A Little Girl & Brands
Born and raised in Medellín, Colombia, I would constantly stay awake every night - Just as I write myself away - wondering how to change the world. This question haunted me, followed me, and guided my decisions during my school years and even today.
To change the world, I started participating in UN models, but my mind was always stuck on the messages I was delivering: What metaphors could I use to help us understand our reality and connect with our world?
To change the world, I decided to start taking photos and study photography almost every day after school for three years. I was the youngest at the academy, but that didn't stop me from seeking the answer to that old friend of mine - the question of how to change the world. For some time, my mind was set that I would be a War Photographer and show the reality we were encountering and creating - even my school's thesis was about Photography and the power it has to portray the existence of different contexts.
To change the world, I moved to Bogotá and began to study International Relations. I was convinced I could finally change the world with that knowledge and skill. However, little did I know that I was forgetting the most crucial part: myself. While studying this career, I was intrigued and curious about what I was learning but realized I was not complete. This led me to a huge question mark: Change the world or find myself?
But didn't I need to be myself to change the world?
To change the world, I set a quest to find myself. I explored the fields of Makeup, stay-at-home daughter, stay-at-home girlfriend, and many others until a word that lighted my eyes popped up in a career path: Design.
To change the world, I discovered myself through my career in Design, where passion, determination, and commitment would lead me to have four beautiful years that would result in me graduating with honors and with many learnings. As a professional in Design, I would follow my inspirations in the Design and Branding world, one of them being Interbrand. After many months and articles that enriched my perspective, one finally clicked: Brands as an Act of Leadership. This article would state a crucial idea in this puzzle of wandering: Brands can change the world.
After many years, I have found my tool to change the world: Brands. I believe Brands have the power to connect with us in a way that is more meaningful and true to anything out there: through meaning and significance. Today, more than ever, we can change the world with brands and through brands.
Today, I can tell that little girl in her bedroom, awake at 3 a.m., that she can change the world by being true to herself in every way.
Today, at 2 a.m., I can tell myself that there is hope because there are brands, and I'm a designer.
To learn more about Brands as an Act of Leadership, you can visit Interbrand’s website on Brand Leadership.
