This should be a text about fintechs and payments. But it isn't. Coda told me to write about key aspects of our work, and instead of mentioning numbers, credit cards, and sales, I prefer to focus on another key aspect of our business: PEOPLE.

As a marketer who has been a volunteer clown in a hospital for 10+ years, it's impossible not to combine the learnings from both experiences. One of the main parallels between these activities is the importance of building meaningful relationships. Across various studies, neuroscience has proven that nurturing healthy bonds can lead to better mental health and productivity. These bonds can also make our routines more enjoyable. 

I started my journey as a clown thinking about making other people laugh, but then I understood it's more than that. It's about listening, collaborating, and co-creating with our partner clowns, patients, and the staff. I remember one day that I was playing with some children in a nursing home for kids with cancer, and this girl, who was almost blind, held my hand and asked me to run with her. I was amazed by how fast she could run when we were together, so I asked her how she did that, and she told me:

"It's so simple! If I step on it and it's hard, it's ground. If it's soft, it's grass. If I stamp my foot, it's stairs."

That sentence changed my perspective about collaborative work and the power of combining our strengths to overcome our challenges.

This new perspective is particularly relevant in today's global business landscape, where companies like Coda must navigate cultural differences and time zone disparities. As a global company, with employees all around the world and partners in all continents, it's essential to embrace diversity and work together to combine our strengths, and create an inclusive, innovative and trusting environment, just as I discovered when I played with that girl.

Whenever I enter a meeting, I like to ask about the other person's interests and hobbies. To me, this is not a waste of time. If we can understand what motivates each other, we can better communicate to achieve our goals. I like to call it, “connecting by humanities and not by amenities.” Trust me, it's more powerful than you think

Here's what I want you to remember from this text: work takes a lot of our time, but if we remember we are dealing with other human beings, with different needs and aspirations, we can build great things together by nurturing this collaborative attitude towards each other and setting a reliable environment where we can have fun, experiment new things and share knowledge to achieve the best results. This matches one of Coda's core values: Collaboration. It's a gift to have such a diverse team that harnesses collective wisdom, skills, and energies, and I'm lucky to have great colleagues to build this with.

Also, you probably never heard someone saying: "You know what? I had too much fun today. I hope tomorrow is more boring."