Perla Liliana Ortega is the CO-CEO and CFO of the company Mak Extinguisher of Mexico. A talented woman, highlighted this time as the Professional of the Month.
by Duván Chaverra Agudelo
Let's know a little about the professional career and some personal aspects of Perla Liliana Ortega, CO-CEO and CFO of the company Mak Extinguisher of Mexico, and President in the Mexico National Committee of ALAS International, who has dedicated much of her life to the industry, from the example of business leadership to the academic part as a teacher in business and communication issues. She is also a funny woman, to whom life has put obstacles that she has been able to overcome and from which she has drawn experiences to follow her dreams.
Security Sales: How was your process of linking to this industry?
Perla Liliana Ortega: My parents founded the company MAK Extinguisher in 1981, its acronym means Martha (my mom's name), Arturo (my dad's name) Karla (my older sister and firstborn) Extinguisher refers to putting out the fire. My interest in the industry was born since from a very young age (8 years) I accompanied my mother to work in the office, at age 10 I always participated with my other brothers (Karla current Director of Operations) and (José Arturo current CO-CEO and Commercial Director of the company) in the inventory of the factory. I was involved since then with the manufacturing process of fire extinguishers, however it was until 1999 that I began to collaborate more formally with specific activities and concerning the manufacturing process; however, one of my dreams was to appear in the media as an opinion leader, and/or work in a transnational company. I went to Sodexo, the pantry voucher company to apply for a position as an assistant director; at the same time and while I was looking for other opportunities, in 2002 derived from the departure of my older sister Karla abroad, I joined as a director of the company.
For all the new challenges that came I had by my side people from the company who always showed their loyalty and I realized that the human factor was the most important basis in the organization.
In this expansion of the company, we had in our work team one of the most outstanding and experienced engineers in the country, Eng. Abraham Galarza with whom hand in hand with each project I learned the details, the complexities and also the passion for the fire area.
The first project they presented after my entry into the company was awarded to us and the client was very happy to have been able to understand perfectly the work we were going to do; it was very important for me that feeling not only of having learned something so new for me, but having been able to translate it into something so valuable for the client.
Along with this the challenges in terms of regulations and fire were growing and my sister who was in the United Kingdom studying had also decided not to return to Mexico since she had fallen in love with the culture of the other continent.
In addition to the non-return of my sister from the other continent, what called me to stay in the company was to see how all the people who worked in it had a lot of passion for what they did no matter if they were workers, technicians or managers as in the case of my dad and my brother. I had golden opportunities, that's what I call them, because one of the professionals who maintained my interest in continuing was, Carlos Monroy de Conpel. A great example of professionalism and professional ethics with a human side willing to give us tools to grow and certify our operational staff.
VDS: What people and professionals have been important in your career in the industry?
Perla: 10 years ago my assistant Catalina Santana joined the company, who in addition to being my right arm, is a reference for me because with her management career, and her experience in different companies gives me every day a lot of enthusiasm, affection and loyalty.
There were several people who taught me openly about new technologies, challenges and global vision, one of them was Cristian Scatorchio, who was also Director of Latin America for our company sharing with us his knowledge and bringing us closer to the importance of continuing to update ourselves from venturing into new products and markets, he, together with José Arturo (my brother) took the company to the next level, from national to international, and they approached alas international in Miami and with the great desire to join a crusade of professionalization where they encouraged me to be part of the committee for the elections in which I participated and I was elected secretary of the National Committee Mexico.
Another person who drove me our consolidation in the medium through Expo Seguridad and who injected continuity to this spirit of participation was Jurgen Oliver who with his unique smile and professionalism of a very high level motivated me to trust in my own work and in the importance of optimizing time and effort in the company. Today he is a great friend, who incredibly inspiringly and hand in hand with Andrea Ferrando and George Fletcher motivated me to continue believing in the important work of social responsibility that was the participation with vulnerable groups and the good treatment of people. They brought me closer to the MISSION 500 project that also led me to meet from the personal side another very important woman in the field: Lucy Rivero, from Inalarm, another key company that gave us support and impetus to continue attending large projects.
Although many people have supported me, I want to recognize Cynthia Pérez, because she from my academic training always remained firm with the conviction of my abilities and invited me to participate in teaching in 2010 for the Latin American University Campus Norte, with very positive results that led me to be a professor in addition to Communication Sciences, in Law, Graphic Design, Psychology and president of the academy for the subjects of PPV (preparation for life). And to finish definitively my family and my best friends Paty, Liz, Litza, César, Edmundo, Adrián and Miguel.
VDS: What are your personal challenges, your fears, and your next goals to meet personally and professionally?
Perla: One of my personal challenges is to stay active, studying and reading, although I love reading many times I do not find the necessary energy to maintain the habit; I want to be an example of an opinion leader using electronic, printed media, with participation in workshops and conference cycles that bring a lot of value to all who attend.
My fears have to do with things that I do not know but I am forced to face every day, such as being in public, with an audience that is already so well known to me I need to exceed expectations. Fear that my professional growth will take me away from being able to realize a family relationship or that it will prevent me from being very close to my daughter; fear of not specifying a relationship because I firmly believe that it would give a different sense, a little more complicated to everything I do currently; However I also see a great opportunity to share with all my vulnerabilities and have my heart working that is romantic, that seeks to want to make poetry, that he misses worrying too, that I feed back with love and sincerity so that I can continue to be the best version of me, and that I am transcendent for him, so that he can be the best version of him.
VDS: What do you think are the reasons for your recognition in this market?
Perla: Definitely having had the opportunity to relate quickly with many people in the guild, coupled with my constant work, a lot of willingness to learn and contribute to the need of any of the people around me, the great openness of each person I have met have opened areas of opportunity that I have taken.
I begin definitively by acknowledging the great contribution made to me by all the members of Alas International, especially the Committee that makes up ALAS Mexico; the previous president Carlos García Almeida placed his trust in me and made me actively participate and interact with other security media in various meetings. Where I met other very important friends who have been key in my professional growth in the medium: Yolanda Bernal, Luis Manuel Estrada, Karine Díaz, Salvador Gómez, Itzel Fernández, to name a few.
VDS: What has been the evolution that the industry has had in your country in the years you have been working in it?
Perla: From the outset, the most interesting evolution in terms of the fire industry is the innovation in suppression systems, and the development of new components and peripheral devices with different applications and benefits to make the system more redundant and better in terms of avoiding false alarms; in video surveillance innovation from the part of artificial intelligence and in generating the migration of systems to the cloud.
One of the particularities of the country is that in the culture people are reactive, they do not take prevention very seriously, they do not allocate dedicated budgets, nor do they do risk analysis. This means that, depending on the crime or victimization rates, forced decisions are made and the systems or equipment that are really designed to protect life, the environment and real estate are not proposed.
VDS: How do you see the future of this industry?
Pearl: The future of the industry tends to increase the applications of artificial intelligence, so a significant displacement of people is expected to be reduced by using these technologies, there are serious statistics by profession that give us alarming indicators about the large number of people who increasingly seem to be less useful in society.
The demand to use cutting-edge technologies is also accompanied by equipment that today although they take care to be robust, the vertiginous advance in technology gives the impression to customers that it is necessary to be updating their equipment, so the technological trend considers the scalability and updating of devices with new functions without necessarily having to change the equipment.
Pearl and her other passions
Perla is single and has a 4-year-old daughter, in addition to being CO-CEO and CFO of the company, she is currently a therapist and participates in a citizen initiative called Security for Mexico. She says she was going to be a nun "until I knew nuns didn't get married (laughs). What makes me tell you that I was married almost 5 years in which I had a very strong professional impulse, since in addition to having been able to maintain my profession as a teacher, I was able to continue being a therapist, I updated myself with a Diploma in Relational Gestalt, I concluded my doctoral studies in the research line of History of Education in Mexico, I was a mom and together with my brother José Arturo we incorporated new lines of business to expand the company," she says.
She says that much of this she would not have been able to achieve if she had not had the support of her then husband Luis Antonio Infante García Luna and her mother Martha Porcayo whom she appreciates and respects very much from and until always.
On the other hand, in American football his favorite team is Dallas, and one of his dreams is to be able to go to a SuperBowl. In Mexican football she is a follower of the Pumas.
Perla loves to travel, "it is something that I did not do much time because my work in the company with my other activities almost for 12 years was 18 hours from Monday to Sunday, in the last two years I organize my time in such a way that I can travel.
From my childhood I especially remember my participations in track competitions. In plays I was the palm tree, flower and weeping willow in a play called what a sit-in and in the miserable the famous Jean Valjean where Rodrigo Riberona was my theater teacher. I reached the state competitions in the javelin throw, and I stood out in the municipal ones with athletics events such as 800 meters, discus throw, 100 meters. with hurdles, high jump, length and shot put, I think I could have also been an Olympic athlete, however an unfair disqualification made me think that no matter that I was very good, I did not have the necessary support to continue; at the same time I danced regional dance, my favorite iguana, Hawaiian and jazz.
What I like most about myself is that I consider myself very creative, innovative, efficient, romantic, fun and very passionate; what I like least is that I am stubborn, a little obsessive and sometimes I do not measure in how I say things, the people around me have been hurt. I love the romantic and crazy, the spontaneity and although I don't like to change plans, I love that they surprise me," he concludes.
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