The Argentine writer was ready to present her book, but no one came to the event. The recognition of her failure made her go viral.
Turning a failure into an opportunity is something that few people know how to do. However, Helena Estrada, an Argentine writer, gave a lecture regarding it when no one came to the presentation of her book.
Helena built a successful career that was crowned with the recent publication of his book owner of your moneydestined to break with the stereotype linked to women and the economy.
But it was not for this that his name resonated in recent days. Helena Estrada went viral on social networks following Post a photo during an event to present your book to which no one went.
“These kinds of things are part of the way. I had experiences of this type in the past and I understood that I am not alone. I also tried to add humor to it, de-dramatize it”, she says.
Inadvertently, the positive side of the lawyer’s “failure story” – Master’s in Capital Markets and Finance – opened a pandora’s box that implies the “cult of success” that is sold on social networks, especially on LinkedIn , the network that unites professionals.
“I think the posting was a catalyst for questioning the use of networks”says.
In dialogue with Profile, the writer redefines the notion of failure as part of the path as much as success, in a kind of act of rebellion once morest the digital world in which content creators abound who defend their authority on different issues at all costs, where there seems to be no margin for error.
The day of the presentation of the book by Helena Estrada
One day Helena Estrada woke up excited. She carried her credit with the successful presentation of her book Owner of your money at the Buenos Aires Book Fair and her agenda was full of events to promote it.
“It had a very good start, I made several notes in the media, some presentations. Smiles, emotions, photos… I confess, it felt wonderful”, says the woman who, like so many others, the pandemic had an impact on her professional career.
Now it was his turn to go to the call of a shopping mall that organized a book signing for him. The idea of taking photos of her with the attendees and then sharing them with her hundreds of thousands of followers excited her. However, the outcome was not as expected.
“I had done a couple of shows before that were really good. In this case, I expected another summons. When I arrived and saw the table in the food court and said: ‘I don’t like this’”comments.
Helena waited but no one came. Instead of taking the situation as something “embarrassing”, she laughed at herself and capitalized on it: she took a picture of herself, uploaded it to LinkedIn where she recounted the details of her stumble, and forgot regarding it. .
“After a few hours, I go to LinkedIn and see an unusual number of responses that are multiplied minute by minute, logarithmically!” He recounts in his publication that had two million reactions, more than 15,000 likes and was shared hundreds of times. .
“Every time I look back, it goes up! (and it scares a little). It is worth reading the comments, they have so much to think regarding… Many value my “courage”, and I am embarrassed to contradict them, it was not an act of courage, rather of complicity”, she relates.
an act of rebellion
There are thousands of reasons why a post goes viral on social networks, especially on LinkedIn, where the logic of viralization is different from that of networks like TikTok or Twitter.
In the case of Helena, it served as a social thermometer for something that is rarely talked regarding but that many suffer from, which is the B side of success: failure or “blunders”.
“I think I inadvertently hit a sore spot, which has to do with the exhaustion that comes from aligning what is our true identity versus our virtual identity. Of forcing us to be artists in the sense of creators of digital goods. Our culture demands that we all create content that adds to our identity or authority on a topic, that is, how you are selling yourself. It’s exhausting and stressful,” she reflects.
Unwittingly, Helena served as a respite for hundreds of people who experienced similar things “in solitude” and who told her their stories in the comments of her publication, claiming the mistake as something human and part of the process.
In this case, a 51-year-old woman with a successful professional career turned into a writer who, even so, blunders, and shows it, in a kind of act of rebellion once morest the logic of perfection that the networks sell.
“The idea was to show that you can be a benchmark in your area and still have a black day. I think that sharing this experience adds up, especially since there are many women with the same insecurities. Knowing that behind a packed auditorium, a brilliant diploma, a luminous promotion, there are many empty corridors. And if we pass by one of them, let’s stop, and make contact. We are not alone, we are just a little shy sometimes, ”she concludes.
