This September, we’re delighted to welcome Clarissa Menna to ANDA CoWork for her workshop, ‘Your visual presence as a professional asset’. Clarissa is a creative director, brand strategist, and photographer based in Barcelonaand is known for combining creativity with strategy to help professionals and brands communicate with clarity, confidence, and authenticity. Ahead of the workshop, we spoke with Clarissa about her journey, the ideas behind her work, and what participants can expect from the session. Here’s what she had to say.
For those who haven’t met you yet, can you tell us a little about your background?
I’m a Brazilian creative director, brand strategist, and photographer, currently based in Barcelona. I started my career in advertising agencies in Brazil, working on campaigns for brands like Tramontina and O Boticário, big, complex projects with large teams. At some point I realized the questions I found most interesting weren’t the mass-communication ones. They were the more personal ones: who are you, what do you actually stand for, and what should someone feel the moment they encounter you? That curiosity led me toward working directly with individuals and small brands, and eventually to this workshop.
You describe visual presence as a professional tool. What does it actually mean, and why is it so important today?
Your visual presence is the sum of every visual signal you send out: your LinkedIn photo, the palette of your website, what your Instagram communicates in three seconds, how you show up on a video call. It’s always transmitting. Most people just aren’t aware of it, which means they’re broadcasting something by default rather than by design. In a world where the first contact is almost always digital, that gap between intention and reality costs people opportunities they never even know they missed.
What are some of the most common mistakes you see professionals making?
Three things come up constantly. The first is using an outdated or low-quality photo, it signals, however unfairly, a certain carelessness. The second is visual inconsistency across platforms: a polished LinkedIn next to an Instagram that looks like a completely different person. The third, and probably the most interesting one, is copying aesthetic trends without asking whether they actually reflect who you are. Looking like everyone else is its own kind of invisibility.
What inspired you to create this workshop, and what gap does it address?
Most photography workshops focus on the technical side of taking a good image. Most personal branding workshops stay quite abstract, lots of talk about values, very little about what to actually do with them. This workshop lives in between. It’s where the strategic question meets something you can see and use. I wanted to create a space where people walk in with vague anxiety about how they look online and walk out with a real direction.
What can attendees expect to leave with after the three hours?
A defined visual language: references, colors, a clear sense of their own aesthetic. A practical plan for the platforms they’re already on. And at least one strong image or creative direction they can start using immediately. We also work with AI tools during the session, so people leave knowing how to keep developing their visual identity independently.
Why is this especially relevant for the Anda community?
Because when you’re a freelancer, an entrepreneur, or a creative, you are your brand. There’s no marketing department behind you, no PR team shaping your image. Everything visual that goes out into the world is coming from you directly. That’s both the challenge and the opportunity, and it’s exactly what this workshop is designed for.
If participants remember just one thing, what would you want it to be?
That you’re already communicating visually, whether you mean to or not. This workshop just gives you the controls.