I believe that all personal brands, generally speaking, arise from our inspiration and motivation to create something with our own voice: much like an olive tree we want to plant when it is still tiny, in some lonely plain, where there is only time, the sun, and the wind.
After all, who doesn’t like to have something of their own?
In a world lost in noise, disconnection, injustices, and turmoil, it always made sense to me to create a place of my own—a sort of bird’s nest where I could write and publish my vision of life. Pássaro Amarelo, as a personal writing and communication brand, had its birth many years ago in Marvão: an Alentejo village perched at the top of the Serra do Sapoio, at an altitude of 860 meters. These are the borderlands of the Alentejo, nestled comfortably against the Serra de São Mamede.
I say the brand was born here because Marvão has the virtue—whenever I visit—of leaving a deep mark on me. There is a certain clarity that this place provides us; a kind of clairvoyance about who we are and which path we should follow. A light at the end of the tunnel.
It was during those endless journeys through Marvão that I began thinking about a personal brand that would meet the requirements of a business (and a life) dedicated to writing. It took decades to align the needles and truly understand what I wanted. In reality, what I desired most of all was to open the windows in Marvão and shout out loud:
Hello World!
Marvão has only about a hundred permanent residents, and due to its steep, solitary geography, jobs are not abundant. Therefore, there was only one way for me to be free here: create a website, a brand, and write!
A personal brand is always the result of a laborious process of looking inward. It is the release of a vision that finds no resonance elsewhere in the world: it is something that belongs solely to us.
The year was 1990, and I was already tagging along with my parents and sister, roaming the paths of this Alentejo border region. At night, during those summer evenings, our meeting point was always the battlements of Marvão Castle, which to this day continues to pay homage to the most wonderful sunset in the country.
I know Marvão well, yet not all of its corners, which is something that fascinates me: I have known this land for nearly forty years, but I am always surprised by its secret nooks. Whenever I go there, I discover another street or a house I had never noticed carefully before. That happened the last time I went, in the summer of 2023.
I returned there recently, curiously enough on Freedom Day: April 25th. I retraced my path to meet the eagles, the sun, and the castle that have accompanied me throughout my life. That is why I write these new chronicles: finally, I have a nest all my own.
Marvão is a human experience that is emotionally and spiritually significant: if someone believes in God, this is the right place to find Him and converse with Him. It is only in absolute silence and in the mystery of Nature’s language that we can find a piece of this divine transcendence. Here, I feel understood, cherished, as if a great hand full of light were wiping away all my tears.
During this return to Marvão, on April 25th, 2025, I found new spaces that help build a closer community: such is the case of Café do Contrabando, which offers us a warm welcome for breakfast.
In the distance, the castle battlements announce the music festival that will take place during the month of July. A truly iconic musical event that brings together musicians from all corners of the world. It is genuinely breathtaking to attend a concert at night in the castle courtyard while eagles and birds fly beneath the stars. It is more than a human experience: it is a spiritual experience.
And what can be said about Restaurante Mil-Homens, a landmark for gastronomy in this part of the country? At the table, we find fried chicken, lamb, and typical Alentejo appetizers (petiscos).
I wandered here when I was a child and a youth. Therefore, like everything that leaves a mark on us during these stages of life, it was almost inevitable that Marvão would affect me to the point of serving as the inspiration for the creation of my personal brand: Pássaro Amarelo.
PÁSSARO AMARELO
The human senses only make… sense together. And it is impossible to separate them: to observe, to feel, to smell, and to write. I believe that writing and communication are intimately connected with our ability to feel the pulse of life.
At the end of 2023, I published my book of chronicles, “O Caderno Amarelo” (The Yellow Notebook), handwritten over the course of a year between Lisbon and Braga. I then decided to bring together the words “yellow” (amarelo) and “bird” (pássaro) to create a brand that reflected my values and my mission through words.
Pássaro Amarelo is a writing and communication brand that helps people, brands, and businesses communicate in a more humanized and impactful way. In fact, our slogan is: “Here we are human,” in a clear allusion to the challenges that traditional writing will have to face alongside Artificial Intelligence, which remains anything but human.
Creating a personal brand is like walking through a desert. A desert full of emotions and meanings, but one where we are entirely alone. This solitude is, despite everything, necessary for anyone who wants to hear their inner voice and refuses to conform to lifestyles that are not their own.
Perhaps returning to the places where we are and were happy is the way forward: authenticity and who we truly are lie hidden beneath layers of human experiences that shape us, but also alter the landscape of our inner self.
I look forward to welcoming you here, at Pássaro Amarelo!
