*****
A former competitive surfer, Rita took up the sport when she was 14. Back then, few females surfed in Portugal, she explains.
“When I’d find another girl on the water with me, it was instant friendship.” But being one of the only girls in the waves was hard. Other surfers told her to get out of the water, to go home.
“Why shouldn’t I be out there?” she remembers thinking at the time. “I’m entitled to learn just as anyone else. It looks fun, and it is fun, and it’s what I wanted to do. I just stood up for myself. But it wasn’t easy.” [embedded content]
Rita taught herself how to surf by practicing on her bed, but she soon became so dedicated to surfing that she went pro, becoming a pioneer for women in the sport.
And yet, she was always humbled by the sea. “The ocean can kick your behind. You try and you try, and you can’t. And then you try and you try again, and you still can’t. But then the first time you catch that wave, and you ride it unbroken. . .”
She sighs as she looks at the horizon. “I can’t even describe it.”
*****
On land, Rita shows just as much determination. A planner who calls herself “by the book,” Rita knew from an early age that she wanted the freedom and security that a good paying job could offer. Plus, she wanted to see the world. So, she applied herself, and she studied hard.
So far, it’s worked out: her life has taken her to live and work in Seattle, Paris, São Paulo, Miami, and Madrid. “Mostly importantly, I was doing the things I loved: talking with new people and sharing experiences with others,” she says.
But Lisbon is home, and a big reason she lived in all those cities so was to get the experience she needed to land what she calls her dream job as chief financial officer for Microsoft Portugal.
*****
Microsoft
Lisbon, Portugal
“It’s because of Rita.”
Just as I’d heard, Rita Picarra is ubiquitous, almost legendary, in the hallways of Microsoft’s Lisbon office. Many employees are quick to credit Rita for helping them grow and make a difference in ways they never imagined.