I think that all personal brands, in general, arise because of our inspiration and motivation to create something with our own voice: just like a small olive tree that we want to plant, on any solitary plain, where there is only time, the sun and the wind.
After all, who doesn’t like having something of their own?
In a world lost in noise, disconnection, injustices and tribulations, it always made sense to me to create a place of my own, a kind of bird’s nest where I could write and publish my vision of life.
Pássaro Amarelo, as a personal brand of writing and communication, was born many years ago in Marvão: a village in the Alentejo region locatedat the top of the Serra do Sapoio, at an altitude of 860 meters. Borderlands of Alentejo, well accommodated to the Serra de São Mamede.
I say that the brand was born here, because Marvão has the virtuosity – whenever I pass by there – to leave an intense impression on me. There is something of 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 these endless tours of Marvão that I began to think about a personal brand that would satisfy the requirements of a business (and a life) for writing. It took decades to get my bearings and understand what I wanted. In reality, what I really wanted was to open the windows in Marvão and shout out loud:
-Hello World!
Marvão has only one hundred permanent inhabitants and due to its steep, lonely geography, there are few jobs. So there was only one way for me to be free here: to create a website, a brand and to write!
A personal brand is always the result of painstaking work studying our inner self. It is the liberation of a vision that does not resonate elsewhere in the world: it is something that is uniquely ours.
It was 1990 and I was already walking along the paths of this Alentejo border with my parents and my sister. The meeting point in the evenings, on those summer nights, was always the battlements of Marvão Castle, which continues, to this day, to pay homage to the most wonderful sunset in the country.
I know Marvão well, but not all its nooks and crannies, which is something that fascinates me: I have known this land for almost forty years, but I am always surprised by its secret corners.
Every time I go there, I discover yet another street and a house that I had never looked at closely before. This happened the last time I went there, in the summer of 2023.
I went back there now, curiously enough on Freedom Day: April 25th. I resumed my journey to meet the eagles, the sun and the castle that have always accompanied me throughout my life. That is why I am writing these new chronicles: finally, I have a nest of my own.
Marvão is a human, emotional and spiritually significant experience: if someone believes in God, this is the right place to find Him and talk to Him. Only in the absolute silence and the mystery of the language of Nature can we find a piece of this divine transcendence. Here I feel understood, cherished, as if a great hand full of light wiped away all my tears.
On my return to Marvão, on April 25, 2025, I found new spaces that help build a closer community: this is the case of Café do Contrabando, which offers us a warm welcome for breakfast.
In the distance, the castle’s battlements announce the music festival that will take place during the month of July. A truly iconic musical event, bringing together musicians from all over the world. It is truly amazing to attend a concert at night in the castle courtyard, while eagles and birds soar above the stars. It is more than a human experience: it is a spiritual one.
And what about Restaurante Mil-Homens, a reference point for gastronomy in this part of the country? On the table we find fried chicken, goat and typical Alentejo snacks.
I wandered around here when I was a child and young man.
Therefore, like everything that marks us at these stages in life, it was almost inevitable that Marvão would mark me to the point of serving as inspiration for the creation of my personal brand – Pássaro Amarelo/ Yellow Bird.
THE YELLOW BIRD
The human senses only make sense together. And it is impossible to separate them: observing, feeling, smelling and writing. I think 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”, written by hand over a year, between Lisbon and Braga. I then decided to bring together the words “yellow” and “bird” to create a brand that would reflect 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. Our slogan is: “Here we are human”, a clear allusion to the challenges that traditional writing will have to face together with Artificial Intelligence, which continues to be anything but human.
Creating a personal brand is like walking through a desert. A desert full of emotions and senses, but where we are alone. This solitude is, despite everything, necessary for those who want to listen to their inner voice and do not conform to lifestyles that are not theirs.
Perhaps returning to the places where we are and were happy is the way forward: authenticity and what we truly are is hidden beneath layers of human experiences that shape us, but also alter the appearance of our inner place.
I’m waiting for you here at Yellow Bird!
