What is the best thing that I love about my work?

People. I’ve always been interested in what’s in people’s minds and how their logic works. As a natural listener, I get to encounter different characters and hear the thoughts, emotions, and aspirations that shape who they are. I have this thing where people often feel safe opening up to me. As a leader, this helps me understand how multiple factors shape behavior, and how best to support people in navigating their own complexity — knowledge I apply to how I drive business and change communications.

What is my idea of happiness?

A little over 15 years ago I read a piece from Aristotle about “eudaimonia,” which in Greek means absolute fulfillment, the highest lifelong plenitude. Unlike happiness, eudaimonia isn’t a destination but an “activity” — living well at its fullest possible expression. It’s particular to each person and shifts over time rather than staying constant. That’s what happiness means to me: not a state I arrive at, but a feeling I keep choosing to pursue.

What is my greatest fear?

Regret. My 80-year-old self looking back and regretting choices, missed moments, things she wishes she’d handled differently. I continuously check in with her, and with my 8-year-old self too, to know what each would do in the present moment.

What is the trait that I most deplore in myself?

Control. I’m disciplined, eager, and committed to the plan — sometimes too much. I have the ambition to see things through from start to finish, at a certain pace, so letting go remains a constant reminder I have to give myself.

Which living persons in my profession do I most admire?

It’s less about one name and more about the people I’ve crossed paths with along the way — in Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, and the Netherlands. Each of those places, and the professionals in them, left a bit of learning behind: a different way of leading, communicating, or seeing the work, that I’ve carried forward and folded into who I am professionally today.

What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work?

Nonsense corporate politics. I value transparency, fairness, and straightforwardness, and I’m not interested in playing unnecessary games — they feel like a waste of time and energy I’d rather spend elsewhere.

When and where was I the happiest, in my work?

There were several special moments, each for different reasons, but one thing they shared: I was bringing people together to plant a seed of inspiration, hoping they’d feel the power of pursuing their own ambitions and dreams.

If I could, what would I change about myself?

I’d allow myself to be more vulnerable. I connect with people by listening and truly seeing them, using what I learn to support them — but I rarely let myself be the one on the receiving end, heard and helped in return.

What is my greatest achievement in work?

A recent one was mobilizing a community of communications professionals — across the company, across regions — around a shared goal of evolving our function.

Where would I most like to live?

By the ocean. It has always intrigued me — the infinite, the waves in different rhythms and shapes. As inviting as it is frightening, mysterious and magnificent all at once.

What is my most treasured possession?

I can’t think of a material one. But if we’re talking treasure, the first thing that comes to mind are my children — my three musketeers.

What is my most marked characteristic?

Passion. You’ll hear it in my voice, see it in my actions. When I commit to something, I give it everything — and that intensity is often what people tell me moves them most.

What is my most inspirational location, in my city?

After my own house, airports. There, stories start, end, and cross — people from everywhere going everywhere, briefly sharing the same place. So many lives meet that otherwise wouldn’t.

What is my favorite place to eat and drink, in my city?

At the moment, a restaurant nearby where you can order multiple mini dishes — a taste of everything on the menu. It’s called Dejavu.

What books influenced my life and how?

Feliz Ano Velho, The Choice, Man’s Search for Meaning (De Zin van het Leven), Atomic Habits.Many books have shaped me over the years, but these are the ones I choose to name here: Feliz Ano Velho taught me that a life can be rebuilt after it’s shattered, that identity survives even radical loss. The Choice showed me that freedom is an inner decision, possible even inside the darkest circumstances. Man’s Search for Meaning taught me that meaning, not comfort, is what carries us through suffering. Atomic Habits grounded all of that in the practical — that the life we build is the sum of small, deliberate choices repeated daily.

You Only Die Once. What music would I listen to on my last day?

“Heal the World” by Michael Jackson — it captures how I see the world and the role we should play in it, holding reality and hope in the same breath.

Who is my hero or heroine in fiction?

Celie, from *The Color Purple* — for reclaiming her own voice and freedom.

Who are my heroes and heroines in real life?

I don’t have a single heroine — I find inspiration scattered across many ordinary people who quietly fight for something they believe in, especially in health, human rights, and innovation.

Which movie would I recommend to see once in a lifetime?

Inception — because it’s fascinating to understand how thoughts are formed and how they shape behavior. Also Invictus (Mandela — resilience and unity after injustice), Forrest Gump (resilience and quiet persistence through life’s unpredictability), Cast Away (survival and rebuilding after everything is stripped away), and I Am Sam (a father with an intellectual disability fighting for custody of his daughter — justice and fairness).

What role do stories play in my life and work?

A great one. As a communicator, I believe stories are the most enduring, effective way to share a message, a learning, an inspiration. That’s been true since the early days, and it’s still what breaks through the cognitive noise, beyond nice words.

What do the words “You are the storyteller of your own life” mean to me?

We only live once, so live it fully and be yourself.

Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime?

My husband. He’s my armor when I need one, my safe house, my steady company — the foundation that lets me navigate life.

Which people or companies would I like to work with?

World Economic Forum, Red Cross, Google, Microsoft, The Guardian.

What project am I looking forward to working on?

Further applying my learnings in neuroscience, semiotics, and psychoanalysis in the age of AI, to drive better communication and connection.

Where can you see me or my work?

On LinkedIn.

What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me?

It suits me. Passion is what sets us in motion — what keeps us moving.

Which creative heroines should Peter invite to tell their story?

Marilis Satolo, Cricia Gianatei, and Aline Lacerda.

How can you contact me?

LinkedIn.