Lucía Casanueva, founding partner of PROA CommunicationThe conference was aimed at high school students, within the framework of the educational and social programme for female entrepreneurship promoted in Cantabria by the Cantabria Women's Entrepreneurship Programme. The conference was aimed at high school students, in the framework of the educational and social programme for female entrepreneurship promoted in Cantabria by the Women and Talent Association.
The masterclass of this new edition of STEM TALENT GIRL took place in the Aula Magna of the School of Civil Engineering of the University of Cantabria last Friday. In it, Casanueva recounted some key moments of her professional and personal career, and sent a message of encouragement to young women so that they can get where they want to go.
As a decalogue for future professionals, the managing partner of PROA highlighted points such as "with effort almost anything is possible"; the importance of "perseverance" in negative moments; to do what generates happiness and has a positive impact on society; to surround oneself with the best; to take time to read and learn every day; and to have healthy habits.
She also suggested not being afraid to fail, because "every failure and every difficult moment in life is an opportunity to learn"; to have good role models, although one should also follow one's intuition; to have principles and values; and to try not to waste time. "I am very conscious that the most important thing is the time we dedicate to others and to ourselves," he said.
On the role of women in positions of responsibility, she pointed out that women tend to be more perfectionist and self-critical than men, which is why she advocated "learning to manage emotions, because when we do we are unstoppable".
In this sense, Casanueva cited her grandmother, a career pharmacist, as one of her great references: "My grandmother studied a career at a time when women did not go to university, in her class there were three women, she had a great influence on me. She once told me that freedom begins with economic freedom. It is important to have great mentors, I really value being surrounded by people who are better than me, who make me get the best out of myself".
Casanueva has extensive experience in the field of communications. He has worked in leading companies such as Llorente y Cuenca, Kreab and Edelman. In 2009 he founded PROA Comunicación, a consultancy firm specialising in reputation management that is already among the top 50 in Spain.
Women and Talent Association
The Women and Talent Association was born in 2017 from the union of a group of family businesses and female executives from Cantabria with the aim of stimulating, attracting and developing, through high-impact programmes, the talent of girls, young women and women for their empowerment, growth and leading role in social transformation towards real equality.
For its part, the STEM TALENT GIRL programme seeks to break the ceiling in university science careers and empower young women through female role models who have succeeded in these disciplines.
Enjoy Lucía Casanueva's full masterclass at the STEM TALENT GIRL event here.
Extract from an interview with Lucía Casanueva at the University of Cantabria.
Listen here to the full interview in La Ventana de la Cadena SER Cantabria.