Women In Fashion - Victoria Quintino

A few days ago, at the London Business School in England, the case study of the footwear brand Larroudé was presented to students, showcasing their rapid success. In just four years, the brand has grown significantly: it sells in various countries, is worn by celebrities and fashionistas, and is a coveted item. Behind such success are people who make a difference. Victoria Quintino is one of the partners at Larroudé and the Head of Sales, working from the beginning alongside Marina Larroudé, the co-founder of the brand with her husband, Ricardo. Directly from Paris, where she was spending the week, Victoria spoke with me, revealing that she had never imagined she would end up becoming an entrepreneur...

Victoria graduated in Business Administration from Insper in 2017. She recalls that when she studied there, the classrooms were named exclusively after men. This left a strong impression on Victoria, so much, she shared with me that one of her biggest hopes is to help and inspire women in the workplace. Like many, Victoria was unsure about what career path to take at the age of 17/18. She chose Business Administration because it opens doors to various possibilities and skills that anyone will use throughout their life. For this reason, she asserts that she has no regrets about completing her degree in Business Administration.

Victoria Quintino, Partner and Head of Sales at Footwear Brand Larroudé

But what about working in the fashion world? Victoria never saw herself working in fashion. She explains that in Brazil—at least in her time—fashion was more oriented towards people who liked to draw and create - at least that's what she thought. "I'm not that person at all," Victoria jokes. Therefore, she could not see herself working in fashion. Moreover, she reveals that because around 70% of her class at Insper were men focused on the financial market, she got the impression that if she wasn’t working in finance, she was doing something wrong. She explains, "I went into finance, but I didn't identify with it and knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life."

To try and find a field with which she identified, Victoria decided to look for companies with trainee programs so she could practically experience all areas. That was when she realized, of course, that fashion also needs business administration to function; she ended up becoming a trainee at Arezzo. During her time at Arezzo, Victoria realized that in Brazil, due to how most brands are structured, there wasn’t much room for her to grow professionally. So, she began looking for brands in the United States and eventually moved to New York.

"It makes a big difference to reach an audience with something you believe in," says Victoria.

Victoria shares that she always admired Marina Larroudé. Like herself, Marina also went to the United States at some point in her life without knowing anyone, in search of work. Victoria shares a bit of Marina's journey: "Marina mentions that she sent over 300 emails without receiving a response. Until one day, arriving home, she found an invitation to a Candy Pratts Price show (who was the editor-in-chief of Style.com). Marina asked the doorman if he could deliver flowers, her CV, and a letter to Candy if she would leave them with him. So, the doorman did, and Candy invited Marina for a conversation. Candy ended up asking Marina to help with a two-week campaign, everyone ended up loving her so much that she stayed there for nine years."

Thus, when Victoria went to New York, she decided to do with Marina what Marina had done with Candy. After receiving flowers along with a letter and Victoria's CV, Marina invited her for a chat at Barneys, where Marina was working in the Fashion Office at the time. Marina ended up recommending Victoria to the Planning Team at Barneys; Victoria shares, "It was the longest interview process of my life." Although Marina was not Victoria's boss at that time, the two began to bond. It was only with the onset of the pandemic that Marina decided to start her own business from scratch and invited Victoria to help her.

Moving from an established company to a startup is very different. Victoria says the experience of working in a startup is like an MBA in practice. But, of course, each side has its perks; "Working in an established company was very good at the beginning of my career to learn what to do, what not to do, etc." She describes the entrepreneurial process as the game 'Whack-a-mole' where heads pop up, and you need to push them down only for others to appear; in other words, there are always new challenges. "You buy clothing for a baby, and in three months it doesn’t fit anymore, just like a new company — it grows very fast."

She shares: "I receive so many messages from clients expressing how confident they feel wearing our shoes, wearing them in such important moments of their lives... It’s something that makes me very happy and proud, to know that I am causing this in people, that something we thought of with such care, produced with every possible detail, brings this into someone's life."

With all this, Victoria states that whenever she hires someone, she makes it clear that: "If you are looking for a 9-to-5 job where you know exactly what you are going to do, this is not the place." Although this can be stressful for some people, Victoria admits that sometimes even she doesn’t know what to do, but that it’s part of the process. Victoria shares that something she learned along this path is that "very few things are irreversible — maybe you went down a path that wasn’t ideal, but it was the right path you needed to learn from." These words are very important and true; we won't always get everything right, but to improve, we need to make mistakes to learn, and part of being an entrepreneur is that.

Finally, Victoria leaves a piece of advice: "The most important thing is not to give up; the main difference between brands that reach the top and those that don’t is the entrepreneurs who don’t quit when they face an obstacle."