Cinthia Fehling
Hello, I am Cinthia Fehling. I am an Argentinian Graphic Designer with a Master’s in Online Marketing. At 26, I quit my job in Munich, Germany, where I had lived for four years, to start a company with a positive environmental and social impact - SILOBAG, where I currently work as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
At SILOBAG, I am responsible for branding and marketing the eco-products we create by recycling silo bags while creating job opportunities for people in vulnerable situations.
I am a member of Vital Voices (empowering women), was chosen to be part of the Cherie Blair Foundation, and I am a mentor of the San Isidro Government mentorship program. I also won a national Enterprising Women Award in 2018, an International Circular Economy Award in 2019, a national Women Entrepreneurs Award in 2020, a national Young Entrepreneurs Award in 2021, and the TOYP Award of the JCI (Junior Chamber International) of Buenos Aires as a Young Outstanding Personality in 2021.
"Garbage Does Not Exist: Transformative Second Chances" is the title of my TEDx talk that I gave last year at TEDx Vicente Lopez
Company Name: SILOBAG
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Operating since: 2018
Website: www.silobag.fashion
Instagram: @silobags
Tell us all about your company. What products do you offer?
We are the first brand in the world that is innovating with the recycling of disused silobags to create backpacks, wallets, bags & more accessories, made 100% in Argentina, strengthening the regional economy, generating job opportunities and doing workshops in vulnerable neighbourhoods, and encouraging social inclusion. Furthermore, we are collaborating with different NGOs, so that they can fulfill their mission of eradicating poverty.
The problem of plastic in the world is very serious. It has a short period of use and takes more than 1000 years to disintegrate. If the wasted silobags annually were lined up, they would form a row of 12,000 kilometres, the equivalent of the distance that exists between Buenos Aires and Berlin. Recycling requires 70% less energy and emits 59% less of the greenhouse gases largely responsible for climate change.
With our proposal, silobag waste is no longer a problem and it serves both to solve different needs and to communicate values related to environmental care. Since 2018, we have managed to recycle and transform over 75.228m2 of silobags into new innovative eco-products.
We make products that make a difference. They invite the consumer to be responsible and committed to contributing to social change, being supportive of this cause with the purchase of an everyday product and raising awareness about environmental care. In addition, it also allows companies that acquire them to add recycled materials to their products, increasing their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and therefore, their image with their customers. The companies show themselves as environmentally committed while having the opportunity to collaborate with the NGOs of their choice, multiplying the scope of the social impact of the purchase.
As part of our commitment to the planet, we are, together with IpesaSilo - the main producer of this material, recovering the material after its use from the fields all over our country, making the transformation of waste into useful objects visible, putting value in waste as a material for the design of innovative products, and we are involving people with disabilities in our production process, women in vulnerable situations, in poor neighbourhoods, and generating job opportunities for the marginalized.
Did you start SILOBAGS with anyone?
Yes, I co-founded the company with Santo Parsons who is our Chairman.
What was your mission at the outset?
We chose to develop products in the fashion industry as it is the second most polluting industry and we wanted to demonstrate that things can be done in a different way, preserving the environment and finding new recycled materials that surpass the quality of conventional ones.
Growing up, did you always intend to start your own company/organization?
Yes, I did. Because I wanted to do things that others considered difficult, and to take advantage of opportunities that others passed up as difficult. In companies I’ve worked for, I always quickly reached a glass ceiling and I knew that my curiosity and my inner geek would always be in search of nurturing me with more knowledge and experience.
When you focus first on the purpose and then on monetizing it, the equation changes. When a problem represents a challenge and your actions reflect a solution, resilience increases. When each step leaves a green mark on the world and a smile on people, the perspective is different.
I am an optimistic rebel. I am convinced that a better world - today and tomorrow - is in our hands. I believe in the power of building as a team, creating a synergy of talents that work for a common good, inspiring, motivating and exploring the maximum potential of people. I take each day as an opportunity to positively impact the world.
How have your past personal & professional experiences helped you to run your company?
I believe my path took me where I am now. I believe that as one progresses, new doors open and one rediscovers oneself, broadening one's horizons and transforming oneself. Stepping out of my comfort zone made me amazed at how much I was capable of...and still amazes me.
Also, my partner promoted my professional growth because he saw untapped potential in me. We had worked together before and when he reached out to me with this business idea, I doubled down and jumped right in.
What is the biggest obstacle you've had to overcome?
Mainly working out of my comfort zone - which means I've evolved personally and professionally, but also that I had to learn from my mistakes, which often caused me to lose opportunities.
I think the biggest personal and professional obstacle is believing that everyone wants to change the world with the same level of commitment as me. Most people are just living and are not really alive. I feel there is a lot of distrust and it's hard to build a bulletproof team that truly believes we can actually make the world a better place, but we are getting there. Slow but steady.
I turned curiosity into learning. I had a lot of fun and I also cried seas. What seemed impossible through effort became reality. Consistency, passion, commitment, and a lot of love - that is the combo that drives me and is my engine.
There are moments that are better than others. If I look closely, the day-to-day looks like an electrocardiogram, an emotional roller coaster... but if I walk away and see the achievements, the steps taken, I realize that I am going up. I am still walking the path from the well to the top and with each step, I strengthen my belief, turning a dream into reality. There is still a long way to go, but that is what it is all about, always moving forward and enjoying the process.
What's your definition of success? Do you consider yourself a success?
Success for me is inner peace. Success is feeling grateful every day. Success is feeling proud of myself and making my children proud. Success is having time. The time I enjoy with my children - that is my greatest indicator of freedom.
I don't perceive success as a goal but more as a path of being grateful every day and making a positive impact in people’s lives every day. Taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary.
What advice would you give to a woman starting out in your industry or starting her own company/organization?
If you are tired, don’t give up. Just take a pause and get right back into it. Being an entrepreneur is an emotional rollercoaster. One day you're up high, feeling very powerful and the next you vibrate super low, and you see everything grey. A negative comment overshadows the thousand applauses. You want to throw in the towel and enter a parallel universe that you think would be better.
And that's when you have to pause. Unplug to restart. Reconnect with that feeling that got you where you are today. Reconnect with the purpose.
Because when you reconnect from love, you are filled with energy, with the desire to live, to change the world, to be a better person. You discover within yourself willpower, confidence, and potential that you could never have imagined. Because when you connect with your purpose, with that initial spark that kick-started everything, the engine roars in search of more. That is the magic of love.
Entrepreneurship is not a sprint but a marathon with long-term goals, where connecting with that initial tingling makes you smile. Trust in yourself and your dreams. Have faith.
Describe yourself in ONE word. Resilience