My two cents. An editorial by Giacomo Frigerio.
We are in the midst of a warm autumn, and it is so damn beautiful! It’s a second spring. This is the stuff I used to be jealous of when talking to my Roman friends, but now it is ours too. Newness.
A new climate, a new war, but also new people, new challenges, a new website.
Things that are new are scary at times. Other times, they are the epitome of evolution.
And within evolution, humans are called on to take risks, to put themselves on the line, and to take on new responsibilities. To search high and low just like explorers – like Columbus, who a certain culture wants to erase – for the meaning of things.
We are men and women who are constantly searching and constantly evolving. Consumed by a restlessness that doesn’t let us sleep at night and makes us wonder if we are doing the right thing. For us, for our clients, for the people who love us, we want to ask questions. And we also want to question the people we are with every day, as we put ourselves to the test in order to change habits, open new doors, let new people in, and sift through the shit to find the shine.
We are trying to do it this way. It is the work of strategic people. They are creatives and artisans, even if they work with thoughts and pixels. Because if you don’t ask questions you can’t go anywhere, and without meaningful answers, the truth won’t come to the surface. And we won’t be able to find beauty in the things we do each and every day.
There is another bend in the road at this place called Blossom.
I am sure many were better off where they were before, where everything was clear and safe. But that road has closed. We ask those who travel with us to walk their own part of the journey, to set out in search of a new meaning and a new way of doing things, and to seek new and beautiful things that lie beyond this change that we must embrace, together.
14 years ago we wanted to take a road without knowing where it would lead us, but we had a clear idea: whoever would be with us must be treated with respect… the respect that every man and woman, and his or her uniqueness, deserves. And we tried to do just that.
On the way, we’ve met people with different stories and we’ve fallen in love with them, so much so that we’ve asked them to walk along with us, to build a different idea of working and living together on a daily basis.
I started the journey with my sister Valentina, who used to go to punk concerts with me in the 1990s, and in that world we learned the meaning of DIY and community. We looked at the positive values of that culture and made them our own. The space we created makes people feel welcome and respected here at Blossom. We strongly wanted to allow people to grow and, who knows, those people might stay, or they might go and continue their journey elsewhere.
Over the course of the various twists and turns, some people have left us to explore new avenues, and I am glad because they will take an extra piece of life that they lived here with them. Gianluca comes to mind. He is a creative from Lecce who passed through New York and was in transit at Blossom for three years. He then returned to his home in Salento to create a business that would bring positivity and jobs to a region that young people are usually forced to leave. Ciao Gianlu.
Now we are looking at yet another evolution at Blossom. And among the many new features is the one you are scrolling through: it is called Snap and it’s our first magazine. It’s a platform to share what we believe in, how we do it, and the people we meet along the way with others who cross our paths.
The road has changed many times over the years, but we have always gone beyond the bend. Because we have learned that the twists and turns and the end of the climb reveal fascinating surprises. To be amazed each time, you just need to keep your eyes peeled.
Snap begins with interviews and articles that, through the words of others, talk about us and our culture.
Snap’s first articles talk about just that: the spirit I mentioned earlier. It’s what launched us and got us here. But it’s also about what we love and the amazement we feel every time we come into contact, inside and outside of Blossom, with someone who lights us up and spurs us on.
It just happened to me. A few months ago, the latest album by Paolo Nutini, a Scottish artist with an Italian father, came out. I read an interview with him in which he talks about his 7-year hiatus between records. When asked a question about happiness he said, “That is something that everyone wants, but it’s difficult, it takes time, and when people ask me if I have a happy life the answer is that I have no idea. However, if the question is “Do I want to be happy?” The answer is “Yes, I do.” Am I happy right now? Yes, I am. A year from now my life will be full of music and I couldn’t ask for more.”
We will never be the absolute answer to people’s search for happiness, but we certainly want to continue being a workplace where people can feel free to be their true selves – with their challenges, their successes, and their uncertainties – and somehow continue on this quest for something that unites all human beings: happiness.
“While the rivers are many, we dawn clear to the sea”
Everywhere, Paolo Nutini