Elaine Kalil

Our Positive Woman is Elaine Kalil, a landscaper with heart and soul.

Elaine tells how she started her career in interior design and discovered that her great passion was outside.

Enchanted by nature, she uses the “tailor made!” technique in her projects. Each project is unique, and respect for the environment is extremely important.

1. How did your career start?

Reply. 1- My career started quite organically. I have always been passionate about design and nature. I have a degree in Interior Design, but I have never worked in the area. Landscaping came into my life in practice. I lived for almost 20 years, when I got married, on a stud farm in the interior of São Paulo. There I was able to understand and practice how to use this extraordinary raw material that is nature. So, naturally, I became interested in landscaping. I started doing small projects at home and for close friends and, as I received praise for my work, I decided to invest more time and resources in my training and developing my business. I confess it wasn't easy. I faced several challenges, including in my marriage, to be here today, talking about my work and with a short but solid trajectory.

1. How is (Elaine Kalil Paisagismo) ’s business model formatted ?

Ans. Our business model is based on offering high quality, personalized landscaping services to our clients. We work hard to truly understand your needs and desires and, based on this understanding, we create unique projects. Furthermore, we always seek to use sustainable practices and high-quality materials, always focusing not only on customer satisfaction, but also on respect for the environment.

1. What was the most difficult moment in your career?

Reply. I have certainly experienced several challenging moments throughout my journey as a landscaper. One of the hardest was when I started... there were several paradigms that I had to break. I came from an old-fashioned marriage and in my relationship, there was no room for an entrepreneurial woman. Setting up the landscaping studio was a period of a lot of pressure and uncertainty, I needed to prove to everyone and especially to my family that I was on the right path. Other than that, during the pandemic, I had to reinvent myself. I dissolved my partnership and it was still necessary to review the structure of my business and focus on "tailor made" work: each Elaine Kalil Paisagismo project is unique, the result of a lot of research and conversation. Anyway, during the pandemic, we all went looking for creative solutions to reverse the situation and help as much as possible.

1. How do you manage to balance your personal life x corporate/entrepreneurial life?

Reply. 4- This is a very important question. Working as an entrepreneur is very stimulating. But at the same time, there are moments that can become exhausting. In my professional life, I try to mix the moment of creation, relationships and management in a balanced way. In fact, there are many necessary skills, and all of them with the same importance, we cannot neglect any of them otherwise the business does not happen. But over time you learn to do it better and better. And, I also take time to take care of myself and be with my family and friends. Organization and discipline are fundamental in this aspect. Well, I have an advantage... lol, I'm a Virgo, so that helps a lot.

5. What is your biggest dream?

Reply. My biggest dream is to continue creating incredible gardens that offer well-being and help people connect with greenery, plants and nature, and that this movement encourages everyone to rethink their relationship with our natural world. Always remembering that we are part of this nature and are not separate. Therefore, I understand that self-care, taking care of your home, the street and the city is the same as taking care of nature and the planet. And, there is also a very practical dream... I want to expand my business in a sustainable way, positively impacting people's lives. Can I give a spoiler? I'm going to launch a special course in April now. I really wanted to share what I learned along this journey. I would like to speak to young, aspiring and future landscapers. I think that this way I can contribute to my biggest goal, which is to always remember the transformative potential of nature as long as it is in harmony with our existence.

1. What is your greatest achievement?

Reply. My greatest achievement is seeing the recognition for my work and the trust placed by my clients. Realizing the positive impact that my projects have on people's lives is great. Furthermore, having the opportunity to participate in challenging productions at prestigious events, such as the Artefacto and Casacor Exhibitions, was an incredible personal and professional achievement.

1. Book, film and woman he admires (it can't be his mother).

Reply. A book that always inspires me is "Women Who Run with Wolves", by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. I really like the way the author exalts the connection between us women and our "selves", with our bodies and with nature. As for the film, "The Untouchables" is one of my favorites, I love the borderless relationship between the two characters. It's a film that talks about the power of rediscovering possibilities and not holding back in the face of life's limitations.

About the woman I admire, I keep "pounding" in my head about not having a name in mind and, then, I came to the conclusion, that it's not that there isn't a woman, it's that it's not singular for me, it's a plural: there are so many women that I admire and each one in their own particularity, in their uniqueness that for me it is difficult to put them all in one! So, there are women: they are actresses, they are women in politics, they are executive women, they are women in the family, they are women in different situations that I admire, including friends that I admire a lot! So, I can't put it in just one person, because I admire women