Setting our roots down in Cork

THE new President of Network Cork has lived in five different countries, but has never felt as at home as she does in Cork.

“I love it here!” said Susana Marambio, who is originally from Chile.

“The people are so open and curious, and it really feels like we’re properly part of a community.”

Susana moved from the UK to Glanmire with her husband Andrew Walker in December, 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. Before that she had lived in Europe for almost two decades, working in ecommerce, and later for a multi-national office supplies company in the Netherlands, where she met Andrew who is originally from Killiney, Dublin.

“I’ve been an immigrant for almost half of my life, and Andrew, for two-thirds of his life. We moved to Ireland because we wanted to set our roots down.

“At some point, we realised that material possessions wouldn’t be enough when we were older, and we craved a sense of belonging. 

We chose Cork because of Andrew’s father Michael, who was a teacher at Brandon Grammar School, Andrew’s sister, who was born there, and his childhood holiday memories.

She’s had an illustrious and diverse career: starting out as an import/export and operations manager for the pharmaceutical industry, managing a team of eight when she was just 24.

“In 2000, I decided to move to Spain, because Santiago was too far from the places I wanted to see.

“In 2001, I joined the first B2B pure online company, a venture funded by Santander Bank, and in 2004, I joined an American multinational in the office supplies industry. Their best-known brand in Ireland was Viking Direct.

“In 2006, I was promoted to a European role to join the newly formed product marketing team in the Netherlands, to develop the strategy for EMEA. I met Andrew there, and in 2014 we moved to the UK where I worked as marketing director for a small business first and then a French multi-national.”

A NEW CHAPTER

With all that experience behind her, she found herself without a job when she originally moved to Cork, which is why she joined Network Cork.

“Our only network was my sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, who both live in Dublin, and Andrew’s uncle and aunt who live here in Cork. In all the countries I lived in before, my connection was work. I met people at work and some of them became good friends.

“But this time, we were moving without a job, so I researched online and found this professional women’s network.

Since we were in the middle of the pandemic, there were online coffee mornings and online meetings. I joined the first one. 

"In the breakout room, there was a psychotherapist, a healing with horses coach, and a mindset coach. I thought, ‘Wow, these are also businesses!’ It was mind- blowing!

“I’ve been in commercial roles in one shape or another since 2001, and in the corporate world since 2004, so you almost come to believe that is the business world!” she said.

Straight away, Susana said she felt like she belonged.

“I was lucky enough to join the committee with Barbara Nugent as President. Other committee members were Ingrid Seim, Karen O’Reilly, Lynda O’Connell, and Maura Mackey. I truly felt like I had found my tribe.”

With Andrew, she set up her own business, Beacon Business Commercial Services (named after Baltimore’s Beacon) in 2021.

“From the beginning, Network’s values of leading, supporting, and collaborating resonated with my own. I found that the extended network that I’d organically created when working in a large company was difficult to establish when you are running your own business,” she said.

ROLE AS PRESIDENT

As Vice President of Network Cork this year, stepping into the position of president is always a natural progression, but it’s still one Susana doesn’t take lightly.

To be honest, I never would have applied for the role if I hadn’t been encouraged to do so. And don’t get me wrong, I’m the kind of person who grabs opportunities and challenges with both hands.

" But it simply didn’t occur to me. Then my next thought was, what if people don’t want me as President? This shows you that I don’t take lightly the big responsibility of representing Network Cork and its 40-year legacy.

“Network Cork is rooted in the community, and we have a truly diverse membership in terms of business size, industries, and backgrounds.

“Interestingly, Ingrid was the first non-Irish President and I’m the first non-European President. I am honoured to represent them, especially because of this diversity, which I believe is a great asset to the community.”

GOALS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD

Susana’s primary ambition for her year is to continue building on the foundations from the previous presidents.

“Marguerite O’Sullivan and Barbara Nugent helped us to navigate the pandemic, Maria Desmond brought us back to connect with the community, and Ingrid Seim elevated the conversation, addressing complex topics around women, business, leadership and its challenges. I want to continue to develop on the topic of collaboration, continuing building stronger relationship with the wider business community and bring more women on our journey,” she said.

BACKGROUND Susana is the third of seven children, and her family, most of whom are in Chile, are very proud of her. Her mother worked in the home and her father co-owned and worked in a construction company.

“My father didn’t believe in spending money on university if you were a woman, but I was lucky that I had a good role model in a teacher in junior school who told us that it was an option. I was the first person in my extended family to leave Chile and being in Europe gave me an outlook that the world is a big place and you can do anything you set your mind to.

“In the last four years, my nephew has moved to New Zealand, a niece to England, and my brother to Canada, and I think I’ve had a role to play in that.

“For sure I missed seeing my nieces and nephews growing up, but I think through me they’ve seen there are many more opportunities in life.”

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Susana said personally she never felt that being a woman was a challenge in business.

“I was really young when I started my career, so my challenge was that I was too young to be taken seriously. When I was in Spain, it was because I was South American. As my career progressed, I was really lucky to get support from my colleagues, including male colleagues in leadership positions.

“But yes, there are still many obstacles for women in business, especially when we tend to label societal problems like childcare as women’s problems. Even the language we use is biased; we don’t talk about ‘working fathers,’ but we do talk about ‘working mothers’.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child, and the same thing applies here: it takes the whole community to really make a change. We all need to collaborate together for a better future, not only for ourselves but for the community. Because women on our own will not be able to.”

When she’s not busy working, she enjoys running and has completed five or six marathons and half marathons.

“I run slowly and stop often to take photographs!” she said.

Susana also likes to walk her 10-year old dog Pina, a Shih Tzu/Bison cross, and finds it’s a great way to strike up conversations with people – another thing she loves about living here.

“I lived in the UK and the Netherlands for work, but I chose to live in Spain and I chose to live in Cork, and moving here was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”