Let me tell you a wild story! So, back in '78, I was born into a family of soldiers, and it seemed like my only option was to follow in their footsteps and go to war. So, at the ripe age of eleven, I entered the Military School of Porto Alegre - one of the toughest academies in Brazil. And get this, seven different presidents studied there before becoming rulers of Brazil's 25-year dictatorship. But let's just say it wasn't my cup of tea, so I switched gears and chose advertising when I turned 16.

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My senior career started when I moved from my hometown of Porto Alegre to São Paulo, where I was hired to work at Lew,Lara TBWA. We had amazing clients such as Nokia, ABN Amro Bank, Tim Mobile, and Natura Cosmetics, and I won my first international and national awards. It was a period of exciting discoveries. To be honest, before living in São Paulo, I didn't feel like I truly knew my country. Yes, the size of the city can be overwhelming, but it also teaches you a lot. I remember looking up at the towering buildings as I cycled to work, feeling small but inspired.

 

In 2007, I moved to Berlin, where I worked at TBWA\Berlin as the Creative Director for Adidas in German-speaking markets. Berlin was a different experience altogether, especially for an art director. I lived in Mitte, a neighborhood with over 300 art galleries, during the early years of the Berlin creative boom. It was a time when I started to consolidate my creative style: a mix of design, real-life experiences, and PR.

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Then I moved on to join CP+B in Scandinavia and let me tell you, Sweden is where it's at! I learned so much about digital creativity and what it means to be a socially responsible person. It was truly life changing. But as a nomad at heart, I eventually found myself in Tribal DDB/Amsterdam working on some big-name brands like KLM and Philips.

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I eventually made my way back to my hometown as the ECD of a creative boutique called DM9Sul. We won some major awards like four Cannes Lions and over 25 shortlists in just three years. The Brazilian explosion was in full swing, and our country was about to host the next Olympic Games and the Football World Cup.

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But as we all know, corruption during those major events led to the biggest economic recession in the history of Brazil. So, I made the tough decision to move again, this time to the Middle East as the ECD in JWT Dubai. And let me tell you, we won some serious awards and landed some amazing clients like Harvey Nichols, Meraas, National Bounds, and Bentley.

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After only a year in Dubai, I was approached by one of the most creative agencies in the world, Africa São Paulo, and offered the chance to go back to Brazil (again) and lead their biggest client, Vivo Telecon. I was responsible for a budget of 100 million dollars in media plus 15 million dollars in production. And in just 12 months, we produced 15 TVCs and a couple of integrated ideas, leading to some serious wins at Cannes Lions.

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But all that time abroad came with a big cost, as I started to struggle to adapt to my own country. Brazil can be beautiful, but the violence in the streets made it hard to raise my two young kids. So, I made the bold move to a small island in the Channel Islands called Guernsey, where I became the Creative Director responsible for Art, Design, and Activation, as well as the Global Design Director.

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And now, here I am leading as Executive Creative Director for the Creative Commerce teams in VMLY&R - where we're revolutionizing the way we think about advertising through commerce. With commerce ideas, we can convert, build brand, and engage in all channels, all at the same time. It's been a wild ride, but I wouldn't have it any other way!