A Man Who Shaped How I Work

Describe a man who has positively impacted your life.

This is my last post of 2025, and this question couldn’t be more perfect! As I explore my career choices inside Automattic, one essential thing comes to mind: I certainly want a role that will spark joy and profound satisfaction in my professional life. Working long hours and seeing things through is something I do not only because I have to work, but also because I have enormous pleasure in what I do. But where did this come from?

When I was born, at the tail end of the 60’s, my dad was a stock trader at the stock exchange in Rio, Brazil. He adored his profession! When I was around 1.5 to 2 years old, he decided to leave it behind to do something he loved even more: breed thoroughbred horses on the family farm in the interior of São Paulo. We spent the next 10 years living there. It was a very special childhood.

When the family farm was set to be sold, my dad moved to a small city in the south of Brazil and bought a farm 30 minutes away, where we could see Uruguay in the distance. It couldn’t be more southern than this! He built it all from scratch and created a horse farm—in fact, a “horse hotel”—with a business model in which he would take care of horses for other owners. This was his business for decades.

It was stressful, not always full of horses, and while some moments money was scarce, others it was abundant to the point that he needed another piece of land to accommodate all the horses he was taking care of! From this model, he was invited to administer one of the country’s largest breeders, a job he still does at a sustainable level for him, at 83 years old.

But why am I telling you all this? The joy my dad has from his work moulded how I tackled my work life. I clearly don’t do the same thing he does, but I have the same joy—or similar. I don’t just have a job; I do something I am passionate about, making my life meaningful and pleasurable, even if I am working 40+ hours a week. I also have a great work-life balance, something I always had.

Yes, I told him that. Through his example, he influenced me silently to find things I liked to do. I moved a lot, mostly working for myself throughout the 36 years and counting I have worked. I changed my approach to work a few times. I pivoted and accepted jobs I was not trained to do. I constantly learned. I went back to school—you name it—but joy was a constant. And creativity!

As the year comes to an end and I reflect on this year of blogging, I can say 2025 was challenging, but my passion remains strong.