Cristine Grings: a legacy of inspiration

2024-03-04 | By Brazilian Footwear

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Cristine Grings Nogueira, CEO and partner of Piccadilly Company, leads a company that stands out on the international scene. Piccadilly is recognized as one of the five largest brands of women's shoes in Brazil, being present in more than 14 thousand points of sale in the country. Founded in 1955, it has two manufacturing units and an impressive staff of 2.2 thousand employees, who produce more than 8 million pairs per year.

The size of Piccadilly goes beyond borders. The company, associated with Brazilian Footwear, an export incentive program carried out by the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados) in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), exports 35% of its production to more than 100 countries.

As an inspiring leader, she values innovation and teamwork, as well as always seeking to stay up to date on market trends through social networks, networking and courses. Her vision on fashion is directly linked to sustainability, no wonder her company is certified Diamond, maximum level on Sustainable Origin, the only certification in the world to certify producers of the footwear chain with practices aligned with ESG concepts.

Ahead of many commitments, Cristine achieves work-life balance with support from family and faith. Her advice to women is an invitation to believe in their potential, facing challenges with determination and focus on their unique abilities.

1. What inspired you to pursue a career in fashion and business?

The pride of belonging to Piccadilly and the enormous desire to help continue the beautiful legacy that our family has left over all these years. The fashion sector is also very dynamic and volatile, which, for those who like challenges, is very fertile ground. In addition, being able to lead a women's shoe fashion company and know deeply the behavior of women and how we can help them is very motivating.

2. What are the main challenges of being a woman in a leading position in this industry?

Unfortunately, we are still a largely male-led industry, even when it comes to the women's footwear segment. The woman still needs to prove that she is capable, that she is able to occupy leadership positions, culturally until then managed by men, and that she has the necessary skills to be successful.

3. How do you approach inclusion and diversity within your company?

These are urgent topics and at the same time quite delicate and sensitive. There must be coherence between discourse and practice and a genuine desire to understand and adapt to changes. At Piccadilly, we have promoted this discussion when it comes to diversity as a whole. In addition, we live female leadership in practice, with 50% of the board and council made up of women, in addition to approximately 60% of our leaders being female, including in various positions normally occupied by men.

4. What do you do to keep up to date with fashion, business and technology trends?

Access to information today is very easy, the biggest challenge is to feed on quality information and be focused to be able to absorb what is really relevant. Social networks, networking, courses, lectures, books... Nowadays it is necessary to be aware of everything new that arises and be resilient and agile to absorb knowledge and adapt quickly.

The inspirational leader is the one who transforms their personal dream into a collective dream, engaging teams in search of a common purpose for all."

5. What do you consider inspirational leadership?

In my view, the inspirational leader is the one who transforms their personal dream into a collective dream, engaging teams in search of a common purpose for all. It is someone who knows how to genuinely listen and look at people, extracting the best from them. Who has an innovative view and can read market opportunities, mobilizing the team to transform them into performance evolution for the business.

6. Is there any advice you would like to give to women who are starting their careers in fashion and business?

Believe in your potential and don't feel incapable. Move forward in spite of fear, using challenges as levers and not allowing them to paralyze you. Do not waste energy with inopportune discussions about gender and diversity, but focus on showing your full potential by taking advantage of every opportunity that arises. Let your essence speak louder, drawing the most from the unique gifts God has given to each of us.

7. In your opinion, how does the Brazilian Footwear program contribute to gender equality in the Brazilian footwear sector?

Generating visibility and deepening knowledge on the subject so that everyone can be clear about its relevance, promoting female encouragement through the empowerment of women and expanding spaces in which they can contribute to the demands of the entity and the program.