On International Women’s Day, celebrated yesterday (8 March), we looked inward.
Instead of talking “about” women, we listened.
We asked a simple question to the women at Biz2People. Their answers revealed what we value most in our company: clarity, courage, practical sense, and humanity.
Some advice helps us get organised, gives us strength, or reminds us that no one should make themselves smaller to fit in. Here are the voices of Catlen Melo, Janaína Oliveira, Joana Profano, Joelane Pinheiro, Meire Pimentel, Pamella Berzoini, Raíssa Alves, Tatiane do Santos and Yasmin Gonçalves.
What advice changed the way you work (and that you would like to pass on to other women)?
Joana Profano Macias
“One thing at a time.”
Joelane Pinheiro
“I always worked in person, and remote work changed the rhythm of my personal and professional life. I learned a new way of working—with greater calm and autonomy.”
Janaína Oliveira
“Organisation is strategy, not rigidity.
When I realised that planning my routine, my processes, and my boundaries didn’t make me controlling, my work levelled up. I started communicating expectations more clearly, negotiating with more confidence, and stopped accepting overload as ‘normal’.
To other women, I’d say: structure doesn’t take away your sensitivity. It protects your energy, strengthens your authority, and helps you grow without burning out.”
Pamella Berzoini
“Always speak up. Whether you’re in a mostly male environment or not, we have the same skills, we are excellent professionals, and, yes, we have to make ourselves visible and not let ourselves be intimidated. Your knowledge is yours, and no one can take it away or silence it. Always trust your abilities.”
Catlen Melo
“A former HR manager — someone I admire a lot and who helped me build my career — once told me: ‘You need to allow yourself more.’ That advice truly changed my professional path. I started challenging myself more, taking up different spaces, and trusting my abilities — being myself, while letting the world see who I am instead of staying only backstage.”
Meire Pimentel
“If I’m honest, I know who I am, and I believe in what I’m doing, I don’t stop because of any problem that appears around me; I keep going, and life always gives me the support I need to continue.”
Tatiane Ribeiro dos Santos
“On Women’s Day, my advice is: don’t ask for permission to be the expert you already are. Professionally, your repertoire is your greatest asset — make it heard, because it matters.”
Raíssa Alves
“A powerful piece of advice from my father! With experience in the world of mining/metallurgy — an environment historically dominated by men and often challenging for women — and, in my case, as a Black woman, it was tough terrain to navigate. Later, facing a toxic climate in the consulting industry, the advice ‘chest out and head held high’ was certainly a guiding light for preserving my dignity and self-confidence amid so many difficulties.
This lesson isn’t limited to physical posture; it also speaks to resilience and self-esteem. For many women, remembering that you deserve to be there, that your voice has value, and that you don’t need to shrink to meet other people’s expectations can be transformative. It’s a reminder not to internalise unfair criticism or disrespect, but to confront them instead.”
Yasmin Gonçalves
“When I entered the job market, my mother advised me never to question or criticise my superiors because, for a man, that can be seen as being firm, brave and challenging; for a woman, it usually translates into ‘hysterical’, ‘annoying’, ‘arrogant’, ‘problematic’, etc.
That advice wasn’t meant to make me professionally submissive, but rather, as the American saying goes, to ‘choose my battles’ and pay attention to how I position myself in those environments.
Women face a lot of scrutiny and social prejudice in professional settings. That’s why I think twice before speaking, I consider how to speak, how to behave, and how to act. Unfortunately, there’s a great deal of attention we need to pay—not only to our professional duties, but also to our social behaviour in the office—because it’s very easy for us to be placed into a negative box in our colleagues’ eyes for behaviours that a man can exercise freely.”
Some advice is a tool, a hug, or a warning. Not always because we agree, but because it exposes a reality.
Some advice is a hug.
And some advice is a warning—not because we agree with it, but because it exposes a reality.
What these voices make clear is that competence is not lacking. What we need are environments where women don’t have to spend energy “defending themselves” just to work, grow and lead.
At Biz2People, we remain committed to building a space where belonging isn’t a prize—it’s the starting point.
What advice has shaped the way you work? Share yours.
