Episode 17 | Stories Worth Telling… with Ângela Teles and Miguel Teles

"Stories Worth Telling" is the series where we give a voice to the people who help build Riopele from within. In this episode, we speak to two generations working at the company: Miguel Teles, Advisor to the Board, who has been with Riopele for 38 years, and Ângela Teles, Sustainable Product and R&D Projects Manager, who has been with Riopele for 10 years.
 
What does it feel like to start working at Riopele, after most likely hearing about the company from an early age?

Ângela Teles: Despite that, I had a somewhat abstract idea of what Riopele was. When I joined, I was surprised by the scale and complexity of the process, but also by the diversity of teams, areas and expertise. And, soon after, by discovering an industry that is often seen as traditional, but actually has very little that is traditional about it.

Riopele is a family-owned company, but it is also a company where several families work together, as is the case with yours. What does this bring to its culture?

Miguel Teles: That’s an interesting question because, despite being a large company, Riopele has this family dimension. It translates into a sense of continuity and responsibility: several generations have been part of the company, and we have a responsibility to preserve what we have inherited.

What kind of innovation would you like to be talking about five years from now?

Ângela Teles: I would like to be talking about true circularity in the textile industry. We are already working on several solutions, but they need to gain scale and reach. One company cannot do this alone: we need to involve the entire value chain and gain market traction. And I would like Riopele to continue driving this change.

What should never change at Riopele?

Miguel Teles: A sense of responsibility, rigour, and the willingness to question everything we do — the only way we have to innovate and improve our work every day.

If you could describe Riopele in one word, what would it be?

Ângela Teles: I would choose transformation, because I think that is what we are doing: we come from a company with a very long history, while at the same time reinventing it and driving innovation.

Miguel Teles: Responsibility. The responsibility to ensure that what we have received over all these years is preserved for many more to come, at least 100 more.