Today we’d like to introduce you to Paola Mena.
Paola, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was proudly born and raised in Mexico City along the chaos of city life. But on weekends, I would go to the ranch and make choreographies, songs, or plays while my brothers played with the horses. Since I was little, I had always dreamed of expressing myself creativity through art.
Sadly, when I moved to the United States, I focused most of my time on becoming the best student I could be to have access to a great college education. I was able to attend the University of Texas for a double degree in Chemistry and Psychology. During this time in college, I completely set aside my creative perspective and dove straight into science.
For a while, I had lost myself, but luckily, I joined an Austin Editorial Magazine team that got me back into track creatively and introduced me into modeling and content creating, things that I didn’t think I could pursue while also working on a science degree.
After graduation, I realized that I could turn my pastime into a full-time job and now, I utilize the tools of social media to communicate, interact and create.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has most definitely not been a smooth road, but can anyone really say it has??
Life is HARD.
For me, specifically, the road to self-discovery has been increasingly difficult.
I spent a lot of my undergraduate career chasing a dream that wasn’t quite mine. Although being a doctor is very prestigious and definitely, something to be proud of, I consistently felt trapped in my reality of not being able to be who I truly wanted to be.
Once I realized that I needed to take control of my life is when I finally realized I could be happy.
I advise young women to choose their journey wisely and choose it for themselves. Pleasing your family, friends, and people around you to conform to their ideals will only lead you to lose yourself. Stay headstrong and when someone says you can’t do it, just say “You just wait and see.”
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about your business – what should we know?
I currently work at a Social Media Agency. I specialize in managing business’ social media presence as a means of building their brand and increasing their exposure in the community. Whether it is through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc., I make sure that their target audience is able to find their services.
I am very proud to be able to have a job title that is relatively new and innovative. Just a couple of years ago, advertising through social media was not even in the picture.
Additionally, a big part of my job is handling influencer collaborations. Nowadays, influencers are able to advertise a business way better than traditional media like print, TV, and Radio can, which is something that is very interesting to me and keeps me involved in the Houston community.
We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
As of right now, I feel like being a woman in a leadership position requires you to prioritize business over personal milestones in order to not seem weak or unprofessional.
It has been historically difficult for women to be able to succeed as bosses compared to their male counterparts due to the misogyny in most work fields.
Due to this, I find it necessary for all women to strive to be role models, examples to follow and especially, strong members of the community to be able to teach a younger generation the normalcy of being a woman boss.
Contact Info:
- Email: paolamena98@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paolamena14/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaolaMena14
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/paolamena14?lang=en
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