By: Paula Haza

Managing Partner

HAZA GLOBAL PARTNERS

I experienced the first big change in my life when I was 7 years old and lost my father to a disease called Syndrome of Guillain-Barre which quickly progressed and in 2 weeks’ time took his life. Even though I was very young, to this day I still have few flashes of memories from that time. One day early this year it downed on me that I was the same age as my daughter is today when I lost the most important person in my life. As I reflected on that life changing event 38 years later, it was the first time that I felt compassion for my 7-year-old self, triggered by watching my daughter interact with her father…. the loving and close relationship they have and how big his presence is in her life and how much she needs and adores him. I realized right there that the love and security that a father figure represents to a 7-year-old girl was taken away from me at such an early age and forced me to build resilience and courage as a young girl – which now I realized how it has influenced my actions and behaviors throughout my entire life.

I was born and grew up in southern Brazil with my mom and 2 brothers, my mom was only 36 years old when my father died at 40 years old, so her life focus was to raise her 3 kids in a financial unstable situation although very supported by extended family. My mom is my biggest reference of strength, resilience, and courage and her biggest gift to her children was always making my father’s presence felt by reminding us what he wanted the most for his children…. focus on getting proper education. I remember in my early teens going thru a big change and adjustment as we needed to move for few years from my “big city” hometown to a very small town in the countryside of Brazil. Despite the change, I was always very focused on my dreams and the things I imaged wanting for myself. I always carried inside of me an energy that kept my dreams alive …. I would spend hours looking at fashion magazines and I was always very inspired by women in magazines, beautiful, independent, travelling the world…. And wanted to be just like these women!! … Fast forward to college years back in my hometown I was going to my last year in college when I met my American husband Chris while he was there in his first international job assignment after college. Noting that I had jobs throughout my 5 years in college and saved my entire salary to one day travel to the USA to further my education. When I met Chris I was going to my last year in college and was getting my savings ready to invest into a business graduate program. A big life change experience for me moving from my hometown of Curitiba to the USA 22 years ago!

After business school (I ended up getting an MBA from UNCG in North Carolina) I moved to Washington DC metro/northern Virginia area where I worked in commercial banking for 3 years. Noting that in my last few years in college, I interned in a commercial bank therefore at the time it made sense to continue pursuing a career in banking in the USA. During my time in Washington DC I was still spending most of my free time reading fashion magazines and watching fashion shows on TV (just like I used to do during my teenage years!). So, when the opportunity came for my husband to move to NYC to pursue a new career opportunity, he encouraged me to change industries and look for an opportunity in the fashion industry. That was my first big career change from commercial banking in suburban northern Virginia to the fashion industry in NYC!

I was very excited to pursue a career in an industry that was my passion…. However, I quickly realized that I would need to take a step back and start from the beginning by taking more of an entry level position since I was new to the industry. I was so excited when I was offered a position as an International Licensing coordinator at a hot young fashion brand at the time. That was a dream opportunity working in an office right on Fashion Avenue in NYC! Unfortunately (or fortunately as everything happens for a reason), that dream job lasted only 3 months as the company was acquired by another company and my position eliminated. That was a big disappointment losing the job so quickly. However, at the time we do not realize that things happen for a reason…. and we just need to focus on doing what feels right at the moment and let the universe guide us. After a few months, I got a second job in the industry, which was not exactly what I wanted but still valid to build experience in the industry. Most time as we go through life and change, we don’t realize that certain decisions we make will lead us to get what we want in the future. I was in the job for 6 months when I got my next big opportunity working in international expansion for a bigger and more recognized American brand. I ended up building my career at that company, where I stayed for 10 years, working in International Licensing for the Nautica brand which at the time was owned by VF Corporation. I could not have asked for a better opportunity to build my career in the industry doing what I loved the most which is building relationship with businesses and people around the world. That was an amazing experience where I learned so much about the business, travelled the world and made professional and personal connections and friendships that I cherish to this day.

After 10 years with Nautica, I felt the need to change in order to continue advancing on my career. I left Nautica which was a difficult decision to make as I loved the people I worked with for the last 10 years and felt so comfortable with my job. However, I felt that I needed to experience something different within my area of expertise and changing companies was a necessary step for me. I went to work for Gap Inc, overseeing the company’s franchise business in Latin America. It was a new and exciting opportunity, working for one of the biggest apparel retailers in the world and with brands that are known by so many people around the world. Change is good and necessary for career progression, and I was very enthusiast and happy with my new career opportunity, however, after 10 years used to a certain way of working, it took some adjustment to Gap’s larger teams and new ways of working.

As I was approaching my 5 years with Gap Inc. I started to become very un-settled…. It was time to change; the job was not fulfilling me anymore… but what would I do next? Go to work for another American brand? Wouldn’t that be more of the same? After much thinking I came to the realization that I would love to leverage my experience and network built in the last 15 years working for the most well-regarded American brands to help Brazilian brands grow distribution internatio- nally. That would bring me more of a sense of purpose. With that in mind I started doing some due diligence in identifying and connecting with Sr. Management of the companies that I was targeting and learned that most likely the easiest way for me to be hired by these companies would be if I offered my service as a consultant. That meant leaving behind the security of a full-time job and the identify that I built in the last multiple years working in corporate, a very difficult decision to make and the biggest changes in my career so far. In the last few months with Gap Inc., a change in management accelerated my decision and was the push I needed to make the decision, coupled with a great session with a life coach which helped me to go back to my 7-year-old self, and see how brave she was then and how brave she is now.

I’m in such a special moment of my life and career… as now I understand the importance of listening to myself and following my intuition, and that has given me strength and allowed me to take ownership of my next career chapter. I’m very happy with my transition into consulting and already helping my targeted clients to build and execute on their global expansion strategies.

Paula Haza BIO:

Paula Haza, based in NYC, has recently launched her own global consultancy “Haza Global Partners” with the main goal of helping Brazilian/ Latin brands to expand and grow their presence globally. Prior to pivoting into consulting Paula spent more than 15 years helping global apparel/ retail brands expand their international presence. Paula worked at VF Corporation for 10 years, as Director of International Licensing for the Nautica brand, where she established a vast network of retail operators across multiple geographies. For the last 5 years, Paula was the Director of Americas for Gap Inc.’s Global Franchise, Strategic Alliances, and Licensing division, where she led the expansion of Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta brands throughout the Americas. Paula is originally from Brazil, moved to the US 22 years ago and has been in NYC for the last 17 years where she lives with her husband and 7-year-old daughter. Paula is also a volunteer at Trekking for Kids, a nonprofit organization offering purpose driven treks to iconic destinations around the world benefiting orphaned children living in those areas.