The story
The long way around
I was the clever kid who coasted. People told me I was smart, so I leaned on it and never learned to push. I quit university three times. The third time was different.
Beginnings
1991
Born
Born in Luxembourg to a working class family. My mum stayed home to raise us, my dad worked every shift and extra hour he could to make it all possible. They gave us more love than I could have imagined.
Beginnings
1994
The oldest of three
My brother came in 1993, my sister in 1994. I became the big brother. And 10 years from here, another sister would join us in 2004. My mum really had her hands full with us (especially us two boys).
The drift
2007
I quit high school at 17
It was the first time I knew I was in the wrong environment. Even though letting me leave school sounded crazy to my parents, they somehow trusted me.
The turn
2008
A fresh start
I restarted at LCE Echternach and decided to do it properly this time.
The turn
2012
Best in class
Four years later I finished high school at the top of my class. The first real proof that when I truly decided to show up, I could. But I was still far from prepared for what was yet to come.
Hitting Rockbottom
2016
Year ZEROI thought my life was over
I became a father, unplanned, and dropped out of university again, the third time now. No degree, buried in debt, I started working as a waiter. With plenty of private problems piling on, I was certain this was just my life now. It was the lowest and most lost I have ever felt.
Ownership
2017
Year ONEI took it into my own hands
Finally, the pain of staying the same outgrew the pain of changing. So it began. Hours of audiobooks on every commute rewired how I saw the world. James Clear, Ryan Holiday and Mark Manson became my inner circle. I quit the waiter job, stopped blaming my circumstances, and started taking action. Making myself responsible for my life changed everything.
The shift
2018
Year TWOBreathing room
My first office job, and my debts finally paid off. For the first time I could breathe, and I poured that air into growth. New skills, new standards, becoming someone better than the year before.
The build
2019
Year THREEStarting Naway
I co founded Naway with a friend from high school. My first venture that became a real company. It forced me to learn a dozen new skills fast, and one of them was marketing. A crucial skill for what came next.
The build
2020
Year FOURDeep dive into marketing
In the middle of a global pandemic, I left my office job to join a marketing agency. Here I could grow even faster, surrounded by more like minded people. I saw what I was capable of when the team was right and the work actually meant something.
Taking the leap
2024
Year EIGHTFundament
I left the agency to build more for myself and founded Fundament. Hunted for my first office, gathered some allies and started putting myself out there, as an entrepreneur and as a creator in front of the camera.
Close Bonds
2024
Year EIGHTWorking closer with my brother
Bringing our skills together.
Close Bonds
2025
Year NINESnug
With the right allies beside me, we co founded Snug, a creative marketing agency, all under the same roof. I started paying myself a salary, though money was tight and I was burning through my buffer. I worked hard to make it happen.
Close Bonds
2025
Year NINEMarrying the woman of my dreams
The same year, I married the most beautiful and wonderful woman. The one who steadies me and makes everything I build mean more. My biggest supporter.
Ten years in
2026
Year TENA decade in
I brought three more people into Fundament. New projects, new plans, and so much still ahead. My daughter turned ten, the same ten years I have been building since she arrived. A proud father, hoping I made this first decade count.
In 2023, I lost my father. It was the hardest thing I have carried. I did everything I could to hold the family together. It showed me how fragile life really is, and that I had to step up once more and stop being afraid of what might happen. I build differently now because of him.
“We often overestimate what we can do in a year, and we underestimate what we can build in a decade.”
Make this next decade count,
Ricardo