Ximena Ballesteros Suárez, a Forklift Operator at Green Leader, emphasizes that when women aspire to succeed, they find ways to achieve their goals.
Juggling her roles as a mother and head of the household with a job that provides her with that opportunity is what Ximena Ballesteros Suárez, a 29-year-old, highlights. She has been working as a Forklift Operator since January of this year in one of the services that Green Leader offers in the city of Antofagasta. As she herself points out, being able to be with her daughters every day brings her a tremendous sense of tranquility.
"I am grateful for the opportunity I was given at Green Leader. The people here are very kind. They have treated me well and taught me how everything works. I am happy," she said.
Ximena is the mother of two young daughters, aged 10 and 4, and she conveys her happiness in every word she speaks because her current job accommodates her family's schedule. It allows her to drop her daughters off at school in the mornings, for example, something she couldn't do last year due to her early work hours in the La Negra area, where she had to leave her home before 7 in the morning.
Ximena Ballesteros is an electrician by training and originally from Tocopilla. While she acknowledges that the mining industry has historically been male-dominated, she believes that the times are changing, and more women are entering this sector. "A woman will never have the physical strength of a man, but she has all the abilities to do the job. The first step is to get trained, and one's progress will depend on the specific area one is in. If you want to advance, you have to continue to specialize. That is essential," she commented.
Currently, Ximena is in the final semester of her Digital Marketing course. While she acknowledges that it is a different field from being a forklift operator, she sees it as an opportunity to generate additional income for her household. "When women are determined to succeed, we set goals for ourselves and find ways to achieve them. There are women, like me, who are heads of their households, and we have to keep moving forward. We must continue to educate ourselves. When a woman is determined, she can do it," she encouraged.
