Carlota Planas: Pioneering the Path for Women in Football

Carlota Planas (Barcelona 1992) is one of the representatives who opted for women’s football when nobody else did. When nobody believed in the players or in the power they enjoy today. This young Catalan (31 years old), a football lover since she was a child, did not want to separate her life from her passion. That is why she went through journalism, she did scouting and tried sports marketing until she found her place next to stars like Patri Guijarro, Leila Ouahabi, Lola Gallardo or Claudia Pina, some of her clients.

“I lived in Portugal. At the age of 10 I changed my name to Carlos and cut my hair so I could play in a school tournament. I was the best player. Then I told it, ‘I’m a girl’. He made a fuss. I came to Catalonia and I already went to play with girls, in Spain there were. I debuted in the First Division of futsal at the age of 15. Soccer was my passion, and it has saved me in many moments of my life, ”he comments about his beginnings.

Soccer was just a hobby for her, which is why she soon found her side in it. “I started studying, I got a scholarship from Pompeu for the high mark in selectivity. I was able to double major. I chose journalism because I saw that there were women and ADE because of my character. I was interested in knowing how to run a business. I finished my degree and did my internship at AS. They taught me a lot. Two weeks later they sent me to the Camp Nou for a Barça game. I didn’t even know how to enter the press area. They told me ‘come back with an interview’. In the mixed zone he was the last monkey. But when Dani Alves passed by, I started to speak to him in Portuguese. ‘Dani, stop!’ It was a great interview, he expanded. I learned what football was like in the media. I was close to the Barça world. I met Rosell, people from the board of directors. They offered me to do the scouting in Africa and computerize the entire system. I went to Senegal. There were 24 hours of football, I learned from everyone from Madrid and from other teams. He was tumbling”.

to sports marketing

Thus, little by little he fully entered the world of football. “I started to get to know the players. They all had agents… but on a day-to-day basis, at events, they were alone. Nobody moved them. The Barça players have this deficiency, I never would have imagined it. I started working with Rafinha, Ronaldinho, Alves, Coutinho… the Brazilian clan. I got into sports marketing and it was what I specialized in when I finished ADE. I liked it more than journalism, ”she recalls.

In 2018 he decided to launch and create a company with the support of some investment partners. “I was a model for various sports brands and I recorded commercials with Iniesta, Neymar… and I told them that it was strange that there wasn’t a professional player instead of me. In 2018 I decided to found the company. We signed 120 athletes and closed more than 60 campaigns. I always went with the message that a real profile reaches more, and the brands ended up entering. The first to sign was Leila Ouahabi with Nike. From each one she did, she heard 100 noes. ‘This doesn’t work, women’s football doesn’t sell…’. There he had to pull a speech, and now it has become a business. I no longer have to sell it, it sells itself. The strength has been given to us by the results”.

Planas reflects on the profound change that the women’s soccer industry has undergone. “Barça’s push has given a boost. Now they realize that when they work with a player and that what we sell them is true. Before, I had to beg and send 100 emails, and now they constantly complain to us. Since 2020 it began to work ”. In 2020 the time came for her to specialize in women’s soccer. That is why she created Unik Sports Management, which this week entered the Forbes list. “I wanted to specialize. I wanted to be with them for everything. With Leila, Patri, Claudia, Lola… whatever they ask of me. They call me for everything, I can solve it or not, but it happens through me. Even if it’s a broken pipe. We referred it and sent someone to fix it.”

What started as a bet has become a way of life similar to that of men’s soccer agents. “It’s a business, I can survive. I am not only with them in summer or in the market, I am every day of the year. The campaigns started by product. We didn’t see a penny and we paid for the trip. But the bet paid off. It is a privilege to work with them, to be by their side. Help them get to where their talent leaves them. Right now women’s football is a gold mine in which to invest. With the World Cup, with the Champions League… we will grow even more. That Alexia wins a Ballon d’Or also helps. Growth is global and it is not going to stop”.

Selection

Planas and several of its players have suffered in recent months with the theme of ’15’. She has managed to handle herself well. “We start from respect. I heard them and understood them. I saw how I could help them. I gave them my opinion. I think there was a mistake in including them all together. It’s not 15, it’s one plus one plus one… each one has its history and its motives. It is not what the 15 ask for, it is what Patri, or Mariona, or Aitana asks for”.

One of your players Patri Guijarro, brilliant in the Champions League final, is not in the World Cup by choice. “Of course it hurts. He is sacrificing himself for the greater good. I take my hat off to them and also to those who have decided to be available. They talked what they had to talk about and made their decision. Mariona felt that she had to go, and Cata the same.. The most important thing is that they respect each other. That one of my players is in the World Cup means that her value automatically multiplies. Not only sports, but also commercial. Many of them are subject to contracts, and if they go to a tournament like this they have bonuses. And finally, if you want to be at the top, you have to play the best competitions”.

Carlota closes the interview with AS with many calls on hold. Her schedule this time of year is red hot. “It is the year that I have worked the most in a summer market, not only because of the number of transfers, but also because of their value,” he confesses.