The Ginger's Recipe

A portion of values and sports, a bit of tech with a flavor of venture capital and a soft pinch of believer.

Published in

Building Value Together

5 min readNov 6, 2017

For starters, I am not the usual Brazilian millennial female. I was born a ginger in a Latin American country. I am the oldest of 5 siblings. I’ve never eaten at McDonald’s — I REALLY don’t know what a Big Mac tastes like.

This post is about

Why I do what I do
and
Why I am a true believer

A Latin American ginger with ADHD

In Brazil, less than 1% of the population has red hair. In kindergarten, thus, I was pretty much an orange among apples. Not belonging made me feel weird and built me into a rather introspective kid. In my loneliness, I created a world of friends, chased bugs, and daydreamed about my mom’s magical stories.

Elementary school can be a nightmare for a kid with dyslexia, ADHD and hyperactivity. Difficulties were everywhere, from reading passages to keeping up with my classmates. Moreover, my shiny red hair, combined with my shyness and aversion to fast food, would either scare others away or invite them into bullying — once, a boy simply hit me with a stone. Life went on like that until I finished high school.

How did I get over it?

I have been sticking to my values, seeking new challenges, and trying to make the world a little better.

Strong values: stick to them

World War II survivors, my German grandparents, proved the value of resilience and simplicity. They encouraged me to search for knowledge, an asset that “No one will ever take from you.” They were my true heroes — never complaining, always looking at the bright side of difficulty. I always asked them, “how can I be like you?”

Their answer was simple, “Love the one next to you, and you will realize that your problem is small.” Grandma’s best line, “How much is an action filled with love worth?”, is my credo. Whenever something went wrong, I would resort to my values.

As the oldest child, I have passed on those values to my four siblings through example and kindness. Supporting my mother with their education has shaped me into someone proactive, responsible, and mature.

Sports: challenge and power

Sailing, water skiing, surfing, volleyball, running, soccer, adventure race, tennis, you name the sport and our family has practiced it. Introducing me to the ocean, my father had me build the courage to deal with uncertainty. Recently, I invited him to cycle — my new challenge, my new passion. Sports have empowered me by making me stronger than I had ever thought I would.

Physically or mentally, I never imagined spending more than 7 hours on a bike — I had earned 3 hernias a few years ago. This year, participating in Granfondo Uruguay was a milestone. Keeping balance and strength for 100 miles is not easy. I lost my position in the peloton after the first hours, so I had to work harder to convince my brain to keep my legs working. Seeing my father at the finish line gave me the last drop of energy I needed to cross it… alone. Between tears and laughter, I just threw myself in his arms to find comfort and reward. That medal represents my capacity to face any challenge — I felt empowered. Resilience will take me far.

Believer: be simple and effective

So if facing challenges empowers you, having a cause defines you. In my case

Make the world a little better through the simplest and effective way

My mother’s habit of reading the news in every meal had me develop my interest in deepening my knowledge. News from CNN, the Economist, Financial Times, Popular Science made me aware and intrigued by the world’s problem.

I started teaching cooking, painting and math lessons to girls in communities nearby. Therefore, to help these girls efficiently, I needed to understand why they were in that situation. So to understand the problems of the world, I applied to the International Affairs undergrad program at FAAP — a mix of economy, politics, and law. I took the advantage to confront my ADHD and dyslexia and get involved in every possible academic project related to economic development. I will never forget all the days and nights I spent on reading reports and writing drafts to finish the 87th version of the paper about Cleantech finally — You always can get there with hard work!

College graduation was on the same day as I enjoyed my first entrepreneurial experience: Base Colaborativa. Every Thursday evening, we gathered friends to discover a way help the world with our skills and tools. From these long nights, we built a social innovation NGO with 250 affiliates. It empowers individuals and projects to increases their social impact.

Around the same period, I was invited to work in a cleantech Venture Capital (VC) fund . VC suits my cause as a way to empower people to seek innovative solutions with an efficient and powerful tool — TECH.

At VC, daily challenges comprise three actions:

Learn as much as you can and as fast as you can from everywhere and everything
Find the right passionate entrepreneur that has an innovative business that fixes the worlds most significant problems
Network, network, and network to help entrepreneurial ecosystem

Serving at IndicatorCapital an early stage VC firm, I enjoy the opportunity to help others — from pitching to introducing a developer. I interact with brilliant entrepreneurs and support them in solving complex issues.

And this is