Back to Brussels, January of this same year, 2024.
Winter. Cold. Very cold and very dark, especially for a Brazilian kid from Rio.
Maybe not even my mom knows, but I felt like I was on the verge of burnout.
Started asking ChatGPT about the symptoms, how to avoid it, what to do.
Tried meditating, but it didn’t help (much).
Had a list of houses (on a real estate app in Portugal) called my “lifeline,” in case I just couldn’t take it anymore and needed to move somewhere affordable.
My cookies started suggesting stories of people who took years to recover from burnout.
One day, on my way to the tram, with my Vans soaked from the rain/snow that day, I was thinking about asking my family doctor for a sick leave (for burnout).
The thought alone gave me chills.
At the time, my second daughter had just been born, my son was super adapted, full of friends, fluent in french. Plus, we had several decisions to make, and all of them seemed to lock us into staying in Saint-Gilles for another two years.
I stared into the void. Feeling tied down.
But one day, not long after that, I realized I couldn’t make it to the end of 2024.
How could I even consider staying until the end of 2025.
I needed to move something.
Or everything.
And that’s how we started planning our next step:
The crazy idea of going back to Portugal and working independently.
Deep down, amidst the blur, the empty stares, I saw the potential in it.
But with zero clients, little support, very little money, the idea was insane—and carried extra weight.
One day I made a list of potential clients, friends, colleagues, and contacts.
People who might, or might not, send me a gig here and there.
That gave me courage—I suggest this to everyone.
The next day, I quit my job.
Then I told our friends. Our landlord. My son’s school.
We rented a house remotely.
And we moved.
And I started what would become BROTO.
It’s been about six months since I made that risky decision and I decided to put together this showreel to show and reflect on the work I’ve done in these six months.
To see what this insanity has brought me.
When I put it all together and hit play, I felt a chill.
Just like that day in January of this same year, 2024, with my soaked Vans, thinking about asking for a sick leave.
But this time, finally, the chill was from joy.
I’ve always heard that the bigger the risk, the greater the reward.
This post is to thank (eternally) those who have turned this risk into a beautiful reward.
Literally speaking.
* Please. Listen to it with sound. Read the text without. In this order. More or less. *
Et voilá, the showreel of our last 6 months of work.
Actually, the first 6 months of BROTO.
Made with love, joy and sweat.
Thanks to everyone who was part of this – directly or indirectly.
Here's to more and more in the coming year.
Piping chargehand tekfen Qater
2moCongratulations!