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"If you want it, you can do it," this simple but powerful phrase by Luiz Felipe Scolari took conviction to the 11-year-old girl who was too small to play in a volleyball team. Being inspired and persistent at the end of that season, she won her first medal. The experience of overcoming and the faith in the phrase of the one who would later be one of the greatest sports technicians in Brazil, inspired many other decisions in the life of Márcia Costa. The small in posture, the giant in vision and determination by learning the responsibilities of an entrepreneur from an early age. Having always with him that beloved gift of Scolari formatted in words "if I want, I can", decided to be a businesswoman at the age of 15. "I became a Floriculture partner where I had started my professional life," she says. "When I began to deliver the flowers, I became to be sure, I wanted to work in the trade. I loved the charming feeling of seeing the smile on people's faces when they received our orders, " she recalls.

Shortly thereafter, at the age of 17 I became a new endeavor. "I decided to open a clothing store, because I always loved fashion," she recalls. "I come from a humble family, and I never had many conditions to buy a cloth in my adolescence. So my cousin Marga, who is with me until this day, gave me some clothes that I had to redo a bit to fit to the neighborhood. I was so happy with what I got... I think even today is that! We know that fashion brings happiness to people and that is our mission as a company, " she says with a confident smile.

In addition to courage and determination, a lot of research and market studies supported Marcia's plans for the inauguration of the innovative Drops de Menta in 1996. According to her, today's solid company was born to be a franchisor from the beginning. In 2018, just 22 years after its foundation, the brand captains 15 franchises scattered throughout Rio Grande do Sul, and was the first store to structure a Flagship in the South of the country. Next, the nominated as “Manager of the year” by the Association of Managers of the Northeast region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul (AANERGS) – being the second woman to receive the title – tells about her convictions, life trajectory, opinion about the fashion and vision (still avant-garde) for businesses that, as she announces herself, "will follow very beautiful plans for the future".

Most young people are looking for "a good job", a "good placement" in the labour market. What made you confident as a teenager to get a job in a company?

Márcia Costa:  I estimate that at a young age, it was no obstacle. It was really will and determination that made me a businesswoman so early at my age of 15. I think that wanting something, is what gives you confidence to go on. I had a teacher once, a coach, who by the way was Luiz Felipe Scolari, who inspired me with some important words. I was only 11 years old and very small girl. "How am I going to play volleyball, and compete at the municipal level?" He thought. I never forget that he told me, "if you want, you can," that gave me a lot of self-confidence. "I'm going to play volleyball," I was determined. On this occasion I won my first medal. It was one of the things that helped me in everything in life, including making that decision at the age of 15 to enter the floriculture society.

Why did you want to have a clothing store?

I always loved fashion. I come from a humble family, and when I was little, there was no way to buy clothes. At that time I had the company of an older cousin Marga (who is up to this day with me) who gave me her clothes. And I asked a seamstress who lived near my house to redo it. So I've always been passionate about fashion. When I was 17 I got the opportunity to open my first store (small, called Catita, located in a neighborhood of Caxias),  it was a dream come true as well. I believe that fashion represents us. It is not a futile thing. Fashion comes first to us everywhere. Of course, what is inside is important as well as the knowledge, but fashion also has the potential to rejoice, to bring life, and has many experiences to provide us. That moved me a lot, fashion is a very nice area to work at. It's great that you make people better,  and participate in special moments of their lives.

What was your dream when you opened the Drops de Menta in 1996?

Things aren't easy. Maybe because of the young age, the lack of money... It makes us build things in more challenging way.  In 1996 I had just graduated, and wanted to build a company that could grow in the form of franchise, from which we could share our know how and have cost saving on purchasing from the bigger scale. Also, in relation to technology and innovation, the plan was that everything could be implemented faster. Fortunately, Drops de Menta had started successfully. We've been causing a traffic jam on Julio de Castilhos Street, location of the first store. Everybody wanted to know what that old car from 60s coming out of the façade was about. Everything about the Drops de Menta was thought out. From the name, the car on the facade, the business format. Everything was done in order to grow in a solid way.

Aero-Willis from 60s in 1996! Where did the idea of the car on the facade come from?

We wanted to catch the attention of children. Do you believe in it? We wanted them to keep the memory of the store in a positive way, although at the time they were small and could not buy. The idea was to cause an impact. We have employees who, when they were little, passed in front of the store and had the desire to be there. Today, in fact, they are here, growing with us.

Why the name Drops de Menta?

We wanted to connect with one of the 5 senses of people. So we opted for the palate. Hardly anyone had a negative experience with a mint drops. So that was it. I wanted to connect the store idea to something good. This makes people easily remember the name and associate it with a happy moment.

You have created a brand based on several avant-garde concepts for that time when it was not so common for women to undertake, being super young, with a little access to the Internet. How did you search for references to your ideas?

Knowledge is one of the things we most need to seek, all the time. Studying is fundamental, but I love to travel. I learned everything together, practice and theory. I graduated, I did the course of management at UCS (University of Caxias do Sul), concludes the MBA in Marketing by Getúlio Vargas Foundation, but I really think that the travels add a lot. International travels, benchmarking, business missions, participations in entities, engagement to the community, meeting people. Relationships are one of the greatest sources of knowledge we can have. People have a lot of good things to share with us. The more knowledge we have, the easier it will be to make our dreams come true.

As for the American concept of your store, how did you come up with this idea?

In 1991 I made a trip to the United States and I kept to myself many traits of the American retail that I wanted to have in my store. Ease, involvement, always have something different (f.e. cars, on the facade). In 1999 we went through another process of innovation, we changed our logo, and it was also my dream to have the first Southern Flagship of the country.

What is the purpose of this project?

It was a meeting of good things. The most suitable space, the most convenient parking, the guarantee of not having higher prices depending on this, the best of fashion. We also implemented in Flagship the work of the curatorship, to be able to search various brands, national, international, and bring good things to our clients – the best of all in one store. I personally followed the construction of this building, from the first brick, as well as all projects related to it. All thinking about causing a pleasant customer shopping experience.

Why did you decide to launch your own clothing brand?

We felt a lack of a products required by our clients. We researched what they wanted and we began to develop the products within the cost they would like to pay, with the design they would like to have and with our brand. In this way, we have been able to provide products of higher quality and lower cost.  Our brand today is the most requested among others in  Drops de Menta stores.

Can dressing well change someone's life?

Fashion is much more than wearing clothes, it's what you represent. It's what you're going to transmit to other people. Everyone can have their individuality, their style, but we must represent it to the world in which we are inserted. Clothes can help us pass ideas and information about who we are. We seek to respect the individuality of each one by bringing new concepts of fashion. But our purpose is not to serve the fashion itself, but to serve people. We want them to feel confident in their work, beautiful in their events. It's really cool to study fashion behavior. For example, you go on a ballad in the United States. There are a thousand people, among these, maybe one, two or three are highlighted by what they wear. That is, the others are attracted to people, also by their fashion behavior.  We can awaken desires in those around us, desire to approach, to have a relationship, to be called to work, etc. So we bring these references from all over the world and we include in the process of our fashion curatorship, to then have these concepts in our showrooms.

How do you evaluate the experience of bringing so many avant-garde concepts to a region of so specific culture in Brazil as Serra Gaúcha?

Global thinking and acting locally is a key to any entrepreneur. We think of our customers, our Region, today we are spread throughout several cities of Rio Grande do Sul (there are 15 stores in the State). But we are attentive to the whole world. If there's something on the other side of the world working out, we have to bring it here, but always thinking whether for our clients it is good, if for our climate it is good, if it is the desire of our consumers...

Why did you decide to open franchises?

Through the franchise, I can share the knowledge I have acquired in these 30 years of work experience. Not for the purpose of being "big", that's not what led me. The desire always was to be better. I always wanted to be able to have good products and develop them, to use cutting-edge processes, technology, to be able to invest in training our teams. This is much easier when you are part of something. So an isolated, individual store would not have an access to all the processes that our group has today. It is much easier to share know-how, gain cost savings of scale, develop people, and thus have more results as well. Today our wish is yes, to have profitable shops, but it is also mainly to have desired shops.

Woman, businesswoman, wife and mother. How to reconcile family life with so many professional projects?

I consider the family to be the most beautiful thing in our lives. But I also like to say that if we have the unconditional love we have for a son, for our profession, for our work, "there is no mistake." When we do things with dedication, with love, there's no way to go wrong. We will face friction if we start to "fight", for example we are in a place and we are willing to be somewhere else. When I'm a mother, I have to be a mother fully. When I'm an entrepreneur, I have to be an entrepreneur fully. People get lost when they're in one place and wanting to be in another, you know? If we learn to be complete in what we do, organize ourselves well, divide an agenda well, we could be everything we want, a mother, a businesswoman, a wife, a daughter and still be active in the community.

What were your challenges as a woman in your peers, businessmen?

I do not remember having any restriction by being a woman, or I did not take it into consideration. Like I said, a woman can be whatever she wants. If I had any trouble being a woman, I really didn't care. I decided not to see.

What have you researched and accomplished in relation to the concept of unisex fashion?

Today we do not differentiate more the fashion by genre. We live a moment when everyone can dress in their own way due to their individuality. If a woman arrives in one of our stores and wants to buy a men's shirt because it better represents what she wants to convey with her look, we are prepared to advise her. We have to keep clients confident and feeling well. We are prepared for it. We have no prejudice. If there is one thing that the fashion segment can not have is prejudice.

Were your expectations as an entrepreneur which you had when you started, overcome?

I always try to design my life for the next 10 years. And I don't know, they say God gives people what they deserve, but I think I've won a lot more. I was dreaming within a time to have so many stores. Flagship itself, it was already on my mind ten years ago. It is by planning that we begin the achievement of an achievement or a dream. Then it is important to think about how to get there, put the plans on paper, set goals and do what is necessary to reach the goal. Yes, I imagined being here, and yes, I have a bigger and very beautiful dreams for the future too.

How do you seek emotional and spiritual balance to perform all of your functions?

I believe that to develop a good job, we have to be very emotionally and have our family life organized. But the main point is to be at peace spiritually, is not to being at one place and wanting to be at another. It is to realize our positions. By the time I realized that I was a businesswoman, I was a good businesswoman. The moment I realized I was a mother, that I was a good mother, a good wife, a good daughter. Maybe we will not achieve perfection. But if we give our best, it is much easier to achieve it in each area.

What is the future prospect of your brand?

We have a franchising expansion project. The Drops will grow, will develop, but until the time. Our expectation of being good is bigger than the desire to be great.

What kind of people do you seek to move your brand forward?

I believe the most important thing is commitment. We think a lot of who we will put next to us, who will form our teams, who will be our franchisees. They are people who has a legal purpose, who wants to develop themselves, to have professional fulfillment through a work done with a passion. We are looking for people who wants to develop their personal lives, improves their income, profitability, but especially, who wants to be happy. Those who are not happy cannot do a good job.

What advice would you give to young women who today are facing several dilemmas like having children or not, looking for a good job or starting a company?

The woman can be whatever she wants. Everything will depend on the degree of dedication she will have towards a particular goal. I always say that we can be winners or losers, in a certain game of life, everything will depend on the exact moment we will resolve to give up.  If we don't give up, we'll hardly have any losses.

How do you feel about receiving the "Manager of the Year" award at the 24th AANERGS award?

Gratitude! It's very nice because it was the profession that I chose for myself. I have participated in the Aanergs since my student time, since 1989, and I know the level of people who have been honored with this award, so I feel a lot of gratitude.

If you could look at that Márcia from 1996, or for that floriculture girl at  her 15 years old, what would you say to her today?

What a great question! For Marcia of 85th, from 87th, I think I would say ... do it all over again, it will be worth it, your life is good!

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https://www.revistanoi.com.br/editorias/legado/querer-inovar-e-crescer.html