Martina Azevedo

Carioca who wouldn’t leave São Paulo for anything, Martina Azevedo, COO of Global Shopper, is a transformative agent consolidating female leadership translated into objectivity and strength in the communications market. With 16 years of experience in digital marketing and strategic planning, she has been driving the business growth of major brands both inside and outside the country.

1. How did your career start? My career began in media and digital. I had the opportunity to debut in the "new" 16 years ago (laughs). I'm from Rio de Janeiro and started there. Four years later, I decided to seek other opportunities and found myself in São Paulo – today I wouldn’t leave this city for anything. I completely fell in love with the work pace, the achievements, the networking… I had the opportunity to meet many people and work with great names in advertising, who were my mentors and are now great friends. I lead a multidisciplinary team and bring strategic planning to expand the businesses and processes of Global Shopper. When I look at my journey, I notice one common thing at each step: curiosity about the digital world. And without a doubt, this thirst to link the corporate world to the web was certainly decisive in building my professional future.

2. How is GS's business model structured? We were born in the e-commerce era, we have innovation and constant adaptation required by the channel in our DNA, and we bring this to other business fronts. As COO, I exceeded expectations by transforming the e-commerce sector into a completely new company, which currently, as an agency of Growth Intelligence, Business Data, and Creative Innovation, we provide consulting to major brands and companies seeking to balance their retail operations, marketplaces, and last-mile platforms. GS has operations in São Paulo, Buenos Aires (Argentina), Cali (Colombia), and Mexico City (Mexico), with results representing an average growth of 300% in e-commerce within five years of operation. This is very gratifying.

3. What was the most challenging moment of your career? My biggest difficulty was being away from my family, but this made me stronger, and I managed to focus my efforts on what I really wanted: professional growth. This was an important moment when I had to choose to take a different step from what I had been doing. Taking on a completely new front with entirely different challenges was certainly a strong adaptation. But I understood that everything I knew would be applied and adapted to that new scenario. Evolving is necessary, and having courage was fundamental to taking on this new front.

4. How do you balance your personal life with your corporate/entrepreneurial life? Only maturity helped me understand these moments better. I always liked having a routine in the office and spending more time there than at home. But I learned that loving myself is very important, and I was losing the vanity of everything, including ambition at work. I started to structure this better in my mind, and understanding what made me feel good and happy, I began to balance my needs, taking more care of my rest, my body, my life. There is time for everything – today I have achieved a balance that I consider to be the best for my day-to-day.

5. What is your biggest dream? To be a transformative agent and help in the growth process of all those who are with me – whether friends, family, work partners, or clients.

6. What is your greatest achievement? Being in the position I am, consolidating a female leadership translated into objectivity and strength. Being a woman in leadership, leading a large team in a very male-dominated market, and still with the full support of my CEO, who is also preparing me for this.

7. Book, movie, and woman you admire.

Book: #GirlBoss (Sophia Amoruso) and Desistir não é uma Opção (Camila Farani)

Movie: Self-made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker and Joy

Women I admire: Luiza Helena Trajano, Camila Farani