Success leaves clues. Finances Strategists sat down with Kelly Couto, founder of Capital Economico. She shared her thoughts on the past, present, and future of the company, as well as the insight she gained from running the business and truly inspiring life story. Q: Who are you and what's your background? Kelly Couto is a simple girl from a humble family who was born in a region on the outskirts of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I was raised by my grandmother, who died of cancer when I was 14 years old. Soon after, I went to live with my biological mother and two brothers. My mother, who was a maid without schooling, was out of work at the time. We lived in a house that ran over an open sewer. There was no bathroom, and we slept with the rats. This was a difficult period in which food ran short. We rarely were able to eat more than once a day. When I turned 16, I started doing freelance work to help my mother raise my two younger brothers. I sold books from house to house, sold peanuts on the beach, and worked as a caregiver for children in a family home. When I turned 18, I got my first “real” job as a Telemarketing Operator. This is where my progress in life started. My monthly salary of R$ 340 (three hundred and forty reais) was, for some years, the only source of income for my family. Later on, in parallel with my job as a Telemarketing Operator, I studied at night for a scholarship at the Private University. Years later, I managed to get into college. Today I have a degree in Letters from a Private University in Rio de Janeiro, a Postgraduate Degree in the Portuguese Language from a Federal University also in Rio de Janeiro and I have Extracurricular Training in Communication and Journalism from renowned educational institutions in Brazil. I started the Master's in Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at a University in Europe, as a fellow, but due to work overload, I had to postpone finishing the training. Q: Who has been your biggest influence, and why did they have such a significant effect on you? My biggest influence has been a group of friends I had from the Christian church. At this difficult time in my life, I only had faith in God to hold on to. As mentioned, my upbringing with my birth mother was difficult, because she didn't have a degree and didn't really care. My father was out of the picture, having abandoned the family early on. My mother, at that time, was living in a physically abusive relationship. Obviously, this led to a troubled adolescence on my part. When I started attending church and saw my friends of the same age as me, or even younger, following the natural course of life: studying, getting into college on time, taking language courses, I couldn’t help but want to be like them. But my friends had a family base. They had a father and mother at home, educating, supporting, and encouraging. And I didn't. But that's when I sought strength and inspiration to change my story and become the success I am today. Q: Knowing what you know now, what would you have told yourself when you were starting out? Don't believe everything they say: wonderful proposals, incredible gains, faithful and transparent partnerships, promises to win the world. I was frustrated many times for being innocent and believing 100% in people. Many people have passed through my life (people with great purchasing power and influence) who took advantage of my humble history and the few financial resources I had for my business just to take advantage of my talent and my work effort at zero cost. That frustrated me a lot. Over time, I began to realize that we are all human and humans make mistakes. But what cannot happen is to be constantly carried away by the mistakes of others and repeat failures. Opening your eyes, always, and especially in business and work relationships, is essential. Everything in my life was a learning experience and I don't complain or regret anything. I worked for more than 10 years in a call center and learned to be the best salesperson, the best negotiator, the best strategist. I thank all the companies and leaders that have passed through my life because that allowed me to combine all my sales experience with my technical and academic training and apply it today in the communication industry. Q: What is Capital Economico? Capital Econômico is a 100% digital publication (Magazine and News Agency) focused on Economy, Business, Career, and Entrepreneurship. It is a channel that connects the main market opportunities, through highly relevant information for everyone who follows us. Q: What makes Capital Economico different from other economic news sites? Capital Econômico is a select news portal that prioritizes, in the first place, content that can inform, connect and generate business and opportunities. In short, we provide relevant news - carefully selected by our editors - from the economic market and the corporate world to help with better decision-making. We are highly praised and honored for our editorial quality. Our concern is not with the numbers, but with the reader. Q: What led you to start Capital Economico? Revista Capital Econômico was born from a dream when I was still a girl. I always told my grandmother that when I grew up I would work in a magazine. I never imagined, one day, I would actually own one. (Haha...) I started in the field of journalism as a press officer, after having worked for a few years as a copywriter specializing in Google positioning (SEO) and as a general copywriter for several digital marketing agencies throughout Brazil. My press office experience (production of releases, guidelines, relationships with the media...) was an incredible experience, but the position lacked some of the emotion of sales, which I missed. I also had begun to notice a commercial side in journalism that many advisors and editors did not see. This drew the attention of Revista de Economia, which invited me to be editor-in-chief and executive of its communication vehicle. This included pursuing new opportunities which would strengthen its advertising. In the beginning, the partnership worked, but I had little freedom to explore my business vision to generate more revenue. At that time, the company was focused on print, but I knew that all the trends pointed towards digital. That's when I decided to end my participation in this project and found Revista Capital Econômico instead. One year after that foundation, having reached 1 million readers per month and attained global visibility, I was invited to mentor a large news portal in Brazil that has been in the market for 15 years. Q: What has the experience of building the business taught you? I have enjoyed the best lessons a person could have. The main one is that without education and financial management, you won't go far. Today, I am constantly thinking about other possibilities for new businesses and investments. Experiences (both good and bad) acquired since I was 18 years old - having started as a collaborator, worked in large companies in the telecommunications and banking sector, and later opening my own business - instilled lessons about what to do and what not to repeat. Q: Where do you see things headed for you in the next five years? I think about transforming Capital Econômico into one of the most recognized portals in the world and then opening other business fronts. I am willing to start new projects and build a solid successful career. I started when I was 18 and today I'm 37. I think about medium and long-term investments and building successful partnerships and relationships. Many thanks to the entire team of Financial Strategists for the opportunity to talk a little about my work on this channel! It was an honor. For those who want to follow me, below are my communication channels: LinkedIn: kellycoutooficial Instagram: Kellycouto.oficial Email: [email protected] For more information, please visit revistacapitaleconomico.com.br .
Introduction
Who is Kelly Couto?
Business
True Tamplin is a published author, public speaker, CEO of UpDigital, and founder of Finance Strategists.
True is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF®), author of The Handy Financial Ratios Guide, a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, contributes to his financial education site, Finance Strategists, and has spoken to various financial communities such as the CFA Institute, as well as university students like his Alma mater, Biola University, where he received a bachelor of science in business and data analytics.
To learn more about True, visit his personal website or view his author profiles on Amazon, Nasdaq and Forbes.
