Claudia Catileo: leaving the bank to find her path in wood

For two decades, Claudia Catileo's life unfolded among boxes, numbers, and customer service at BancoEstado. Her story, however, did not begin in the south. Born in Santiago, she arrived as a child to the Biobío province, where she would eventually put down permanent roots.

She studied Business Administration Engineering while raising her daughter and working, building a stable career that seemed to project itself without upheavals. But the pandemic changed everything.

Separated, without support networks, and with her role as treasurer unable to adapt to remote work, she faced a critical decision: to continue in a system that no longer gave her options or to take a leap into the void. She chose the latter. She resigned.

"I had no alternative," she recalls. And although she received her full severance pay, the money quickly dissolved among expenses, debts, and the need to support her family. She tried different jobs: she sold clothes, worked as a waitress, sought to reinvent herself without a clear direction. Until an idea appeared that, without her knowing it, would change her life.

The path on social media

It was on social media where Claudia found her new path: a CNC machine capable of carving wood with millimeter precision. "I fell in love," she says without beating around the bush. For years she observed, learned, and dreamed of having one, though without fully understanding the complexity it involved.

Finally, with resources obtained after selling a property and the support of a Sercotec fund, she managed to acquire her own machine. She installed it in a warehouse of more than 60 square meters in her home in Antuco, a space that she once felt was empty and that today is her workshop.

The beginning was not easy. Without knowledge of digital design or machining, she had to learn from scratch. "I thought the machine did everything on its own, but you have to know how to design, program, understand the errors," she acknowledges. Even so, she persisted.

New life

Today, Claudia works mainly with native wood. She designs and produces everything from boards and furniture to decorative pieces with local identity, even incorporating volcanic sand into some creations.

But her connection with wood goes beyond the technical. "I like to see its grains, its flaws. To me, they are like people's wounds, they tell a story," she explains. That perspective has allowed her to develop her own style, where each piece has a narrative.

Six months after starting her venture, Claudia moves forward step by step. She has found in local fairs her main sales channel, especially with tourists, although she acknowledges that the digital world is still a pending challenge.

"I didn't think it would be so hard to give up a fixed salary," she admits. The cold of the fairs, the instability of income, and the pressure of supporting her home are part of her new reality. However, she does not contemplate giving up.

"My daughter, my animals, my house depend on me. I can't give up," she says with conviction.

Between uncertainty and learning, Claudia Catileo is building a new life, where each piece of wood not only reflects her craft but also her story of resilience.

At Acoforag, we deeply value the effort, perseverance, and courage of Claudia, who decided to reinvent herself and carve her own path in the world of wood.