Women in Stone – 3 women, 3 perspectives on a traditionally male industry
On Women’s Day, we interviewed three women who work in the ornamental stone industry.
From Production, Management and Industry Association.
In a predominantly male sector, women are gaining more and more prominence and are an integral part of decision-making.
Today we present different women’s life stories, with the aim of inspiring girls and women in this or any other field.
Célia Marques
Executive Vice-President
ASSIMAGRA – Portuguese Association of the Industry of Mineral Resources
How did you start working in this area? The opportunity to work in this sector came about by chance and it’s been 22 years now.
After completing my degree, I was invited to join a project at the Instituto Superior Técnico, an institution that has always had close ties to the mineral resources sector and to ASSIMAGRA.
Shortly afterwards, I was taking part in a major project at the time in the extractive and manufacturing industry, which was the Voluntary Agreement for Adaptation to Environmental Legislation for the adoption of best eco-management practices in companies.
Everything happened quite smoothly.
Having a degree in environmental engineering, it was a really exciting option to help build a greener performance in an industrial sector known for having a strong impact on the environment.
Since then, I’ve been taking on challenge after challenge and working on differentiating projects at Assimagra, not only in the environmental area, but also in various other areas, from land use planning for more sustainable management of mineral resources, to qualification, innovation and internationalization, which have resulted in several structuring projects for this sector of activity.
The position I hold today was an opportunity that is the result of dedicated and intense work, but it was never an ambition. Throughout your career, have you experienced any specific challenges because you’re a woman? Being in a mostly male sector, I believe that as a woman we are more exposed, but fortunately the maturity achieved through experience has quickly overcome this constraint.
In my personal case, I believe that what I have been adding is very much down to who I am and what I believe in.
I’m a simple person, optimistic by nature and practical, but I’m also demanding of myself.
For those who follow me, I try to convey the need to see the good side of every situation and to respect the work of others.
The world, and this industry in particular, is evolving at such a speed that the challenges we face are immense and everyone in this sector has something to add.
Regardless of gender, it’s collaborative work that makes things happen. What is your biggest influence on your career? There are many people I look up to in different areas and at different times.
From people in the industry who have taught me a lot along the way to more influential and media people who I admire for their work and the values they pursue.
If I had to single someone out, I’d have to say that the biggest influence came from my mother to my daughter, not because she had a remarkable professional career or anything like that, but because she instilled in me the simplicity that we can bring to life and essential values such as responsibility, humility and courtesy. What message would you like to give to young women who want to enter this industry? This is an industry full of potential, with an emerging need to innovate and improve its efficiency and sustainability, both economically and environmentally.
It is therefore an industry where value can be added and where women are increasingly gaining ground and becoming part of the paradigm shift.
It’s an industry worth getting to know and investing in.
Fátima Faria, Natural Stone Finisher
Manuel & Cardoso – Natural Stones and Composites
How did you start working in this area?
I decided to work with stone for the finishes.
I really like what I do, I like finishing, working with stone.
I’ve been working at Manuel & Cardoso for 17 years, but I started working in the industry around 26 years ago. Throughout your career, have you experienced any specific challenges because you’re a woman? Over the years I’ve worked with a few women in production, and now I’m the only woman working in the factory.
I don’t feel any challenge because I’m a woman, because as long as I want to work, I can take on bigger loads just like a man.
I feel that it’s important to have women in the factory, and that I’m valued for my work and effort. What is your biggest influence on your career? I have to say that a lot of people try to influence me to leave the industry because it’s sometimes a heavy job.
But I really enjoy working in stone, what influences me is the art of working it. What message would you like to give to young women who want to enter this industry? First, let them study and graduate.
And if they really like this industry and stone, let them work with pleasure.
Don’t be afraid to work with and learn from those who have been working in it for a long time.
Margarida Sousa
CEO
Tons de Pedra – Marbles and Granites of the World and Dimpomar, Portuguese and World Natural Stone
How did you start working in this area? I joined Dimpomar at the age of 21 straight after university.
I had always been a good student and was about to finish my management degree at Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
I remember feeling that “anything was possible” and it was time to start choosing what I wanted to do.
I lived with my parents and we always had dinner as a family.
I told them that I was having a different week at university, with a whole program for the final-year students, in which various multinationals were presenting themselves to the students… My father – Luís de Sousa – founded and had been in charge of Dimpomar since 1980, but my brothers and I had been told all our lives that we could work in whatever we liked and wanted.
It was no different at dinner that night, but it also made sense for him to tell me that he had bought a plot of land in Pêro Pinheiro (we lived in São João do Estoril) and was building a warehouse.
And that maybe I’d like to do something there…
I don’t know if he told me that much, but that’s how it started.
I’d already worked for the company for a week or two in one summer or another, but I only had the tradition of a mining engineer’s daughter who is used to starting a visit to a museum by “naming the stone on the walls”, in other words: I didn’t know anything about stone, but everything that came from that world was GOOD, because it came from my father, who is an extraordinary man.
That’s how I started.
But I embraced this area because I tried it… and I loved it! Throughout your career, have you experienced any specific challenges because you’re a woman? When I started out, it really was a man’s business.
This was evident in the entrepreneurs and decision-makers in the industry – here in Portugal and in all the countries I visited to import – and also evident at international fairs, with few women in roles of knowledge, experience or decision-making.
But I’ve never given it another thought and I’ve never felt discredited in any way because I’m a woman.
On the contrary, I’ve always been welcomed throughout the stone world – quarries, suppliers, partners, clients, associations – and, now that you make me think about it, I think there have even been times when the “other person’s curiosity” about the fact that I’m a woman has sparked conversation and made stronger, more sincere business relationships grow. What is your biggest influence on your career? That’s easy… my father! What message would you like to give to young women who want to enter this industry? The natural stone industry is absolutely captivating and we miss you!
