About Marcela

My American-Mexican-Nicaraguan-Canadian roots

Born in the U.S., I got to live on both the east and west coast. Later, I moved to Montreal, Canada due to my father’s job as a Mexican diplomat who represented and served his fellow Mexicans in these countries, all while maintaining friendly relationships with other country representatives. These relationships allowed me to observe and coexist with many other cultures.

• Also, as the daughter of a migrated Nicaraguan, I was shown my mother’s example of always being open to promote friendly relationships and developing language skills, joining book clubs, and extending one’s culinary love to countries beyond the Americas
• I studied grade school in French and English, acquainting the American and both French-Canadian and Anglo -Canadian cultures
• Being the youngest of 6 siblings, my native language was both Spanish from my father as well as English from my mother and siblings
• I love reading books from authors from around the world, and stories from other cultures mostly (99%) in English
• My first contact with formal intercultural development was a cross-cultural course when working at Sony, that gave us the comparison of the different cultures and where the differences are understood and acknowledged, bringing on some individual change. I became a passionate fan of the subject

• So what do I say whenever someone asks where I’m from? In the words of the legendary Argentinean singer-songwriter Facundo Cabral, I reply “No soy de aquí, ni soy de allá”. I am neither from here nor from there.

A Summary of my Professional Story

Having graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (U.N.A.M.), one of the oldest and one of the most prestigious universities in the Americas, I started to build up more that 30-year experience at American and Japanese multinationals, within the Service, Financial Services, Commercial, Telecomm, and Higher Education industries.

• My first contact with Coaching was from the LEADERSHIP through QUALITY program in Xerox (1980’s) where we were taught and continuously practiced Communication tools such as, Interaction abilities, communications behaviors, and Team Decision making. As a leader one had to use, promote and assure the usage of these tools
• Since 2016, as a freelance Executive Coach I have accompanied executives in their Leadership in various industries, such as Pharmaceutical, Financial Services, Retail and Commercialization, and Technological Solutions, among others
• In 2017 I got my ICF – Associate Certified Coach (ACC) Certification and have been re-certifying it ever since.
• I am an Executive Coach, also a Strategic Coach and my passion lies mostly in Intercultural Executive coaching

Marcela, the Actuary and Quality Expert

I studied Actuary Sciences at the U.N.A.M. because of my love of numbers, I do feel this choice was once pushed by my “acquired” love of numbers. OK, why “acquired”? I have to confess that my love of numbers began as an escape of having to learn Mexican history, Mexican geography, and Mexican Civics, which was not only learning the Spanish language in written and reading form, but also Nahuatl names (which were a bit too confusing for me having recently arrived to Mexico). So, why does this Mathematical and Quality background make me optimally structured and focused on getting results for my coaching clients?

• Why? Why? Why? I believe that the famous 5 Why’s from a Quality point of view, is a strong technique when used in coaching, as well as getting to the real cause underlying a particular problem, it can be used to get to the cause of one’s beliefs. Just another way to incite my client’s and my own curiosity and together see where it leads
• • As a Quality guru most of my working life, being process-oriented assures my clients a structured approach, and a goal-driven process where together we will define and follow through to their priorities and goals. This includes being…
• • Action-oriented, as a ICF Certified Coach my methodology is based on competencies which includes assuring that: “I partner with my client to design actions and accountability measures, that I integrate and expand new learning, I acknowledge and I support the client autonomy in the design of goals, actions and methods of accountability”. As one can see this is another way of assuring the Plan-Do-Check-Act approach practiced for years in the quality world for solving problems and managing change
• Being an assessor to Mexico´s National Quality Award*, for more than 30 years, has given me ability to evaluate and provide feedback to organizations and developing analytical and consensus-building skills, and a systematic business perspective. This strengthens my knowledge and continuous actualization of business models and organizational systems
  *A Quality Award similar to the U.S. Baldridge Award and the European Quality Award (EQFM).