CONVERSATIONS
around the world.
Saudi Arabia
Raha Moharrak
First Saudi woman to summit Everest
"I am proud of who I am and what I have achieved, but it has taken sacrifices"
For Raha Moharrak, the feat of becoming the first Saudi woman to climb Everest and the other six highest peaks on this planet has not come without great sacrifice on her part. And not only the same ones that other sportswomen have had to endure, such as strenuous training, discipline and risk; but, for her, an Arab woman, specifically from conservative Saudi Arabia, climbing to the top of the world has cost her social pigeonholing and may even cost her her own sentimental future.
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“I'm proud of who I am and what I have achieved, but it has meant sacrifices. I'm turning 33 and I'd like to get married, but I don't think any typical Arab man would want to marry me; I am not seen as the typical girl, I am seen as someone different, someone unique, and that can be good or bad. It is very difficult to be such a different individual in a world full of people who do not necessarily appreciates individuality,”she confesses.
Spain
Maria del Mar Raventos
President of Codorniú
“Fears must be overcome¨
The president of Codorniú assures that humility is the best remedy we women have to gain confidence
She is slow and relaxed. And that surprised me. I expected her to arrive and leave with her tongue hanging out like those women who do thousands of things and come onto the stage skidding. But María del Mar Raventós is quite the opposite, she breathes calmly, looks for a frame with a photo of her children and shows it to me, chats animatedly while the cameraman prepares the set, explains that they like to sail at Copa del Rey in Palma de Mallorca.
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All this despite having a full agenda, being the president of Codorniú, a company that employs more than 800 people, with ten wineries in Spain, Argentina and California; being the mother of six children and grandmother of many others... and looking impeccable, with her hairdresser's hair, her snowy dress with matching jacket, which, as we all know, also requires time.
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Spain
Paloma Martinez Monastery
Babybe business owner and mother of seven
“We have to get rid of our prejudices"
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Paloma Martínez Monasterio has it clear. If she had paid attention to the prejudices that we women have, she would not be pregnant with her seventh child and she would not be an entrepreneur of a business that has been successful for more than ten years in Madrid, BabyBe, a unique and innovative physiotherapy and physio-aesthetic space for women and their babies, nor would she be an instagramer of reference for many mothers around the world. "You have to put aside all those prejudices that we women often have. For example, in my case, being a mother of six children and one to come and a businesswoman, it seemed like two incompatible things and sometimes that pushes us back."
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Nothing stops Paloma. She has managed to create a life that suits her. How? . "I am privileged, I have a lot of help," she says. But not only that, this Spanish woman is very clear about what a woman has to do if she has a dream and she wants to achieve it: "You need to be well organized, have a lot of self-confidence, and put prejudices aside". And another fundamental thing, "go ahead with a lot of self-confidence and without being afraid of failure, because sometimes you also learn from failure and you should not be afraid of it."
WOMEN FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD
india
Christiane Gey.
Founder of the NGO Childsrights.
Colombia
Vanessa Rosales
Writer, Instagramer and Feminist
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"I have an internal voice that I listen to, even though they tell me that this is not the way".
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Vanessa Rosales, a Colombian writer specializing in Fashion Theory, a successful feminist and instagrammer, is a very particular hybrid of a woman, with one foot in the dense intellectual world of philosophy and more academic feminism and the other in the ephemeral world of Fashion; in fact, her first book, Clothed Women, is a mix of both.
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QATAR
lydia gonzalez
Qatar airways pilot.
¨Against stress, organization to the fullest¨
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If anyone can give us lessons on how to manage our stress, it is Lidia González, a mother of two children in a country that is not her own and a pilot for Qatar Airways, the second most stressful profession in the world. Even more so if you add to the equation that her husband is also a pilot for the same airline and travels as much as she does. "We have to fit things together, not ask for days together, and sometimes sacrifice as a couple," she tells
Bali
Martha Buiguess
Hotel manager, entrepreneur and surfer.
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¨I have my moment of glory every day¨
If one looks at the Instagram photos of Marta Buiguess, a Spaniard based in Bali, it seems that her life only takes place between waves, salt and surfboards. Yes, she lives in paradise. And every day she surfs. "I get to do something I love every day, I enjoy every morning for two hours, every day I have my moment of glory"; that is her great success. But to reach that success, she has had to make a lot of hard decisions, throw herself into the void, trust herself when no one supported her and take risks.