Miles Ahead: How Lorena Vieira Turns Travel into Partnerships
- Gambling IQ
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Shaped by global travel and on-the-ground deal making, Lorena Vieira is sharpening her focus on relationship-first business development and long-term industry partnerships
In 2025, Lorena Vieira criss-crossed continents multiple times, logging more than 120,000 air miles and turning airports, conference halls and late-night dinners into a structured strategy for building long-term partnerships. “Being present matters,” Vieira tells GamblingIQ. “Not just physically, but mentally. People notice when you’re genuinely engaged.”
That belief shapes how she approaches business development. Rather than counting meetings or business cards, Vieira measures progress by outcomes. Each trip is planned with clear intent: who to meet, which conversations to prioritise and how a first discussion can move toward collaboration. “A great introduction is just the start,” she says. “The real work begins afterwards.”
Her schedule reads like a global circuit — London, Barcelona, Rio, Manila, Cape Town — but Vieira brings order to the constant movement. She travels with discipline, maintaining routines that keep her focused amid tight schedules and long flights. Early walks, structured follow-ups and deliberate pauses are built into her days. “Those routines help me stay clear-headed,” she explains. “They protect my energy and keep me effective.”
That structure has become a differentiator. Vieira is known for building trust quickly across regions, converting short encounters into meaningful working relationships. Follow-ups are timely, pilots are clearly defined, and expectations are aligned early. “People don’t expect perfection,” she says. “They expect reliability and transparency.”
Some of her most impactful moments happen away from the main stage. Vieira recalls a late-night conversation that later developed into a regional rollout, and a conference mishap in Dubai during SIGMA — a missing hotel room — that turned into a shared experience and strengthened a professional relationship. “Those situations show how you handle pressure,” she says. “That’s when trust is built.”
Vieira also speaks openly about working in a fast-moving, still male-dominated industry. She credits not only visible role models, but the colleagues and leaders who advocated for her behind the scenes. “Representation matters,” she says. “But sponsorship is what really opens doors — someone willing to support you when decisions are being made.”
From a commercial standpoint, Vieira favours experimentation over overpromising. Her deals are shaped by small pilots, defined metrics and rapid feedback. “Testing and learning builds credibility,” she explains. “It protects partners and sets the foundation for scale.”
Despite the pace, Vieira is deliberate about recovery. Time with family, quiet moments between flights and reflection after major events are essential to sustaining momentum. “You can’t build strong partnerships if you’re constantly running on empty,” she says.
Looking ahead, her focus is clear: fewer transactional meetings, deeper collaborations and repeatable frameworks that allow partnerships to scale without losing their human core. “Travel is just the vehicle,” Vieira says. “Trust is the destination.”
In an industry driven by speed and expansion, Lorena Vieira demonstrates that relationships — built with intent and followed through consistently — still move the fastest.
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