Meet Marely Carbajal | Business Builder | Executive Producer | Family Business Advocate | Leadership Explorer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marely Carbajal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marely, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur is that persistence and stubbornness are not the same thing.
For years, I believed success meant never giving up. I rescued a sinking company, learned new industries, developed products, and pushed through every obstacle I could find.
But over time, I realized that sometimes the real challenge isn’t deciding whether to continue. It’s deciding what exactly you’re continuing.
There have been moments in my career when the question wasn’t “Should I give up?” but rather “Am I still building the future I want, or am I simply protecting the past I’ve already invested in?”
Today, I believe you should keep going when the vision still excites you, even if the path needs to change. And you should be willing to let go when you’re holding onto something only because you’ve spent years building it.
Some people see reinvention as failure. I’ve come to see it as a necessary part of growth. Every meaningful opportunity in my life has come from being willing to release one version of myself in order to create another.
Sometimes growth means pushing forward or choosing a different direction. The important thing is that the future still feels bigger than the past.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What has shaped me the most professionally is learning that everything we create eventually becomes part of someone else’s life.
Throughout my career, I have developed businesses and solved countless operational challenges. While those things matter, I gradually realized that the real challenge is understanding the human being on the other side of every decision.
I rarely think only about what is being created. I think about how it will be experienced, what emotions it might evoke, and whether it can make life a little easier, more meaningful, or simply more enjoyable.
At the same time, I believe we have a responsibility to think beyond the immediate result. That is why I am passionate about sustainability, circular thinking, and finding better ways to create value without creating unnecessary waste.
What sets me apart is that I rarely start with the product itself. I start with the person who will interact with it, the experience it creates, and the impact it can have over time.
One belief has guided me throughout my career: when you genuinely improve someone’s life and remain conscious of the world around you, value follows.
Whether through entrepreneurship, design, or storytelling, my goal has always been the same: to create things that leave people and the world around them a little better than before.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
f a friend were visiting Mexico City for a week, I wouldn’t try to show them the most famous places. I would try to show them the city I love.
The trip would probably start with coffee. Some of my favorite conversations have happened around a great cup of coffee, and Mexico City has an incredible coffee culture. From there, I would spend time walking through neighborhoods like Roma, Condesa, and Polanco; not just because of the restaurants or architecture, but because they capture the energy of a city where creativity, business, design, and culture constantly intersect.
I would take them to local markets, independent shops, galleries, hidden restaurants, and places where you can see how people actually live. I’ve always believed that the most interesting way to understand a city is through its people, not its landmarks.
There would definitely be good food, good wine, and long conversations. We would spend time discovering new ideas, meeting interesting people, and finding the small details that make a place unique.
What I love most about Mexico City is that it can feel incredibly global and deeply local at the same time. You can meet people from all over the world while still feeling connected to tradition, craftsmanship, and culture.
For me, the best experiences are never about checking famous places off a list. They are about curiosity, connection, and discovering stories you didn’t expect to find. That’s what I would want someone to take home after a week in my city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate this shoutout to the people who say yes before there is any guarantee of success.
Throughout my career, whether in business or in creative projects, I’ve learned that the most important moments rarely happen because of one person. They happen because someone decides to believe in an idea before there is proof that it will work.
Over the past year, I had the opportunity to serve as Executive Producer of the independent series “Nunca Fuimos Nada.” Like many independent projects, it existed because writers, directors, actors, crew members, supporters, and friends were willing to invest their time, talent, and energy into something they believed deserved to exist.
The experience reminded me that meaningful work is never created alone. Every major achievement is built by people who are willing to show up, contribute, and believe before the outcome is certain.
For that reason, my shoutout goes to the people who take chances on ideas, on projects, and most importantly, on people. They are often the reason anything meaningful gets built in the first place.

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