Inspiring Paulina Grande Sets Parameters in the Production Domain at Grande Studios

The internet is sprawling with stories of credible and inspiring female leaders. They are the epitome of multi-dimensional skill sets, managing homes and pursuing dreams simultaneously. Standing among them is Paulina Grande, an incredible businesswoman who has shown splendid leadership while running Grande Studios.

Grande Studios is the business brainchild of Paulina Grande’s father, who laid the foundation. By combining her years of expertise and a strong desire to take Grande Studios to new heights, Paulina succeeded her late father. “My father asked me to join Grande Studios, or Producciones Grande, as it was then known, in the year 2018. The studio primarily concentrated on advertising. Since many offices in Mexico still lack maternity spaces like a nursery room, working with my dad was very comfortable for me since I had just given birth to my second girl”, the magnificent lady said.

It was exactly 20 years ago that Paulina Grande, a woman of substance, took the leap into marketing with the plan to work in market research because of her passion for psychology and numbers. The enthusiastic leader worked for international market research and advisory firms like Ipsos and Kantar after she completed her college studies and for the ensuing ten years. Paulina developed her strategic thinking, problem-solving skills, and growth-oriented concentration while working on research projects for more than 50 multinational corporations, as the majority of the research had the goal of expanding a market, a brand, or a market share.

GRANDE : From Beginning to the Journey So Far

Grande Studios started out as a 37-year-old family business with 15 workers, 5 recording studios, 2 mixing rooms, no documented process, and only one dubbing client: the Walt Disney Company, which included Lucas Films. It was an undiscovered gem.

Before the epidemic struck, she had a year to get to know the company, digitalizing the procedures, pleading with the users to adopt the new platform, and advocating for fresh ideas with her dad.

I recall that many small businesses around the world were about to shut down in the first month of the pandemic. We had only completed one test assignment for Netflix by that point. I began building a database of voice actors with a home studio because I didn’t want to close the studio. I sent the engineers to the recording studios to use a VPN to remotely manage the actors’ computers.

Paulina remembered, “I then asked Netflix if they were okay with us recording remotely, and they said yes.”

She continued, “My father told me I was completely out of my mind because the value of the studio is in the studio itself, so he set up a studio in a van where he could travel to different voice talents and record them. In the end, we complemented each other because what I couldn’t do remotely, he did it with his van.”

After some time, a few remote recording apps were introduced, and they simplified things for studios. But Grande Studios’ position as one of the pioneers in this field provided it with an advantage with clients and the potential for quick expansion. Since that time, Netflix has trusted the team with a significant chunk for number, and they have subsequently added other clients as Universal, Paramount, and Warner Bros. to their list of clients. Adaptability and innovation are what they offer, and that is what defines Grande Studios today.

Sadly, Paulina’s father passed away as a result of COVID. She may, however, learn his business practices by working with him for a few years. She is carrying out her vow to him to honour his legacy.

A Culture of Growth and Maturation

According to Paulina, “Innovation can’t exist without a creative team.”

Innovation is necessary for this sector, as it is in any other, but Grande works on productions that call for the entire team to comprehend what the original producer meant to convey to the audience and dub it in a way that all Latin American Spanish speakers can understand. Sometimes it’s a Hollywood film; other times it’s a film from Africa, India, or Korea that necessitates research into the language, culture, etc.

The atmosphere at the studio is just that – creative and enjoyable – as Paulina put it: “We owe our work to the audiences, and I simply can’t think of a profession that would be more fun than making movies.”

The Key USPs of Grande: Standing Ahead Among Competitors

FIX IT IN PRE!

When Paulina started working in the dubbing business, there was little room for new ideas because all of the dubbing work in Mexico was produced by the same people using the same methods.

Paulina had the opportunity to create and build the business her own way and to draw in and maintain the people who want to make a difference because she was unfamiliar with the procedures and didn’t know anyone in the industry.

In the first months of Paulina’s leadership at Grande Studios, she had a workflow that enabled her to grow the company. “The funny part is that I based it on the workflow we had at the food production company: having checkpoints in all the processes, and I added something that made a huge impact: 60% of the process happened before we entered the recording room. That is what “fix it in pre” refers to, and that is what sets us apart from other dubbing companies”, Paulina said.

The Victorious Journey Towards New Milestones

Grande Studios has grown from seven studios to 39 studios, from 15 employees to almost a hundred, and from two clients to more than 10-all of this in two years.

It sounds easy in numbers, but in order to do it, Paulina had to go through a number of battles to sustain herself in the industry and train a lot of people (there weren’t enough people in the industry). GRANDE trained engineers, directors, translators, voice talents, and producers, introduced the industry to so many people, and made them fall in love with it too.

The leading lady stated, “I would like to initially focus on my team,” as she talked about her new vision. We need to streamline and consolidate all of the growth, making changes to the process while using AI to improve some of them, because we are growing so quickly that managing teams that are three times as big requires different talents. Also, I would like to provide new localization services, original audio, and dubbing in several languages.”

Building the Path for Future Growth

Paulina finds it difficult to distinguish between her personal objectives and those of the firm, but she sees herself consolidating, growing, and starting new localization-related businesses. And lastly, from her personal point of view, she looks to accomplish sustainable happiness and spread it with her family and her team, whatever happiness means in 5 years.

Paulina shares her feelings before she concludes, “I would love to mention that becoming a mother has given me new leadership abilities like patience.” It’s odd, but occasionally I find myself using kid-friendly stories to communicate business solutions to my team or engaging them in kid-friendly emotional management activities.