Sometimes, to find yourself, you have to accept that you are lost. Or at least, that the map you’ve been using no longer matches the terrain beneath your feet. I am speaking to you from that place where vulnerability blends with a strange sense of freedom. It is that exact moment when you stop holding onto what was to open your hands to what is arriving.
For years, my identity was closely tied to Vicenza and other migration consultancies. These were chapters that allowed a new book to be written—phases that, while now completed, were finalized with strong results. This included leading Vicenza as CEO and working alongside the entire team to reach the Exame ranking of the fastest-growing companies in 2024. If you had asked me a while ago, I would have told you that was my peak.
We were helping people, yes. We were moving files, resolving bureaucracies, and shortening geographical distances. But inside me, something began to whisper that it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t a lack of success; it was a call toward something deeper. Closing that stage wasn’t a failure—it was an act of courage. It was admitting that my purpose had evolved.
The mission: Democratizing access
I realized that the world of global mobility is often an exclusive club, full of invisible barriers and costs that exclude those who need an opportunity most. That is where my obsession was born: democratizing access to global mobility. I didn’t want moving countries to be a privilege for a lucky few with the resources to allow it. I wanted it to be an accessible, fluid, and, above all, human right.
To achieve that, I understood we couldn’t keep doing things the same way. We needed real innovation. We needed Artificial Intelligence and technology to stop being buzzwords and start being real bridges that eliminate friction in the migration process.
When I talk about democratizing, I don’t just mean lowering prices. I mean returning autonomy to the person on the other side of the screen or the desk. Imagine someone in a corner of the world with incredible talent but without the right map to move. My mission now is to build that map—one that is intelligent, that learns, and that is available to everyone, not just those who can pay thousands of dollars for a consultation. It is a shift from traditional consulting to a systemic solution.
Evocent and the power of innovation
After leaving Vicenza and closing that chapter, I decided to found EvocentMobility.com. And to be honest, taking that leap was scary. Founding a startup from scratch, with a vision that seeks to revolutionize a sector as rigid as migration, requires a significant dose of what I call wild confidence. But magic happens when you dare to be seen in your entirety. Suddenly, doors began to open.
Today, Evocent is not just an idea in my head. It is a reality that is part of the Hotmilk innovation ecosystem at PUC/PR. Being there, surrounded by minds that challenge the status quo, reminded me why I chose this path. But the recognition didn’t stop there. We managed to get Google for Startups and AWS Startups to notice us and integrate us into their programs.
Do you know what that means for someone who started with little more than a vision? It is the validation that the path of innovation, though lonely at times, is the right one. These alliances give us the technological muscle to make that democratization a tangible, scalable, and powerful reality.
The soul of the business: Whooo
While we build a new future with Evocent, my heart has a very firm anchor in the present and the past. Whooo, our oldest company, has just turned 16. Sixteen years. In the business world, that is an eternity. Keeping an organization alive and relevant for that long doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not about luck; it’s about culture.
At Whooo, I learned that a company is only sustainable if it has a soul. We managed to integrate purpose not as a slogan on the wall, but as the engine of our organizational model. How did we do it? By putting people first. * We implemented Career Development Plans (CDPs) for every team member.
- I wanted everyone who passed through here to feel that their personal growth was as important as the growth in revenue.
- Because at the end of the day, a company is nothing more than a group of people who believe in the same story.
Seeing people who started with us years ago become leaders and masters of their own path is, perhaps, one of the greatest points of pride in the journey I share today.
A journey of continuouslearning
Sometimes I stop to look back and I am overwhelmed by a gratitude that almost takes my breath away. It isn’t empty gratitude; it’s the realization that every piece of the puzzle—even the ones that didn’t seem to fit—had a place.
I think of the days I sat studying Neil Patel’s courses, trying to decipher how brands position themselves in this digital noise we call the internet. Or the hours of training with the Mestre SEO agency (under the great master, Fabio Ricotta), learning that visibility isn’t vanity—it’s the opportunity to be found by the person who needs you.
Then came the MBA in Innovation Management, which gave me the tools to stop being just a dreamer and start thinking like an architect of change. But if there was a moment that shattered my internal limits, it was the Finance course at Harvard. > If you had told me ten, twenty, or thirty years ago that I—the son of two hardworking warriors without formal education, of immigrants, and decades of a torturous search for stability—would be studying at Harvard, I would have laughed. It seemed unthinkable.
But there I was, defending values and persisting. It filled my heart to understand that technical knowledge doesn’t have to be at odds with empathy and vulnerability. You can know your numbers and still be a person who leads from the heart.
And now, the circle seems to be closing in the most beautiful way. I am starting a course at Sciences Po on migratory movements. It feels like coming home, but with fresh eyes. It’s about understanding human mobility through sociology, politics, and history, to then apply all of Evocent’s technology and Whooo’s structure to make those people’s lives easier.
Gratitude and the path ahead
Looking at this journey, I can only say thank you.
- To my wonderful wife, friends, and family. * To our teams at Whooo and Evocent. * To all of you who reached out when I didn’t have much to offer in return but a dream and an ideal.
Thank you to those who supported the “crazy ideas” when they were just sketches on a napkin. But also—and this is important—thank you to the critics. Thank you to those who pushed back, those who doubted, and those who placed stones in the road. Without that resistance, I wouldn’t have the strength necessary to get here. Criticism forced me to review my convictions, strengthen my “why,” and refuse to settle for mediocre answers.
Success is not a straight line. It is a scribble full of blurs and erasures. It’s waking up on a Monday feeling like you’re going to conquer the world and a Tuesday wondering if you really know what you’re doing. And that’s okay. Vulnerability is not weakness; it is the place where innovation is born. If you don’t allow yourself to fail or feel insecure, you will never allow yourself to create something truly new.
Today I find myself in a moment of fulfillment, but not a final destination. I don’t believe final destinations exist, only waystations where we recharge for the next leg. My commitment to global mobility is firmer than ever. My faith that technology can be deeply human is unshakable. And my desire to keep learning—from marketing and design to finance and sociology—remains that of the child who one day decided that where you are born should not define how far you can go.
If you are reading this and feel you are in the middle of a difficult transition, if you feel your old map no longer works, do not despair. Uncertainty is the space where everything is possible. Do not let go of your values; do not stop defending what you believe in, even if you are starting from zero. Especially if you are starting from zero. Because the story you are writing today, with all its messiness and challenges, is exactly what someone else needs to hear so they don’t give up.
In the end, we are all navigators in this interconnected world. Some of us build the ships, others plot the routes, but we all share the same desire to find a place to call home—a place where we can thrive. My job is to make sure the journey is just a little bit easier for you.
