Meet our Team: Isabel Salazar, Country Manager Talent Garden Spain
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“We need to do a better job of putting our families higher on our on «to do» list.” Isabel Salazar, Country Manager Talent Garden Spain
I heard about Talent Garden before joining, and I related to their vision immediately. The claim: “The place for explorers and innovators” caught my eye in a second. I remember wondering when it would arrive here in Madrid. Because I wanted to be a part of that community, I wanted to make a real impact on my home city.
Finally in 2019, Talent Garden expanded in Spain and I joined in February. I have to say it has been a roller coaster. Travelling around Europe to get to know our campuses, hiring the team, opening the incredible campus, meeting corporates and institutions. A very challenging and rewarding year. We set up the Spanish team and celebrated the grand opening of our first campus in Madrid. A 5,000 sqm campus with +300 members that also hosts our internal educational institute, the Talent Garden Innovation School. We have hosted +100 events of all kinds with corporations, students and startups communities. We have also started the preparation to open another extraordinary campus in Barcelona in early 2020.
My dream is that our Spanish community will connect with our startups and entrepreneurs abroad, in other cities where Talent Garden is present. One of the limitations for Spanish startups is the unwillingness to grow internationally. Because of the level of investment required, knowledge of languages etc. but above all, because of the lack of connections. Talent Garden aims to close that gap by connecting digital and tech professionals
from around Europe.
On top of that, I am super excited about launching the Talent Garden Innovation School as well. In Spain, 75% of the corporate managers state that they have difficulties in finding the correct talent in certain areas, especially STEM. On top of that, we all know that most of the future careers do not exist right now, so current students and young professionals have to be ready for a continuous learning career path. This is where I do think Talent Garden can play a key role. With our programs on themes such as digital project management, growth hacking, etc., we aim to train local talent with expert faculty and to help them find a job they are passionate about. Talent Garden Innovation School allows our student to learn from the best digital and tech startups.
In 2019 we launched our first Bootcamp on User Experience, and we plan to launch many more courses in 2020. I also hope that Talent Garden can help freelancers and startup founders to find a better balance between work and personal life. For example, the common areas of our campus are all baby-friendly, mums can breastfeed while dads can change diapers in the toilets. I want us to make an impact, to support the community and be the place that inspires innovation.