An Addition to the Vorwerk Family
Thermomix® Teamleader Carmen Bejarano is a true icon in Spain. With her daughter Marina Lara already a Branch Manager today, the next generation is now building a career of its own at Vorwerk. Mother and daughter support each other wherever possible – and are so passionate about their job that they regularly win over new people to the company and the product.
Sometimes it's chance that pushes someone in a happy direction: In February 2020, shortly before the outbreak of the worldwide COVID pandemic, Marina Lara was spending a few days with her mother, Carmen Bejarano, one of the most successful Thermomix® advisors in Spain. As her job in Madrid had just come to an end, she wanted to use the time in Jerez de la Frontera, 600 kilometers away, to write a few job applications. “But then the pandemic came along,” Carmen Bejarano recalls. Marina Lara stayed on longer. And thanks to the wealth of experience she had gained from her studies and her work in advertising and marketing, she was able to help her mother to overcome the challenges the COVID pandemic suddenly posed to direct sellers. “She helped me get to grips with the online world. Her tireless efforts also prompted me to ask her– not for the first time – if she would like to become a Thermomix® advisor,” says Carmen Bejarano. And that’s how an intergenerational success story began.
“Up to that point, I had always rejected the idea of working as an advisor. For as long as I can remember, I saw my mother going in and out of the house, loading the Thermomix® into the car, visiting customers on the way to private lessons, recruiting cashiers at the supermarket … everything always revolved around Thermomix®,“ recalls Marina Lara , who as a 3-year-old was actually present at her mother's interview for the job. Then during the COVID pandemic, her attitude changed. “I was acting practically as her secretary. We cooked up so many spectacular recipes and held online cooking courses. I was always the one behind the camera. I edited videos, helped with Facebook posts and did lots of other stuff.” That’s how Marina Lara finally decided to take the plunge herself.
“I can make my dreams come true”
The 27-year-old has not regretted that decision. She has since risen to the position of Branch Manager for Tenerife South. “This adventure is the reason I moved to Tenerife, to a place I had never been before and where I knew no one. My sales team on Tenerife is my family. This job has also enabled me to mature, both professionally and personally, to become stronger, to see parts of myself I had not known existed, and to cope alone with situations I had never expected to experience,” says a delighted Marina Lara.
And her mother is naturally also thrilled that her daughter took that step: “I always wanted my daughters to join the company because in the 23 years I have been working there, Vorwerk has given me so much back. Vorwerk and Thermomix® are my work and my life. Thanks to this company, I have achieved things I never dreamed of. I’m talking about all of the trips, the meetings, the conferences, the fantastic colleagues, but also the financial possibilities that arose for me,” says Carmen Bejarano. “The job not only enables me to finance our life as a family, but also to make my dreams come true.”
A well-practiced team
Today, mother and daughter are a well-practiced team. Not only when they meet up regularly at conventions and conferences, but even when they’re on the phone, the conversation always revolves around Thermomix®. “Every time we talk on the phone, we ask each other how we are coming along with our targets,” says Marina Lara. “My mother always gives me valuable tips because she’s been doing the job for so long. I, on the other hand, try to simplify things for her by wording information differently to make it easier to grasp, providing examples and much more.” And it goes without saying that the pair also pursue a common goal: “The people around us see how we act as ambassadors for Vorwerk. That’s our “green blood.” So it’s inevitable that we try to get everyone around us enthusiastic about Vorwerk and Thermomix® and to recruit them,” explains Carmen Bejarano. Because: “Even though Vorwerk is a sales-oriented company, people are its central focus. Every effort is made to ensure that each and everyone here can participate, receive training and develop. That's an opportunity we would like to bring to other people, too.”
Text: Markus Wasch
A strong duo: Thermomix® team leader Carmen Bejarano and her daughter, branch manager Marina Lara.