Tell us what you do for a living?
I run a consultancy business in São Paulo, Brazil and I am an author of two business books.
Are you doing what you thought you’d be doing after you left school?
I only imagined I would be working in London “in business” – I had no real idea of what I would be doing as a career when I was 18.
What’s been your inspiration – what’s pulled you forwards and into your current role?
I’ve always been curious and wanted to to create things. This has allowed me to have a number of extremely interesting jobs in technology, telecoms and innovation. So I have always looked for opportunities allowing me to enjoy my interests rather than being purely ‘work’.
What would you say is your biggest achievement to date, the thing you’re most proud of? Professionally or personally!
It is really difficult to think of one single achievement as I have been a part of so many projects where I played a role. If I think of one thing I have achieved that stands out, it was being a co-founder of one of the UK’s first startups – Genie Internet, which was created inside of BT.
Was there a particular teacher, or a moment at school that particularly inspired you?
I think Mr Fischer who taught physics. I complained that the formulas we were learning were not correct depictions of what was happening, and he said I would need to wait until university to get the maths to really model the world properly. He didn’t complain about me, he encouraged me.
How important do you think your school days were in shaping who you are today?
It is really hard to say. I am just very grateful to have had an extremely balanced schooling at the Royal Latin without elitism and without the challenges of schools with far fewer resources.
What’s your work:life balance like? How important is that to you?
I work extremely hard as I am a business owner, but I work with my wife who is also a consultant with me so there is a kind of balancing through blending work and my social life.
What advice would you give to today’s students who may be struggling to choose which path to take beyond school?
Do as I did and study something you love. I studied psychology without worrying about the exact career afterwards.
Finally, do you have a favourite quote, expression or mantra which inspires you to keep going?
The quote that came to mind was “No one ever raised a statue to a critic”. I had to google it and there are various people who have used variations of this. Basically, for me it says to me that no matter what you try and achieve, there will always be critics. So just push and on do what you feel you need to do anyway, as it is so easy to criticise and so much harder to genuinely create something.
