In our 5 Minutes With… series, we’re speaking to remarkable women about their career highlights, challenges, who they admire and advice they have for other women. 

What’s your name? What do you do, and how long have you been in Shanghai?
Monica Muriel Zurita. I run Zurita, a “different” fashion brand. I have been in Shanghai for 9 years.

What do you think is unique about being a professional woman in Shanghai?
I think there is millions of opportunities, there’s everything from big corporations to chances of doing your own little thing. There’s also the extra help you can easily access if you have kids. On the negative side, in general, we expats do not have our family around to help and for many women this is still a place where they have follow their spouses, so they are “in transition”

My biggest career challenge has been…
I changed my career path completely when I was 30 already and in China. It was tricky because it seemed that your experience and network was not valuable anymore. But I don’t think so, I really think we live in a world in which soft skills are becoming increasingly important (because those are the ones technology can not substitute) and your contacts and experience can be applied in a cross sided way, which might give you a whole new perspective of an industry

My advice to other female professionals in Shanghai is…
This city is full of opportunities, most times you have to think long term and calculate like in a chess strategy how can you get where you want in two or three steps, but you definitely have more chances of getting there than in many other places. Also, I would say that even if sometimes the opportunities it will bring to you are not exactly related to what you expected from your career or what you will pursue back home you will find yourself immerse in such challenges that for sure it will make you stronger as a professional, so don’t miss it.

A work or career highlight has been…
The night we opened our first Zurita store was really like a dream, I have been an entrepreneur long enough by then to know that actually that was just the beginning of a long and hard journey, but still it’s my best professional memory by far.

What I like most about my current position is…
Everything. It allows me to do everything I love, I design, I manage a team, I meet people, I feel I am accomplishing something and helping people feel better somehow on their skin…I am extremely lucky.

The career woman I admire most is…
Yael Aflalo, she is the founder of The Reformation, one of my favorite fashion brands advocating for a more environmentally friendly fashion, started from scratch and now has revenues over 25M USD. In simple words: I want to be her one day!

I am passionate about…
My kids, fashion, making the world a better place through little changes that are accessible to everybody

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