Between the Lines of Leadership · A Headhunter's Picks (54)
We're back from the summer break. I always like the first edition after the pause to feel special, but this time I wanted to push it even further. Because talking about professional growth, leadership and career isn't something abstract: it's deeply tied to the people closest to us, to how we live and to the decisions we make at every stage of life.
Today I want to tell a close-to-home story that, for me, is an example of all of that.
A career that reinvents itself
Mónica started her career in communications agencies and later moved on to top firms like Page Group. Her career was on the rise, until 2016, when the arrival of our first daughter shifted the priorities.
Far from walking away from the professional side, she chose to reinvent herself: she went freelance, at a time when we were living in Valencia. With a lot of effort and discipline she built up her clients and put together a project that let her balance it all.
Little by little, that bet took her to a new level. In the middle of the pandemic, Mastercard -one of her most important clients- became her main focus. What started as an outside collaboration turned into an opportunity that this September crystallized into an internal promotion within the company, a high-impact global role (Total ADMIRATION, while our big family is doing better than ever thanks to her).
(early summer, no beard)
What inspires me about her path
Nine years have passed since then. In that time, Mónica hasn't just built a solid, upward career, she's also held together a big family with three kids (9, 7 and 3), with everything that takes in terms of energy, organization and resilience.
What I admire most is how she's managed to keep both sides, personal and professional, from ever taking a back seat. She knew how to prioritize when it mattered, without giving up what also gave her identity and a sense of direction: her work. And she's done it with a mix of order, determination and passion that I think is worth sharing as an example.
Her story shows something key: 👉 Kids aren't a brake on a professional career. 👉 What makes the difference is clarity of priorities, focus and the discipline to hold them. 👉 Even when the moments get tough -and they do-, effort and consistency open doors to new opportunities.
Work-life: a life without cuts
We often talk about the "balance" between personal and professional life as if they were separate compartments. The truth is there's no real separation: we're the same person for 24 hours a day, and the richness is precisely in that mix.
Mónica is an example of how family can become an engine, energy and an anchor, not a stopper. Work-life balance isn't a challenge that sits outside leadership: it's an essential part of what it means to lead your own life.
Leadership lessons I take away
From this personal story I pull out lessons that I think are useful for anyone thinking about their career or their way of leading:
- Reinventing yourself is part of the journey. Not every career is linear. Sometimes you have to pause, pivot or explore different models to reach a new level.
- Clarity of priorities is power. Knowing what matters most at each stage lets you make better decisions and not get dragged along by outside inertia.
- Focus multiplies results. When you choose well where you put your energy, the results come, even if not always at the pace you'd want.
- Balancing isn't dividing, it's integrating. It's not about splitting personal and professional life, it's about learning to weave them together with coherence.
- Leadership starts at home. The way we handle our family responsibilities says as much about us as the way we run a team or a project.
A tribute and an inspiration
I wanted to open this "back to school" edition of the newsletter with a tribute to Mónica. I know her new chapter at Mastercard Insights & Intelligence will be brilliant, because it's built on years of effort, reinvention and determination.
And I also wanted to share it here because I think it's a reminder for all of us: There's no single path to professional success. What exists are people with focus, consistency and clear priorities, who manage to integrate their personal and working lives without giving up either.
I feel proud to be by her side in this new chapter. And above all, I feel inspired, because in her story I see something I think is essential: 👉 Leading isn't just moving forward in your career, it's being able to build a life that's coherent, full and meaningful.
PS: For those of you in the retail world, you won't take long to discover the value Mónica brings, if you haven't already.
PS2: A promise is a promise :) you adapt to the point of dressing up as a flamenco dancer in Turkey... (more than 11 years ago now) for a company event PageGroup
