Not only is Monique Mattos the proud mother of three kids while also being a managing partner and coworker of mine at Visagio, she is also living proof that the two of these things can be perfectly balanced in a single person.

Her main passion is the development of people, and she points to the success of others as the main source of happiness in her life, a drive that comes in handy as Monique advocates for greater inclusion and diversity in her sector.

She is also a fellow Brazilian, which gave us plenty of common ground to discuss all of the topics above in the Changing The Game podcast, where we managed to dig up a series of magnificent insights for people looking to make a real difference in the world.

Jobs For Women, Jobs for Men

When discussing the influences that led Monique to become an engineer, she mentioned how one of the main factors towards her decision was her own father, who worked as a logistics manager in a multinational company even though he was not graduated.

Monique greatly admired her father for this and would often stop and listen whenever he talked about his work at home, and when the time to choose her career, there was no sense of “manly” or “girly” professions in her mind.

From this, we can get an important lesson, which is this: Heroes remove barriers that separate the possible and impossible. It’s also not hard to see that when Monique set out to become an example for other women, there was a part of her father in this as well.

That barrier women face in the field of engineering would only start to become clear when she got into college, where the ratio between women and men in the Industrial engineering course was unbalanced to the point where there were eight men for every woman.

The Only Woman In the Room

Monique describes her trajectory to her prominent position within Visagio as one filled with its bumps and obstacles, the major of which, according to herself, was the bump of being a woman in a male dominated industry like STEM.

“ Throughout my career, I can think of many examples where I was the only woman in the room, sometimes in a room with thirty people.” She recalled, but it was to such moments that Monique attributed her drive to change the game for women in STEM.

She sought to bring the perspective of being the only woman in the room into meetings, projects, deliverables, wherever it could be brought into the forefront for everyone’s attention. A difficult process, but one that proved to be rewarding in the end.

This trait Monique shares with many of the extraordinary women who I’ve interviewed: That she was able to use her adversities to establish herself as an example, blazing the trail for future generations of women in her field.

The Consultant

As is very common in Brazil, Monique partook in many different internships while in college, going through companies such as Michelin (which she didn’t like all that much, and Shell, which provided more of a corporate work environment.

Monique liked working at Shell well enough, but she started wanting to do more, which is when she caught wind of this Company called Visagio which was founded by five engineers and had strong ties to her university.

She applied and got a position there.

While working at Visagio, Monique started getting into consulting and how she could apply everything she had learned at her course while still living the dynamic work life with several clients and projects which she so desired.

Minority

If Monique was a minority at her university course, this was not about to change at work either, and in every company she worked for, be it as an intern or consultant, she would only see men in decision-making positions when looking up.

Monique’s drive to change this scenario came less of a desire to see herself o any other woman in a position of power within the company, and more out of the desire to open the gates for all the women that were going to graduate after her and look for jobs in their field.

Coming to Australia

During her journey in Visagio, Monique decided to come to Australia, pursuing an international experience that could further complement her career. And a project had just come up.

Her husband (or boyfriend at the time) already had some experience that would make the transition easier, and at the first opportunity, the two of them took the plunge together and moved down under.

From a financial standpoint this was a smooth transition, as she was an accomplished professional with a job waiting for her in Australia, but the social and emotional aspect of this change was much worse. After all, she did not know anyone.

Her husband, on the other hand, had it harder on both ends as he had to start from scratch on his new home, but Monique makes a point to highlight how the both of them were only able to work it out because they were partners through the whole process.

Monique used this for an example as to how changing the game is not about setting up a competition between the genders, but rather a cooperation where all parties work together towards a common goal that is better for everyone.

Conclusion

There are many takeaways from my conversation with Monique Mattos which someone with a hunger for change and a fire in the eye for justice and inclusion will be able to pick up from her story.

I’ve learned from Monique that opening a path, when there isn’t one already there, is not only good for the advancement of our own goals, but for the uplifting of anyone that shares in our struggle.

But, maybe more importantly, I’ve learned about the importance of having a role model. Monique had her father, I had my own mother, what about you? Who is the one person you look up to most?

That will be your thought exercise for today.