where it started
I grew up in the countryside of Brazil with wide spaces and little to do, which means I spent my childhood watching people and reading between the lines. Journaling has been a lifelong constant; I kept diaries less to record events than to catch what was moving beneath the surface. My diary from 1998 later became From the Beginning. The habit of paying attention is the foundation of everything I do.
the words
When it was time for university, I went to the same Brazilian campus where my parents were students, to focus on language and literature. Poetry and I found each other there, and then I left it behind for years, buried under brand work. It returned during a difficult season, when writing became the only way through. Behold: Life Beyond Grief came out of that return.
the work
After coming to the U.S. as an au pair, I spent more than ten years in New York corporate offices before moving to Miami and starting The Copper Portico. Literature taught me how to listen; branding gave me a place to practice it.
The clearest example I can give you is Vizcaya, a historic estate I've worked with since 2020. There, the work is so much more than maintaining a brand. It is about understanding what makes the place distinct, deciding what needs to evolve, and helping it change without losing its spirit.
what i do now
After spending decades building other people's projects, I hit a wall and had to find my own voice again. Now, I sit with founders and creators who are too close to their own work. I help them see what has changed, separate what is important from what isn't, and reconnect with what is truly theirs.
Your perspective is the only thing that cannot be automated.