responsibilities of leadership through the lens of Polina’s personal experiences, especially during challenging times like the economic impacts of COVID-19. She candidly discusses the transformative rebranding of Two Point O Collective and how her move to Bermuda led to meeting her husband and forming a life-changing partnership. Polina’s reflections on leadership, resilience, and personal growth provide a nuanced understanding of the profound connections that shape both personal and professional journeys.
The conversation also highlights the struggles and triumphs of women in leadership roles, particularly in board positions. Polina shares her journey to becoming a board director and the hurdles women face, especially in Bermuda, due to historical gender biases. We discuss the importance of building a personal brand, advocating for diversity and inclusion, and supporting local businesses. Polina’s insights are aimed at empowering women to break barriers, foster meaningful change, and embrace the balance between career and personal growth. Join us for an episode filled with empowering stories and strategies for genuinely impactful leadership.
I'm a hustler baby. It's time for Hustle Her podcast. I'm your host, deshae Caines. Hustle Her is all about inspiring women through real life experiences that have helped to mold and develop not only me of motivation, a bit of tough love and some actionable takeaways to be the best. You, girl, you are in the right place.
Speaker 1:Hey guys, this episode is brought to you by Scudamart. At Scudamart, you can buy, sell or rent a bike with them. Make sure you head over to their Hamilton location on Church Street or their Paget location on Lover's Lane. Visit them on wwwscootermartbm, hey guys, and welcome back to Hustle Her Podcast. Thank you for spending some time with me today. We want to give a big shout out to our season sponsors, 59 Front and Brown and Company. We also want to shout out Scootermart Bermuda. If you guys have any cycle needs, make sure you head over to scootermartbm for all of your cycle care needs. So super excited about my episode today. I've had the honor of interviewing my guests before, but we were audio only and then we made the decision to wait and do this again when we were doing video and we finally been able to come together and sit down and have this lovely conversation. She is the CEO of 2.0 Collective, the lovely Miss Paulina Branco.
Speaker 2:How are you?
Speaker 1:I'm great, yes, I'm so glad that we're here.
Speaker 2:Me too. Yes, it's been a long time coming, it is. It's great to be here.
Speaker 1:Everything happens for a reason, and this is when we were meant to do this.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, I'm excited.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so crazy. I was seeing someone the other day. I think it was my mom. She's like. I thought you interviewed Paulina before and I was like I did, but then, literally like two months later, I moved to video and I was like I would much rather do this on video than to have this on audio only.
Speaker 2:So you know a lot has changed. Yeah, it's been four years, so a lot of my answers then might be different. You know we all grow and and change, so I'm curious to see what comes out of today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too. Yeah, all right. So let's jump in, let's get some people to get to know you a little bit better, and then we'll get right into it. All right. So rapid, few rapid fires.
Speaker 2:I'm happiest when when I am with good people around me and the pace is slow.
Speaker 1:Okay, love that. When you get on a plane and you're settled and the plane is about to take off, what do you do? What's your go-to? I look outside.
Speaker 2:I love looking at the clouds. When I was little, I used to think that whatever troubles I had down here on earth, they were gone when I was up in the clouds, and I've been traveling on planes ever since I was very, very little.
Speaker 1:So it's a bit of meditation for me. Okay, looking at the clouds Love that. Okay, tell me about your skincare routine, because the skin looks phenomenal, so what do you do to maintain it?
Speaker 2:It's actually very simple. I use Pestle and Mortar, the brand, and then some good old tinted SPF Love that Okay.
Speaker 1:It's been hot lately. I can't. The full face of makeup is only on recording days, so I totally get it all right. What does love feel like?
Speaker 2:calm, tranquility. I don't like using the term happiness. I feel like it's very overused and I I feel that it puts so much pressure on us to constantly chase that happiness. You know, be be happy, look for happiness. So for me it's content, it's that feeling of calm and satisfaction and feeling comfortable in my own skin.
Speaker 1:All right. And who was your celebrity crush growing up or now? If that's okay, Sorry, Mike.
Speaker 2:Celebrity crush growing up, see, I was raised in communism, so the celebrities you know and the ones that I know probably are a bit different.
Speaker 1:That's okay.
Speaker 2:So I had some Latin American singers, but one not per se a crush, but somebody that I felt was absolutely gorgeous was Shakira Okay, in her very, very early years, when she had long dark hair and henna, and she was beautiful.
Speaker 1:Love that. Okay, all right. So you mentioned growing up in communism. So tell me about young Paulina. What were you like as a child? Where are you originally from? Where did you grow up? Fill me in.
Speaker 2:So that is one of my favorite questions, and my husband will probably chuckle because it's a little game I play when people meet me and they're trying to place me and they say, where are you from? And I go, well, where do you think I'm from? So I get placed in Argentina and Montreal, in Spain, in Colombia, all around the world. And that's for a reason, because I'm a bit of a mix. So I was born in Southeastern Europe, in Bulgaria, so that's my DNA makeup. My father was an engineer, so he took us around the world a bit. So I was raised in Iraq when I was very little and then in Cuba, is where most of my teenage years were, and this now, officially, is the place I've lived the longest, really In Bermuda. How long has that?
Speaker 2:been 20 years, wow. Okay, so Bermuda is home through and through Lovely.
Speaker 1:So how would you say your parents? What did your parents instill in you that you still hold on to today?
Speaker 2:So again I'm going to refer to that communist upbringing. It's very different. Um pride, pride and education, pride and knowledge, um self-confidence. My mom, very early on, um she would spend her last money to pay for my education and there was no such thing as public, as private schools or anything like that, but um I had private tutors and almost everything I could think of. So education was really, really big and um unconditional love. Really, um from my dad, a sense of curiosity and travel and disruption, I would say, and not accepting the status quo and kind of going through the barriers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay. So were there any early signs that you can remember where you feel like you were destined for leadership, or did that come later in life?
Speaker 2:I think later in life, when I was little, I actually wanted to be an actress. Acting was always I would impersonate family members and celebrities when I was little and there was a sense of playfulness in acting that I loved and I would have loved to have done as a career choice, and business really was the logical choice. It was a stable career choice and profession. So that's how I ended up in there. Leadership I say I've built myself as a leader versus I have always been a leader.
Speaker 1:If that makes sense, yeah, okay, that's good, yeah, that. I think sometimes that's nothing wrong with that. Like, sometimes, you know, growing up some girls are like oh, you're bossy, so you should be this, that and the other. So I think building yourself into a leader is also really cool as well, because you've actively worked on that, which is, I think, more important. But do you think that there were any key moments as a child or earlier in your career that shaped, I guess, the leader that you are today?
Speaker 2:So I think, going back, I really loved seeing the strength in people and seeing where they were good at what they did and bringing that out in them. So I guess leadership really is rooted in that, isn't it? It's finding the strength and talents in people that they may not even see themselves. So I think that shapes me in the leader who I, that I am today. I don't I see myself as a um, as an enthusiastic leader versus, uh, the parenting figure type of leadership.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we spoke about that when we were talking in pre and I'm going to get to that in a little while, but I think that's one of the most fascinating things about how you lead it. I love your way of thinking around that, but you've had a pretty diverse career, you know, leading up to where you are right now various leadership roles, strategy, operations, finance. How would you describe your leadership style and how has it evolved over the years?
Speaker 2:So early on before I was a leader and I was studying leaders, I saw this very patriarchal style leadership. Do as you're told, don't think, just repeat my steps. And I couldn't relate to that and in fact I left a specific career choice because of that, because that just wasn't me. So now I find myself more inspiring inside conversations and then leading from that and seeing organically how it happens. But I don't feel that I have to motivate people. I feel that I just have to hold space for them and let them blossom.
Speaker 1:Right. What does holding space for your employees look like?
Speaker 2:Hold space for my team. I'm not a big fan on the word employees because it assumes this hierarchical structure that I'm not a big fan of.
Speaker 2:I think we all have jobs to do, really, and they're just different. Yeah, and that's all that it is. And how I hold space with them is invite and celebrate differences. I feel we talk a lot about being tolerant, but tolerant is not the same as celebrating. Yeah, right, so inviting someone to the table is a fantastic start, but celebrating that they think different than me is really, really powerful, and I celebrate that. And I always say we're colleagues before anything, and brainstorming is a huge part of the job for us. So inspiring them to be better is letting them inspire me in the same space. So holding space really is knowing that is letting them know that they're safe, no matter what they say and no matter what idea they bring to the table.
Speaker 1:No, I love that because a lot of times and to your point earlier around, the kind of patriarchal way that we were all kind of taught to be leaders, you know in school growing up, but then also how most our first interactions with leaders were like that. I love that you've pivoted the way that you now lead your team, because it sounds like you lead the way that you wanted to be led when you were in on a particular team in the past. And I love people who pivot in the way that they, I guess, shepherd in their teams and allow people to essentially just do what they're good at, as opposed to trying to fit everyone in a box, because that's not really what we want when we think of cohesive teams.
Speaker 2:That's exactly right. And I have a colleague, a female colleague, and we had this honest conversation early on and she was saying to me you know, early in my career I was made feel that I need to be something else to be successful. And she says but I realized that's not me and that will never be me a certain characteristics of what was perceived to be a good team player, and that was very powerful to me. First of all, I was so happy that she felt comfortable in sharing this with me and then, since then, I she feel comfortable in sharing this with me. And then, since then I I find strength in that, in in what she's actually good at, and I said, okay, well, let's find a way to apply your strength instead of looking for something that it doesn't come natural to you, you don't want to develop into, uh. So now I very much appreciate what she's actually strong at, instead of saying, well, you should be strong at something else.
Speaker 1:Yeah no, I agree with you. Yeah, I love that. I'm a firm believer in the Gallup Strength Assessment. I don't know if you've ever done it before. I did it years ago for the first time and it's basically that concept of leading from a person's strengths as opposed to pushing them to do something that they're just not naturally strong in, and it's a phenomenal way to lead. It doesn't work for everybody, but it is a really good foundation for, you know, working with people's strengths. So absolutely love that.
Speaker 2:Though I will add something about leadership that just came to me, as one thing that I tend to do with my team is I prop them up constantly and I tell them you underestimate how you present yourself, and they're so humble, and I think I spent most of my leadership time in telling the world how amazingly talented they are, because I think they don't say it enough. So that really is my job is to show the world and to let the world see how amazing this team is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, definitely. So I guess, what other qualities would you say make a good leader other than some of the things that we've spoken about already? Like, what would you say makes an effective leader in today's business environment, considering COVID, considering everything we've been through, especially since the last time we had this conversation, what would those qualities be?
Speaker 2:Having your back, no matter what. Yeah, there, there is this. This term that I learned early on called it says feeling up, so it's it's allowing or holding space for the team to feel comfortable, to come to the leader, no matter what happens, whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, right, and as leaders, we mostly hear about the bad things. That's what hits our desks right. When things are going well, we kind of everything is Just going ahead. I lost my train of thought, okay. What was the question you were saying about.
Speaker 1:We were talking about effective leadership and what are some of those traits?
Speaker 2:Having someone's back. And also I tend to say when we do a great job, we all celebrate, we celebrate the team. If something goes wrong, effectively I'm the leader, so I need to own that and I stand at the front of that. So I'll have my team always stand behind me and I'll take the hit. Yeah, definitely when something goes wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it happens right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely it happens.
Speaker 1:But protecting your team is also so important and as an entrepreneur, because one it's your business, right, In terms of like your baby, like that, but you need people to help you execute those things. But when people attack, I always judge. Well, yeah, judge a leader on their leadership skills and how they handle those types of situations, Because throwing your team under the bus does nothing for you, right? And I don't understand it.
Speaker 2:That's probably, for me, the worst quality in a leader. Actually, I find that really sad, yeah, um, I think if you have the job of a leader, it comes with a certain responsibility, and that is one of them. Yeah is no one's left behind and have their back um that's the job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. So tell me a bit. So the last time we spoke, I think you had just come into the role of CEO for 2.0 Collective. You just recently changed the name. That was easily five years ago, so walk me through the journey of 2.0. Oh gosh.
Speaker 2:So I came into back then AAC and P-TEX in the very hot moment of August of 2020. In the very hot moment of August of 2020. So I came in kind of doing a little bit of an audit and then started officially in September and it was a really tough time. I mean, you'll remember.
Speaker 2:We all remember what COVID did to our economy in Bermuda, and especially to local businesses, and we're still recovering from that. All of us are. Yeah, definitely so. In September of 2020, I walked into furloughs redundancies Um, I had to walk through a lot of that, that challenge that was. That was really really tough as a first time CEO and as an empath. Um, walking my team through furloughs and redundancies was difficult. It was a tough thing to go through redundancies was difficult. It was a tough thing to go through, yeah, and ultimately, everyone affected as a human being right.
Speaker 2:So every decision we make in our business affects people and their and their lives. Yeah, that was tough. Rebranding AAC into 2.0 Collective was an interesting journey. It didn't happen overnight. Uh, it was a process that took about a year, uh, from start to finish, and really it was the industry who who needed us to rebrand. Uh, when I started with AAC, um, certain clients would say, uh, we think you need to rebrand, you need to look at what's next for this agency. So it was an interesting story.
Speaker 2:When I started with AAC, I used to tell the team this is now AAC 2.0. It's the next version of the agency, so it's the next version of all of us. And when it came time to rebrand, we were thinking of a new name. And one of my colleagues said well, you already named the agency. It's 2.0. And it signifies a lot to us's 2.0. And it signifies a lot to us and 2.0 collective is a very important addition. 2.0 really signifies us being better and competing with ourselves from the day before. Yeah, uh, it's that constant strive for improvement, for for learning. And collective is is that it goes back to this lack of hierarchy, right and uh, or, in practice, yeah, um, and it's a collective of minds. Our tagline is a coterie of creative thinkers, and that's that's how we like seeing ourselves love that.
Speaker 1:So I think the first time I ever met you was I used to work with your husband, michael branko um, and I think you were pregnant with your first daughter at the time. The first time I met you then okay how old is she now? 11 and a half. Oh my god.
Speaker 2:That half is important when you're that age right insistence that I say a half, so she's 11 and a half.
Speaker 1:Yes, and that's so crazy. That was 11 and a half years ago a little more than that, because you've been pregnant at the time. But so you mentioned earlier that you've been in Bermuda for 20 years. Walk me through what brought you to Bermuda work.
Speaker 2:So I came for a job, uh, here it was really a one year engagement and I thought I would just do a year and then go up to Canada. My family was in Canada and it just as Bermuda does, you know, it stole my heart, yeah. And in the second year I met Michael. Yeah, just by coincidence, and the rest is history really. But I never really thought that this would be my forever home. It was just, it was a job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how did you?
Speaker 2:and Mike meet At a party, really the very old-fashioned way, believe it or not. There was no um, there was no technology involved. Uh, we just really hit it off as friends. We were friends for a while before we became a couple and that really is to this day, is quite important in our relationship. He's my favorite person and, to this day, is who I call, whether something bad happens or good happens, or I'm being nerdy and um, he really kind of checks me, um for sure. So he, he makes me a better person and that, to me, is the litmus test. You asked about love earlier, I think. For me, in a partnership, in the romantic partnership, my litmus test is does he or she make me a better human being? And that holds true with mike.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I love that, um, when you honestly working with mike and when he used to lead our team if whenever he mentioned your name, he lit up like a christmas tree and we used to talk about it all the time and it says it's not anything new, but it you could truly feel it. He was like so smitten by you, like he was so proud of you because I think you had just completed an mba or something like that and he was or it happened previously but he was most proud of how smart you are, like your brain, like he really was. I've never forgotten that I was actually talking to one of my former co-workers and we were talking about that. That was telling me I was going to interview with you and we spoke about it at that time too. So I love that you said that, because it reigned true even when you weren't around.
Speaker 2:Oh, he's so sweet. I joke around that he's like my marketing department. So whenever I have a crisis of self-confidence, I just need to talk to him and you know he, um, he always says I'm smarter than him, which I don't. I don't know that. That's true. He's the one doing the PhD right now. So what's Mike's doing? Another degree? He's doing another degree. So how I explain it is that and you'll know what I mean is he has so much brain power and that's called of his that there was just a lot of space in there, that he still has a lot of capacity. So it was the most natural thing in the world is for him to go in and do a PhD. So that's. She started this weekend, wow.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I'm not surprised, right. Yeah, I'm like shocked because, yeah, another thing, but definitely not a surprise at all. So you guys have two girls now we do yes, and tell me about them.
Speaker 2:So we have Madison, who you remember from my first pregnancy, who's 11 and a half.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then Isabella, member from my first pregnancy, who's 11 and a half, yeah. And then isabella yeah, she's the little one. Um, she's the funny, the funny bunny of the family. She's a walking comedy show. Yeah, um, she is nine and a half again the halves are very important. Um, they're absolutely amazing, yeah, as I think every mom would say about yes. Yes, that's fine.
Speaker 1:But I guess when we start talking about this, you know and a lot of people hate the term work-life balance or balance or whatever you want to call it but as a CEO and a mom and a wife, how, like how? Because you've got this huge job and you sit on boards which we'll get to in a little while and you know you have your holding space for colleagues, and how do you balance the demands of leading a company with the responsibilities of family life?
Speaker 2:You know what, if I'm being honest, I don't know that, I do Not every day, and my girlfriends hear about that and Michael does. So there's this old saying that women can do it all Absolutely, just not at the very same time. Yeah, and I really I I would love society to stop saying that women are super humans and that we're heroes and that we're superheroes, because we really are not.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we just do what needs needs to get done. So I think in my case. So balance comes from my village, my tribe around me that support me and keep me honest and accountable. And then I have my, my rituals, my meditations. Um, slowing down is really important to me. And then, uh, recalibrating every now and again. I did a pretty significant recalibrating exercise in July of this year and I remapped of what is what is important to me and this coming year, especially with Michael's DBA.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what is a recalibration? What does that look like for you?
Speaker 2:Um, so this is where the nerd of me is going to come out, okay. So in June of this year it just felt overwhelming. Both girls had started dance and I didn't realize how hugely stressful the month of June is. Oh yeah, for dancing, oh my gosh. So I'm sending a virtual hug to all the moms out there and the dads out there who have dancers, because June it really is something else. So I now know I need to take vacation for that.
Speaker 2:So in June I said, okay, something is just not working. There is not enough of me to get all of this done. So I said you know what? I will spreadsheet this. So I sat down and I wrote all my commitments. I wrote all my board work and my full-time job and my parenting and my sleep and I did the total of the hours for the whole month and then I divided it by a day and before I even got into me time couple time, friends time I was at a negative 0.3 per day. Hours, hours, wow, 0.3 negative hours per day. So I had no space for me time, I had no space for friends, I had no space for dating my husband, none of that. So when that stares you back in the face, it becomes very clear and obvious that this is not sustainable. Yeah Right.
Speaker 2:So I knew there was a sprint to finish June, and then I knew something needed to happen. So I took a week off that I haven't done in a very, very long time. Michael was the only one who knew that I took the week off and I spent that week on my own. So I would drive the kids to camp and then I would come home I would meditate, I would go for a walk and I would sit and look at the water and really question of what matters to me right now and what would I recalibrate. So then I did a bit of an exercise again in that Excel spreadsheet of I graded what's important to my career, what's important to me, and had to step down from some things this coming year, so that was a really important exercise.
Speaker 1:So that was a really important exercise, and I would I would invite every one of us, every woman out there, to if you feel that you're of that um, what that looks like. And I'm probably in a deficit as well, and I don't even have children, right, so it's it's crazy to think of what that might look like, but I'm very curious to see what that is too, because most of us work in numbers or in some form of accountability to something every single day, but we don't do that with ourselves. So, looking at it at that from that standpoint and I don't think that's nerdy, I think it's smart. It's a smart way to look at it, because otherwise, how would you know that you're running at a negative three hour deficit every day and you need to make changes? Because what then happens if you don't do?
Speaker 2:that. That's exactly it. What then happens if you don't do that? That's exactly it. What happens if you don't do that? And I started catching myself. I couldn't sleep as well anymore. My I was forgetting things. So I said, okay, something really needs to change. Uh, for me, but also for our kids, for me to support michael in this new program, and really for my mental health as well.
Speaker 1:Definitely. Do you ever feel guilty, though, with letting things go Like? I know sometimes because of this whole, women can do it. All this superpower, all the things that you know? You said you would like for people to stop saying about us. Do you ever feel like man? You know, maybe I could try to find time to still do that, you know, because I'm passionate about it, or it's something that I want to do, or was it just the right thing to do for you right now?
Speaker 2:100%. I think a lot of women can relate. I know you can relate.
Speaker 1:I know we all can relate to that.
Speaker 2:There is a degree of FOMO of you're missing out. And then there is what if my career suffers because I let go of a board? What? What if my friendships suffer because I don't see my friend or I don't hear from her or him?
Speaker 2:as often yeah, there is 100. That feeling of guilt, I think, especially mothers, we are, we, we take a bath of guilt every night when we go to bed of what could we have done better, right. And then I think, in that moment, you, I turned to my trusted circle and I do a, an audit check with them. Am I doing the right thing? What do you think? And then I think the biggest test is once I let it go, does it feel like a weight has come off my shoulders?
Speaker 1:And that is, that's's huge, and you just know yeah, definitely, it's a telltale right, like when you feel like the weight has been lifted, in particular. So you mentioned about your mental health and balancing that and physical health, like in addition to obviously the balance to be spoken about before like how do you take care of your mental health and physical health as a ceo mom, wife and all of that?
Speaker 2:mental health. I recently went back into meditation, which I think is very underrated, and meditation is amazing. Yeah, I would love to say that I meditate on my own, without the help of a, of an app, but that I'm not there yet. Yeah, I have meditated throughout my life, doing yoga and this, and that, uh, I had let it go for a while and I picked it back up in june. I said something. I need a little bit of help. So I've gone back into meditation and I use headway uh, no, sorry, headspace um, and it's been working really, really well. Some things come up that are uncomfortable, but, generally speaking, you go into this role of an observer of emotions and feelings which makes it easier Um mental health as well as just conversations with people.
Speaker 2:I trust my sister, michael, my closest friends. You know there are friends that your soul feels at home with oh yeah, I know.
Speaker 2:And those friends, man, when you find those friends, never let them go. And just having an afternoon I have a very dear friend of mine and we spent an afternoon on a boat and we had the privilege of having an hour to the two of us and at the end we were crying and we were hugging and it was cleansing. It was not bad, it was an amazing, amazing time. So that really filled my bucket. My sister is an amazing sounding board. She actually calls me out when I'm starting to not sound like myself. She says I think you need something.
Speaker 1:Those people are important as well. Those people are very important as well.
Speaker 2:Physical health is a bit tough, I have to say it's really tough. So I have periods of time when I'm very disciplined and I go to the gym and I work out every day, and periods, like right now, where just I don't have enough hours in the day. So I'm still trying to figure that one out. Yeah, um, so I try to do what I can in healthy eating. Um, I try to prepare my meals. I take my meals to work with me. I unless it's for a meeting, I kind of sit at my desk and work through lunch. So I love seeing what's in my food if that makes sense, so I love making my own food yeah, I, I enjoy cooking.
Speaker 1:I just hate the cleanup aspect of it and we live alone. It's also so much easier to just get something quickly like pay for it, but I'm trying to be better with the cooking again. I think that's super important, but I like that, the thought of.
Speaker 2:I like to see what's in my food, so this is a good way to look at it and you know there is, um, there was this mexican film, I think it's called hot water hot water for chocolate, I think it's called, and they were saying that, uh, when you cook and you sprinkle a little bit of love, and it goes a long way. So the food we eat and the thoughts we put into our food really reflects on the way we feel after we eat it. That that's fair.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I like that, yeah, for sure. Okay, I want to go back a little bit, because we've mentioned about your boards and that you sit on a ton of boards, or did, and then you've reflected since then, like your involvement with the boards that you're on, like how do you approach leadership in those boards? But then I do want to take a step back before we get there, about how you got into boards, because I think a lot of times people are not sure how people get on boards and I think we still do have a significant underrepresentation of women on boards. So I do want to start there and I know I just threw a lot at you and I apologize, but my thought process changed in the middle of that question.
Speaker 2:This is very, very rich question and we could do an entire podcast just on that topic.
Speaker 2:So, you have to kind of bring me back to earth because I have, I'm very passionate about this topic and I'm still in on my journey in my board work. That's, my long-term goal is to to be a professional ned. So how I be, how I got involved into boards, was that when I was in Fireminds what 10 years ago? I was logically on the executive board and our chair at the time, vicky, said to me I see something in you. You have a very unique strategic way of thinking and you disrupt in a very interesting way. You challenge the status quo, and that's very helpful on a board. Most people thought that our board was not functional because we were a family business, but in fact actually it's all the opposite, because we were the masters of our own destiny. If we took it as a joke, then we wouldn't get anywhere right. So we actually had to be very serious about it. So she really ignited that curiosity and she said I think you can do more with this. So she then introduced me to this program to Institute of Directors, which sounded so convoluted at the beginning, and I'm more than happy to talk to anyone about it. So open invite. If you're interested in this, you know, find me on LinkedIn more than happy to talk about it. So open invite. If you're interested in this, you know, find me on LinkedIn more than happy to talk about it.
Speaker 2:And there's three levels in Institute of Directors. The first one is for elements and for exams. The second one is the diploma and then the third one is becoming a certified board director once you have a portfolio of boards. So, because I love studying, that sounded really interesting to me, so I went and sat through the courses, did the exams I think a year, so it was a bit of an overachiever there and then after that, that really um opened my appetite for board work and I loved the strategic thinking of it and the tactical thinking of it. And then I discovered how difficult it is to get on a board, especially for women women. So, um, the board landscape in Bermuda is known, so we it. It's a challenge for newly certified directors to to be welcomed on boards. Is is not an easy task. So it is, uh, building your brand. You mentioned that earlier. Um, it is having this public persona speaking at conferences, being on panels and really showing the industry what you're made of.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And I always say, when I'm approached about a board, I always say what kind of board director I am and I will challenge, I will challenge the status quo, I will ask the questions and that is the type of director I'm on. So if, um, if a company is looking for a yes person, that's not me, uh, but if you're looking for someone who wants the best for the business, then, um, through this, this challenging uh approach, then that's, that's my way and I'm still it's. It's a journey, uh, it really is. I've been doing board work for the last seven years. I still have a long way to go to where I want to be. I'm very lucky to have amazing mentors in the industry who help me with advice. I'm very appreciative of their advice and I'm still working on it.
Speaker 1:Why do you think it's so difficult for women to get on boards? Because I don't think that's a particularly a Bermuda problem. I think that that's just a problem around the world, but so not specifically to Bermuda. Yes, but why do you think it's a bit of a still a challenge?
Speaker 2:So I'll start a bit far answering the question. So one of my favorite books is Sapiens by Yuval Harari, and I was listening to it driving here.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So this kind of goes ventures into the whole discussion of DEI you know, um society as we know it has been built with these biases right, and there is racial bias and there's gender bias. So, to answer your question specifically is um there was this, um historical bias towards the female gender, that we are less prepared, we're less decisive. Well, what happens if we upset her and she cries or periods?
Speaker 1:on, or she's on, that type of demand which is just a terrible thing to say.
Speaker 2:Yep, so I think historically there is that history of bias and then, well, but she doesn't have enough experience. But how would she get enough experience if she doesn't have a chance to be on a board? So it's this perpetual cycle right Of there have not been women on boards there. Therefore there are less women on boards. If that makes sense, yeah, it makes total sense. So those amazing, strong women who break that glass ceiling and end up on boards, they are those strong voices to then recruit more of us on these boards. And that's what I do as well. If I'm on a strong board, I try to recruit more women so that we break that notion that women are emotional and that you know we're called the B word because, we are, um we're more we lean in Right, um, so so we're.
Speaker 2:it's still a journey. So, to answer your question, why? I think it's a, it's a mix, it's a historical kind of development of bias, uh, gender bias, and then just the status quo with the comfort right, um I think that's it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely no, I totally agree with you and I know we've had offline conversations around diversity and the big part of DEI being that equity element of it, and I think obviously we could go down a rabbit hole with that as well.
Speaker 1:But it's, it's definitely something that has significant, I guess, recourse when we think about boards, when we think about women in leadership, because if we think about the amount of women in CEO positions in Bermuda, it's more than it is in other places in the world, but it still has a significant way to go, and all the points that you made around why not? Are still so prevalent, and you would be your. It's almost laughable, because it's like it's 2024, like you know what I mean. How are we still having conversations around? Oh, she's too emotional or what.
Speaker 1:Like we're dealing with it right now with kamala harrison and the um you know race for the president of the united states. Like what happens if she's on her cycle and there's a war that breaks. Like she's gonna send us into war. It's like people are really making these outlandish comments about women in 2024 and it just is like what planet am I on that? These are still things that are, you know, being discussed as opposed to her education or the work that she's done in the past. Um, I don't know why we still think this way when it comes to women, as if we just wake up and just flow by the seat of our pants every single day.
Speaker 2:It's just right it's amazing to me. And then add on to well, she's the default parent. So what happens if her child is sick and she needs to go home instead of being in a board meeting? And then you show up as a woman in the boardroom and if you are, if you have a strong opinion, they're like whoa, what happened to you today? Are you okay? You know um it, we just have work to do. You still have so much work to do.
Speaker 1:I know I think about it. Um, I had a meeting this week and my default kind of response with my ceo, who's my direct manager, is if I do anything that is slight that could be taken the wrong way in any way, shape or form, I inform him of it immediately. I'm like hey, I was on a call, um, things were a little hairy. Um, I did not, wasn't? You know? You know me now and we've worked together long enough that he's aware of, you know the connotations around calling black women or black people period aggressive, and you know things like that. So I would say, you know I inform him of these things.
Speaker 1:One so someone does say something to him. He's not, you know, blindsided by it, but he also knows my work ethic now and he can also defend me in those positions as well. But it it's. It's such a interesting topic to kind of go back and forth with, because half of how myself as a woman, yourself as a woman, have to go into responding to people, we have to think before we can just say what it is that we want to say. We have to worry about how we're saying it, how we're postured. Cannot be too emotional, has to be as logical as possible. Speak with all the facts before you're taken seriously, and then it still can be taken out of context just because you're a woman that's right.
Speaker 2:But then if you have a strong opinion, sometimes that's a bad thing because then you're trouble, yep, so you're doomed if you do, you doomed if you don't. I'm lucky that I'm on some boards. I'm a proud member of ypo, uh, and I sit on regional boards and local boards and, lucky and lucky for me, um, at YPO, we, or the organization really um appreciates leaders and people who lean in and have a strong opinion. So, um, I have learned in those environments how to weigh in um, um in a balanced way, I suppose, and how to fight for what's right. So I'm lucky I'm lucky there but again, the work continues.
Speaker 2:Honestly, the shay it's, it, it's. We have a long to go.
Speaker 2:We have come a long way right from 100 years ago yeah, for sure um, I mean gosh, I was listening to sapiens in the car and they were talking about sexual assault and how, even 50 years ago, there were countries where if a husband sexual assaults his wife, that's actually not illegal, and I just I was blown away, right. So we've come a long way and we still have work to do, and I think the important part is, as women, to support each other and not take for granted what we have. Yeah, so I talk a lot, a lot about privilege and how to use that for empowerment, and that's how I use my privileges to to use that to bring you know others with me who may not have the opportunities no, absolutely, and I think that's so important.
Speaker 1:I love that because you said that earlier as well, and it was something that I'm glad you brought it back up, because a lot of times and I say this in different settings when it comes to diversity, but we'll use it in the gender setting at this point but you know, we're constantly still breaking these glass ceilings, right, like I feel like every time we turn, it's the first in this or the first in that, when it comes to first female to do this, that, and the other right, and sometimes we had a generation of women and I think it's gotten a lot better now who kind of coveted those positions because it's like, oh my god, hey, I'm the only woman, there can't be two.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean, and that sense could be said in, you know, racially as well, depending on the environment that you're in. And so I love the fact that you are so open to reaching down and or not down, or cross, or wherever it is to bring along another woman with you, because what you don't want to do is leave a board and go into another board and then they replace you with a man and then you're starting. It's starting all over again and then the next woman is breaking the ceiling that you already broke, um, just because someone didn't extend a hand to bring on another female into that particular board. So I commend you for it, because one it it takes a significant amount of self-awareness and confidence to know that bringing on someone else is not going to affect your position, and it also shows courage and you know, just a lot of empathy to like. You know, I don't want anyone to have to go through what I had to go through.
Speaker 1:I totally commend that, definitely. So you spoke about personal branding and I always I kind of hate the term, but it is what it is Right and so, like as a mom, as a CEO, like how do you balance the demands, I guess, when I guess not demands, but how do you brand yourself as both a business leader, a role model for your girls and other women in leadership? Like how, how do you work on that branding?
Speaker 2:So personal branding is an interesting one. I spoke at a B2C conference and they asked me to speak about personal branding. So part of what I said was that, wanted or not, we all have a personal brand. Yeah. So we may say, oh no, I don't have a personal brand, I don't need a personal brand. But everything is a personal brand. How you say hello to someone is a personal brand. Whether you hug them or you, or you shake their hand, or whether or how you address them. How you sign your emails, how you open your emails right. Whether you start emails with dear XYZ and you say you know, I hope your weekend is a wonderful one before you start your emails All of those things are personal branding, right. How you speak of people that are not in the room, that's personal branding as well of yours, right? That speaks volumes.
Speaker 2:So personal branding is not only professional personal branding. It's who you are as a person, and the consistency of that, right? Um is the consistency of being, um, you know, caring for people on the job and off the job, right? So for me, personal branding um, I guess what's important to me is empathy Um, that will always be important to me.
Speaker 2:Curiosity on understanding your point of view. I'm so curious about differences. Genuinely, I think if we were all the same, the world would be so boring. So understanding how you see the world is is super important to me. Um, and then, being fair as much as possible, right, and I'm not delusional to say that I always know what's fair, because there is always seven versions of the truth and I may not see a perspective that you see, right, but even the quest for fairness is is, for me, is on the right path.
Speaker 2:Right, and also, I am sometimes a bit hard on myself when I do a self audit at the end of the day, of what I could have done better. Yeah, and ultimately, I am learning to give myself grace and to be kind to myself and to say we're all learning, we're all building ourselves, and personal branding is a journey, right? Though, if you ask me, personal branding with my girls versus personal branding in the boardroom, I have had to build a personal brand in the boardroom, and I think I'm known for being a strong voice on the boards, because, quite frankly, if you're a female on a board and you don't have a strong voice, more than likely you won't have a voice. Yeah, so that's just how it is. Yeah, with our girls I tend to have a little bit of that traditional discipline, obviously nothing physical, but just really drawing the boundaries on what's healthy and in behaviors and what's not what's healthy and in behaviors and what's not.
Speaker 2:And then, with my friends, I love to think that I make their souls feel at home.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And I guess not being judgy is a huge one as well. Yeah, just being open-minded, definitely.
Speaker 1:No, I get that and I definitely appreciate it, because sometimes and I love what you said about just being a good person right Like you can focus so much on what you want people to perceive about you, but if you're not just a good person like that doesn't matter. You know what I mean. So I love that you you said that around just being good or you know whole or whatever that looks like to you because if you're just authentically yourself and you're just who you are in different spaces and I guess holding back for certain certain places and where you are is important as well, because not everyone should get you in total at all times, like you've got to reserve some things for your private life but I can totally appreciate, um, just being a good person, because some people that's difficult. It's difficult to be a good person for some people. So, yeah, just being good is is definitely really important. Um, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think part of what I think of I've made a personal part of my personal brand lately, especially since covid is standing up for the local businesses. Um, me being part of a local business community, I'm really passionate about standing up for all of us and saying, in this quest for keeping business on the island, a lot of international business sends business off island that we are more than capable and happy to take care of on the island, and it's a big passion of mine is to advocate for all of us, not just 2.0, not just for ptex, but for all of us on the island who provide amazing services. Is to tell the ib community we're here and we're where there's a lot of talented businesses that can take care of you in the best possible way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's also part of my personal branding, but they still miss that, that Bermuda piece, right, they don't always get it. So engaging with the local company is so important because you're getting you know, you're getting good work number one but you're also getting the authenticity of someone actually being here as well, which is really important. Exactly, yeah, definitely. So I mean, it's so crazy, I always say this, but time flies by really quickly, and so I just want to make sure we're getting to everything. But I guess, what would you leave, I guess, in final thoughts, right? Um, like, what would you leave to those, to those people who are listening, women in particular, who are balancing the demands of their career, family, personal growth, growth excuse me, what advice, I guess, would you give them? Or what would you leave with them, um, in terms of what it will take to maintain and achieve success in those areas? What advice would you give to those women? Build your spreadsheet, definitely. Well, you're gonna have to patent that spreadsheet, I am more than happy to share.
Speaker 2:It's really not complicated, but yeah um, really take a look at your life and assess what really is important in a in the most honest way. Keep the people who make your soul feel at home close. And at our age, at my age, I can't have 20 people like that. I don't have time anymore, but those few, select few that I feel at home with I, keep them close.
Speaker 2:Give yourself grace is such a huge one. I mean, how many evenings, how many nights I lay in bed and I think, gosh, I could have done such a better job at parenting and I lost my cool with the girls and I have tears in my eyes and then I have to kind of hug the little Polina and be like it's okay, you know, you did the best you could and we can try again tomorrow. Yeah, right, and slow down. There People are asking me how the summer went and I say deliciously slow and I just, I absolutely love a slower pace and this conversation is a great example to just slow down and um and smell those flowers not metaphorically, I mean, I make myself actually smell the flowers.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, um. Meditate, whatever that means to you, whether you're reading a book or watching a show or do what, what you need to do and then think of who you want to be, not for how you want who you are to affect your job, but like what matters to you, what values are important to you. Right, yeah, um, and then the rest will come. So don't serve the the how to say your, your business acquaintances or your professional goals. Bring it back to basics and think of who you want to be, and then the rest will just take care of itself. And an open invite to. If you want to have a cup of coffee with me, I'm more than happy to Next to our office at a Rook Island. I'm always open to meeting with someone new, exchanging ideas and just being inspired or inspiring if I'm lucky enough. So always up for a cup of coffee, I love that.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then, finally, my final question to all of my guests is what do you want to be remembered for? Obviously a very long time from now. When someone mentions Paulina Branco and the effect that you had on them or any situation, what would you want them to say about you? What does that memory look like for you?
Speaker 2:Is that saying? People don't remember what you said, but the way you made them feel, and I hope that a handful of people remember that their soul was at home with me.
Speaker 1:I love that. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you spending some time with me today, and if anyone wants to get in contact with you or 2.0 Collective for any of your services, what's the best way to do that?
Speaker 2:So 2.0 Collective dot com. Find me on LinkedIn Branco is the easiest way. Find us on Facebook. We have an Instagram. We have LinkedIn. We would love to hear from you.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. I never asked you about the services for 2.0. So if you wanted to say that now, just in case anyone's interested 2.0 Collective is a creative agency.
Speaker 2:We like to say we love being creative. We are a full services marketing agency. What we love doing is being creative and thinking outside the box. So we do marketing campaigns, we do logo design any creative works and we love any creative projects. Okay, perfect.
Speaker 1:All right, well, thank you again. Thank you for having me Absolutely Well, guys, we just had a great conversation with the amazing Paulina Branco, who is the CEO of 2.0 Collective here in Bermuda. If you have any questions for her, like she said, please reach out to her on LinkedIn, paulina Branco. You can find her there, and if you want to learn more about 2.0 Collective and the services that they provide, make sure you head over to their website, 2.0collectivecom. Thank you for spending some time with me today and again, a special shout out to our sponsors, 59 Front Brown Company and Scudamard. As always, guys, thanks for watching Hustle Her Podcast.
