From the Chair of Family Business of the University of Valencia, on Women's day, today March 08, we launch a new initiative to disseminate and transfer knowledge about family businesses. It consists of multiple videos with reflections and experiences which we called #EmpresaFamiliarTalks.

To celebrate International Women's Day, we contacted three women leaders of Family Businesses to tell us a little about their experience and their views. Thus, we have the participation of María Andreu, General Director of Ofival; Mariam Burdeos, Managing Director of Cleanity; and Fatima Zamorano, CEO of the AZA Group. 

During the interview, they talked about their action plans to ensure equality and build opportunities for women, where all three agreed on methods based on equity and the possibility of family reconciliation through reduced hours or others, to prevent women from quiting work.

They also commented on the development of women's talent and the progress of society, where Fatima explained how women had made remarkable progress in society especially in the field of work, and Mariam Burdeos agreed by highlighting the greater prominence of women's role in the business field.

"The development of women takes part not only from women who want to professionalize, develop and prepare, and from companies that accept meritocracy and not discriminate by gender, but also at the cultural and educational level."

María Andreu

To conclude the interview, they all had the opportunity to send a message to their '15-year-old self', which are some good advices that young women can take nowadays.

"We need to learn a lot from our elders, from their experience... Especially in the Family Business, sometimes we consider that they are 'old-fashioned' but when you really analyze the message they convey, you have to take advantage of it."

Fátima Zamorano

Maria Andreu emphasized the importance of listening to her inner voice, following what her heart tells her and deciding to "be a mother when you want to be a mother, and to be professional when you want to be professional":

 "To my 15-year-old self I would tell her to learn a lot and educate herself, constancy is a value that will serve her a lot in the future, and that any experience outside of her comfort zone is going to be very enriching to face everything that will come next."

Mariam Burdeos

THE CHAIR OF A FAMILY BUSINESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VALENCIA

It was created in 2006, promoted by the Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs (AVE), the School of Entrepreneurs (EDEM), the Valencian Institute for the Study of Family Business (IVEFA), the Institute of Family Business (IEF) and the University of Valencia (UV), and is currently sponsored by BANKIA and BROSETA ABOGADOS. Its activities focus on teaching, outreach and research on idiosyncrasies and challenges in improving the competitiveness of family businesses.

Learn more at www.cefuv.org.

To watch the full video: