How did you join the Leather Industry?

For family reasons. My father and my aunt own the tannery Curtumes Ibéria, S.A. as a family business that was founded by my grandfather. I look forward to ensuring the continuity of the tannery and making the transition of the company to the 3rd generation of the family.

Since I was very young I have been hearing about this industry and this has always made me curious about it!

I had experience in other fields already, mainly in the Financial Area, but I have decided to join the company to continue the family business.

My first and main goal is to learn more about leather. Although I have grown hearing about leather, I still need to have a more comprehensive understanding about this product and the industry. I want to understand the dynamics of the business... buying, selling, customer and suppliers relations and so on.

After undergoing this exercise I can know here I can be most useful to the development of the company.

What is the job that you are performing in the leather industry?

As I mentioned before, I am trying to capture a global vision of the business and therefore my tasks are very diverse. At this stage I am involved in Raw Materials purchasing, in Sales - including the organisation of the participation in international fairs - and visiting customers in Portugal and abroad. When I am in the tannery, I try to keep up with the ongoing production to increase my knowledge about the industry and the product. Overall, my main function is to assist the management board.

It's really a complicated industry, because we deal with a natural product than can have changes and the customers do not always understand this. I enjoy some autonomy and I work in a direct link with the production team and the sales team.

Above all, I am keeping a family tradition started by my grandfather.

What qualification / training did you have to join the Leather Industry?

Luckily, I had the possibility to have a number of  qualifications. I have a degree in Marketing, I did a post-graduate course in the USA at Berkeley University, a double-degree in Norway and in the Nova University of Lisbon and finally, I Mastered in Management. As I mentioned before, I am now learning the job on a direct contact with the tannery, the leathers, the customers and the suppliers.

What do you most appreciate about your work?

There is no day alike! Our tannery is always developing new articles that must be promoted and developed in a partnership with the customers. It's very dynamic. You can meet many different people from many different sectors and countries and this is very interesting!

The leather is a product that undergoes a constant change. The work is very diverse.

We do many works and different leather articles for many different customers.