From a street in Florianópolis to the heart of Swiss banking. This story has eight stops. The ninth one is yours.
I grew up in one of the poorest corners of Florianópolis, across the street from the Unidos da Coloninha samba school. Raised by my grandmother, adopted by my family, with drums as a soundtrack.
At eight years old I had my first job, running errands as an office boy for my uncle. Everything that came after started there.
I taught myself design, code, and how to keep web servers alive, and turned it into my first profession as an independent. Nobody showed me how.
Even university could not: my degree in digital product design was so new that the professors were learning alongside us. Self-taught was never a phase. It became the method.
My wife and I founded LELAK, named after our son Kalel. Not a side project: a bet, made as a family.
A digital studio in Brazil, built to serve the world.
At its height LELAK was 21 people, delivering for clients across the US and Europe. Three children were born along the way.
We were proof that world-class digital work could come out of Florianópolis.
The market that built LELAK began to close around it. Instead of shrinking, we crossed an ocean.
I was granted a Swiss visa for highly qualified experts to join Avaloq in Zürich. A family of five, starting from zero, again.
At Avaloq I introduced Human-Centered Design and built a company-wide design system reaching more than 140 banks.
By the time Avaloq was acquired by NEC for USD 2.2 billion, design had a seat at the table. In 2020 I founded LELAK again, this time Swiss, consulting for LGT, Vontobel and BBVA.
I joined Finnova to lead UX and grew the team from 2 to 9 people, setting UX strategy and Design Operations for a Swiss core-banking platform.
Product discovery for Swiss Instant Payments with six major banks. A mortgage advisory journey built from zero. AI-assisted UX and prototyping. Client satisfaction up 20%.
Thirty years of building. Two countries. A company with my son's name on it. Teams that kept growing after I left the room.
The next destination is not on this map yet. If you are reading this, you might be the one who helps me draw it.