LEADING FROM THE HEART

Tenacity led her to break schemes on her way, but integrity as a guideline in her life places her as a benchmark through her company ACSI Research

By: Karelia Alba

The maxims of human beings have a lot to do with the values they acquired from their formation, not just academic. Paola Solórzano is a woman of integrity who knows how to live in harmony with her environment, she is a businesswoman with a passion for life.

It is she who now adorns our edition as a worthy representative of strength and leadership. Show of talent, organization and perseverance, but above all, a leading woman who fills us with inspiration.

She is Paola Adriana Solórzano Gutiérrez. From a very young age, she developed her skills as a researcher, negotiator and leader, which is why her life course was motivated by her parents: Enrique and Adriana. Her father, an example of intelligence, discipline and perseverance; his mother the balm of strength and affection that always has for her wisdom and a restorative caress. She grew up in a close family with her two brothers Enrique and Lizette, with whom she shared her joyous childhood and from whom she learned the value of facing life’s challenges. Now it is Maya, her beautiful daughter, who also nurtures her with tenderness and total fullness.

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Her professional career began when she was little because she liked to investigate all the things around her, but her goal to develop as a businesswoman was at university: “I began to undertake since I was a student doing market research, however we did not have experience, we did not even know how to charge. The plan was to start working to learn and later develop his own business. It wasn’t destiny and it wasn’t lighting, it was strategy. “

At the age of 23, he took the general direction of the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO) of the University of Guadalajara, one of the most important research centers nationwide. He faced various challenges, from his academic background from Tecnológico de Monterrey to his youth. What he did is that his talent and abilities far exceeded his chronological age.

“I have a master’s degree, however during that stage it was like my doctorate because I really learned, in addition to research, to have full responsibility for a center of that nature, for the personnel, for the information that was generated, for finances, for sales and looking for payroll, everything. I am very grateful to the CEO ”.

Five years later he began to generate the concept of ACSI Research.

FROM ENTREPRENEUR TO BUSINESSWOMAN

Full of determination, she decided to undertake her project: · I started without great investment and without having a structure, in the CEO I had a team of 30 permanent people, plus 200 indirect people, and when I started to undertake my only structure was my bone structure ”. Later, extremely valuable people such as Adriana Felix and Mireya Luna were integrated, but the bell was just beginning to ring to wake up in this new world.

Little by little talents, experiences, experiences and clients were added, I correct, the term that Paola uses is ally, because the best result of her work occurs when this perfect alliance between both parties is achieved.

THE GOALS OF ACSI RESEARCH

Paola’s goal for ACSI was to position her as number one in Jalisco and in the Central West of the country, and she has already achieved it. But the challenge is not to stay but to keep going. “This year the company has to maintain a constant growth rate, depending less and less on my intervention. We managed to be number one in Jalisco and Centro Occidente, what follows is one of my goals: to have a national presence with everything that needs to be kept in the ranking and compete with international companies ”.

Is there a secret formula? “Success is due to permanence, to being clear about the goal and taking actions towards that goal, to strategic planning and a winning vision. Understand that adding is the best way to grow, have a solid team, generate strategic alliances, even with competitors, be present and participate in associations such as AMAI and CANIETI, among others ”.

“Information is the new oil of today, so we must capitalize and enhance the understanding of the market.”

THREE PILLARS: INNOVATION, INTEGRITY AND INTEGRATION

The moment of truth is to find the differentiator of your business and in ACSI Research the most important: innovation. “We decided to bet on Neuromarketing and also created our own methodology, Neuroinsights, which consists of merging a traditional qualitative methodology, such as in-depth interviews, with Neuromarketing, where people are connected to a device to measure their neural responses , the galvanic response of the skin and the cardiac response to various stimuli ”.

Due to the novelty of Neuromarketing, he faced the fact that there is ignorance and even certain mistrust on the part of entrepreneurs, that is when the strategy of merging something known with something unknown was born. The Neuroinsights methodology will be presented at the National Research Congress, as part of the National Research Committee, as part of the National Applied Neuroscience Committee to which it belongs.

“This strategy, in addition to differentiating ourselves, allows us to give our allies a bonus.”

The next pillar is integrity, Paola mentions that business intelligence is an intangible and that integrity is what has allowed her to achieve the trust of clients. “In our work we have a great responsibility, since based on the data that we provide, the client will make a decision, and that decision can set the course for your company or organization. That is why our slogan is” Decisions that Build Success ”.

The third is integration, the integration of a team that manages to advance and overcome the challenges posed by the different projects. ”Thank you, Team”.

ACSI IS A FAMILY OF JUGGLING WOMEN

The company is made up of a great team where there is respect and support for their family roles: “The women in my team are fundamental – I do not discriminate against men – women who have their children and that this role of mothers is not a limiting to have a professional development, there is flexibility in the office and a model of team of external researchers who work from their homes, this scheme allows them to have their professional facet without neglecting their family life ”.

Paola, how is this role lived? “I have very clear priorities in life, first it is my person and my daughter Maya, then it is to be at peace with the decisions you make based on those priorities, because I know many businesswomen who live in conflict because they do not dedicate enough time to it. your family or your children, or being in the office all the time and vice versa. Let us understand that there are stages and moments in life, it is a process, that I take it at the time, six years ago Maya was born ”.

TEACH AND LEARN TO TRANSCEND

Paola Solórzano has been making her way and sowing seeds to transcend in business, but also by training professionals. She is a teacher at the CUCEA of UdeG, a job that allows her to train and continue learning.

“Every semester I learn from the boys and how fascinating research is, because each project you do forces you to learn about the specific topic. I am passionate about being constantly learning and being a teacher allows me to, I pass on my experience but I nurture myself with my students ”.

“That is why I love to dedicate myself to research, you never stop learning in this profession, every day we are generating new information, it is fascinating”.

FROM YOUR HEART

You cannot reach the top without having faced the storms of the mountain, Paola has known the pain in her heart and has managed to find peace after several storms.

“To get to have peace I have had a process of setbacks and losses. It marked me the loss of my sister, my Liz, in 2014, she was my life partner, my best friend, she was a tireless warrior, the shock of seeing her leave taught me that what I want is harmony in my life and with the others, live and enjoy the life that we have for those – who like my sister – stayed in that process of living it ”.

His mind is sharp, his character is persevering and his heart is a treasure that is incapable of harboring bad feelings, love lives in him and that love has given life to his dreams and his songs to honor his loved ones: ” I generated a song for my daughter and another for my sister is titled Inspiration since she is what inspires and motivates in life, and my girl’s is called “My Divine Gift”, I have no greater gift than the pleasure that it exists and watch it grow ”.

• Bachelor of Marketing at the ITESM Campus Guadalajara, Master in Marketing and Communication Management at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), Spain and Diploma in Neuromarketing at La Salle University.
• Researcher at the University of Guadalajara and professor at the undergraduate and Master’s levels.
• CEO of ACSI Research, a market research and Neuromarketing company. Director Managing and Co founder of Daylight Intelligence, a business intelligence company using BIG DATA.
• Member of AMAI, the association of Market Research Agencies that brings together the most prestigious companies nationwide.
• He belongs to the National Committee for Applied Neuroscience.
• He belongs to the National Committee for Applied Neuroscience.
• She belongs to the Coordinating Council of Business Women.
• It belongs to the High Technology Cluster.
• Nationally recognized as a leading woman in the research industry and by TEC de Monterrey as a successful graduate. It has been covered in magazines like Merca 2.0. Consultant and Advisor in different projects for both government institutions and organizations and companies.
• He has been responsible for the development of more than two thousand research projects at a national and international level, cutting: political, social and market.
• He has supervised various theses both at the undergraduate and master’s level. She has made various presentations and keynote conferences in Mexico and internationally related to research, she is a mentor for entrepreneurs.