The Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic, UNEATLANTICO) joins this Sunday, November 19, the celebration of the International Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, an initiative promoted by the United Nations in 2014 to recognize the effort and courage of women entrepreneurs, raise awareness of the challenges in the business and financial world, and contribute to female empowerment.
From the Equality Commission of UNEATLANTICO, the commitment to these dates is evident, and on this occasion, we are pleased to highlight the interview with Meri Ingelmo, CEO of Las Hermanísimas, the first audiovisual services producer in northern Spain and teacher in the degree of Audiovisual Communication.
The Origin of Las Hermanísimas
Under the leadership of Meri Ingelmo, Las Hermanísimas has become an outstanding reference in the audiovisual field in the north of the country. This service production company in Cantabria offers integral solutions for those production companies that wish to film in Cantabria, as well as for local production companies that require their services. From location scouting and permit management to the provision of specialized technicians, casting, fitting, photoshoots, shootings, productions, and events. Thus, they cover all aspects related to the audiovisual world.
In the interview, Ingelmo pointed out that, by the time Las Hermanísimas was born, they had already been immersed in the audiovisual field for twelve years. They started working at a national level and then ventured into production services, focusing on collaborating with foreign productions that chose Spain as a stage, providing them with all the necessary support.
And it was precisely during the pandemic that the inspiration to develop the Las Hermanísimas project arose. “We realized that Cantabria and, in general, the entire north lacked a production service, which prevented audiovisual productions from considering this region. So, three years ago, during the pandemic, we decided to launch Las Hermanísimas,” explained Ingelmo, highlighting the opportunity they saw to fill this gap in the industry and contribute to audiovisual development in northern Spain.
Women’s entrepreneurship: a challenging journey
“As production manager and with my sister in charge of art direction, we have dedicated our whole lives to the world of filming. Our philosophy of life is based on embracing the challenge and living in a constant logical imbalance. When we began to develop the project of Las Hermanísimas, we understood that it was not simply a shooting but the construction of a company. For several months, we worked with David Ramos of the Chamber of Commerce to define the identity of the company we wanted to be,” Ingelmo points out.
“The most complex part of this process was the transition to adopting corporate roles and behaving as such,” confesses Meri Ingelmo. The reflection highlights the challenge of moving from being creative and passionate about filming to taking on business responsibilities, highlighting the challenge of balancing creativity with business management in the development of Las Hermanísimas.
Celebrating International Women’s Entrepreneurship Day: A call to action
In Spain, female entrepreneurship has experienced growth, but there are still challenges to overcome. The female unemployment rate has decreased, and sectors such as food show a growing presence of women in leadership roles.
The celebration of this day not only involves recognizing the positive impact of female entrepreneurship but also advocating for gender equality in all aspects of society. In a world that recognizes the inalienable rights of women, UNEATLANTICO joins the call to action to build a more equitable and sustainable future.