13 Feb Maria Sanchez: observations and opportunities for business imaging

Maria Fernanda Sanchez joined the Images for Business team as Business Development Manager last year. She brings a significant breadth and depth of knowledge, qualifications, and experience across a surprising range of professional disciplines. We sat down with Maria to talk about her observations and opportunities for business imaging.

I4B: Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Maria: I’m originally from Venezuela in South America. Like Australia, it is a resource-rich country, holding the largest share of oil reserves worldwide, but poorly administrated. Like many young Venezuelan graduates, I pursued a career in the energy sector. It’s taken me all around the world. I’ve been fortunate enough to work in the US, Brazil, Mexico, several European countries, and, of course, Australia.

Personally, I have a beautiful family – a husband and a four-year-old son. I love dancing, playing the guitar and exploring nature.

Also, I like to understand things deeply, which has motivated my diverse studies, but that’s another story.

 I4B: Well, let’s keep going with that for a moment. You do have quite a range of university qualifications.

Maria: [Laughs.] I’m a curious person. I started with A Bachelor of Engineering, then attained an MBA as my interest in business developed. I also have qualifications in psychology and customer relationship management. It all helps me make sense of the world and help others.

I4B: How did you end up in Australia?

Maria: I didn’t actually come to Australia for work. I came here as part of an extended personal journey several years ago. I intended to be here for a year, and that was eight years ago! I fell in love with Sydney and Australia. I’m married to an Australian-born husband and am now an Australian citizen.

I4B: How has your career changed since working in Australia?

Maria: I had lots of energy industry experience when I arrived, mainly in oil and gas. But I found that investment was starting to happen in energy conservation and renewables. So, my career path moved in that direction.

I4B: Images for Business seems like quite a change for you.

Maria: On the surface, yes, it is, and it’s one that I’m enjoying so much. But actually, my understanding of major infrastructure projects and construction has been completely relevant. Ultimately, a BDM role is about helping clients to achieve their aims. In our case, it’s about telling the stories of their projects to their people and customers. It’s incredibly positive.

I4B: What are your observations of Images for Business?

Maria: I feel genuinely fortunate to have discovered this role. Images for Business is a small team that works in my world. Everyone is very professional and clearly understands clients’ needs in major corporate and government organisations. What stands out for me is the creativity, culture, and humanity. They have an integrity aligned with my values, making working here feel like it’s exactly where I should be. Everyone is focused on delivering great results while making it easy for our clients. It’s an impressive double act that creates value by saving our clients time and providing the confidence that what’s needed will be delivered without fuss.

I4B: What have you learned about Imaging?

Maria: I’ve learned that a lot of creative energy and care goes into creating the best images, whether video, timelapse or still pictures. Most importantly, I see that our clients all have stories to tell and that images are such a big part of telling those stories. For example, short-form video is now one of the most significant parts of marketing and communications content. We see our clients using our images across all parts of their internal and external communications. Plus, packaging content for media, customers and internal stakeholders is a vital way of amplifying brand messages. 

I’m excited about all the ways we help our clients communicate with images. There’s video that I just mentioned. Time-lapse is a big thing in long-term construction projects. Aerial imagery provides such an impressive perspective and is more budget accessible now we’re using drones. Then there are still pictures that are, in many ways, the most special of all – that moment in time.

Watch our time-lapse and aerial drone video (as seen on Channel 9) for the Sydney Gateway Project. It captures one of two massive steel bridges sliding into place. Weighing 3,500 tonnes, the bridge took 15 days to launch across the Alexandria Canal.

The Rozelle Interchange, Iron Cove Bridge portal, at sunrise on opening day. Drones are a fantastic way to visually demonstrate the scale of projects.

Still photography enables you to showcase detail invisible to the naked eye.

Let us help you unleash the value of images in your business with a free imaging consultation. Book now.