Unsung Hero: What Jeanologia’s Sustainable R&D Manager Brings to the Table
When you’ve spent 20 years with one company, growing with it and helping shape it into what it is today, it becomes part of you.
And while Jeanologia R&D sustainable processing manager Begoña García may not always land in the limelight, she has had a substantial impact on the company.
“Undoubtedly, Begoña is the best ambassador for the values of Jeanologia. We have been working together for more than 20 years and together we have built Jeanologia. We have designed and walked together the path of eco-sustainable transformation of the blue jean,” said Jeanologia CEO Enrique Silla.
“The greatest achievement of Begoña has been to provide the industry with the E.I.M., the measurement standard that allows us to measure the progress in eco-sustainability. Her greatest treasure is to keep that smile that accompanies her and that already caught my attention the first day I interviewed her 20 years ago,” Silla said. “And the most important thing is that the best from her is yet to come.”
Carved in Blue caught up with Begoña to get the scoop on what she contributes to the team at Jeanologia.
Carved in Blue: How long have you been doing this job? What keeps you there?
Begoña: I joined Jeanologia in 1997—a really long time ago! I have been involved in many different projects and roles and have grown as the company has grown. There are many things that keep me here, like the feeling of being part of a project that started long time ago, the knowledge acquired in finalizing that project and then the need to share this knowledge with the new generation of professionals. But above all, the strong belief that there is not a better place to be in order to transform the industry and influence the creation of great products that are both ethically and environmentally responsible.
Carved in Blue: What does the denim industry mean to you?
Begoña: From a finishing and industrial perspective: endless possibilities and lots of opportunities. But denim is much more that a product to wear. It is history, fashion, handcraft, tradition, technology, past and future.
Carved in Blue: How important is your role to the greater business?
Begoña: I feel we are leaving a very interesting transition period where traditional production methods live together with new production systems and models. Creating a consciousness about the risk to people and the environment of our industrial activities is necessary to identify areas of improvements and take action. In the recent years, I have been working very actively in this area and still doing it with the same passion. But I also see a lot of opportunities outside denim production; and identifying which are these areas, defining new processing routes via the integration of the technologies used in denim, we can bring huge environment benefits, and at the same time even increasing, the quality, the performance and the aesthetics of all kinds of textile.
Carved in Blue: What do you love most about the job that you’re doing?
Begoña: I really like my job so this is a difficult question for me to answer. This job has not only given me the opportunity to grow as a professional but also as a person, and now I also feel very lucky to be part of this industrial transformation.
Carved in Blue: What do you love most about denim?
Begoña: Probably the fact that it is not just a product to wear.
Carved in Blue: What’s the best perk about working in your role?
Begoña: The possibility to influence the industry and accelerate the change.
Carved in Blue: What’s one idea you have for the denim industry that you don’t think enough people are talking about?
Begoña: World has changed too much and too fast. As an industry, we need to be structured in a way that we can satisfy the consumer demands, and to me the demands today are much more than a nice pair of jeans.
Carved in Blue: What does Carved in Blue mean to you?
Begoña: The possibility to know better about our industry and the people that work on it – in a nice way.