In the beginning, raising funds was difficult, and finding the right talent was also required to build up this new technology. So you can imagine, as a new company which nobody knew about, we needed to start making a little bit of noise.
-Cristina Aleixendri
Episode Summary
In this episode of Logistics with Purpose, co-hosts Enrique Alvarez and Nuria Sierra shine a spotlight on organizations dedicated to making a positive impact. Their guest, Christina Aleixendri, shares her journey with bound4blue, a company developing automated wind-assisted propulsion systems for ships.
Christina’s story encompasses her transition from wanting to pursue medicine to becoming an engineer, driven by her passion for problem-solving. She delves into the challenges of starting a company and the technological innovations behind bound4blue’s solutions.
Listen in and learn more about the importance of purpose-driven work, the impact of regulations on the maritime industry, and the future of sustainable shipping. Learn why Cristina emphasizes the significance of finding purpose in every job, and how you can apply it to your own journey.
Episode Transcript
Intro/Outro (00:02):
Welcome to Logistics with Purpose presented by Vector Global Logistics in partnership with Supply chain. Now we spotlight and celebrate organizations who are dedicated to creating a positive impact. Join us for this behind the scenes glimpse of the origin stories change, making progress and future plans of organizations who are actively making a difference. Our goal isn’t just to entertain you, but to inspire you to go out and change the world. And now here’s today’s episode of Logistics with Purpose.
Enrique Alvarez (00:35):
Welcome, welcome, welcome to another very exciting episode of Logistics with Purpose. I’m your host, Enrique Alvarez, and I have the pleasure of co-hosting with Nuria today. How are you doing today, Nuria?
Nuria Sierra (00:46):
I’m really good, thank you. How are you, Enrique?
Enrique Alvarez (00:48):
I’m doing great. How’s the week going for you? Tell us one positive thing that happened to you this week. Oh,
Nuria Sierra (00:54):
I’ve been skiing over the weekend. Yeah, very close to where Christina is at the moment actually.
Enrique Alvarez (01:01):
Well, that’s exciting. And we haven’t really co-hosted in a while, so I’m very excited to be able to co-host and of course we have an amazing guest for us today. Go ahead, Nuria, why don’t you just tell us who we have.
Nuria Sierra (01:12):
We have Christina Alexandri Munoz. Oh, nearly there. So sorry.
Enrique Alvarez (01:20):
Is that Italian, Christina or where? Well,
Cristina Aleixendri (01:23):
I have a very good story about that. I was in the electronics class in university and then a professor of mine approached me and started speaking to me in Greek and I was like, okay, I’m going to fail this project. I really, I’m not understanding anything at all that I realized. This is a Greek surname. So anyways, San Catalan, by the way, Spanish.
Enrique Alvarez (01:43):
Okay, well that’s great. Actually. Bar’s playing today. Fingers crossed. We’ll win. But anyways, we haven’t even introduced you yet. Go ahead, Nuria.
Nuria Sierra (01:49):
Yeah, no, I was going to say that Christina is the COO and Co-founder at Bond for Blue. Bond for Blue is a company that develops automated wind assisted propulsion systems as a turnkey solution for all ship owners and shipping companies seeking to reduce fuel coasts and polluting emissions. So that is a lot and that’s very impressive, especially now days. So welcome Christina, welcome to our podcast and thank you for being here as well. Christina, I would like to start off, can you please tell us a little bit about where you grew up, something about your childhood?
Cristina Aleixendri (02:34):
So I was born in Barcelona in 1991, so you can make up your numbers and know what I am. I initially started living in Barcelona until I was like two years old, and my family then decided that they wanted to provide their children with more calm environment, so they decided to move to the outside of Barcelona, to the countryside. So I’m the smallest of the family of five. So I have an sister and brother. They’re not coming from engineering, so I was the strange Sheldon Cooper person in the family, but I’m very glad about that. I mean, I’ve learned also a lot about of them also so well basically of myself living in the countryside, which I really am very grateful for my family going outside, which really brought me the love I have for nature and for Mountain.
Enrique Alvarez (03:20):
Awesome. Well that’s incredible and I was looking through your website and the company and just for anyone that’s out there, we’ll put all the different links at the end of the interview, but it’s amazing. The technology is amazing, the purpose is amazing, the culture’s amazing, and so I can hardly wait to deep dive into how you came up with this and all the different successes that you’ve had. But before we do that, I mean, can you tell a little story or can you share a story of when you were younger maybe that started pointing you into the right direction to what you’re doing now?
Cristina Aleixendri (03:51):
I think there’s two big things. One of them is that when I was younger I was saying I’m part of family of five, but indeed there were two more people, which were my grandmother and my grandfather, which also lived with us. So somehow I had to take care of them too as part of the family, not with the same responsibility as my mother or my father, but sometimes I spent too many time at hospital like being with them. And I realized at that moment they tell you, what do you want to be when you are older? A lot of people would say football player. And because I was always in the hospital, I was saying, okay, I want to be a doctor. But really the reason was not because I really loved blood or really loved to open people. So really what I really wanted was a meaningful job.
(04:32):
And at that point I thought, okay, the only people that I’m seeing that are making something meaningful are these people which are surrounding me, which are saving the life of my grandfather in that case. So years later, this evolved a little bit and I’m really grateful, this is the second point, to find professors of mathematics that really helped me to understand mathematics. I was very bad at maths and physics and whatever had numbers. I was really very bad at it. Really? Wow. Failed. Yeah. I mean it was always below five. Yeah, my scores were very, very bad. And I always say that it’s not that you don’t know maths, it’s that basically didn’t have a good professor because maths are like, I mean everybody has logic within themselves. So they helped me to understand and I was really fortunate about that until one point that I reached one of my professors, which was the year before deciding my career, the one that I wanted to apply to.
(05:23):
So I was always thinking, okay, let’s go to medicine. And I was working hard to enter the university to become a doctor, but this professor, which was an engineer, really acted as a role model for me. And she got me and she told me, you know what, Christina really your eyes bright when you were in class of physics and mathematics, have you envisioned yourself in an engineering path? And she helped me decide a little bit. So I think I’m grateful for the two sides for those doctors really showing me that you can work and have purpose, not only as a doctor and this professor of mine also, which I’m very grateful
Nuria Sierra (05:57):
Of. Wow, that’s amazing. It’s so important to have someone that inspires you when you are at school listening. Well, Christina, your educational background is nothing short of impressive. You hold both a bachelor’s and a in iron engineering focusing on propulsion from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. What makes it even more interesting is the unique trilingual setup of the program. This courses in Catalan, Spanish and English. So that really highlights your linguistic skills. So beyond engineering, you have broaden your horizon with moonshot thinking for entrepreneurs at ADE and further training at the University of Cambridge. So topping off your academic achievements, it’s an EMBA from ESA business school. So that perfectly matched your technical expertise with a strategic business knowledge. So I’m curious to hear about your journey through these diverse experiences and what drove you towards this particular fields. I know that you already told us the story of that teacher that inspires you, but how have they shaped your career path?
Cristina Aleixendri (07:12):
I would say that first of all, becoming an engineer. What’s this desire to solve problems and make it for societies or solve the problems of everybody? I mean day-to-day problems. So that was on the engineering side, but then you realize once you keep studying on these technical path that really to bring this to reality, you need the business side. So for me, it was essential to put and build those bridges between the business and the engineering side. And that was what really motivated me to start these mini courses one week, one month programs until it arrived a point in 2020, maybe because I was during the outbreak lockdown at home and crazy, I decided to apply for an executive MBA, which is something that for those who don’t know, it’s like an MBA that you do on Friday and Saturday complimentary to working and to traveling.
(08:00):
And just because Mount BU was at a point that I thought that my knowledge was not enough to bring it to the next level. So it’s a desire to solve problems, but also a desire really to know, learn and be prepared for the challenges. It’s like the tool that I needed at that point. So really, I’m not sure if this is impressive or not because I love to learn and I think that’s something very, very good of us as people, as human beings. So really I think I will keep learning with this desire to really solve problems
Enrique Alvarez (08:26):
Well, it’s not only very impressive, but also inspiring for everyone out there, especially if you combine what you just said and your amazing curriculum with the fact that you weren’t that good at math at the beginning and you actually hated numbers, you completely turned that around and you basically ended up loving numbers and math and physics and a lot of different things that are mathematical in nature. So thanks for sharing. That’s a really interesting story. You started your professional career at your university as right the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, and I’m going to have to read this. The title is incredible. It’s a computational fluid dynamics analyst engineer, which I have no idea what that means. So you’ll have to explain us what you were doing. But more importantly, looking back at your career, all these different positions you’ve had, what do you get out of it? I mean, you get the knowledge of all these different topics, but what did you learn as a person, as a human being after kind of going through all
Cristina Aleixendri (09:22):
That? With respect to what I did, that was during my last year I think. So if I’m not wrong, that 10 years ago I wanted to really invent things to solve problems because the paths that really opened to me when the university was going to finish were more on consultancy and more on company established companies, but on a very checklist based workday. I mean no room for doing something and for solving the problems, just doing the same all of the day. So really I wanted to see if a career in university was something suitable for me. And that was great because I was able to cover that inventing things, like really exploring the impossible. But then the problem here that I realized very quickly I would say that this wasn’t going to be implemented, never at all, or if it was going to be implemented, it would take so many years that for the time until it’s developed, really the problem.
(10:16):
I mean, you need to solve the problem, but also on time, which is something, one of the topics in shipping too. So we can arrive to decarbonization now. We need to do it fast. So in the same point, I decided at that point that a career in university as a research base wasn’t something for me. So I learned a lot. I mean, I learned what I wanted and really I learned that I could do whatever I wanted, that I had the tools at that moment and that if not, I would find a way. That was the point. I was very optimistic at that time, just picture myself with 23 years old at that time, wanted to in Spain would say that would be the world.
Enrique Alvarez (10:50):
Yes, you’re right out of the school. You want to do things and impact and Well, I wanted to ask you a follow-up question. Where do you get your entrepreneurial spirit from? I mean, it sounds like you’re very entrepreneurial in nature, very curious. You wanted to invent something. Do you attribute it to someone or something or you’ve always been entrepreneurial?
Cristina Aleixendri (11:08):
I haven’t been entrepreneurial, I would say before Bound for Blue. I think it’s a mix. Of course, my mother, my father had a company and they owned that company. Then also my co-founders, Jose, Miguel and David, they were somehow also entrepreneurs. They were friends of mine also before starting for Blue. So they were also an inspiration to me, I would say. And then I think it’s also a mix. I was very crazy and I didn’t think it twice. It was just, okay, there’s a problem. We have a solution. I’m an engineer, and engineers tend to believe they know everything, then they know nothing. But in any case, I thought, okay, let’s do it. I really didn’t think it very much. And then things kept rolling and rolling and bigger, and there was no way of getting out of there. And I love it. So I’m just still here fighting for it.
Enrique Alvarez (11:50):
Amazing. And I guess before I pass the bat, Nuria, she has a question and we’ll deep dive into your company Bound for Blue, which is again, and I’ll stop to just say it again, if you have to go to their website. It’s amazing. The technology is incredible. Where do you get your law for the ocean? Do you have a special connection to the ocean? Is that something that attracts you or that was also kind of random? I
Cristina Aleixendri (12:11):
Wouldn’t say I hate ocean. I don’t hate it, but I’m not a sailor
Enrique Alvarez (12:16):
Really. It’s
Cristina Aleixendri (12:16):
True that during summer we had a small leisure boat to make activities with my family, and we went there for one month to the beach. It’s very typical in Spain. I mean hot weather, but maybe I’m more on the cold weather, the mountains. I love hiking. It’s on the other side. It’s just who cares? There’s so many problems that we as society are facing that I can handle everything and my life is limited. Just choose one. And for me, that was a big problem where I could bring really something considerably good enough.
Enrique Alvarez (12:47):
It’s a huge problem. You’re absolutely right. Huge, huge problem. And you guys are contributing tremendously to solving it. So once again, this is great. And go ahead, Nuria.
Nuria Sierra (12:57):
I love this conversation because that was when my previous conversation with Christina, I also asked her precisely, do you say, are you yourself? I have exactly the same. So Christina, almost 10 years ago in 2015, you started with the vision of Bound for Blue and now it is a successful company. Can you tell us a little bit of your mission and what makes it so special for you in your role as a co-founder and CEOO, please?
Cristina Aleixendri (13:28):
For me, really it’s essential, the mission of Plan for Blue, and it’s really my why because sometimes with the ups and downs that you can have as an entrepreneur, really it’s very important to have these why and our why makes it sustainable. But in an economical way, we thought that the solutions that were offered at that moment or put on the table we’re not competitive in cost, and that wouldn’t help society with the needs that they require for this sector. So basically it’s making sales a standard in shipping again, so bringing sales back to ships. And really, if you think about it, it’s very logic because I think it’s one of the few sectors that started being 100% sustainable than becoming pollutant. And really we’re trying to find a very crazy solution to make it sustainable while going back to the auditing really makes sense. But with the noble technology we have today and with automation processes and so on, so this is our mission.
Enrique Alvarez (14:16):
There’s nothing better than just harnessing the power of nature like the wind or the waves or the saw the sun to really do what we’ve been doing for centuries. Sailing and shipping using fuel has always been the way we do things. So I’m glad to see that technology coming back. And speaking a little bit more about the technology, you actually developed an very unique way of doing it. Your sales, which I believe are called Esales, have a very particular technology. Could you tell us a little bit more about technology for all of those that I am an engineer, but for all those that are not engineers in a way that we can understand it, they don’t look like sales to me when I see the pictures,
Cristina Aleixendri (14:54):
It’s true. I mean, when I speak and I say that Bon for Blue is bringing sales back to ship again, they imagine this old sales from the past, like colo definitions, so they’re made of rigid material in this case is steel building steel. They’re fully autonomous and they’re so efficient that they’re very compact. So they’re quite small. It could even look like a small MA on a sheet. Yeah, yeah, they’re quite different. So how does it work? These technologies based on the suction sale concept? So this concept, even the first time they applied the suction of the airflow surrounding a profile was around the thirties, and that was done by naca, which today is nasa. So that was done in the aeronautic sectors for airplanes. This was a system that a methodology to generate thrust, very high amounts of thrust that was abandoned for airplanes because if the suction failed, then the airplane would crash.
(15:42):
And the other reason why, because to generate the suction in an airplane wing, they needed the wings not to store fuel. So today they’re using the wings to store fuel. So they couldn’t apply this concept really to aeronautics. But this whole concept in the eighties was again applied by Jackto Foundation together with two other inventors, professor Mal and cia. It’s part of our team today, and they applied this concept to a small ship. So we’re bringing back this whole concept of generating sacking the airflow surrounding the profile to generate eight times more savings than what an rigid sale would generate. So that means we are able to offer a solution which is much more compact with less cost, less maintenance, less impact on visibility and stability. So really making sure it meets the requirements of the
Enrique Alvarez (16:26):
Industry. Very convenient too, right? Because they save space, which you need for storing other things on the vessels and very unique. And I’m sure that this was a long journey, right? You’re talking about this very easily and quickly, but as a researcher or former researcher and now someone that runs the technology side of your company, what was the prototyping phase like? And of course you must have had tons of challenges. Could you share a couple and how you resolved them?
Cristina Aleixendri (16:51):
I would say first of all is that shipping at the time we started was not a very sexy industry to invest in as a BC or as a private investor, wealthy individual. So basically raising funds was difficult. And for an industrial company like Bon for Blue that has to develop large scale systems, really implementing these prototypes was highly intensive in resources, economic resources, we find the way we even received a lot of support from public funding, even from the EU level and national level here in Spain, and then finding the right talent was also required to build up this new technology. So you can imagine a new company which nobody knows about. So you need to start making a little bit of noise, start really trying to attract the best people to build the solution which is suitable. And finding the first customer also and iterating with the market, I think was one of the hardest points indeed, that meant that it took us a little bit more time to build that solution with like they say in the us, maybe the minimum viable product and so on.
(17:47):
But I hate this word, but in this case was very difficult because every time we went, we were getting very weak answers. Like, okay, what is the admissible payback you would be willing to accept? And some of them were saying one year and some of them were saying 20. So really when you were building up the system, you had no clue really about the price that you could set. Is it reasonable? Will they pay for it? But even the solution itself, they really didn’t believe that wind proportion I would say was going to come back at that point. So I think they weren’t taking us very seriously, or at least the ones we spoke to.
Enrique Alvarez (18:17):
It’s very interesting that when you’re talking about challenges, I thought you were going to go the well the technology way, but no, so the challenges were more on the convincing others that your vision is worth investing in, which is again so interesting to me, right? Because it’s all about humans and we’ve been as humans, I mean, we’ve been investing in crazy projects our entire history, getting to the moon and things like that. So it’s interesting to know that that’s where you were struggling the most. But I’m happy to tell everyone that you have passed that phase it seems like, and people finally understand that if we need to do something to save our planet, and you can start to see people definitely coming back and coming back hard. So I’m very, very happy and again, super inspired with what you’ve done. So thank you so much.
Nuria Sierra (19:01):
Christina. Remember the conference in London where we met Ship Zero? I remember there was a very delightful experience for me, and you mentioned that at the beginning of the conversation, everything started with you asking me to take a picture while you were doing your speech because nobody else was there. I was. And you started talking about what Bound for Blue was doing, and for me it was so inspiring, especially considering how this technology contributes to improving greenhouse gas emissions for both new build and existing vessels. But can you share some insights into the installation process and its adaptability across different types of vessels?
Cristina Aleixendri (19:44):
Sure. Maybe I should thank Dana, which is our head of marketing that is always asking us to take photos to present it the social media. So thank you Dana. So yeah, with respect to your question, the installation process can be very smooth. In this case, you have maybe two options. If you have a scheduled dry dock for maintenance, then we would install the reinforcement and the sale all at the same time while you’re doing the normal activities at the yard. But then you also have another option, and if you have the window very close to the signature of the contract, we can do this reinforcement, then start manufacturing the sales and install them later at a port call wherever in the world. So it can take a small amount of time. It’s true that the reinforcement, it’s Val engineering themes here, Naval architects will know about how much time it takes, really not that much, but in the case of installing the sale, which people tend to believe, it takes a lot of time like verticalizing connecting it and so on. For a master shipping for the M traveler, it took us two hours per se. So really it was very, very fast. I mean we did it at a port called in Ow, ow. And it’s suitable then for different types of segments. So for new builds, existing row tankers, bulkers, nearly whatever type of ship, what I would say is the ship needs to sail in a area where there’s wind and then the ship needs to have available space on deck to receive and install those sails. That’s like what are
Nuria Sierra (21:06):
The dimensions? Out of curiosity of a sail,
Cristina Aleixendri (21:10):
It goes from 12 to 36 meter high. So depending on the size of the ship, you would install one unit, two units, three units, depending on one model or another model. I mean it really depends. And also the operations of the ship would limit the type of model and the unit. Then of course you have to meet with solace, visibility, stability, and you work with the classification society. But really it’s a quite straightforward process I would say.
Enrique Alvarez (21:33):
And Christina, you currently have war sales up and running or what’s the numbers right now?
Cristina Aleixendri (21:38):
So we’ve already installed our system on three ships. That’s four sames in total. We have several ships this year. So the first one will be Aurora, which is owned by Lure fo arm and chartered by Airbus. And this one will be three sails of 22 meters high. Then we have other projects with Lure fos company, not Arm, that’s another company. So lure fos company for a juice carrier. We’ll be installing units even of larger size, more units. Also a project with Fel Norwegian ship owner in the tanker segment. And also we also have a very nice project, new build, which we recently announced for the French Polynesia where we’ll be installing one unit of 22 meters. So we have different types of segments where we’ll be installing the system, either new build and existing
Enrique Alvarez (22:22):
And a part of everything you do for the company and everything you’ve done in your career, very successful and short career. May I add, you also are involved in 10 additional global projects, and I heard, or I think Noria told me that you have like five patents as well. Could you tell us a bit more about your other projects briefly? But then more importantly, you have talked in very prestigious events like the COP 24 at the UN and the European Parliament, and I’m sure that you’re actually getting your schedule full as we speak right now. How do you see technology evolving? What’s your relationship to technology when it comes to using or leveraging technology to achieve economic, social, environmental sustainability?
Cristina Aleixendri (23:03):
People tend to think that technology is something that you need to be scared of. When we speak about artificial intelligence right now, people are always seeing the bad side of technology. I think that as the world evolves towards having more and more and more technology and faster, I mean what took a lot of years to bring the technology point to the one we have today will not take the same time. It’ll go faster and faster, but of course you can focus on the bad things, but it’s basically focusing on the good side. So it’s technology. I think that technology will and ease at the service of people. So it has to be purpose driven. And then there’s another aspect with technology that I always say is that if we need more skills in technology today as a society to build new tech and the new solutions, it is as important as having these social roles like let’s say ethics. I mean it’s of much more importance like philosophy, this sort of not techy backgrounds, but more humanistic backgrounds, much more needed to really see if really this technology has been built for the purpose of society and has a very good purpose behind. But technology is not good nor bad. It really depends on the purpose you have built and the way you use it.
Nuria Sierra (24:13):
So according to the World Trade Organization, maritime Transport continues to be the primary mode for international trade serving as the essential framework for global supply chains and accounting for over 80% of the world trade volume. Given this, how do you envision the future if companies persist in relying on conventional fuels instead of transitioning to zero emission technologies?
Cristina Aleixendri (24:39):
I think that regulations really are pushing very hard, at least the market to make a change. And I think they have no choice rather than to take those technologies. What I think is that those that are just willing to rely on fumes and not making investments today will for sure experience a higher increase on the cost side so their profits will lower. And that’s because I’m starting to see there’s a lot of owners saying, okay, I understand alternative fuels will not be there and they will be expensive. So what other things do I have in the middle to help me in this decarbonization journey? But then there’s others that are just waiting and seeing and they want to rely on some sort of magic fuel that will not be cheap. So basically those who wait will have to experience this higher cost. And I’m really grateful to see the IMO really that we saw recently pushing harder.
(25:27):
Some of us maybe would say maybe they could have pushed farther or not. I mean we’ll never know. But then also seeing the European Union setting up the inclusion of shipping in the emission trading system fuel, which will come by and will have a huge tremendous effect. Other countries willing to follow the same path as the European Union, which I hope this will push also the IMO to say much later, even stricter like deadlines to push the whole industry. So really I would suggest people to consider different solutions for sure alternative fuels will be needed. I think it’s an end of these conventional fuels that you were speaking about, and there’s a wide variety there. It’s not just wind propulsion. We never said we were going to solve the whole problem, but it’s mixed between a lot of solutions, which today have proven to be successful and safe and reliable.
Enrique Alvarez (26:13):
Absolutely. I like the way that you guys are approaching the problem too, because it’s a compliment to other things you’re not replacing entirely. You can just use it to continue to reduce the cost. And as you mentioned, right fuel, either special or standard or any type of fuel will continue to be more expensive. That’s just the way it will be. So some of these technologies, yours in particular, can be implemented right away to save some costs as we continue to develop new technologies into the future. So well said Christina, and thank you so much for your leadership style. I wanted to change gears a little bit and I just wanted to ask you more like a personal question. In terms of your successful career, what has been your biggest reward so far? I mean, what do you look back and say, this is awesome, I’m great, I did this. What are you kind more proud of so far?
Cristina Aleixendri (27:01):
Something I really feel proud of. It’s not just that we’re offering a solution which is delivering results or seeing those results, seeing the first customer’s release. This is something I feel proud of, but also making sure we’re as a company, providing something more also to society. There’s another line of companies that they need to offer highly value added jobs, like really helping people be better professionals and be better people. Also in society. There’s much more into it. I’m really grateful. I’m not sure what will happen with in two years, five years, 20 years, but really when it comes to the end of the day, I say I’m grateful for the point where we are and really proud of everything we’ve accomplished altogether. So really working as a team. I mean the friends I’ve also met, not just colleagues, but have become friends also and working all together for one unique purpose. I’m really proud of that.
Enrique Alvarez (27:50):
By the way, are your grandparents still with you?
Cristina Aleixendri (27:53):
No, unfortunately not.
Enrique Alvarez (27:54):
What were their names? It sounds like they were like the initial seed that actually led you to what you had been doing. They must have been once again, really proud of you. But
Cristina Aleixendri (28:02):
My grandfather was named equally as me, but not Christina. Christina, which is a very weird Spanish name because the male name for Christina would be Christian or something like that. But it was named Christina. That was the name. I’ve
Nuria Sierra (28:16):
Never heard that.
Cristina Aleixendri (28:18):
Yeah, it’s very strange. He wanted everybody named called him Lorenzo, which is like the second name that they provide you when in the church anyways, but his official name was Christina.
Enrique Alvarez (28:33):
Oh, nice. Well thanks to your grandparents and your family and thank you once again for your success.
Nuria Sierra (28:40):
So Christina, something that Vector and bound for Blue have in common is that both pursue a great purpose. So I would like to ask you, what does the phrase logistics with purpose mean to you?
Cristina Aleixendri (28:53):
When I think about with purpose, just the word with purpose, I always think that all the jobs have a real purpose behind. And I really think about one of really, I was surprised, there was somebody cleaning the windows and you could think, okay, I’m just cleaning a window and I could be very angry because really what’s the purpose behind? But that person was smiling and you asked him and he said, I’m happy because I’m bringing more light into the life of the people that are working inside the building. So that is what purpose means. I mean, logistics is logistic and you can go to the dictionary and find the dictionary behind what logistic means, but then it’s the purpose of what you do that matters. And I think all jobs and all sectors, all industries should have a real purpose behind really. Logistics has this deep purpose that it’s em impacting everybody’s life. I mean, we’re seeing it every day, how really a disruption in logistics is affecting energy that arrives, the price, the time, electronics, everything is going on a ship or nearly everything I would say. I really cannot say anything that is not shipped. So basically it’s this purpose behind, and I really like this analogy with the person cleaning the windows.
Enrique Alvarez (29:56):
That’s definitely a powerful analogy. Yeah, that’s a good one. Changing gears again, if you’re up for this and thank you once again, we imagine that since you’ve always done things a little bit different and you’re pushing the envelope and you like to create and innovate, we’ve never had this section where we ask short quick questions and you just have to answer them with whatever comes to your mind. But if you’re game, we can try it with you for the first time ever. Are you, let’s go. Okay with it. Yes. Alright, let’s do it. So short, quick, first that comes to your mind, answers for the following questions. Here we go. Ready? What’s the last book you read?
Cristina Aleixendri (30:33):
Fortunately or unfortunately, reinventing Organizations. Oh wow. That was suggesting from a friend of mine.
Enrique Alvarez (30:41):
Alright, we’ll add the link as well to the conversation so that people can check that book out and get to know you better through what you read. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received
Cristina Aleixendri (30:50):
From my mother? Follow your heart.
Enrique Alvarez (30:52):
What’s your go-to productivity hack that keeps you on top of your tasks?
Cristina Aleixendri (30:57):
Say no,
Enrique Alvarez (30:58):
Say no. I love that. Isn’t it a lot more difficult than it should be though? I’m terrible at saying no, but you’re right.
Cristina Aleixendri (31:08):
You always need to justify yourself. But if you always say yes, then when the moment arrives you say, why did I said yes? Now I have very important things on my table that I cannot really pay attention to. So say no,
Enrique Alvarez (31:21):
That’s hard. Activity hack. Say, no, I love that. What three items would you want if you were stranded on a deserted island? Three items for an engineer,
Cristina Aleixendri (31:30):
Something to start a fire. Fire. I want to cook and I don’t want to eat
Enrique Alvarez (31:36):
Raw.
Cristina Aleixendri (31:37):
I’m not sure. I mean I like raw fish, but really cooked one is better. Some solar powered like satellite or something. I mean I’m engineer, I’m not idiot. So
Enrique Alvarez (31:46):
Solar powered satellite. All right.
Cristina Aleixendri (31:48):
Something to ask for help when an urban goes by or a ship nearby. And some sort of desalinization too. I want to drink the water. Unsalted water. They’re very engineer based, right?
Enrique Alvarez (32:00):
Well, you would survive though on a deserted island. I wouldn’t mind actually having any of those items. And the last one, what mantra or motivates you when you’re facing challenges?
Cristina Aleixendri (32:10):
This one is also from my mother, which I always apply and it’s tomorrow will be another day. So really sometimes you have a very bad day and you really believe this will not go by, but then tomorrow will be another day. And this really helps me to keep moving. I still work, but I know that someday this will pass.
Nuria Sierra (32:25):
Your mom is really wise. I love it. So Christina, how can our listeners connect with you and of course, learn more about For Blue
Cristina Aleixendri (32:36):
For sure. Going to the website blue com with a four that it’s a number. That’s the pay of words. Then we’re on LinkedIn. I’m on LinkedIn too, and quite active there. And we also have different social media accounts like Facebook, like Instagram, Twitter. I mean we’re much more active on LinkedIn and I think that’s the best way. But yeah. And then you can also email us to blue com and my colleagues will be happy to share questions.
Enrique Alvarez (33:02):
Absolutely. And if everyone’s listening, I want to know more about you, your company. You’ve heard Christina go to that if you’re a venture capitalism, want to actually invest in a very successful company, you should reach Christina too, because Time’s running up. I’m sure she’s getting a lot of phone calls about her company. Christina, thank you so much. Thanks to our logistics with purpose audience, Nuria. Thank you. Always a pleasure sharing these interviews with you and join us for the next one. Have a good day.
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Featured Guests
Cristina Aleixendri, COO and co-founder of bound4blue, holds a BSc. & MSc. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and an Executive MBA from IESE Business School. She has also attended several programs at the University of Cambridge, ESADE Business School and Singularity University. Cristina has participated in more than 10 national and European projects, being the inventor of more than 5 patents in the field of wind-assisted propulsion systems and its various applications. Connect with Cristina on LinkedIn.
Nuria Sierra is a growth marketer with 20+ years experience developing and managing inbound content marketing strategies to empower brands to tell their story with clarity and connect with their audiences in the US, UK, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and Portugal. Nuria is deeply passionate about digital marketing, branding, and making a positive social impact.
She believes that our life is changing the world every day. If we choose to live positive values and do good in those around us, we are changing the world for the better.
Currently, she is changing the world as Sales & Marketing Manager at Vector Global Logistics. Connect with Nuria on Linkedin.
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