Meet Roberta Barbosa | Founder & Sr. Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Roberta Barbosa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Roberta, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?

In the early stages of my tech career, I used the habits listed below to achieve success. However, as I became experienced, I understood the importance of exercising, networking, and making time for self-care.

a. Goal setting: having a clear goal and a timeframe helped me elaborate a plan and concentrate on its achievement.

b. Determination: this was my driving force. When I knew what I wanted, I was so determined to achieve my goals that obstacles didn’t stop me; they helped me win.

c. Discipline: At one point in my life, I had too many commitments and felt exhausted often, but I knew if I kept on going, my life would change for the better. With that in mind, I found the strength to focus on what mattered and accomplished my goals. 

d. Persistence: I am the type of person who, when I start something, I have to finish it regardless of how challenging it gets. This journey taught me that rejection is not final; it’s a way to show me that I need to change often and keep trying until I achieve my goals.

e. Positive Thinking: things get tough along the way. Even when there’s determination and discipline, I have to remind myself that I’ve got it.

f. Curiosity: everything I do starts with curiosity. My tech career started with curiosity. Also, I won an innovation award because I was curious about creating an innovative solution to enhance an existing product. Curiosity keeps me open-minded and moving.

g. Integrity: I learned at the beginning of my career that reputation is earned by being a person of integrity. I’ve been in tech for over three decades and still live by this.

h. Flexibility: technology taught me to continuously learn, improve myself, and solve problems creatively and flexibly.

i. Risk-taking: I’ve always been a self-starter who takes chances and likes new challenges. When you are unafraid to try anything new that aligns with your values, your life unfolds, your vision expands, your ideas flourish, and you feel fulfilled.

j. Continuous Learning: my approach to continue learning is to research, read everything I can about a subject, talk with people with a different knowledge base, attend workshops and conferences, and present the subject of interest in events.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

My entrepreneurship journey started when I was 18 years old in São Paulo, Brazil. I resigned from my IT job to start over in another company. I was in the IT industry for three years at that point. However, I wanted more, so on my time off, I developed software applications for inventory management, targeting small retail construction businesses, and created illustrative manuals that I distributed to nearby stores. After distributing about fifty manuals and being uncertain about what to do next, I realized I had failed because I made a tremendous mistake by not leaving my contact information on the materials. So, even if I had a chance to have one client, I threw that chance away. Nevertheless, not all that work was wasted. I shared these manuals and my ideas about starting a business with my manager, who later became my career mentor, and this approach opened the doors to growing my IT career.

I have had a successful IT career for 30+ years. 

In 2017, I started an online store to sell gift baskets and left my IT job. Yet, this could not detract me from the tech world. On the contrary, I was still attached to it; my mind reminded me daily of my sacrifices to succeed in my IT career, which held me back from entrepreneurship. Therefore, I failed and got another IT job in less than a year.

Fast forward a few years, and finally, I am on the entrepreneurial path; my mind and heart align with it.

The lesson from these trials is that attachment to a product, service, or career can limit our ability. So, sacrificing sleep time, weekends, and holidays to achieve a goal or become good at what we do is necessary at the beginning. However, the achievement is not the destination but the starting point of a new and rewarding journey, and we must let go of what is holding us back to achieve our full potential.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

I met a visitor from Canada with a unique itinerary. He landed in Miami at night, but his flight to Antiqua would take off the next morning. He was a musician and a night owl, so he asked me for suggestions to explore the area. I recommended places at Brickel, such as Blue Martini for live music and Puttshack for mini golf and drinks.

He made it safe to Antiqua the next day, and we kept exchanging messages throughout the week.

On his return, he landed at Miami Airport late evening. So, we met in a restaurant halfway to our locations, Salt7 in Fort Lauderdale. Salt7 was great for drinks, by the water, and open until late.

The next day, we headed to South Beach and started our journey at Romero Britto’s art gallery at Lincoln Road. Then we had late lunch at 7 Spices Mediterranean Restaurant and Hooka Lounge, where we shared a delicious Hummus appetizer and a Falafel Sandwich.

Our next stop was Ann’s Florist and Coffee Bar in Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale. After having delicious cappuccinos and pastries, we visited a few art galleries.

Our last stop was at Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, where we had dinner at Roccos Tacos and stopped by Johnny Brown’s for music.

The next day, he flew to New York City and then drove back to his home in Canada.

He enjoyed South Florida and, in particular, Miami. He is already talking about coming back in October.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

My shoutout goes to my family for always keeping me on my toes. It also goes to all my professors from Universidade São Judas Tadeu (São Paulo, Brazil) and Nova Southeastern University (Davie Campus) for their mentorship and inspiration. It goes to everyone I met who supported and continues to support me in my journey. Also, it goes to organizations such as Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, Tech Hub, and Shoutout Miami for supporting entrepreneurship. Lastly, it goes to authors from business to spiritual books for their motivation, inspiration, and guidance.

My special shoutout goes to Maria Moura Barbosa, Gabriel Soares Brandão, Professor Rodrigo Araes Caldas Farias, Professor Fabio Uzunof, Professor Alberto Akio Shiga, Professor Rodolfo Goya, Professor David Hoyte, Professor Baiyun Gong, Professor Albert Williams, Dave Norder, William McLaughlin, Mark Sanfilippo, Raymond Glover, Maria Medina, Jenny de Borja, Lisa Diane Hall, Nikki Cabus, John McLaughlin, Keetria Garner-Chambers, Elaine Simmons, Don Miguel Ruiz, Alan Weiss, Stefano D’Anna, Tony Robbins, Steve Lishansky, Eric Ries, Tom Rath, Don Clifton, Joe Dispenza, Eric Garcia.

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/roberta-barbosa-rb

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bertabarbosa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rbrtbarbosa

Image Credits
Bill Barbosa Photography