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WEGrow A success story: Gabriela León Mexican high-growth woman entrepreneur
WEGrow
A success story: Gabriela León Mexican high-growth woman entrepreneur
Gabriela León: A Mexican high-growth woman entrepreneur
WEGrow: Unlocking the Growth Potential of Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean 2
About the MIF
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) works to support economic growth
and poverty reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean through the promotion of investment and private sector
development. As part of its program, the MIF seeks to support entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises by
creating a favorable ecosystem for early stage financing through angel investing, seed capital, and entrepreneurship. For
more information, please visit www.fomin.org.
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This publication forms part of the study “WEGrow: Unlocking the Growth Potential of Women Entrepreneurs in Latin
America and the Caribbean.” It was commissioned by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-
American Development Bank (IDB), to EY. It has been prepared by EY Mexico with the cooperation and supervision of the
MIF’s Early Stage Equity Group. The following people participated in the review process from the MIF: Susana Garcia-
Robles, Monica Pina Alzugaray, Rebeca Granda Marcos, Xuan-Trang Ho and Elizabeth Terry.
© 2014 Inter-American Development Bank. All rights reserved; may be freely reproduced for any non-commercial purpose.
The opinion expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Inter-
American Development Bank, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.
© 2014 Mancera S.C. Member of Ernst & Young Global All rights reserved
Gabriela León: A Mexican high-growth woman entrepreneur
WEGrow: Unlocking the Growth Potential of Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean 3
Gabriela León was born into a family of
entrepreneurs in Mexico. Her father had his own
construction business and her mother was a
political activist. Thanks to all the entrepreneurial
experiences that surrounded her, she learned that
she always had to fight in order to be successful
and get the best possible results.
“Having a father who was an entrepreneur made
my siblings and me go through good and bad
times. This taught us to never to give up.”
Gabriela graduated from the Universidad
Autónoma Metropolitana with a degree in
biochemical engineering, a field that has always
fascinated her.
HOW DID SHE GET STARTED?
In 1999, Gabriela and her brother Sergio had both
lost their jobs at the same time, when an
opportunity came up. An important company,
where Gabriela had worked previously, offered to
make them the suppliers of the store’s own line of
antibacterial products. For Gabriela and her
brother, this was the perfect moment to start
their own business.
They started their project with just one employee.
So Gabriela and her brother were working side by
side, manufacturing products, labelling them,
filling them, loading the trucks, selling and
invoicing. In order to make things work, they
divided responsibilities according to their
strengths. Sergio, a graphic designer, was in
charge of product packaging and trading strategy,
while Gabriela took charge of product formulas
and managerial duties.
They started to analyze how much money they
needed to meet their first client’s demand and the
funding sources that were available. They pooled
their savings and supplemented these funds with
a loan from their parents.
Her mother has been an important role model in
this adventure, as she was an example of a person
who always fought for what she believed in, and
also supported Gabriela when nobody else around
her did.
WHAT CHALLENGES DID SHE FACE?
“When I started my business I was single and I
remember that my acquaintances were telling me
not to do it, as it was better to work for someone
else and know that I would get a paycheck.”
When Gabriela and Sergio started Gresmex, their
cleaning product company, the entrepreneurial
environment in Mexico was not as developed as it
is today. However, she mentions that at that point
they had support from their parents, who guided
them through the initial stages of their company.
Gabriela León: A Mexican high-growth woman entrepreneur
WEGrow: Unlocking the Growth Potential of Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean 4
Working in a male-dominated industry has been
difficult for Gabriela. At the factory, it has been
hard to get the male employees to follow a
woman’s instructions. Also, she says there have
been times where people have refused to meet
with or talk to her just because she is a woman.
However, she believes that when someone is
passionate about what she or he is doing, sooner
or later doors will open.
Being a woman entrepreneur has both
advantages but also some disadvantages.
Gabriela has benefited from this situation by
getting to know her strengths and weaknesses
and using both of them to make her company
grow.
“Women entrepreneurs can be described as
stubborn, but some like to call us persistent
instead.”
According to Gabriela, having the support of your
family is essential to success. Being an
entrepreneur, wife, and mother all at the same
time is hard work. Keeping a balance between her
professional and family lives is a challenge she
faces every day.
“My husband helps me in so many ways”.
Her children are among her biggest supporters.
For Gabriela, one of the things that has helped her
see results is getting her children involved in her
achievements and success. They’re aware that
their mother’s work has a positive impact on
society and they support and encourage her to
keep moving forward.
INNOVATION: ADDING VALUE TO PRODUCTS AND
BEING A PIONEER IN THE NANOTECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY
In 2008, after they had already been reinvesting
the company’s earnings and growing for almost
nine years, Gabriela and her brother decided to
invest in research and development.
This initiative was motivated by a personal
situation that she faced. Gabriela’s son caught a
rotavirus, and she was not able to find any
products on the market to help her protect her
family from this kind of virus. So she saw an
opportunity to add value to her products and
developed a new line of disinfectant products
with a much broader capacity for protection that
uses nanotechnology and eliminates up to 99.99%
of viruses and bacteria.
Gresmex is a Mexican company that specializes in private-label antibacterial and
household care products. Currently, Gresmex operates from a 2,500 square meter facility that employs 75 people and has a daily output capacity of 90 tons. Its market is divided in two main segments:
Household cleaning products.
High-level disinfectant products with applied nanotechnology (Eviter).
http://eviter.mx/
Gabriela León: A Mexican high-growth woman entrepreneur
WEGrow: Unlocking the Growth Potential of Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean 5
WHAT ARE SOME LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST
EXPERIENCES?
Gabriela has always known her strengths and
weaknesses. This is why she focused on
developing a network of mentors around her, and
thanks to their advice, she has been able to
maintain her company’s focus.
“Mentorship has been the key to addressing the
weaknesses we had, especially in developing a
strategic financial approach that helped us grow
our company.”
WHAT ARE HER AMBITIONS?
“My vision for 2030 is to take Gresmex to a global
level. We currently have the capacity for
exponential growth.”
Gresmex plans to position itself on a global scale.
Gabriela and her partner have therefore worked
on organizational development and retaining
talent.
She believes that in order to reach her growth
targets successfully, it is necessary to promote the
credibility of their innovation, which already
creates some uncertainty in the market, as it is
disruptive. The scientific and technological
backing that Gresmex needs has been obtained
through universities and well-known and
regulated laboratories, where everything is
guaranteed by independent third parties. Her
company will continue to follow this strategy,
mainly since it provides greater acceptance in the
market.
Greatest mistake ever made …
Not
communicating
enough.
Have confidence
and trust that
your job provides
a benefit to
society.
Best advice ever received
Communication between the company’s
partners is essential. In Gabriela’s and
Gresmex’s case, a lack of communication has
caused them to make expensive mistakes.
However, Gabriela and her partner have
learned how to strengthen communication,
making it more timely and effective with the
purpose of avoiding misunderstandings,
thereby creating a strong, dynamic and
trustworthy partnership.
Gabriela León: A Mexican high-growth woman entrepreneur
WEGrow: Unlocking the Growth Potential of Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean 6
WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE THAT SHE COULD
SHARE?
“There have been very dark moments, to the
point where we considered closing Gresmex due to
a lack of resources and because of unfair
competition in the market. However, this has
helped us to think about and understand what we
have done wrong in order for us to learn from our
mistakes and be able to overcome our obstacles.”
There have been difficult times in the journey to
success, but it’s been these tough times that have
allowed them to understand their abilities and
areas of opportunities.
FROM ENTREPRENEUR TO ENTREPRENEUR, THREE PRACTICAL TIPS FOR BECOMING SUCCESSFUL:
Believe in yourself. It will allow you to struggle, because you have a potential that you don’t realize yet.
Establish clear goals and values in your
company. They will guide you during difficult
moments.
Seek mentorship and training. You will be
able to recognize what you need.
” Family support is essential. They must understand that as an entrepreneur you are adding value to society.”
Gabriela León: A Mexican high-growth woman entrepreneur
WEGrow: Unlocking the Growth Potential of Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean 7
Gabriela León: A Mexican high-growth woman entrepreneur
WEGrow: Unlocking the Growth Potential of Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean 8
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