1977 – Born and raised in an industrial suburb of Lisbon, João is the son of a hairstylist and a bus driver, both of whom arrived in Portugal as refugees after fleeing Angola in 1975.
1995 – Completes high school through evening classes while studying filmmaking during the day. At 18, he takes a job on the assembly line of a local car factory to help ease the financial pressure on his family.
1996 – With compulsory military service still in place in Portugal, João joins the Portuguese Air Force and becomes an officer.
1997 – Marries Raquel. Begins a work placement at SIC TV, one of Portugal’s leading broadcasters, working night shifts.
1998 – Receives his press licence and is offered a full-time role at SIC TV.
2003 – Enrols in a four-year degree in Marketing and Communications through evening classes, while continuing to work full-time.
2006 – Takes a sabbatical from SIC TV and moves to Brussels as an Erasmus student. Completes 14 university subjects in six months, including Spanish.
2007 – Graduates with honours, finishing in the top three of his class, with a major in Business Administration. Joins Amadeus as a Marketing Executive in Nice.
2008 – Promoted to Manager of Group Internal Communications, reporting to the SVP HR, an Executive Committee member. Relocates to the company’s global headquarters in Madrid.
2010 – Welcomes his first child, Maria. Completes postgraduate studies in Human Resources awarded by the London Business School.
2011 – Promoted to Head of Employee Engagement, leading a global team of more than 20 people. Works closely with the CEO and Executive Committee and begins speaking at international conferences.
2012 – Welcomes his second child, Manuel. Becomes a certified Gallup Strengths Coach.
2013 – Moves to London and becomes an independent consultant. Works on brand, culture and transformation projects with organisations such as Ernst & Young, Kering and Vodafone. Also begins mentoring young British entrepreneurs through Virgin StartUp.
2014 – Invited to become a Consulting Partner at Telos Partners, a British consultancy specialising in strategic transformation. Works with clients across the world, including Bayer, BerryWorld, Boehringer Ingelheim, Havas Media, IMI, Novabase and Sanofi. Becomes qualified in MBTI Step I.
2018 – Joins the Telos Partners Executive Committee and leads the firm’s expansion into Latin America. Relocates with his family to Panama City.
2020 – Becomes a certified Executive and Team Coach through Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching®. Founds Bluinstant and returns to Portugal with his family.
2022 – Invited to join the faculty of THNK School of Leadership. Facilitates leadership development programmes with organisations such as ASML, Fugro, SAP, TÜV SÜD, Booking.com and Vitesco Technologies.
2023 – Completes training in Applied Compassion through Stanford School of Medicine. Moves to the countryside near Óbidos, Portugal, where he begins building a regenerative agriculture farm.
