By Cata Greloni Pierri
It’s Women’s History Month and in Le Banana we will be interviewing women who empower us all with their stories, breaking paradigms and crystal ceilings. Meet Evangelina Suarez, the first Argentine woman who has achieved the general manager position at Coca Cola Peru.
Evangelina was born in a middle class family in Vicente López, Buenos Aires, and her Waldorf education made her be in contact with music and art since she was a child. “I have played the violin since I was a child and it was because of that that I took my first plane when I was 16. I went on an intercultural exchange to Germany and it was a great experience”, she says about the challenge it was living abroad alone when there wasn’t Skype or WhatsApp.
She studied Business Management and CPA and she managed to get funding to do an MBA at Keelogg School of Management, in Chicago. “During my professional career, I worked with entrepreneurs and I also occupied different roles at different consulting and private companies”, she says.
How did you get your job at Coca-Cola?
I joined the company in December 2011. After many years working with startups and entrepreneurs and after some unsuccessful business ventures of my own, I decided to come back to corporate companies. Coca–Cola had just created a new strategic role for the region, they contacted me for my expertise and that was how life brought me to this company.
What does your daily job consist of and what is what you enjoy the most about it?
I am in charge of designing business growth boosting strategies and coordinating teams to put them into practice. I am interacting with people all the time: visiting clients, stores, warehouses, and working with bottling teams. Mi position has to do with understanding issues and how they are related with business but also with people involved and also making decisions on those basis. Sometimes there is a lot of trial and error and I am always learning, adjusting things and planning again. My challenge is to keep being open minded all the time and understanding the context. Coca-Cola is always trying to do businesses and at the same time being committed to our social environment. And for me it is important to know that I don’t work just to achieve good results but also to maintain people’s water resources, recycling plants, and to boost women empowerment.
In which situations do you have to deal with machismo and what do you do from your position to create a more equal world?
There is a great imbalance in the world. Numbers are blunt regarding women wealth, non paid family work, inequality regarding salaries (in Argentina it is estimated that women earn 27% less than men for the same job and only in 2026 it is expected that salaries will be equal globally). It is important to be aware of those places where machismo tends to be present and make it visible. We have to show it so that those behaviors are not repeated, we have to be listened to, we have to encourage women to empower themselves, we have to support them. I think we must keep calm but react, building the feminist path with our own example.
Is there a feminine leadership different to male’s leadership?
I believe there are as many kinds of leaderships as people in the world. Leadership cannot be differentiated by gender. What is important for me when we talk about leadership is being close to people, being human, acknowledging that, even though we are leaders, we don’t have all the answers. It has to do with giving ourselves to others, solving problems, and giving support. Making the right questions that lead people to give the best of themselves.
Which women have inspired you in your job and in your life?
I am inspired both by women and by men. I like ordinary but enthusiastic people who are always active and positive no matter what might happen. They help me to move forward.
What does it mean for you to be a woman and what do you enjoy the most about it?
What I enjoy the most is our multitasking: we are mothers, wives, business managers, and social leaders. I enjoy the opportunity we have to show (and show ourselves) through all Jose roles that we can always dream of a better world with more inclusion.