Helga Alvarez

Controller
DISC Type : IC

Chief Technology Officer at Leaf

Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom

Overview

Helga Alvarez is the Chief Technology Officer at Leaf, where she leads the product, data, and engineering teams. With a background from the Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, she is known for her unique approach of treating marketing as an engineering problem. People who have worked with her often describe her as intelligent, creative, dedicated, and inventive.

Helga is a vocal advocate for building psychologically safe and inclusive work environments. Her professional interest in psychology is demonstrated through her public support for neurodiversity in tech, aiming to create teams where everyone can be themselves. She maintains strong ties to her Costa Rican roots through active recruitment for Leafs office there.

Unique fact: The adtech company she leads, Leaf, originated as a popular music-centric social network in Latin America before pivoting to serve eCommerce brands.

Personality Overview

Persuasive & Assertive

Late Adopter

Informal Yet Blunt

They ask a lot of questions and rely heavily on information and collaterals.  They are generally good communicators and can be hard to convince. They can sound friendly and charming but can quickly change gears to become inquisitive and probing.

Topics They Care About

Neurodiversity in Tech
Publicly advocates for creating safe, inclusive spaces that empower neurodiverse talent and foster teams with multiple perspectives ("polyperspectivity").
Adtech for eCommerce
As CTO of Leaf, she specializes in using proprietary technology to solve complex performance marketing challenges for direct-to-consumer and eCommerce brands.
Engineering-Led Marketing
Views marketing challenges through an engineering lens, using data, code, and rapid iteration to drive results for clients in a sustainable way.

Media Appearances

Wired UK: Leaf CTO, Helga Alvarez on building an adtech empire. Featured in Leaf Blog (leafgrow.io)

See Now

Work History

3-2013
Chief Technology Officer at Leaf
4-2012 - 3-2013
Co-Founder & Creative Technologist at Cometoide
2-2011 - 4-2012
Software Developer at Possible Worldwide
1-2010 - 12-2010
Visiting Research Scientist at Korea Institute of Science and Technology
10-2008 - 10-2009
Individual Contributor of Product Management & Marketing at FMWebschool Inc

Education

2006 - 2012
Bachelor from Universidad Latina de Costa Rica
2006 - 2010
Associate from Cenfotec

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 16 Location : Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom Job Level : Leadership Designation : Chief Technology Officer at Leaf
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Insights For Selling To Helga

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Help them understand the risk aspect fully while inspiring confidence
  • Share testimonials from known people and give multiple examples of product value
  • Help them realize that there is no personal risk in making this decision

DONT's

  • Avoid making offhand commitments
  • Don’t brush off any concerns, take all questions seriously
  • Don’t be too objective but make sure to pad your storytelling with data points

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Helga is

  • Proven value, strong testimonials are important for them, rapport can impact decisions a little.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Helga

  • They are practical and friendly, don't expect a clear-cut response often.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Helga move?

  • They like to perform full analysis and can take time to make any decision.
  • Can Helga take some risk or not?

  • They weigh all decisions systematically and are unlikely to take many risks.

You And Helga

Personality Compatibility


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