Oftentimes, the journey to entrepreneurship takes a winding path. Isabel Porzecanski comes from a family of entrepreneurs, but the middle child rebel took a different road – only to find 25 years later that she couldn’t deny her roots.

Always people-oriented, Isabel left Uruguay at 17 to study Hospitality Management in Argentina, obtaining a degree and then doing postgraduate courses in Switzerland and The Netherlands. Degree requirements dictated she learn the business from the ground up. “I was exposed to well-run businesses and not-so well-run businesses where I learned a lot,” she says, holding  jobs ranging from Banquet Server to Housekeeper to Front Desk Agent at luxury hotels. 

Working in so many facets of hospitality helped Isabel learn that she wanted to be in the “heart of the house,” part of internal operations, supporting employees. So, she transitioned from operations to Human Resources to serve those she calls “internal customers.” She derives her passion for this role from the adage, “If you make your employees happy, they will take care of your guests”

Finding a different purpose

In 2022, Isabel read “Traction,” which was recommended to her by a business owner she knew through a networking association. He told her he was using EOS to run his business and that she would be a “great fit for an Implementer” – which caught her attention. Once she read the book, she was hooked and thought she was ready to make a move. But as happens with so many things in life, circumstances change: she was promoted to a regional role and knew she wanted to give this new opportunity a shot.

But as time went by, Isabel felt that she had a different calling: she wanted to work in a way that afforded her more autonomy while helping entrepreneurs build better businesses. 

A risk taker, Isabel once again made a move. She decided to leverage her 25 years of luxury hospitality experience and focus on her passion for people and service. Working toward that goal, she earned her Professional Coaching Certification from Performance Consultants International, which served as her catalyst for change. She gave up her regional corporate role and began working with The Profit Recipe to become an EOS implementer. 

On being an EOS Implementer

Isabel’s desire to help others drives her work as an EOS implementer. She sees herself as a facilitator; from training and experience, she knows that 99% of the answers are in the room. Her role is to facilitate the discovery of those answers. 

More often than not, the challenges faced in any company revolve around people, and it’s here that her Human Resources background helps guide business owners. Isabel’s goal is to help entrepreneurs navigate people-related challenges using EOS tools.

With years of corporate experience under her belt, Isabel decided she wanted to work with companies at their inception, rather than those established for decades. She saw the opportunity to help these fledgling organizations establish Core Values with an emphasis on culture. For Isabel, building a strong culture means values never get set aside. Quoting Peter Drucker, she says, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Elaborating on this, she points out that businesses can have a big strategy, but if the culture is negative or weak, they will ignore what’s most important, making it challenging to execute. When asked how companies can implement a positive culture, Isabel responds, “One person at a time. It’s that one interaction in the hallway, that one cup of coffee in your office, and personal engagement that creates culture.” She believes in in-depth interactions and relationships rather than trying to do something on a massive scale.

Another area of focus for the implementer is team dynamics. She emphasizes looking for learning opportunities, especially when giving constructive feedback, “The key is giving people some perspective and hope for the future, as well as helping them to absorb key learnings.” When you tell people what to do, she says, it’s not their decision – it’s yours. If that decision doesn’t work, that person never owned it or took accountability for it, so they miss the opportunity to learn.” 

“We all remember the people who took their time, had moments where they sat with us, leveled with us, connected with us, and told us something we needed to hear.” Lifted us up when we needed to be lifted up, or put us in our place when it was needed. “Those moments are gold,” Isabel says.

On changing the world one business at a time

While Isabel might not have the traditional background for an EOS implementer, she’s always had an entrepreneurial mindset. She has explored opportunities, taken risks, and learned from her observations. Her plans include focusing her energy on a different type of entrepreneur—those who break away from work that paralyzes their creativity and ambition—and helping them live the life they want.