The woman who inspired Torre, its name, and icon
“What’s in a name?” is something of a rhetorical question often used lightheartedly today. Of course, it was first asked in all seriousness when Juliet pondered Romeo in Shakespeare’s famous play. If you’re acquainted with her soliloquy, you’ll remember she concludes: “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Well, maybe. Maybe not. I’m sure you’ll agree that names can have considerable value by virtue of what they come to represent. Almost instantly, one can think of multiple.
Torre is also such a name. Its significance in my life and ongoing career as an entrepreneur, businessperson and investor has, in no small way, been dictated by circumstance.
As the first half of my last name, it means “tower” in six Romance languages. It’s not the surname handed down to me by my father. I subsequently claimed and legally adopted it from my grandmother on my mother’s side of the family.
Let me tell you why.
María Emma Torrenegra was born in 1913 in Barranquilla, Colombia. Her father, Olimpo Torrenegra, worked at the town’s port. Her mother, María Alvarez, was a homemaker.
María Emma was the eldest of five children and was raised in a staunchly Catholic environment. While notoriously restrictive, it was the prevailing socio-cultural and religious status quo in Colombia at the time. State and church weren’t separate.
María Emma never completed high school. Although there were independent primary schools for boys and girls, there were only high schools for boys — girls were denied the privilege of a secondary education. As a consequence, girls couldn’t go to university, as attending university required high school certification.
Fortunately for María, in 1929 a lady by the name of Lady Chauvin founded the Universidad Comercial del Atlántico. It was the first university for women in Barranquilla and it didn’t require a high-school qualification. María Emma was one of their first students. In 1933 she graduated with the only diploma offered by the University: Stenography.
Soon after getting her first job, tragedy struck: Olimpo died in a train accident at the port. Given that her mother had never worked outside the home and her four siblings were still at school, Maria Emma found herself responsible for supporting her entire family. One can only imagine what a challenge it must have been for a 22-year-old woman living in such a patriarchal society!
Nevertheless, she succeeded. Not only did she support her family, but, quite ironically, she paid for her male siblings’ university education — thus enabling them to pursue degrees that society disallowed her to study for.
Since Maria Emma was so focused on work, she waited until she was 40-years-old to marry. Two years later she gave birth to her daughter Katia and three years after that, her husband abandoned them. Once again, she found herself solely responsible for a family.
But Maria Emma raised her daughter well. For Katia, having such a self-reliant mother stood her in good stead: she also found herself a single mother of two after just one year of marriage. Her husband walked out on her as well…
I’m one of Katia’s children. I was raised by my mom and grandma. They taught me most of the things that allowed me to become the professional I am today: persistence, hard work, perfectionism, and, most importantly, confidence. When I was 14, both María Emma and Katia encouraged me to pursue my dream. The result was my first company.
When María Emma passed away in 1997, I made a promise. As soon as I could, I would change my surname from Henriquez to Torrenegra — the last name of my beloved abuelita.
Inevitably, one wonders what other professions María Emma might have pursued. Perhaps she could have become an engineer, a scientist, a doctor, or a professor. Unfortunately, she and so many others like her were trapped in a male-dominated society that severely discriminated against women. Her only career choices were a homemaker or a factory worker.
As founder, I chose Torre as the name of our company both in honor of my grandmother and as a reminder to our team: as we pursue our mission of making work fulfilling for everyone, our greatest enemy is discrimination. Thanks to nonconformists like Lady Chauvin and the many others who followed her, discrimination against women will soon be a thing of the past.
Still, there are numerous other types of discrimination that we continue to accept. The socio-economic background of all children on earth heavily influences the quality of education they receive. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, all children will have equal chances and access to good education. Perhaps then we’ll look back and realize how senseless we were to discriminate against them. At Torre, it is our solemn commitment to be major players in bringing about that change.
What a bouquet of sweet-smelling roses that will be!
Torre's brand name was assessed and recommended by Catchword Branding. Torre's logotype was co-created by Melissa Gaviria, Roberto S. Jalkh, and Alexander Torrenegra and enhanced by Daniela Avila. Torre's marktype was co-created by María Moya, Daniela Avila, and Alexander Torrenegra. Thanks to Carel Cronje for reviewing and commenting on early drafts of this article.
