Women With Impact #21 - Verónica García-Arteaga
Welcome to Women With Impact, a newsletter all about the journeys of ambitious women and how they have a positive impact in our world.
I’m Clara Richter and this is the 21st edition of Women With Impact. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with a friend and like it above.
For this edition, I interviewed Verónica García-Arteaga, Co-Founder and CEO at Neggst, who is based in Berlin. She is a Mexican researcher in the field of food, process and packaging engineering and nutrition and recently earned her PhD at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. Neggst is a plant-based egg alternative made out of protein-rich legumes and comes in a liquid form, making it versatile to use. With the product, Verónica’s mission is to reduce CO2 emissions, improve animal welfare, all without sacrificing any delicious egg-recipes.
Wishing you a pleasant read!
Best,
Clara
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The Journey
Who are you and how do you spend your time?
I am Verónica García-Arteaga, Co-Founder and CEO of Neggst Foods, a plant-based egg alternative company based in Berlin. You can find me spending most of my time working either in the office, going to production or between long train rides. As I started with the product development of our most innovative product in 2019, I am still very much involved in the R&D, scale-up and production of our products; however, as CEO, I am also working on the business plan, the investor relationship, the HR and legal topics.
What does impact mean to you?
It means controlling your life and your surroundings affecting those around you and the environment. The impact can be positive and negative - and the stronger the change, the higher the impact.
How do you make a positive difference in the world?
Leading by example of course. Doing what I preach and not letting people tell me what I can/should or cannot/should not do. Maintaining my values and finding the right people to help me and my Neggst team achieve the change we want to create.
The Lessons
How has your journey of making an impact changed you?
This journey has been the hardest lesson on how not everyone needs to like me, how to prioritise and learn to say “no” is one of the most powerful tools I could learn. It showed me that I cannot control everything but I can control how I react to it and how I stay true to my values and convictions.
What's a challenge you have encountered most often and how did you tackle it?
I have been told that because of my scientific background, I should focus on the laboratory part and the product and leave someone else to do the business part. However, as Co-Founder and CEO of the company, I know it is my responsibility to know what is going on, especially when it is related to the finances and legal matters. I have read books, informed myself, and networked with other founders with different backgrounds. This has allowed me to understand more business related topics and finances, while being understanding a lot about our product development and production.
What's the biggest lesson you have learned on your journey so far?
You cannot micro-manage everything and you need to learn when you need help with topics, but you need to be able to control what is happening in the company and have a very good overview of what is happening in every department and with each team member, especially when the company is still small.
The Inspiration
Who did you recently inspire to create impact? How?
I truly believe in leading by example and this is also true for inspiring others either in your family, at work or randomly in the streets. Small actions never go unseen and you never know when you are impacting someone else’s life, so be kind and smile often.
What advice would you give to other women who want to have a positive impact?
Trust yourself. If you want to do something, just do it. There will never be enough preparation, time or money. Just start, trust the process, keep pushing, especially when things get hard and definitely learn to ask for support when needed.
Enjoyed this or have any feedback? Let me know in the comments!
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