First
of all, who is Kate Machado?
I
was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, but I have always been fascinated by different
realities. It was with this in mind that I focused my studies on Languages and
Cultures, which allowed me to learn new languages and acquire a greater
worldview. In order to follow my academic path, I came to Portugal to study,
with a scholarship at the University of Algarve. I took a Master’s in
Computational Linguistics, a multidisciplinary degree that covered several
areas that crossed my professional life – from Machine Learning to Sentiment
Analysis.
I
am a curious person by nature and I try, therefore, to constantly outdo myself.
As such I strive to learn something new every day. That’s why I believe in
constant training: I also have a master’s in Intellectual Property and I am
currently doing an Executive Course, taught internationally by PWC.
At
the same time, I never relinquish certain values that, for me, are the key to
success for any entrepreneur: hard work. Nothing happens without effort or
choices. However, for a female entrepreneur like me, everything becomes more
complex: I am a mother and, in addition, my family is very important to me. Any
human being - be it an employee or an entrepreneur - is only happy, prolific
and productive when there is a certain harmony in every area in which the
person operates, hence the importance of this work-life balance. In this vein,
I also pursue a series of hobbies that fulfil me and allow me to foster other
business areas, such as regular physical exercise, making my first
(fascinating) steps playing golf, design and shoe design.
Do
you consider that the fact of being a woman in the entrepreneurial world, with
a predominance of male figures, is something that sets you apart?
From
my point of view, I advocate that men and women are equal and should be viewed
in the same way, in any area of life. However, as a female entrepreneur, I
believe barriers need to be broken down and change needs to be instigated in
the industry. In other words, it is not something that sets me apart, but
rather a responsibility that I take upon myself and put on everything I do,
following the example of so many other great women I respect, such as Melinda
Gates and Sheryl Sandberg. I believe in the importance of inspiring other
female leaders because there is a lot of effort, organisation, hard work,
resilience and multi-tasking behind a successful female entrepreneur. As with
everything, I value those around me; in fact, everything I have achieved has
always been with the support of a fantastic team. Steve Jobs was truly a
visionary when he said that «Great things in
business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people».
And
how did you get to Sleep.8?
When
I moved to Portugal, parallel to my academic career, I worked with various companies
in the hospitality industry in the Algarve area, gaining various management,
communication and sales skills. I worked, for example, with MGM Hotels &
Resorts and the Vale do Lobo Group, while also investing in other projects and
continuous training.In
the meantime, I was presented with the opportunity to head Sleep.8 on a global
level, focusing on operations from Portugal, something I embraced and which was
developed in record time.
«Investing in innovative items for the improvement of sleep quality»
