Women Of The C-Suite: Claudia Rodriguez of Tekmovil On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive
An Interview With Ming Zhao
This one I was told and I live by every single moment of my life: Choose to do good. No matter the field, there is always an equal opportunity to take our knowledge and situations to apply them to the well-being of others or in contrast, to be selfish and make the wrong decisions.
As a part of our interview series called “Women Of The C-Suite” , we had the pleasure of interviewing Claudia Rodriguez.
Recognized as both a visionary and business transformation leader, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Claudia A Rodriguez plays a principal role in continuing to expand Tekmovil’s broad reach as they take mobile technology to new frontiers. Responsible for all of the company’s operations and services, Claudia is dedicated to representing Tekmovil and helping ensure its growth in the region. Among the brands the company represents, Xiaomi is Tekmovil´s largest distribution partner. Claudia is an industry catalyst of progress, having received numerous awards and accolades. In 2019, She was named South Florida Business Journal’s Most Influential Business Woman. Claudia is focused on propelling Tekmovil’s customers’ growth, and continuing to take mobile tech to its fullest potential in the most efficient and effective way possible.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Since I was a child, I have always been passionate about the world of technology and particularly, communications. I took a series of steps that led me to where I am now, from studying electrical engineering to working at Motorola/Motorola Solutions for nearly two decades in operations-related leadership roles that prepared me to run our operations now.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
With covid, the world was faced with an unprecedented crisis. Our company was still at an early stage and our team was new. Despite all the challenges, we were fortunate to see our team and company expand into new countries and open new businesses such as eCommerce, at a time when uncertainty was very high. I loved how the team rallied together and transformed all this uncertainty into so much opportunity for us.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Perhaps as a consequence of not being a native American English speaker… Having been born in Havana and raised in Madrid, my English vocabulary was different when I first came to the US at 18. I had two occasions (at least!) where I used words with one meaning that turned out to have a more popular and radically different meaning in the US! One of those times I cannot put it in writing! And the other was the word ‘polemic’ as in ‘controversial’… it was mistaken for ‘pole-mic’ as we used to sell antennas on poles and speaker mics and the head of the organization wanted to know if I was prioritizing a new type of product offering, called the ‘pole-mic.’ We all had a great laugh after.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are several.
First, my parents without whose sacrifice as we left Cuba for Spain and then Spain to the US, I would not be here. Their hard work, resilience, and dedication to their children have influenced how I live every day.
As an executive at Motorola and now in my own company, my husband’s and my mom’s unwavering support to pursue my career has been key. I was able to travel around the world as my little baby stayed home with them and see my career continue growing as she is growing. My younger daughter and older children teach me the reason for things every day.
There were several leaders who influenced and supported me at critical points in my career and without whom I couldn’t be where I am today. In particular, a leader who promoted me to VP at a time when I became the youngest VP by then in the company. It was a moment of intimidation as I felt ‘all eyes on me’ and the weight of the responsibility I carried to not let anyone down. He reminded me that it had not been my decision to promote myself and rather it was his decision and that he knew I was ready. He challenged me heavily in the beginning as I started running the business and that set of challenges shaped my growth in future years.
A chemistry teacher when I was a junior in high school taught me a lesson for life that carries into my professional approach always. I had the equivalent of all A’s in her class and decided one day to show up to an exam without having studied (because I simply opted to have fun the weekend before). I thought I could beg for forgiveness given how good my grades were and that she would understand and let me take the exam another day. To this day, I will remember her words ‘you showed up here today, and you showed up unprepared. Now you take the exam.’ I will never forget that. The lesson is simple ‘You show up, but you show up prepared.’
As you know, the United States is facing a very important self-reckoning about race, diversity, equality, and inclusion. This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have a diverse executive team?
Diversity of thought enables us to be stronger as a result. Having a diverse leadership team that is equally empowered and held accountable allows for different opinions and considerations to be taken into account. With healthy debates and resolute commitment to the team’s joint wellbeing and not individual agendas, the organization is not only stronger in the present but can build the foundation to defy odds in the future. At Tekmovil, we fully embrace equal opportunities regardless of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, cultural background, and perspectives. I am very proud of the fact that we are fast approaching the 50/50 in terms of men/women ratio as part of the team, and it is not achieved by forcefully selecting women when we can select men but rather by ensuring we have a balanced slate of candidates and role models internally that drive the right behaviors. It is with deep gratitude that we see this reflected in the recognition of Best Workplaces for Women in Mexico.
As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.
It starts by generating awareness. Understanding where we are baselined and how dynamic a team can become by having different schools of thinking.
I would have never wanted to get a job because someone was trying to fill a ‘woman quota’ and that is something that I believe can turn people away.
AM: Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a CEO or executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?
The executive sets the course, direction and energizes the leaders through the organization to determine how to execute in this direction. The executive needs to have the foresight to look farther out, anticipate and make decisions that will position the company for success in the present and future.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive? Can you explain what you mean?
Probably one of the most important myths is that CxO’s are not approachable, grounded or connected to the team. We find that it is essential to know the operation inside and out and to let team members reach out with issues and ideas as necessary.
We are as human as they are with our own set of challenges and connecting with the team at a personal level is in my opinion an asset.
AM: In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Stereotypes — traditional roles at work, at home. I believe stereotypes are only there to be broken…
Expectations by others and ourselves, that we believe we should live up to. Women tend to be more demanding on ourselves.
Limitations in certain environments that prevent women from being able to continue pursuing their career after having babies. This is something thankfully that more and more companies are becoming aware of and are establishing the right support mechanisms to ensure women are supported as they return after maternity. Similarly, men need support as they take on parenthood, but it is no doubt a more involved process for a woman.
The week I returned from maternity leave I had a senior leader that reported to me ask me if as a result of having a baby I would be the same ‘go-getter’ or if I had now become a more ‘laid back’ leader and that his team wanted the go-getter leader. I guess he underestimated how hard I needed the income and to now provide for this little baby… it was not a pleasant conversation and one that I believe he learned from.
Similarly, the expectation that a woman needs to become a mother. While I personally treasure motherhood, I recognize this is not something every woman decides to pursue or may be able to. In the end, I believe every person follows their own path and all paths need to be supported. Same for men.
What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?
We are fortunate to have grown this business very rapidly. This has brought on an accelerated pace of changes and decisions but most importantly a larger team than I thought we would have by this point in time and we are incredibly grateful to them and to our clients and customers for their trust in us.
We are also pursuing several really exciting new ventures, such as opening stores in Latam and Miami and establishing new services that are technology-enabled and can make a significant difference in the affordability and protection of smartphones in Latam among other types of services.
Is everyone cut out to be an executive? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful executive, and what type of person should avoid aspiring to be an executive? Can you explain what you mean?
I wouldn’t tell someone to pursue something they are not really passionate aboutt, so I will focus on the first part of the question.
In CxO roles, everything is on you, good or bad. You have the opportunity and the responsibility to set the horizon and light the way for the team to see it and head in that direction. There is intense pressure that some people are more prepared to handle and certainly the rewards and personal fulfillment are equally high. There is enormous satisfaction from seeing the team reach milestones that appeared unattainable and I always consider the team in the decisions I make.
Being relentless, selfless, self-driven, self-energizing and at the same time energizing to others, and able to make radical decisions and discern amongst the mountain of information what really matters and by extension what you need to act on and equally what you need to not act on, are key traits. In the end, every decision matters, some to a greater or lesser degree, therefore prioritizing even how to make the decisions is a key need.
Making sure the team is not doing work for the sake of doing work, but in order to achieve meaningful outcomes.
Seeing the ‘sunrise’ and allowing the team to see it when all else appears dark especially at times of uncertainty is, I believe, a key skill as well. Every day is different and having the mindset that you can weather whatever storm comes your way is imperative. The old saying that if you put your mind to it you can make it happen is absolutely true and something I always live by.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- To always remain true to myself (not change)and to not demand so much of myself. — this was actually something an executive told me early on. Nothing is or will ever be perfect and we need to find comfort in that imperfection and inner peace.
- That the sunrise is always a few hours away… To deeply believe in that no matter what happens all will be good and for good reason, AND equally to work toward making sure you overcome the challenges… not to expect someone else to bring the ‘sunrise’ to you.
- That living a healthy balanced lifestyle is critical not only for personal wellbeing but also for professional wellbeing. Exercising, eating a healthy balanced diet, sleep, traveling, and having fun are all key ingredients in having a wholesome life.
- That my daughter would appreciate my example and sacrifice — as tough as it was being away at times from her earlier on, that she would grow to become a strong woman with gratitude and love. This was shared by the mom of one of my daughter’s friends, whose mom used to travel for work as I did when she was a young child and turned out to be an incredible person, professional and mother herself.
- This one I was told and I live by every single moment of my life: Choose to do good. No matter the field, there is always an equal opportunity to take our knowledge and situations to apply them to the well-being of others or in contrast, to be selfish and make the wrong decisions. As the Order of the Engineer says:
“I pledge to practice integrity and fair dealing, tolerance and respect, and to uphold devotion to the standards and dignity of my profession. I will always be conscious that my skill carries with it the obligation to serve humanity by making the best use of the Earth’s precious wealth.”
I work in the beauty tech industry, so I am very interested to hear your philosophy or perspective about beauty. In your role as a powerful woman and leader, how much of an emphasis do you place on your appearance? Do you see beauty as something that is superficial, or is it something that has inherent value for a leader in a public context? Can you explain what you mean?
Really great question. I have a personal appreciation toward fashion so thank you for asking.
This is something that I have spoken about at forums for women in business before and something that I believe is important to consider. I do believe the context and setting matter. In a professional setting, I am of the opinion that the attention needs to be drawn toward the subject matter and not an outfit for example. I believe for women — and men- it is very important to look clean, well groomed, and ‘put together’ but not let an outfit, a hairstyle or too much makeup distract from the topic at hand which is business. There is a ‘right’ balance between showing our ‘identity’ and showing our ‘soul.’ I believe in less is more when it comes to business and a sober, elegant look carries better. A sharp professional look and a smile on the face go a long way for both women and men. The reality is that women are more judged and we need to be careful not to be taken less seriously, BUT I would never suggest a woman needs to look different than herself (long hair, short hair, whatever it is), in order to fit in. Thankfully, in many parts of the world as a society it is accepted that we are who and how we are and that is a wonderful thing.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
My focus is on children’s education. I firmly believe that is where everything starts or takes a different course. In many parts of the world, girls have more limitations in terms of being able to pursue basic, let alone advanced education and often they take on home or work duties even before reaching their first decade of life. A decision is made for them that their life will take on a different course when they are too young to be able to discern differently by themselves or have the support to know there could be many paths they could pursue. Most times it is economic hardships that prevent them from studying and see them working instead. Focusing on providing economic support through organizations like Brighter Children and others and making ourselves available as mentors to them are ways we can focus on the root of the issue and what can become the biggest catalyst for change in our society: education.
A great friend of mine told me a few years ago: ‘You are the type of woman I want my daughter to look up to as she grows’. To this date, this is the most profound compliment I have ever received and I share this because it goes full circle with how every one of us can in fact influence younger girls and boys to strive to do the things they dream they want to do, and to support them in whatever direction they choose to pursue.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them
Michelle Obama… this is not a political statement, but rather an appreciation for everything she represents as a person and how she has shaped her life from very humble beginnings and how she focuses on being a beacon of example for her daughters and women around the world.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
