From Migration to Leadership: How life shaped an inclusive Creative Agency

This session explores the intersection between personal experience and inclusive business leadership.
Maribel’s story begins with a move across continents: from Chile to the US and then New Zealand, and later to Ireland, where she built her creative agency, CREATIVA, from the ground up. Facing the challenges of being a woman of colour, a mother, and an entrepreneur in a competitive industry, and struggling with language barriers, she redefined what success and leadership could look like.

Through real examples from her 11-year journey leading CREATIVA, Maribel will highlight:

- How diverse life experiences can shape a more inclusive and empathetic leadership style
- The benefits and realities of building remote, flexible teams led by women of colour and working mums
- The cultural challenges that small creative businesses face today, and how inclusion and collaboration can be key to resilience

Simple, actionable ideas for leaders who want to make inclusion part of their everyday practice. The session combines storytelling with reflection and takeaways, inviting open discussion at the end for others to share experiences, perspectives, and ideas around DEI in their own contexts.