This week I was at the See No Evil event in London. An institution of creative gatherings build by Thiago and James. Thanks guys, you built something rare.

Maxwell Reed and I were doing a short talk together. But we didn’t do it the industry way. We had n o slides. No portfolio to present. No polished narrative designed to impress.

Just real talk.

And for the first time ever, I shared a story I’ve never told out loud. Something vulnerable. Something real. Something that shaped me in ways I didn’t understand for a decade. I’m not going to share it here. Some things should only be spoken in private rooms. That’s the power of Paradiso. The room makes it safe.

It wasn’t easy to talk like this. I’m trained to perform. We all are. We know how to deliver clean answers. We know how to present confidence even when we’re falling apart inside. But the felling I got afterwards was revealing. A weight was lifted. Space for true confidence, was made. Doubts vanished. And the response from the audience? I woke up to messages like:

“Thanks for being human.”

“That story helped.”

“Man, you inspired me to come back.”

And that’s when the bigger picture clicked into place.

When I met Héctor Ayuso two years ago, something inside me already knew I was wrong about how I worked, how I led, how I showed up. Sometimes even about what I taught people. I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time. It wasn’t a concept. It wasn’t a framework. It was a feeling. Something in him showed me a different way of being. A way that wasn’t built on performance. A way that wasn’t about pretending to be more than you are. A way that wasn’t based on control or certainty. A way that is rooted in being raw.

For two years I followed that feeling without being able to articulate it. And this week, in London, during that talk, and in a few deep conversations with the core team and close friends, the smoke finally lifted.

It’s not about performing, not about playing a role.

It’s about revealing who you are so others can finally see you, connect with you.

That’s the alternative I couldn’t name. And now it’s obvious. No matter if we talk about business or being a creative person. When you try to clarify and customise your message too much, you sacrifice the truth. You flatten the feeling. You polish away the humanity. And the irony is this: the clearer you make it, the less people buy in.

Because clarity speaks to the mind.

But the mind doesn’t make decisions.

Emotion does.

When you talk from a rational point of view, people tune out. They think, they analyse, they compare, they disconnect. But when you speak from the bigger goal, the emotion, the feeling behind why you do what you do, they lean in. They recognise themselves. They feel part of something. They buy in because it resonates with their own struggle.

This is why the room in London reacted the way it did. This is why Paradiso resonates so deeply with the people who step into it. This is why community matters.

You can’t reveal yourself alone. You need the right people around you. People who don’t let you hide. People who see through your performance. People who invite you to speak the truth you’ve been avoiding. People who grow with you, and because of you.

This is what Paradiso is for. There are no masks here. No characters. No roles to play. Just real humans growing together through connection, identity, contribution, and shared responsibility. Young freelancers, and the biggest studio owners. This is made for you to find your tribe, no matter at what stage of your journey you are.

And honestly, that’s the whole offer.

Not a program. Not a funnel. Not a polished path to success.

It’s a room. A room where you don’t have to perform. A room where you can finally hear yourself again. A room where the right people help you grow in the moments you’d usually hide.

Because growth doesn’t come from more information. It comes from guidance. From being seen. From being challenged in a way that makes you stronger, not smaller. From conversations that pull you back into who you really are.

If you read this and felt something move, even slightly, that’s your signal.

You don’t need a plan. You don’t need clarity. You don’t need to have your story straight. You just need to step into the right room.

If you want to explore whether Paradiso is that room for you, reach out.

Let’s talk.

No pressure. No pitch. Just a conversation to see who you are becoming and whether we can walk a part of that path with you.

Because you’re not meant to grow alone. And you don’t have to.

—Marko

P.S. We start a new Focus Group in January. Five places are open. If you want to build a career where people choose you for your thinking, your expertise, for who you are, and not for your price-tag, let’s have a conversation.