Carmen Gerea, founder of FREED

I started working in marketing and market research in 2003, while I was studying in Canada. Since 2006 I had the opportunity to work in e-commerce and user experience (UX) projects.

I got there because I was always interested in the web world and one day I was given the opportunity to lead the redesign of a corporate website. Then I felt that I had to dedicate myself to the real web to learn by doing, therefore, I quit and went to work as an e-commerce manager in a hotel group, also in Canada. There I was in charge of 7 websites, including a corporate portal, 5 reservation sites and an e-commerce store.

My mission (which I more than fulfilled) was to increase e-commerce sales, so in the first weeks I dedicated myself to understanding why we were not selling more. Analyzing the metrics and doing an inspection of the interface, I understood that the e-commerce navigation was unclear and there was a significant abandonment of the shopping cart. This happened because two brands coexisted on the site and when changing from one brand to another, the perception was created that you were also changing sites.

The complex thing there was to convince senior management that we had to modify the navigation and, incidentally, fix other interface problems. To do so, I first asked them to let me test and I went to two cities in Canada to do face-to-face tests with clients. I did my first test with users in 2008 and, some 12 years later, I can say that browsing is still one of the biggest sources of problems in e-commerce.

Between entrepreneurship and the corporate world

In 2009 I founded my first company, BW2 (Be wise, be web), together with Marie Pier, my designer partner from Canada. And at the same time I decided to change my horizon to go to Chile.

Initially, I continued doing consultancies until I understood that I needed to connect with the Chilean labor market (and Marie Pier wanted to dedicate herself to more artistic and personal projects). In 2011 I returned to the corporate world, this time at Movistar, a telecommunications multinational as an e-commerce Analyst at the beginning and an Information Architect later.

Later, I worked in the financial world, where I was in charge of remote channels, leading teams of up to 40 people in experience improvement processes, design and redesign of digital service platforms and continuous optimization.

I am what is called a “specialized generalist” in the sense that I can deal in detail with topics such as e-commerce, digital project development, digital marketing, omnichannel and service design, both from the execution and leadership of the team and the evangelization of top management on digital issues. In my last roles in medium / large companies, as web channel manager or virtual channel assistant manager, I have spoken both the language of business (team, goals, KPIs, results), as well as the technical language (UX, HCI, SEO, SEM, A / B Testing, GA, WA, WP, WS, etc.).

To Romania, my native country, I owe perseverance and entrepreneurial spirit; to France the fascination for languages, travel and culture; to Canada the professional rigor and a large part of my university education; and Chile the ability to adapt despite storms. I speak 4 languages and I feel good as a citizen of the world.

About the value of entrepreneurship and personal growth

One of my greatest learnings, both in my own endeavors and helping our clients, is that to achieve good results we must have discipline, explore and improve over time. As well as always listening to the market and your customers. That is, designing products and services that fall in love is more the consequence of a process than the result of an attack of creativity.

I started 3 times and I am convinced that things happen for something. With each experience I have been getting closer to the lifestyle I have always dreamed of: connecting people and generating value through technology while I continue to learn and grow.