In 2016, we launched the Fog Fifteenth beer, which is a limited edition commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Fog agency. But it wouldn’t be fair to just launch without having a story behind it. Our beer is typical English, inspired by our beginnings. And by the way, many people ask me why the name Fog and what is our connection with England. Well, for that I’m going to talk about myself, but it’s not quite an autobiography.

Since I was young, I thought about business, companies and innovation intensely. In May 2001, amid several ideas, I decided to pursue a dream, which was to live in London. I went to stay for a year and came back in a month. At the height of my emotional immaturity, I needed a boost on what to do with my entrepreneurial ideas. And I remember like it was today when around 11 pm, raining, on the bridge over the River Thames, in front of Big Ben, I said my first “Puta Merda e Agora”? I apologize in advance for the rudeness of the word, but in my life I consider the “Holy shit and now?” as decision milestones. Whether it’s when something goes wrong and you need a solution or when something really good happens and you’ll need a new organization to make it work. At that moment I was in doubt about what to do and there I had a click that it would be possible to achieve everything I wanted because I was at that moment in a scenario that I had dreamed of before, literally. And I immediately decided to interrupt a desire to be there to go back and start what would be my journey from that moment on.

Fog comes from the famous London fog, from bottom to top, which guides you through the streets in a charming way. That day I was guided by a cold mist that brought me back. England may leave the European Union, but it will never leave my heart, because it was from that day on that a lot of things changed. And I can say that they were intense years. I have graduation, specializations, MBA, among many other things. But can I be honest? My greatest school was living these last years of my life. I already had 5 effective companies, I created the first food e-commerce in Brazil in 2003 when Ifood didn’t even think about existing. A great idea that arrived ahead of its time and the difficulty of monetizing it made it unfeasible.

I achieved a lot starting from scratch, traveled a lot, celebrated, suffered, cried, lost everything I gained, broke, recovered again, celebrated more, I’ve experienced a roller coaster of emotions, conquered more than customers, made many friends, never I wanted to create enmity but maybe someone in the world doesn’t like me and if that’s the case with you forgive me and let’s have a beer to sort it out. Anyway, this whole time I had great victories and learnings, in an epic way. I said a lot of “Holy shit what now?” that even became an internal motto in my conscience. And I like to see the bright side of everything. In fact, when something goes wrong for me, I say I’m collaborating with my biography because I’ve never read one where the protagonist just gets along, on the contrary.

And one thing I’ve learned is that no condition is permanent, be humble, respect and cherish every moment and opportunity to follow your intuition. And in the midst of so many “Holy shit what now?”, the Fog agency has bravely followed for years, in a mature way, reinventing itself when necessary, it keeps getting better. And a lot of people ask me if I haven’t thought about giving up my entrepreneurial life in a country with so many obstacles. And my answer is always the same: – every day. But just so I can remind myself why I keep going. And it has nothing to do with creating brands, winning ads, being recognized or making a lot of money. This is all very good, but doing what I do has to do with looking into each one’s eyes and recognizing the sparkle of dreams come true. See purpose in people and help. Changing lives, collaborating in transformations, participating in inspiring moments, in the pursuit of goals, goals achieved, about leaving a legacy.

Today, years after founding the agency, I can say that I have a few quirks. The main thing is that I only work with people I believe in, trust and inspire. Be a collaborator, partner, customer or supplier. I can’t function with someone who doesn’t feel admiration. And what matters in life is having a journey that you can be proud of whether it’s yourself or who’s making your way, even if it’s different from yours. And whatever happens to your life, the best thing to help resolve it will always be a “Holy shit, now what?”