Valme Pardo is the Communications and Marketing Manager at ECIJA. She joined the firm as a trainee five and a half years ago, with no prior knowledge of the legal sector, and has built a career that combines her journalistic perspective, her passion for culture and a very personal approach to communication.
“Sometimes we make decisions that take us to certain places. I chose corporate communications; it suits me well and I feel that this is where I belong.”
From journalism to ECIJA
Before joining the firm, Valme worked at the EFE news agency’s Rome bureau, right in the middle of the pandemic. On her return, finding work in journalism was particularly difficult, so she thought: “Well, let’s give communications a go.”
She’d always felt at home in institutional communications and, at that time, what mattered most to her was learning and having the chance to do a bit of everything.
She found ECIJA’s job advert on LinkedIn and applied. She had already moved back to Seville and was in Madrid solely for a commitment when, that very Friday, they rang her to ask if she could come for an interview on Monday. She went through the interviews and assessments and, with her train ticket back to Seville already in hand, she received another call: “Hello, we’ve taken you on.”
“I felt that call was a sign from fate, telling me to stay. And so I stayed.”
Growing at a steady pace
Valme arrived at ECIJA knowing practically nothing about how a law firm worked or about the legal sector. She started out doing a bit of everything, particularly in the digital sphere: social media, the website, WordPress, content, copywriting…
Over time, she has specialised in directories and corporate communications – areas where she feels she can make the greatest contribution and which genuinely interest her.
Looking back, she particularly values the confidence she has gained. Over the years, she has learnt what it takes to tackle a wide variety of situations and feel comfortable doing so.
“I’ve matured at just the right pace. It’s like a stew that’s been simmering gently: tasting it, adding a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper… until it’s just right.”
After five years at the firm, she probably wouldn’t go back to journalism, although she prefers not to say ‘never’: she doesn’t believe in categorical statements nor does she want to take anything for granted for the rest of her life.
“Today I’m doing something I’m good at, that I enjoy, that interests me and that I find fun. And that’s a lot.”
Everything she is, including at work
For Valme, who we are as people has a huge influence on what we bring to our professional lives. Her training as a journalist and her interest in what’s going on around her have enabled her to develop a more journalistic and realistic approach to communication, with a strategic perspective on the media and positioning that she probably wouldn’t have without that curiosity.
“I believe my added value lies in bringing everything I am as a person to my work.”
What she’s most proud of is having been able to propose initiatives related to her personal interests—particularly culture and sustainability—which align with ECIJA and add value to the firm.
“If I hadn’t had the space to be myself, none of this would have been possible. At ECIJA, I’ve found a place where I can create and grow whilst being who I am.”
Learning through discomfort
Change has always terrified her: changing culture, location, environment… everything. But she has learnt that it is impossible to reject it or look the other way, and that it is precisely in that discomfort that there is so much to learn.
She has lived in Rome and London. If she could choose any city in the world, she’d pick Paris or Mexico City. She describes herself as a very romantic person.
“I’d love to close my eyes and wake up one day to find that I’ve been living in Paris for years, with a bicycle waiting for me at the door.”
She doesn’t know if it will ever happen, and right now, she probably wouldn’t take that step. Although, if she’s honest, she thinks she’d be happier in Mexico City.
Culture: what really matters
What Valme loves most is culture.
“The world is wonderful because of culture: cinema, literature, art and music. I’m a bit like *Dead Poets Society*. For me, culture is the only thing that really matters.”
That’s why, when asked to choose a song, a book and a film, her answers are no coincidence.
When it comes to music, she chooses ‘Baby Can I Hold You’ by Tracy Chapman, because it gives her a sense of calm, something very important to her. She also goes for ‘Silver Springs’ by Fleetwood Mac – or, in fact, the whole Rumours album, which is “the soundtrack to my life”.
She always recommends *No Siento Nada* by Liv Strömquist, a brilliant graphic essay. But she’s recommended it so many times that this time she’s chosen *Sostiene Pereira* by Antonio Tabucchi: a short, entertaining novel set in Lisbon during the dictatorship, whose protagonist is a rather hapless journalist whom everyone calls by his surname, Pereira.
And if she had to choose a film with which she identifies completely, it would be *La flor de mi secreto* by Pedro Almodóvar. The protagonist is a writer, part of the story takes place in the newsroom of *El País*, and Juan Echanove appears in it.
“That film is me. And, what’s more, it’s absolutely brilliant.”
A family far from home
Valme left home at the age of 22, which is why she knows how important it is to build a good support network. Ultimately, it’s about finding another family when your own is far away.
Far from Seville, that network consists of her best friend, her dog Sally and, of course, her work colleagues.
“My best friend lives opposite me and is practically family. And I spend more time with my work colleagues than with almost anyone else.”
Enjoying the journey
If she had to sum up her time at ECIJA in a single word, Valme is in no doubt: enjoyment.
“I think you have to enjoy your work. For me, it’s absolutely essential.”
Some career paths cannot be explained solely in terms of job titles and responsibilities. Valme’s story is also told through her journalistic curiosity, her cultural sensitivity and her ability to turn her personal interests into initiatives that add value to ECIJA.
She arrived with no prior knowledge of the legal sector and, five and a half years on, has developed her own way of understanding communication, combining professional judgement with everything that defines her outside the office.
Her story reflects one of the ideas that best embodies the #BeYou spirit: that growing professionally does not mean ceasing to be who you are, but rather finding the space to be yourself more and more.
A career with a personality all of its own and a conviction that sums it all up: enjoy the journey.
