top of page

Empatia Criativa
Relationships That Transform

In 2018, after 10 years of entrepreneurship, studying, and testing sustainable business models in the creative industry, I began to question the market systemically and to position myself more actively on certain issues.

​

Empatia Criativa was born to rethink disparities and inequalities between genders within communication, especially in agencies. The formation of the women's network eventually originated the business fronts that sustain today's activities. It is an interdependent ecosystem, deepened and grounded in theoretical and netnographic studies, with numerous proposals for interventions and improvements within this market.

​

See also: empatianews, empatiablog, rede despertar, talentos femininos, freelas empatia

Imagem5.jpg

A small seed (challenge 1):

The idea for the initiative emerged from a community of creative women on Facebook. I gathered 10 women in Design Thinking sessions to define how we could boost our businesses and engage in "bundled sales," serving as a 360° agency. However, the first model didn't work in practice due to disparities in business management maturity among the participants. Going back to square one, I wanted to understand the biggest pain points across the market, not just among the women who initially met.

​

Process:

I interviewed and monitored dozens of women in communication from 2018 to January 2019 within a single discussion group we had on WhatsApp. This new immersion highlighted some needs such as:

  1. Having a safe space to talk about any subject;

  2. Finding a space to locate communication jobs where participants could exchange references about the companies and the people working in them;

  3. Exchanging relevant information and both technical and non-technical knowledge;

  4. Emotional support and job referrals among participants.

​

Solutions:

  1. Network empowerment with the creation of a first community on Facebook called Rede Despertar (the research at the time showed that LinkedIn was still perceived as too "cold" for those women, who preferred more intimate relationships, even if digital, through Facebook or Instagram);

  2. In February 2019, I expanded from a single WhatsApp group (our most active and agile community contact point) to 64 groups segmented by specializations within communication, with monitoring, crisis management and evolution, and flow administration for entry, satisfaction, learning, and exit. We had general conversation groups, segmented job listings, segmented career discussions, and collateral groups such as those for motherhood, leadership, entrepreneurship, emotional support, and sustainable detachments. I chose to apply Theory U to mature the groups together, reaching a high level of interaction and growth among participants;

  3. Organically, the women began to close deals among themselves, make referrals, or share job opportunities, causing the network to expand and reach today's number of 5,400 registered women;

  4. Creation of shared repositories for courses, books, and both technical and non-technical content for consultation, also segmented by areas;

  5. Adaptation and registration of all women, respecting LGPD (General Data Protection Law).

Imagem21_edited.jpg

The show must go on (challenge 2):

With the growth of the initiative and many women seeking support and bringing new ideas, there arose a need to think about activities, other systems of collective learning, and opening a dialogue window with companies.

​

Process:

I returned to research, now with a volunteer UX team that I managed during 2019 and 2020. We started with a census that took 6 months to be answered by all network participants + 40 individual interviews among professionals, recruiters, and leaders. The new needs identified were:

  1. Space for the promotion of professional profiles (pointed out by both recruiters and participants);

  2. Need for courses, workshops, or more structured learning activities (network participants);

  3. Search for content platforms on professional development (network participants);

  4. Space for sharing life and career stories (network participants and leaders in companies interested in understanding the "pains" of women);

  5. Publications on diversity, affirmative action, and inclusive recruitment (organizations);

  6. Understanding how to conduct inclusive recruitment and what are the "desirable" journeys for women (organizations);

  7. Hiring ready-made teams of only women or 50/50 for remote projects, especially when the pandemic broke out and organizations were completely lost (organizations);

  8. Participation in events that discuss how to improve the inclusion of marginalized groups (organizations).

Imagem7.png

Solutions:

 

FOR "REDE DESPERTAR" PARTICIPANTS (free):

  1. Organization of live sessions (EmpatiaTalks) with content relevant to women, by sector of activity. (examples: digital marketing, UX, content development, and use of tools like Figma and Notion);

  2. Development of dynamics and content for daily debates within the interaction groups;

  3. Creation of the EmpathyBlog divided into: Feminine Experiences and Shared Knowledge;

  4. Organization of matches between mentors and mentees.

​

FOR PARTICIPANTS AND ORGANIZATIONS (free)

  1. Development of the webapps "Talentos Femininos" and "Freelas Empatia", which even in testing have already promoted the hiring of dozens of registered professionals;

  2. Creation of "EmpatiaNews", our digital magazine that addresses diversity, equity, and inclusion;

  3. Development of content for social networks;

  4. Promotion of job openings in the segmented groups and on the Facebook community.

​

FOR ORGANIZATIONS:

  1. Consulting in: communication, employee experience, transformation processes, and inclusive recruitment;

  2. Recruitment of network members for remote management of specific projects.

Imagem8.png

Big Challenges (challenge 3):

Solutions:

 

FOR "REDE DESPERTAR" PARTICIPANTS (free):

  1. I migrated some of the participants from segmented job groups to a single announcement channel on Telegram, aiming to drastically reduce operations while maintaining the primary objective of advertising opportunities for contractors. I eliminated all segmented job groups on WhatsApp;

  2. I kept the UX groups, the first talks that originated the whole network, and the collateral ones because they still serve as points of emotional and affective support for the participants;

  3. Jobs received a classification legend according to complaints and recommendations received from network participants;

  4. I reduced the postings of content on social networks, but better organized mentoring programs and partnerships with courses and people to speak, sharing technical and non-technical knowledge.

​

FOR PARTICIPANTS AND ORGANIZATIONS (free)

  1. I kept the "Talentos Femininos" and "Freelas Empatia" apps running with crowdfunding;

  2. I reduced the frequency of publications of "EmpatiaNews" until funding and/or brand sponsorship was obtained;

  3. I increased the promotion of exclusive job vacancies on our channel.

​

FOR ORGANIZATIONS:

  1. Consulting and project management with the hiring of women from the network were maintained;

  2. Conversations with agency leaderships and companies were held until November 2023.

The pandemic led to massive layoffs in the communication market. The context was severely aggravated for women, as research indicates, and we lost many volunteers in 2021, including those in leadership, operations, and this nearly marked the end of the initiative, even though, more than ever, women needed support and job opportunities.

​

Process:

  1. Resumption of prioritization matrices;

  2. Establishment of a small council, composed of older and more active participants, for rapid decision-making;

  3. Continuation of monitoring activities and quick polls in some of the groups to understand the life moments and needs of the women;

  4. Review of all internal activities, flows, operations, and frequencies;

  5. Identification of critical points for operational continuity and design of an action plan;

  6. Observation, analysis, and redesign of positioning and all activities.

Responsibilities between 2018 and 2023:

​

  1. Expansion of the women's community;

  2. Creation of a sustainable business model and constant review for rapid change if needed;

  3. Designing the user journey for the "Rede Despertar": from onboarding to offboarding;

  4. Active listening to stakeholders and intermittent market research;

  5. Management of routine flows, care, and welcoming of participants in the "Rede Despertar";

  6. Community manager within the "Rede Despertar" and across all social media, also responsible for the creation of collective learning facilitations;

  7. Administrator and curator of the content of all shared repositories;

  8. Creator and developer of the webapps "Talentos Femininos" and "Freelas Empatia";

  9. Columnist responsible for "HR chats" in "EmpatiaNews" Magazine;

  10. Organizer of mentoring programs and responsible for managing the matches;

  11. Mentor for women;

  12. Organizer and administrator of the volunteer program;

  13. Content creator for the "EmpatiaBlog";

  14. Organizer of "EmpatiaTalks" (sponsorship, promotion, and event support);

  15. Main contact for companies to promote job vacancies on our free channel;

  16. Coordinator of the volunteer UX team;

  17. Responsible for new business development and interfacing with organizations;

  18. Recruiter of network participants and project manager;

  19. Main point of contact for consultancy sales and service;

  20. Consultant in internal communication and employee journeys for organizations;

  21. Final decision-maker on how funds raised through crowdfunding and/or project sales are applied within the network (in activities, services, or products);

  22. Administrator of the internal complaints and recommendations channel about agencies/companies;

  23. Intermittent monitoring, collection, and analysis of data generated within the "Rede Despertar";

  24. Responsible for compliance with LGPD with individual approaches and for migrating platforms from WhatsApp to Telegram for 1/3 of participants to reduce operations;

  25. Responsible for partnerships with other social impact initiatives;

  26. Main point of contact with learning programs from organizations and schools (for partnerships and promotions);

  27. Developer of the "Design Thinking for Life" programs for mentoring women, applied within the initiative.

"The "Empatia Criativa" initiative changed my life. Being in contact with so many women in communication, at different stages of their careers, with various experiences and skills, opened my mind in countless ways.

​

Due to the pandemic, I ended up losing my job, but I managed to get a freelance gig 20 days later: a position that was advertised in the EC groups. So, besides helping me professionally, this initiative helps me personally every day by being a safe space to discuss the communication market and also matters of our universe, in addition to having met wonderful people".

 

Melina

(spontaneous testimony in one of the WhatsApp groups)

bottom of page