Hello Everyone!
Welcome to the Work In Progress!
This is a place for creators, dreamers, entrepreneurs and people in progress.
I was raised with all the typical ideas of success. I grew up thinking that success in business and life were supposed to be completed by age 50. By then, you’d hope for grandkids to carry on your lineage and kick back in retirement. I would dedicate my life to those cute little munchkins running around my house, breaking all my art and ruining my carpets. My life would be a relaxing paradise.
Well, things did not turn out that way for me. Now that I am “over the hill,” life has become a lot more interesting.
It has always been about fear for me. Fear of falling, fear of not being a good daughter and then not being a good mother or wife. After I moved to the US, the biggest fear was not being able to communicate properly. Writing became an impossible barrier. As a journalist and a successful entrepreneur in Brazil, I was adept at communicating well with my audience. Now I found myself mute. But not deaf, for my auditory skills became refined. For a while I would think, “Gosh, now I don’t speak any language. I’m mixing English and Portuguese and not speaking either correctly!”
“Portoenglish” became my new dialect.
Changes started when I went from a nice Jewish girl from a well-known Brazilian family to an unknown immigrant, in a very closed and exclusive community in a New York suburb. For the first time, I realized how far I was from home and how it feels to be no one.
I recall one day, when I was waiting for my daughter outside of her preschool classroom, at the synagogue where my husband and I were members. There was a group of parents chatting outside of the room, and I, an unsuspecting ugly duckling, approached them. They were chatting about a nice club where the children would go after school to play tennis and enjoy pool time. Coincidentally, it happened to be the same club I wanted my kids to join, and I was looking for a current member to endorse my acceptance.
Naturally, I asked one of the moms if she would endorse our family. Without missing a beat, she said coldly, “I don’t know who you are, how can I endorse you?” It hit me right there. Being part of the same school, having a well-known doctor as my husband, and being part of the same community was not enough. I learned to keep my Brazilian informality and warmth for myself.
I think the experiences you live throughout your life shape who you become. This anecdote is just one small piece of my story as an immigrant, a mother, a wife, a Brazilian, a New Yorker, an entrepreneur, an event planner, a friend, a bassist, a writer, a winner and a loser.
My experience with the suburban parents gave me clarity and direction. It motivated me to become who I am. A fighter, a dreamer a doer and someone that will not be seated on a comfy couch waiting for people to dictate who or what I should be.
I want to be heard and to help people.
This space was born out of a desire to create a space for people of all ages who are looking to better themselves and the people around them. There is no age limit on creativity, imagination, and growth.
Here you will find new ideas, inspiration in business and life, and stories of interesting people who are motivated to live life to the fullest. I will talk with people from all over the world who have put no limitations on themselves while achieving their dreams. I will continue to uncover my own life experiences and how I am proudly a work in progress.
I would also love to hear your story, so please, feel free to email or comment below with your story.
Looking forward!