With 20 years of executive career, Rodolfo Gomes, co-founder and CEO of PPT GO, focuses on creating value for the black community by giving voice to stories that inspire, through the Black ID column, on the Mundo Negro website.
Rodolfo started his entrepreneurial journey as a child, supporting his mother’s sales in the community where he grew up.
“She was a great inspiration for me, teaching me that to get there, as a black boy from the periphery, I would need to work a lot and study a lot, because it wouldn’t be easy,” he said.
At the age of 18, Rodolfo started working as a credit card salesman in a supermarket, where he had the opportunity to reach higher positions, until occupying executive positions. “When I looked up, I didn’t see other blacks like me,” he says.
In an interview with CNN, Rodolfo drew attention to the low number of black people in high positions in companies in Brazil.
“When we talk about Brazil, only 1% of directorships are occupied by black people. In managerial positions we are no more than 8% of black people occupying it”, he stated.
The CEO said that the few career options were a challenge in his trajectory. “Generating credibility and proving that I could in fact have this delivery was a barrier that I had to overcome every time.”
Reference: CNN Brasil
