A woman for all seasons…

‘If you never stop learning – and keep reaching for your goals – nothing can stop you’

Cleidy Haselow is a Miami-based Brazilian working for a French shipping company. It doesn’t get much more cosmopolitan than that. As CMA CGM America Trade D. Vice President, her focus is on Latin America and on the north-south Caribbean and Latin America trades. Here, Ms Haselow speaks to CM about her life and, more importantly, her work in the maritime sector.

Q. Where were you born, where you grow up and what did your parents do for a living?

A. I was born in Brazil. My father was a government contractor and worked over 30 years for a public Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry. We used to move a lot for assignments in different cities. My mom dedicated her full time to raise me and my younger brother. We were always based in port cities, including Rio de Janeiro where I grew up, and Santos, which is the busiest container port in Latin America. Although shipping was not my first career choice, it has always been part of my life.

Q. Where did you undertake your further education and what did you major in? On completing your education did you have a clear idea of a career path and, if so, did this career path include the maritime sector?

A. I have always been very curious about many industries and since I was young I knew that my desire was to major in several fields and never miss an opportunity to learn. My first bachelor's degree was in Journalism. Two years before getting my first degree in Communications I was hired by Panalpina, one of the world’s leading providers of supply chain solutions. It was there that I was first exposed to the industry and started to learn about the immense maritime world. Certainly, I was interested to learn more and took a second bachelor's degree in International Marketing and then a post-graduate course in Logistics.

I will always remember what one of my first managers in the logistic industry told me on my first day on the job. He joked: “Working in this industry is like drinking cachaça [a Brazilian spirit drink]. Once you’ve tried it, you will never let go.” He was very right about the industry, but as far as I am concerned not about the cachaça, which I don’t like at all. Jokes aside, going to my 21 years anniversary in the industry I understand well what he was talking about. 

Q. What was your first job?

A. I grew up with a very hard-working family. Both of my parents started to work very early in their lives and my journey was no different. My first job was when I was 16 years old, I worked as service contract analyst in a shipyard. My second job, before joining the maritime industry, was in a coffee brokerage, where I used to do a little bit of everything, from following up the stock market data to typing sales contracts or labeling coffee samples from producers all over the country. The fact that I learned different languages when I was young made my start in the shipping industry easier. Since then I have never stopped working and had the opportunity to work in many different fields, especially in the maritime industry: customer service, operations, sales, training and pricing.

Q. When did you first join CMA CGM and what positions have you held?

A. I first joined CMA CGM in 2011 when the company decided to create a dedicated sales focus on the US to Caribbean and Latin America [trade], internally referred as North South Trade. My first task was to develop this customer portfolio in the sales department based in New Jersey. The company invested tremendously in the great potential of this trade, with new services and dedicated resources not only in sales but also customer service. Today we have an entire department with 20 specialized sales professionals dedicated exclusively to promoting North South Trade. I am very proud to have been the pioneer of this project in CMA CGM America. After New Jersey, I joined the Miami Regional Office as trade manager, then was promoted to trade director and today I am the head of trade responsible for export pricing from Latin America and US/Canada to LATAM as well as project cargo, global accounts, cargo flow, tender desk and marketing deptartment.

Q. How long have you been based in Miami and do you enjoy living in South Florida?

A. Miami is the regional headquarters for CMA CGM Latin America and I have been based here since 2013. Florida is well known as the gateway for Caribbean / Latin America. We have a great diversity in our office, which is also very common to the city. We are constantly immersed in different cultures, which is one of the greatest assets, not to mention the year-round sunny weather that always add a special flavor to any regular day.

Q. What’s the best decision you’ve made since joining CMA CGM and is there any decision you got wrong and had to change subsequently?

A. Moving to Miami was one of the best decisions careerwise so far, as I specialize in the Caribbean and Latin America trade. Miami brought me very close to the market. After living in the New York Tri State Area for five years, I was very fond of the diversity of living close to a big city like Manhattan and hesitant to move to South Florida. However, it turned out to be an enormously rewarding experience. The regional office oversees 36 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America and being so close to our market and very different realities, each unique country gives us a palpable experience in understanding our customers’ needs and providing them with our best solutions.

Q. What plans does CMA CGM have for the Caribbean region in the coming 12 to 24 months?

A. CMA CGM provides one of the largest coverages to the Caribbean basin. We have weekly direct services from Canada, US north-east and south-east ports to the Caribbean. The company keeps studying opportunities to expand our footprint in the region. Our main goal is to continue to strengthen our presence as well as to provide value-added services to our customers. CMA CGM keeps investing in innovation and digitalization. The company expansion will provide interesting options for the Caribbean community.

Q. Which person has inspired you most in the maritime sector?

A. I am lucky to be inspired by not only one person but by many colleagues and leaders that I crossed path with throughout these years. I am inspired every day by my hard-working team, men and women with so much passion and dedication for what they do. Every day is very busy, but we always find time to spend quality time together, having positive exchanges and a good laugh.

Q. What advice, if any, would you give to women wishing to pursue a career in the shipping industry?

A. When I joined the industry, it was not very common to see a woman holding a top management position and it was very usual to hear that “women must work twice as hard to be thought half as good”. A lot has changed since then, but it is still a long road. There is no better recipe than growing a thicker skin and always be willing to work your hardest to succeed. If you never stop learning and always keep reaching for your goals, nothing can stop you.

Q. How do you relax outside of work?

A. Tons of sports. Luckily, Miami is a city that invites you to be outdoors. In CMA CGM we have many sport groups that not only provide a great opportunity for team building but also to keep us in shape. We have a weekly running group, we sign up for triathlon challenges together, relay groups in Ironman races and besides that I also practice Brazilian jiu jitsu.

Q. If you retired tomorrow, where would you most like to live?

A. Anywhere closer to my loved ones.