What Is a Strategy To Be Successful in an Endeavor?

Simple things like a drawing of her niece fill her in. She believes in God and the Virgin Mary, she is spiritual and consistent in word and action. She loves her womanhood, she does not wear makeup but takes care of her skin and her body.

Diana Cifuentes' working life has been a kind of twists and turns until she found the north and on that road she received the help of her brother, Andrés, a born entrepreneur with whom she still works: “With him I started the project called Eforcers through of which we advised companies together, to generate their image on the Internet that was just beginning to make a presence in Colombia. I became a manager when Andrés' partner retired. I had no idea what it was like to run a company but I took up the challenge."

She had large clients like Google, whom Eforcers advised on the topic of cloud computing "a solution that implied that companies had corporate mail with the platform of this Internet server." The vendors did not know how to offer the product and the warrior, Diana Cifuentes, took to the streets to do commercial work: "We had to go out and look for the money!" The company grew like soap bubbles and successful mergers with other organizations were generated.

The Woman Post: What was the next step?

Diana Cifuentes: Andrés and I created EF Venture Capital, which is dedicated to consulting, investing in startups, and accelerating them. We accompany companies to multiply their sales. I took advantage of my 14 years of experience in this area to share my knowledge.

EF Venture Capital only advises small projects. Its north is to give them tools to stay in the market: “We help technology companies or startups to organize their business processes and we contribute money to grow and maintain themselves. We study the companies that contact us to find out if their purposes conform to the values ​​in which I believe. The money is obtained when the processes are generated properly”.

TWP: How does Diana Cifuentes support her fellow women?

DC: In many ways! We have given work to many women. We support gender equality. At home, my dad taught us that we were all equal to the point that our dining room table was round so that no one in the family felt more or less important. The women who work for us earn the same salary as men according to their level of responsibility and preparation.

Her greatest contribution to the women she works with “is trying to make them grow. I make sure they study, speak more than one language, and graduate. Academic preparation makes a difference in the life of any person.”

Also read: MAURICIO CÁRDENAS OPENS PATHS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENTREPRENEURS

TWP: Have you experienced employment discrimination because you are a woman?

DC: Yes, many times! I have been the object of uncomfortable flirtations from my clients, many have told me that they will sign contracts if I am going to have a drink with them. I feel like they don't take women very seriously in sales. You have to have character and show it and, above all, know the product you sell. That empowers you!

Diana Cifuentes has advice for women who are dedicated to sales or want to: “Believe in your product. If they know it and believe in it, they will have all the arguments to sell it”.

TWP: What does it bring to the country?

DC: Honesty. I believe that corruption delays and that is why I guide my activity with honesty. I like to sleep peacefully. I have had the experience of being asked for money as a hidden commission to sign a business. I never accepted or will accept such a deal. If we do things correctly, we contribute to the country. I create jobs, pay taxes, and put into practice the values ​​that I grew up with at home.

She is also convinced that a country becomes when we raise children who are good people: “I give my son a good example, I have given him the values ​​with which my parents raised me and I treat him with love. Love builds.”

Happiness Is in Simple Things

When I ask Diana Cifuentes for a description of herself, she immediately says that she is a happy woman and that is how she feels because she is successful because she loves her adolescent son because she has 4 great friends –Carmen, Mónica, Lina, and Érika- and a family made up of a mother, siblings, and nephews who support her. She certainly has many reasons to be happy.

She is a businesswoman who establishes business relationships with her clients, always using a personal password: "I never speak only about business, I approach people with the purpose that they see my essence, I want them to know who they work with."

For a time, she was the owner of a bar in the Colombian capital, she got married, separated, and from those experiences she had invaluable experiences. Being true to her disciplined character, one day she decided to take on the challenge of running daily and now she is preparing to be part of the Bogotá Half Marathon. She loves nature, climbs hills and mountains, and is seduced by water sources, trees, sunsets and sunrises, and green meadows.

Diana understood that academic training was the best way to grow and that is why she is not only a business administrator at the Externado de Colombia University but she also has a master's degree in marketing. She will soon be a doctor of management administration.

That's Diana Cifuentes, the Colombian who likes her mother's black color and spinach puree. She is not industrious, she hates cooking and humbly tells me: “Let me know when the interview comes out on The Woman Post so my mom can see me” and I answer: “Not only will your mommy see you, the world will see you!”