Today we’d like to introduce you to Bruna Sotte De Carvalho.
Hi Bruna, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My journey began long before I knew exactly what I wanted to become.
As a child, I loved watching commercials on television and looking at billboards on the streets. I found it fascinating that someone could create an idea and turn it into something that captured the attention of so many people. At the time, I didn’t even know what kind of profession was behind those campaigns. I simply knew that I wanted to be part of that world.
After finishing high school, I had the opportunity to take part in an exchange program in London. It was a transformative experience for me, especially because I was exposed to a different way of creating advertising and communicating with audiences. Seeing how creativity and communication could be approached from another cultural perspective confirmed something I had already begun to feel: advertising was the field I wanted to pursue.
When I entered college, for the first time, I felt that I had found where I truly belonged. I often think about how, when we are children, many of us play pretend as teachers, doctors, veterinarians, or other professionals. I never really knew what profession to pretend to be because the career I would eventually choose was not yet part of my world. College was where I finally found my professional community, people who spoke the same language of ideas, creativity, communication, and strategy that had always fascinated me.
College gave me an important foundation in both technical and theoretical knowledge, but it also gave me valuable experiences, friendships, and my first professional opportunities. After graduating, I continued my education by pursuing two postgraduate degrees focused on communication, digital marketing, competitive intelligence, and marketing innovation.
I began building my career at a company in Brazil, where I had the opportunity to contribute to the growth of its digital marketing efforts. That experience taught me a great deal about strategy, business, and, most importantly, how marketing can contribute directly to organizational growth. Eventually, I decided to take another step and founded my own digital marketing agency.
One of the most defining moments of my career came during the pandemic. Despite all the difficulties and losses of that period, the pandemic also demonstrated to many businesses something that digital marketing professionals had already understood: a digital presence was no longer simply an option.
While many physical doors were closed, the internet remained open. Companies that already had a strong digital presence were often better positioned to adapt, while many others suddenly needed to understand how to communicate, sell, and remain connected with their audiences online. It was an extremely demanding period for me. I often worked seven days a week, but it was also a period of significant professional growth and an important moment in rebuilding my financial stability.
I come from a very humble family. I grew up in a reality where the street where we lived was not even paved, and during heavy rain, our home sometimes had problems with water coming inside. Because of that, looking at what I have built professionally carries a much deeper meaning for me. Not because I believe I have reached the end of my journey, but because I know exactly where I started.
Later, my professional journey entered a new phase when I moved to the United States. Becoming involved with the American Marketing Association as Director of Digital Strategy for the Orlando Chapter has given me the opportunity to connect with professionals from different backgrounds and perspectives and has significantly expanded my understanding of marketing across different markets and cultures.
I have also had opportunities to contribute to professional community initiatives as a volunteer, participate in a podcast to share my perspective on marketing and digital strategy, and receive recognition for my work. Among those achievements, I am particularly proud of receiving a Gold Award for a project I developed and being invited to serve as a judge for two professional awards programs, where I evaluate the work of other professionals based on areas such as creativity, strategy, innovation, and digital experience.
These experiences have changed the way I see my own career. I am no longer focused only on applying the knowledge I have acquired. I increasingly have opportunities to share knowledge, evaluate ideas and projects created by other professionals, contribute to professional communities, and learn from people working across different markets.
Today, I see my journey entering another important stage. I am continuing to research, write, create content, and explore the relationship between marketing, technology, and artificial intelligence. I am particularly interested in understanding how emerging technologies are changing the way people discover information, how brands communicate, and how marketing strategies need to evolve.
My goal is to continue turning the knowledge and experience I have accumulated throughout my career into meaningful contributions to the broader marketing community and to the conversation about the future of digital strategy in an increasingly international and technology-driven world.
When I look back at my journey, I find it interesting that there is still a connection between the little girl who was fascinated by commercials on television and the professional I am today. The curiosity is still the same. What has changed is the size of the questions I want to answer.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, definitely not. It has not been a smooth road.
I have always had to work hard to pursue my dreams. I did not grow up in a family with many financial resources or a strong network of people who could simply open doors for me. My mother did not finish elementary school, so from a very young age, I understood that much of the path I wanted to build would depend on my own choices, effort, and determination.
I also became a mother at 17. While many people my age were beginning college and experiencing a very different stage of life, I was balancing motherhood with building my education and my future career. I would sometimes take my daughter with me to college, and there were days when I had to take her halfway so my mother could meet us and continue taking care of her. It was not easy, but I had a strong belief that education could change my circumstances and give me opportunities that I did not have growing up.
I was also very aware of the social differences around me at college. Many of my classmates came from families with very different financial circumstances. I noticed the differences in the way people dressed, the experiences they had, the opportunities they were accustomed to, and even the way they thought about their futures. At times, I felt like I did not completely belong in that environment.
But I never wanted those differences to determine how far I could go. I knew I might not have the same resources or the same starting point, but I could build knowledge, develop my skills, and create my own opportunities.
That is how I learned to build my own path. First through education, then through my professional experiences, and eventually by starting my own company and building a career based on knowledge, hard work, and the opportunities I actively pursued.
Later, moving to another country brought a completely different set of challenges. Once again, I had to learn, adapt, build new connections, and understand a different professional and cultural environment. In many ways, it reminded me of the beginning of my journey: there was no ready-made path waiting for me, so I had to build one.
Looking back, I do not see these experiences only as obstacles. They taught me not to wait for perfect circumstances before moving forward. I learned to start with what I had, seek knowledge, create opportunities, and keep moving.
And perhaps the most important lesson I have learned is this: **where you come from may shape your journey, but it does not have to define where you end up.**
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My professional experience is primarily built around digital marketing, strategy, communication, and innovation. Throughout my career, I have worked across different areas of marketing, but I have realized that what interests me most is not simply executing a strategy or using a new tool. It is understanding the problem behind it, understanding how people behave, and exploring how technology can change the way we communicate.
In recent years, this interest has led me to deepen my research and writing at the intersection of marketing and artificial intelligence. I have been researching and writing about how artificial intelligence is changing the way people find information, how content is discovered, and how brands and organizations need to rethink their communication strategies in an environment increasingly shaped by AI systems.
I also enjoy turning what I learn into practical projects. To me, there is an important difference between knowing how a technology works and understanding how to apply it to solve real-world problems. That connection between knowledge and application is where I believe I can create the most value.
One of the things I am most proud of is building a career that has not been limited to a single role. I started in advertising and gradually expanded into digital marketing, entrepreneurship, and strategy, while increasingly developing my work in research, technology, and artificial intelligence.
I believe what sets me apart is my ability to connect different areas. My practical experience helps me look at problems from a business perspective; my academic background encourages me to research and question; and my experience across different environments allows me to observe how ideas and strategies can change depending on the market and the audience.
I do not want to be defined only by what I have already accomplished. One of the things I value most about my career is continuing to evolve and ask new questions. To me, specialization does not mean knowing everything. It means developing deeper knowledge, asking better questions, and finding smarter ways to solve problems.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I don’t consider myself an impulsive risk-taker. For me, taking risks means making thoughtful decisions even when I cannot guarantee the outcome.
One of the biggest professional risks I took was starting my own digital marketing agency. I had to take on responsibilities beyond marketing itself, including clients, business decisions, strategy, and management. There was no guarantee that it would work, but I believed in my knowledge and my ability to learn along the way. I have also taken risks by continuously exploring new areas, technologies, and ideas before knowing exactly where they would lead. More recently, that has meant going deeper into artificial intelligence and exploring how it can reshape marketing.
I have learned that not making a decision can also be a risk. Staying where you are simply because you are afraid of what might happen has its own cost.
Today, I try to combine courage with research, planning, and a long-term perspective. For me, the goal is not to eliminate risk, but to understand it well enough to know when it is worth taking.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brunasotte.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/brunasotte
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brunasotteoficial
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brunasotte/
Image Credits
Bruno Latoya
