For those of you wondering if this is another AI-polished post, I’m sorry to disappoint. There’s only an imperfect amount of human juices behind the words you’re about to read.
I felt it was important to pause for a moment before coming back from my paternity leave to breathe and celebrate three meaningful milestones, all of them born out of love and nourished with care, effort and perseverance. I’ll also share some reflections of my journey at this point.
Starting with the most exciting one, I am celebrating the birth of my first son: Hugo Alberto. After a long wait, our son decided to join our family on the 17th of January, decreasing instantly our daily hours of sleep and work, and multiplying our hours of joy and kindness. Having a child is the most testing and beautiful experience of my life, and I feel such a deep satisfaction for being able to experience life to this intensity -even when it’s sometimes too much-.
This birth came at a very important maturity point in my life, and after a winding road. I’m soon going to be celebrating my own 40th birthday, and so instantly 2026 has become a very important transition year in my life, which I’m still trying to get used to.
The third birthday I’m celebrating is the 7th year of Minds Studio’s life, that I have found incredibly fulfilling too. I’m glad the Studio keeps growing in good health, as I believe we have also matured and grown a lot in the last few years.
Here are some of the main thoughts at this new stage in my life:
It took a -global- village
I would not be here, personally and professionally, without the support and care of many people scattered around the world, who helped me. I don’t have enough words to express how grateful I am to so many people. If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of them.
The Studio is now a collection of over 50 extremely talented minds (and hearts) who share something that’s very difficult for me to explain, like many of the important things in life. I like to say we are a group of independent professionals who care about their crafts, their learning and about each other. I imagine us as a distributed jazz band close to each other not by geography but mindset. Playing for those who can hear the music around the world.
But not only that, I am now part of a web of relationships with almost 50 forward-thinking institutions and companies in nearly 20 countries which you can visualise here:
Our latest work is being delivered as you read these words in countries such as Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea or United Arab Emirates. It’s all happening slowly, carefully, and always with our highest standards of work and care to improve the way we learn, one project at a time. I sometimes can’t believe I get to work with such an inspiring group of people.
Now that our principles and brand are starting to mature I’ve also taken some steps -and resources- to strengthen its resilience to protect it -mainly, from myself-. The first 5 years Minds Studio was very dependent on my contribution, but as we grew I’ve spent more time with the core minds of the network to evolve our community architecture and redistribute workload and rewards.
It took experimentation, pain and practice
I have always tried to stay true to myself, and therefore listen to my internal compass which meant I was lost several times in life. Things have never been a straight line or a master plan calculated to the latest detail in my head. I needed to think but I also needed to feel it, or I needed to stop. At critical points, being this way meant that pain was unbearable by being alone and some key people showed up, helping me get unstuck and soothing the pain.
The Studio is, of course, a reflection that very same character, and attracts people with a similar mindset. It’s taken several years of research and execution to be able to express the kind of learning experiences we collectively stand for, but even now it keeps evolving like a living organism, as we all carry different experiences and points of view. Despite new tools and technology constantly appearing, our Practice approach remains a solid anchor to enjoy learning a new skill, in the company of others who are in a similar journey.
I believe we can help many, many people reconnect with their curiosity and learn valuable skills with this approach. I believe in it because it’s based on human connection, emergent learning, and gentle guidance by facilitators and tools that provide structure, rhythm and a reminder that the most difficult part of learning is and will be showing up to it, again and again.
It took a craft mindset and patience
I love to spend time with anyone who cares about a craft, and I wish everyone could feel how real craftsmanship feels like. It’s kind of magical, or spiritual. I believe technology won’t ever change it -but will always expand it-. When someone speaks from a place of depth and breadth of knowledge, it makes a hell of a difference, particularly when stakes are high. Unfortunately technology keeps pushing us for the quick answer, for the superficial solution.
I wanted the Studio to become a home for those people in search for depth, so we can produce experiences that push the boundaries of what’s been tested before. This means we can’t work on many projects at the same time, we choose quality over quantity. It’s taken seven years to find 30 clients and 50 people with this mindset, but we are not in a rush.
The dream
Today I dream Minds Studio becoming what Walt Disney would imagine if he was obsessed with education, not with animation. A Studio where, every year, craftsmen and women produce a few mind-blowing learning experiences that inspire people to follow their curiosity anywhere in the world.
Part of that dream means that we inspire people to find their craft and practice to become a better version of themselves on a regular basis.
I commit to keep showing up. It’s the best way I can think of setting a good example for Hugo.