Private talk

Hello, it's a pleasure to be here with you.

For those who don't know me yet, my name is Daniela Fortuna and I am the Head of Commercial Strategy at Itaú Private Bank where I am responsible for international business growth.

I've always loved arts and communication, and my dream was to be a musical theater dancer or a journalist, but I got hooked on the financial market. The direct contact with clients and the chance to make a difference in people's lives made me change directions.

I have a degree in Business Communications from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, but I still needed to get better if I wanted to work in the business world and truly understand my clients' needs. Since the beginning, my main goal has been to offer them the best services and solutions. That’s why I decided to study financial management and completed two MBAs in Brazil, at FIA-USP (Fundação Instituto de Administração – Universidade de São Paulo) and Unisul (Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina).

I’ve been working with investments since 2000. In 2008, while working as a Banker in Brazil, I joined Itaú. A few years later, I was invited to lead the Itaú Private Bank international commercial area and moved to Miami in 2018 where I led the growth of the international commercial operations by building the best service platform for clients in LATAM countries where Itaú Private Bank has a physical presence. Now I am closing this chapter of my career and moving back to Brazil, this time with the challenge of leading the next step on the bank's expansion.

Along the way, there have been many challenges, learnings, and achievements thanks to perseverance and optimism. Many parts moved around during this journey, but the main goal remained the same. I've always aimed to improve the places I’ve worked at by caring for people.

There have been many challenges, beginning with an unconventional education - at that time no one studied Business Communications - to the fact that I love dancing and being a woman, having an artistic and creative nature, in a universe that is still, in its majority, male. As someone who believes in the power of intuition, I chose to stay true to my essence, to offer the best of myself. I believe that the energy that moves us comes from the inside out, and the energy that inspires us comes from the outside in. In this space I will share a little bit of my journey, my ideas, my main questions, and conclusions, with the intention of us growing together.

Although it is not always easy, I have been living in a more and more rewarding way, and I would like to share some of what I have been learning in this process. To make a small contribution through conversations that I believe can make a difference - for the better - in our professional and, why not, personal lives.

In the upcoming “Conversa Private” columns, I will discuss diversity, personal development, leadership, team building, and, of course, Itaú Private Bank. After all, a bank is made up of people just like you and me. So, it's natural for us to get to know each other better and better, right?

Hope to see you again soon.

Click here to read the portuguese version of this article.

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