PROFESSIONAL CV

Professional skills

 

Sports Desk & Health Director. Rafa Nadal AcademY

September 2018 to present. Manacor (Spain)

Senior manager leading Operational Departments at Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, including Customer Service, Technical Office and Health teams. IT Project Director of a I+D 360 software development tool for tracking players performance with data analytics

 

Operations Manager. Rafa Nadal Academy

May 2016 - September 2018. Manacor (Spain)

Department manager since the opening of the Academy, setting up the areas of Customer Service, Transport and logistics, Boarding and Technical Office. In charge of a team between 20 to 35 people.

Located in Manacor (Mallorca), Rafa Nadal’s home town, the RN Academy combines tennis and education so that students can continue their pathway to professional tennis without having to neglect their academic studies. The Academy has its own training system based on the experience acquired during his years on the ATP circuit, and including the values that have been fundamental to his achievements and success.

Values such as hard work, discipline, overcoming adversity, honesty, friendship, commitment, humility and respect, amongst others, are synonymous with the Academy and are the pillars on which we base the education, training and overall development of the students.

 

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER. SMARTSEA

March 2015 - April 2016. Barcelona (Spain) & San Francisvo (USA)

Marketing and commercial responsible of the company, supporting operations and product teams, in a startup with a revolutionary vision of the nautical sector.

Startup / technological base company. SmartSea was created as the result of the merger between BlooSee (US) and SmartPort (Spain). The goal of the company was to create new boating experiences by developing disruptive products, integrating the Silicon Valley vision but "made in Barcelona"​.

SmartPort, the first product of the company, helped boaters by providing detailed information and easy online access to all marinas located on the coasts and waterways of Spain. The application kept users up to date with relevant nautical information, simplifying logistical decisions, so they could fully enjoy their next destination and boating adventure.

The challenge of the startup was to create the first mobile electronic cruising guide that integrated technology and a truly smart boating experience.

Awards: Winner of IMPACT and STARTUP BIT Awards in 2015.

 

Events and R&D Director. UNIÓ DE FEDERACIONS ESPORTIVES DE CATALUNYA

March 2015 – Feb 2016. Barcelona (Spain)

Responsible of leading the innovation & business development area of the High Performance Watersports center of Barcelona, powered by Unió de Federacions Esportives de Catalunya. Nacra17 European Championships Director, Olympic Sailing event to be hosted at the venue on September 2015

 

Director. Barcelona International Sailing Center
January 2010 – March 2015. Barcelona (Spain)

Responsible for leading the design and project construccion process of the first nautical sports high performance center in Spain. Business plan developer and first facility director, leading a team of 20 people.

BISC is an International high performance training Center located at the “Parc del Forum” in Barcelona, and specialized on sailing and other water sports. The aim of BISC was to provide sailing athletes, coaches and industry's professionals the tools to improve their training session methods, maximizing their efficiency and opportunities to reach their goal of success. The incorporation of technology solutions to various training programs, encouraged knowledge transfer.

The mission of the project included the transfer of knowledge between different sectors of the sailing world, offering athletes a multi disciplinary platform, global and international with a broad portfolio of services to help study and improvement of industry knowledge and encourage the growth of the sport of sailing around. 

 

Chief Operations Officer. Federació Catalana de Vela
January 2011 - February 2015. Barcelona (Spain)

Non profit organization.  Responsible for managing and leading sports/technical teams from the entity, including the areas of education, events management and Training Development. Operations control over business units: Barcelona International Sailing Center (High Performance Training Centre) and Centre Municipal de Vela (Sailing School). Managing director of Barcelona International Sailing Center, an International high performance training Center located at the “Parc del Forum” in Barcelona, and specialized on sailing and other water sports.

Directora de Planificació Estratègica Barcelona International Sailing Center. Federació Catalana de Vela

October 2008 – December 2010. Barcelona (Spain)

Planning and Strategy Director of a new project: Barcelona International Sailing Center, an International high performance training Center located at the “Parc del Forum” in Barcelona, and specialized on sailing and other water sports.
Project manager and Business Plan Developer.

 

Administradora. Tutzó Assessors SL

1998 – 2006. Barcelona (Spain)

Family office administrator, founded by Jaime Tutzó Robles in 1975. Law services and consultancy for small and mediem enterprises. New department foundation focused in nautical sector advisory.

 

Testimonials

TESTIMONIALS

"Laia impressed me from the get go. I met her when she was a student at one of my ESADE classes and I could tell she had done her research in advance. She is passionate about digital and reliable at all times. So much so that as soon as I had the chance I hired her for La Twitertulia radio show. There, she showed her confidence stepping into new challenges without hesitation. Her positive attitude combines really well with her deep curiosity, her growing experience and her innate skills. If every team had a Laia, success would not be a matter of "if" but a matter of "when""

"Laia is a charming person, with a lot of work capacity and always brings joy and optimism, a fundamental basis for a team to function. I recommend it and I am sure it will far exceed the expectations of those who do not know it"

"Sharing a project with Laia is an incredibly stimulating intellectual exercise and a high burden of learning, both professionally, and personally. Laia has a special talent to make a world of ideas and actions, with no apparent connection between them, and multiply happen to form a homogeneous universe where everything fits perfectly. Balanced way thoroughness in her approach with a global and very current look on reality"

"Laia belongs to the core team of the academy since its opening. She’s a focused all round team worker and leader with abilities to function under pressure. Laia has organised from scratch several strategic areas of the academy including players desk-customer service, boarding, health and technical office teams. As a former athlete and world champion, She has a 360 vision of the business that permits her to act as a nexus between several departments and consolidate the level of service to players"

Franc Carreras ESADE lecturer, startup mentor and speaker.
Manuel Doreste Professional skipper and Olympic coach
Lola Pardo de Donlebun Former Apple Spain Marketing Manager.
Joel Figueras Tennis & Int BizDev Director Rafa Nadal Academy