Gabriela Pulido is a mother of four and also a serial entrepreneur. She's a Venezuelan, born and raised in Venezuela, and went to the school in the US Columbia University School of Engineering. Now she’s helping companies scale their impact with her newly founded company, Scalto.
Gabriela also mentors early-stage companies as a Business Mentor at Endevaur Miami.
We talked about being an immigrant entrepreneur in the US, the rewarding and hard parts of entrepreneurship, and how she manages all the different things she’s doing in parallel.
Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Pocket Casts.
Where to find Gabriela
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gabriela-scalto/
Where to find Cagri
Twitter: twitter.com/cagrisarigoz
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cagrisarigoz
All other links: s.cagrisarigoz.com/links
What we covered in this episode
Who is Gabriela Pulido?
How was Gabriela’s experience when she first moved to the U.S.?
What made Gabriela move to entrepreneurship after 8 years of professional work at a well-known consultancy firm?
What is Scalto’s methodology to help companies scale?
What is it like to be a mentor at Endevaur Miami?
Ligthning Round with Gabriela
Transcript of the episode*
Cagri Sarigoz: Hi Gabriela, Can you please talk a bit about yourself? Who is Gabriela?
Gabriela Pulido: Hi. I'm Gary. I am Venezuelan, born and raised, and I went to school in the Us at Columbia University City School of Engineering. I'm a mother of four, a serial Entrepreneur, and an Avid Seeker of Creative Solutions in the space I work with.
Cagri, How was your experience when you first moved to the U.S.?
Gabriela: Yeah. So after many years in Venezuela, coming from New York in Venezuela, I migrated decided to migrate five years ago. It was a hard decision because we were a family familiar four coming into the. We landed in Miami with amazing things happening. At that point, it was just the Miami tech movement, but then it came along. The biggest hurdle, the biggest focus for me, was to adapt to understand what was happening in the environment, a completely different sales approach. Education, lifestyle, adapting and perceiving differences, and then playing upon my strengths. And I was dedicated to building the network and going forward in terms of figuring out the way to scale my company. In a whole new environment with the right three steps ahead or looking forward to helping solve the midsize companies problems in terms of scale. So that's when I pivoted from branding. To communications and and scaling companies with that mindset in place.
Cagri: What made you move to entrepreneurship after eight years of professional work at a well-known consultancy firm?
Gabriela: So interesting. So after being in consulting for management consulting Arthur little, and that went to Future brand, which is a branding agency, and the on behold, it was two thousand and four that they decided to close shop in South America. I was in charge of Latin America and the Caribbean nations. And it was a very fast exit from them. And from my end, I had clients which I could leave. And I decided to pivot and create my branding agency solving for those problems so that the clients... The current clients I had. So was while they were moving out, I was creating my own space, which grew to be a multinational company in terms of having offices in Dubai, Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia. And New York as a base and creating amazing brands. And figuring out that today, I have had like have developed, like, fifteen hundred type different brands I've touched different fifteen hundred different brands. And that's in essence sense, my engineering background with the creative and the solutions that I found through branding and let me to excel in those areas.
Cagri At Scalto, what is your methodology to help companies scale?
Gabriela: So in Scout scaling out, we have a methodology, which is a three step. The first we dedicate time to the develop, what is your scaling mindset? How's your strategy and where do you wanna go. The second part is where switching narrative, if your brand and the key content pillars that you should be communicating. And then their third is more on the customer journey. What's the journey? What's the experience that you want your customer your client go through and what's the plan to make that happen. So it's basically a three step approach. We have a way of understanding what it is the essence and what moves and what really is your vision magnifier where you went ahead. And then the branding side, it's more to get into in sync with that that ambition. So if you either need to revise or evolve or transform your brand in order to generate to create that type of impact with your customer that we highlight that and we can we can develop it. And then and in terms of the customer journey, what are the friction points, what are the things that get stuck in the middle of your having the seamless experience as seamless interaction with your the right customer. So that's that's what we do. We create we have creative all over the world designers, analysts consultants working towards generating the right strategy to go forward.
Cagri What is it like to be a mentor at Endevaur Miami?
Gabriela: But this this one of the things I love. I left mentoring entrepreneurs, which is early stage startups ups which an endeavor is one of the company one the... Yeah, one of the companies enterprises that I work with that the their whole mission is to help entrepreneur scale. And what I do, I usually help them, which are either minorities or or even companies and different in the fields. From Text to fast consumer goods to define what their narrative is, what first of all, what's the strategy and then what's their narrative and how they they're making that getting that know to the world. It's only important for fundraising or for raising capital for your venture is more even to get the right talent and the right team in place or even getting the right partners strategic partners lines. So I do help them. It's a growing community. It is... They have different chapters all over the world. And then here in Miami, they're they're one of the best. So I'd like to work with ind Miami. Helping them positioning in this market and moving forward.
Cagri Thank you very much for your answers. Now it's time for the Lightning Round!
Cagri What's something that's in your pocket besides your phone?
Gabriela: So I usually don't carry much in my pockets. I think that the phone has many functionalities that work. So I would say my case and now that's it.
Cagri Artificial intelligence fills you with hope or dread? Pick one.
Gabriela: Absolutely hope. Artificial intelligence for me is something that I actually working with a project that I want to put all my knowledge into an algorithms them so that a machine can develop solutions with what we figure out in the past. And I think it's it complements what we do in terms of delivering strategies for clients. For me, is definitely hope.
Cagri Your favorite place to think big?
Gabriela: So I live here in miami when I go in front of the ocean and see the the the c infinite vision. That's when I get the most creative. It's more when I get like the sky's limit. And I love to have spaces so a major for me It's the one place I like to think big.
Cagri What job would you take if you were out of work tomorrow?
Gabriela: funny thing, I mean, I think I have reinvented myself from consultant to entrepreneur. So if I were to be out of my job of being an entrepreneur. I would create a different company. I would go and find some place That could be useful and help and contribute to doing good.
Cagri One object from your childhood that you could never throw away?
Gabriela: I'm actually not a keeper in terms of things that I keep from my childhood. So what I don't wanna give away is my memories? Had a like amazing childhood and with all my family, six five brothers and sisters Zoe I had a very, very happy childhood. So those memories, I would never throw away.
Cagri The one thing you wish your phone could do?
Gabriela: my phone, my phone should be more efficient in terms of know, creative solutions, but one, but I'm the personal or know, how about having magic wand to be ubiquitous in many places at the same time, but that's another place another time.
Cagri What is your favorite mobile app?
Gabriela: So what's my favorite phone mobile app? I would say anything that case so lets me communicate more closely with or closer with my my family and my friends, and given that they're all scattered around the world. So I would I like interaction, nothing beats human human interaction, but or in my life. But I think, in essence, I I try to to use that most in terms of communicating with them. I like to keep in touch.
Cagri The book that most influenced you?
Gabriela: So lately, I really like the apples of the heart of B brown, which is a book that has Marked after Covid, ways and how to name your emotions have name what you feeling? And it's alright. It's it's understanding that side of of of your brain of your... What your thinking and it has a name and has has a reason and just in essence just pinpoint them and action... Acting upon them and it's great for me. So that would be one book that has influenced lately.
Cagri Messy desk or clean desk?
Gabriela: I would say, messy with the mess I can figure out because I have piles i have things the short term medium term, and then I also have piles, my thinking, and I do tend to lately use the app to have notebooks digital notebooks. I can share more my notes with all my team faster. So in essence, yeah. It it doesn't convert from the physical to the digital Notebook the mass. So it's a bit better. But I'd like to have different things that remind me of or have creative sparks, so that I have scattered.
Cagri Open office or closed office?
Gabriela: Definitely open space, I think people create one they're together. Yet when you're thinking and that you have time to dedicate to to develop to figure out one lead time a alone time is also good. But I tend to have an open space wherever I have an office in in Venezuela and here so the ideas to interactions because we don't produce widgets for for ideas and those ideas of better creating teams, actual truly believe teams.
Cagri One thing you have to have in your fridge at all times?
Gabriela: One thing in the fridge for water for once for me. It's core, but I do like... I know i do It like chocolate, which is very dark chocolate having a dark chocolate in the freezer it's delicious. So in the fridge, I usually have that.
Cagri The single greatest embarrassment of your career?
Gabriela: Well, this was earlier earlier in my career when I was an analyst, I didn't ask for questions or clarifying questions. So I they asked me to do an evaluation of a company. I had no idea what the evaluation was. I had no idea how to do that, but I decided to create a presentation. The company, the management consulting. My manager took went to the meeting without even looking at the document that I had created. When he just opened the file and saw the client in front of me... In front of us, and saw the file. He closed it He said, we gonna reschedule the meeting sorry about waiting your wasting your time. And as soon as I was in the car, I was like, so what happens? Like, Did you know how to do this gabriel and like, no what I you told me to do so so i was super embarrassing moment where I had to figure I had to say, okay, I'm sorry because I didn't ask, and I delivered me and my result to rant road. I I thought it was where I thought it was best, but it was not good enough.
Cagri What about the single greatest achievement?
Gabriela: I think the my biggest greatest of achievement, if you can say so, they it's my family. I think I truly cherish them, and I think it's something that we have grown together and have become. The second thing is that Skeletal has been an amazing journey, and I'm super excited about this achievement and the way it's been growing. Just because I'm putting the right pieces in the right place and looking forward to being positive and and achieving scalability also within my company.
Cagri One meeting you look forward to each month?
Gabriela: So we have a session every two weeks that we figure what are the things that we can do better and going ahead. It's creative. It has actually very little format. It's just more how might we thrive? Or how do we think three steps ahead and move forward? And I like when people ship. I mean from different angles they front so creative, we have one insights as opposed to the engineers would have others so the idea to generating solving for one solution to the next in this creative space is amazing. He goes from naming, it goes from design, it goes for solutions, growth options go anywhere, but the To collaborate a collaborative. And group trade solutions
Cagri The most creative measure of success you've ever set for a team?
Gabriela: So the typical measures are awareness, how many skus you've to developed? How many... I don't know. It just And one of our magic is like, okay, You're presenting to the ceo of the company. How fast can he decide? So how the ease of making decision and and and selecting the option So if you go for the first round that's amazing that's like, wow creative. And other essence also when we have had develop products or brands for products that we had to try on our ourselves. So the creative process is how many hours, can you be with a a diaper or how many hours? Can you or how many how many ice cream can you eat with this inside. And so it depends on the on the project, it's fun. So we try to build like a metric or a a. A challenge for each of the clients that we have.
Cagri Your favorite time saving hack?
Gabriela: I like to put, like, day before. What are I planning for the next day, and there's there's a book out there. It's like eat the biggest frog first in the morning. So that's the time hack that I really like to do. First thing in the morning, do the most difficult task. And what I also do is try to split my my day or my hours in terms of what am I producing for a client when how i helping the team and terms of management how and doing sales, but I do spend a lot of time where am I growing and the growth of my company is important so I spent a lot of time, so that's what I put first.
Cagri Best movie ever?
Gabriela: That's. And I love that movie just because it shows the beauty of life in essence and it shows the single simplest things in life can be the best. And it reminds me to take care of, and maybe today they call it mindfulness and no or whatever it's next, but the idea of Yeah. Cherish the little moments small moments in life and make a difference. So I do like that.
Cagri Thank you very much for all your answers, Gabriela!
*The transcript is auto-generated, there can be some errors in transcription.
Helping Companies Scale - Gabriela Pulido (Founder, Scalto)