Laura Chicurel
Laura Chicurel was raised in Chile and has since lived in five countries across Europe, South America, and the United States of America..[1] She felt the "entrepreneurial spirit" from an early age, selling stickers to her friends at seven years old. This spirit drove her to become president of student associations, initiating her journey into the business world.[1] She graduated with honors from Universidad Diego Portales after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2002. [1]. She also studied Economics at Pompeu Fabra Spain. [2] Her early career includes working in Human Resources at Credico Marketing, where she recruited and trained sales teams. She also helped the company open a subsidiary in Valencia, Spain. Around this time, she began teaching herself to speak English [1]
Awards and Honors[edit]
Chicurel was selected by El Mercurio as one of the "100 women leaders in Chile" in 2008 and "100 top young leaders" in 2009.[2]
Career[edit]
Early Career (2001-2012)[edit]
In late 2005, Chicurela and her partner Patrick Mork founded Chicurela Ltd., a producer and distributor of eco-friendly luxury salmon leather goods. [3] The products included handbags, wallets, passports, and bracelets.[4] Chile was the world's second-largest exporter of salmon, discarding thousands of sheared skins every year. [1] Using her first-hand knowledge of Chile, Chicurel recognized a global opportunity in the lack of people using salmon skin leather in the UK and started the company in London. [3] During its first year of trading, Chicurela had a turnover of £50,000.[5]
In 2006, Chicurel pitched this company on "Dragon's Den", a BBC2 television program.[5] Chicurel sought £100,000 for a 30% share of her company but was unsuccessful.[5]
Chicurela launched three collections featuring salmon skin leather, gold and silver plating, and Italian silk interiors. The collection’s designs were: sporty (Alegra), evening (Gala), and classic (Luna).[1]
Chicurela.’s most important value was that salmon skin leather is environmentally friendly because it utilizes a by-product that would otherwise be wasted. [3] Also, Chicurela’s tannery in Santiago used an innovative water recycling process that reduced water consumption.[3] Furthermore, because salmon skin is hairless, the tanning process uses significantly fewer chemicals than traditional leather. [3] This eliminates polluting residue left in the water. Overall, Chicurel recognized unsustainable manufacturing processes’ impact on climate change and wanted to prove that it's possible to be both economically successful and environmentally friendly. [3]
After just over four years of operations, Chicurela shut down in September 2009.
Achievements[edit]
Chicurela’s salmon skin leather interior design for Toyota's IQ concept car was showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany.[3] In 2008, Laura Chicurel was the European Laurette winner for the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards.[6] Chicurela's products were displayed at a variety of fashion shows that year, including New York Fashion Week[7]. Her collection was also presented to Queen Elizabeth II at the University of East London.[1][8]. Chicurel had the winning pitch at the Entrepreneurship Global Forum [1]. The company received recognition from many other publications and events, including Good Housekeeping, The London Paper, and the Le Cuir à Paris trade show [1].
Later Career (2012-Present)[edit]
In 2012, Chicurel founded Women, Startup!, a community for supporting women entrepreneurs.[9] In November 2012, she also founded Ugreat, a platform for resource recommendations. In 2014, she became the COO of Nexinit, a collaborative platform for innovation management.[10] In July 2016, she founded and became CEO of Innova-360, which uses holistic strategy to improve innovative processes.[11] Chicurel has spent the last ten years in entrepreneurial ventures and remains deeply involved in women-related causes.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Chicurela. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved from Chicurela: https://www.chicurela.com/eng.html
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Latino Built. (n.d.). Laura Chicurel. Retrieved from Latino Built: http://www.latinobuilt.com/#/laura-chicurel/
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Cartier Women's Initiative. (2008). Laura Chicurel. Retrieved from Cartier Women's Initiative:https://www.cartierwomensinitiative.com/candidate/laura-chicurel
- ↑ Chicurela Ltd. (n.d.). Retrieved from Europe Bloombiz: https://europe.bloombiz.com/default.cgi/action/viewcompanies/companyid/155641/
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Iziren, A. (2008, October 31). Dragon slayers. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/nov/01/dragons-den-entrepreneurs-rejects
- ↑ Procter, E. (2009, January 30). WANTED: Business Wonder Women. Retrieved from Gulf News: https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/wanted-business-wonder-women-1.47616
- ↑ La Voz del Norte. (2015, August 10). The most entrepreneurial woman in Europe will exhibit at INACAP La Serena. Retrieved from La Voz del Norte: 12. https://www.lavozdelnorte.cl/2015/08/la-mujer-mas-emprendedora-de-europa-expondra-en-inacap-la-serena/
- ↑ La Voz del Norte. (2015, August 10). The most entrepreneurial woman in Europe will exhibit at INACAP La Serena. Retrieved from La Voz del Norte: 12. https://www.lavozdelnorte.cl/2015/08/la-mujer-mas-emprendedora-de-europa-expondra-en-inacap-la-serena/
- ↑ Woman, StartUp! (n.d.). Woman, StartUp! team. Retrieved from Woman StartUp: http://www.womanstartup.com/team.html
- ↑ Nexinit. (n.d.). Retrieved from Nextinit: https://www.nextinit.com/
- ↑ Innova360. (n.d.). Retrieved from Innova360: https://innova360.cl/
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