A Creative Entrepreneur's Path to Purpose

What happens when you build your life around authentic passions instead of conventional careers? In this inspiring conversation, Marco shares his journey as a creative entrepreneur who’s never been an employee a day in his life. From the moment he first heard Jimi Hendrix as a teen, he knew music would guide his life. Combined with his love for food and Italian culture, these passions became Cinque - a unique community space in Switzerland with a bistro, recording studio, yoga rooms, and more.

The road wasn’t always smooth. Marco offers powerful insights on blending creativity and entrepreneurship, challenging the idea that business must be separate from self-expression. “The goal is not the finance,” he says. “Finance is a tool for sustainability.” His philosophy puts authenticity first, trusting that sustainability follows.

For anyone considering a career shift, Marco’s message is clear: “Everything is reversible.” No matter how stuck you feel, change is possible with a decision, the right support, and consistent daily steps. Most transformative is his belief that creativity isn’t rare - it’s our human birthright. “Being human and being creative is the same story,” he says. By reconnecting with this truth, we unlock paths to more fulfilling work.

Ready to explore your own creative potential? This episode offers both inspiration and practical wisdom to help you align your work with your true essence.

Connect with Marco Palmieri:

Website: https://www.cinque5.net/

Connect with Michael Davio Simmonds:

Personal website: https://simmondscoachingservices.biz

Email: simmondscoachingservices@gmail.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldaviosimmonds/

Transcript

Introduction to Career Reset Guide

Michael 0:07

Welcome to Career Reset Guide, the podcast for self-directed individuals ready to embrace transformative career change and discover their full potential. I'm Michael Davio Simmonds, your host, and a career development coach with 20 years of technical and business experience in the corporate world. After my own life-changing journey of building a coaching business, I now empower managers and executives worldwide to redefine their careers to also achieve greater fulfillment. You see, the world needs more people like you to lead with authenticity, vision and purpose. And yet changing careers can feel overwhelming. That's why this podcast exists to challenge conventional thinking, provide clarity and safely guide you towards a purpose-led life. This is your space to reset, recalibrate and develop your confidence to move forward. So tune in and let's take this journey together.

Michael 1:28

Marco, welcome to Career Reset Guide. Thanks for joining us today. How are you? Thank you, mike. I'm doing good. Good. I am interested to have this conversation today because you have a little bit of a different profile than the other people which I've interviewed, so you do not come from a corporate background. You come from, I would say, probably a more entrepreneurial background, but we'll find out in a few minutes. Secondly, I see you as somebody who is very creative, from my local community, and I am interested to explore a little bit about the relationship between creativity and supporting people through important career transitions. So that's the thought coming into this. Let's see where we actually go with this.

Marco 2:08

Yes, let's see where we actually go with this. Yes, interesting.

Michael 2:12

How about if we start off with a little bit about what you do currently? How would you describe yourself currently in life?

Marco 2:19

Good question. Well, it's difficult to say it all, but where we are could give an example. So we are into a sound design recording studio in this village called Richterswil in Zurich, which is part of a multifunctional structure, I would say, which is called Cinque, which is like a kind of a restaurant meeting point, a place where people are coming daily to work, with facilities to eat good food and have a good coffee, and which has also rooms for yoga, rooms for massage, rooms for dance classes, so I would say a place where a lot of activities are going on daily.

Michael 3:04

Right, and when I was first introduced to your cafe about - I think it goes back three years now.

Marco 3:10

Three and a half.

Michael 3:12

Three and a half. It's quite an original place. I don't think there's anything else quite like it around the local area.

Marco 3:16

I guess so yes.

Michael 3:18

Both, I think, in terms of the quality of the products that you sell, but also the ambiance as well, and I don't think that the exterior appearance of the cafe actually reflects who Marco really is.

Marco 3:32

I don't know, this could be a personal opinion of you, I don't know exactly. But yeah, let's challenge.

Michael 3:39

Well, let's say that it's a slice of Marco.

Marco 3:44

When you are running a place, where you're in touch with public, like I do, and I'm Italian and I'm living in Switzerland and I know in Switzerland I brought of my own culture two things food and music. And now, around the age of 50s, I'm very happy that these two things, which were the things I was into, that were driving me in terms of everything creativity, but also the more entrepreneurial side of my life. These were the two things I was trying always to bring out, expose and, mainly, share with people, and community.

Music & Entrepreneurship Journey

Michael 4:28

And I think I've been the recipient of both of those in the last years. I'm less familiar with the musical side of you. Can you tell us a little bit about what's your current participation in music?

Marco 4:43

Well, it's a lot. It's a lot as I said before starting the recording. There was a moment when I was young, I was still playing football, like every kid in Italy is into and is doing so around the age of 12, I think, 13,. I was just getting across a tape of Jimi Hendrix, the musical tape with the album Are you Experienced, and then I left football for an electric guitar because I thought, okay, guys, this stuff is coming from another planet and I find it incredibly inspiring. It was touching me deeply.

Marco 5:20

And then, since then, I never left the music and I transformed this inspiration and this passion for something which I still cannot really describe after more than 30 years of experience, into my daily life or even later on, my daily business.

Marco 5:42

So I was was able, by passion, by many other, by interest, by spending a lot of time into that things called music or recording art, or then, later on in the school, was sound design and being with bands and trying to translate emotion and ideas into sound, and being in building up studios, creating records, playing live, performing here and there, traveling around the world. This was a bit, in few words, what happened to me in the last 35 years. Now I'm 50, almost. So I dedicated almost all to this, and then I brought with me always a passion for food, and today I find out the beauty of what is happening in this location is that these two things are breathing and dancing together. So this creative side is interesting to the field of food and quality, as you said before, and music. They are really on a parallel level, creating an environment which is sustainable in order to stay daily in such an environment.

Marco 6:49

I think is quite important and finally to share it, something that I really do with pleasure.

Michael 7:00

I'm curious what's your why behind what you do? What motivates you?

Marco 7:09

Well, when we would relate to what I said before. So pleasure is probably staying in touch with some values or beliefs that are important to me, like freedom, pleasure and being able to create your own life, your own lifestyle. Do something which looks like something not too easy in the social perspective of today, and by doing this, I think the ultimate form of pleasure is really when you can share these kind of things. I would say it's quite easy like this. I cannot really explain why, but it looks like I am an example of something that could work out, and then I'm keen to share this example, which is actually myself.

Michael 8:04

Why don't we take that path of career? And then we'll come back to the music aspect. Specifically, you're an entrepreneur, at least from my perspective.

Marco 8:18

Also. I would say also because this is opening a good point, your question but I let you go because my life is full of different aspects. It's better when you would just lead a bit the discussion.

Michael 8:30

Well, let's say that the reference point for a lot of the listeners is the corporate world yes, having a more traditional job, walking into somebody else's organization and getting paid by that organization yes, and a lot of the listeners that are going to be attracted, I think, to this podcast are interested to explore something outside of that context. So for a lot of people that's going to be some sort of an entrepreneurial activity, although perhaps not everyone I would call an entrepreneur. But let's say that it would be an independent activity.

Marco 9:09

Yes.

Michael 9:10

So you've spent a lifetime, as far as I understand, doing this. I'm wondering what kind of learnings might be useful to share that might support somebody just starting to entertain doing something more independent.

Marco 9:32

The point is that I do not consider myself classic or normal entrepreneur, because I'm coming more from the artistic side. I believe in my case you have a very difficult to define crossing point between art or the attitude of making art, which doesn't care, you just do it because you want to do it. You do it because it has no goal. The goal is just to do it and to be in this state of flow, which is so good that its inevitable. And then the other side, the word business makes sense. That creates a sustainable environment where I can do my activities. I wanted to be able, in the daily life, to have this creativity flow, to be able to stay in this freedom and this pleasure. This was the drive. So my experience as an employee? It doesn't exist, because I was never a day in my life. And I tell you, it was ups and downs and moments of struggling, moments of glory, moments of where nothing was happening, but one of the key points was staying there. I've been always staying there.

Marco 10:47

I stayed because for me, it was important to be creative, was important to crystallize ideas, was important to share. This was important to have experience, and probably it's also my character, the way I am. That brought me to live my life by experiencing things and finally I discovered that I had a structure and skill in me that I can say I'm a bit of a freak, but I'm also doing serious stuff which are related to business. I'm a guy who can make a pizza, write a song and, at the same time, checking a bank account and sending out invoices or making a budget for a bigger project. I have, at the same time, checking a bank account and sending out invoices or making a budget for a bigger project. I have behind the same attitude. I don't care what is it. I think this would be a key point also, you know, to take it with a certain type of flow and with humor.

Faith Over Finance: Following Your Call

Michael 11:39

That's a great point. So how do you manage to stay in that flow and the humor when the bills need to be paid? Because I'm assuming that at the earlier point of your career you weren't so experienced in this field and you were still learning how to monetize what you love to do.

Marco 11:59

Yes, sure, I agree, this is an ever-ending story. The point was not money. The point was what I want to do and to be in touch with the very essence of what I can offer. What is my contribution? This was the key point. I was in touch with this, not with the result on a financial terms. So then I observed in the years that the peace of mind for me to be sure that I can do my things, it comes from I don't know, mike, how to say, a form of faith.

Marco 12:35

You have to be very faithful that if you connect to your call, you are connecting to the fact that you are putting your energy, your daily hours, into something which is meaningful for you, that it can give a contribution to society, to other humans around you, from a small community to a bigger perspective.

Marco 13:00

And then finance, financial energy, is just a result of it, which is shifting a bit the perspective. I think this is something that probably I don't know, but as far as I discuss with other people which are living a different life than I'm doing, they are employees and they are dealing with the corporate world which I wanted to get in touch with just to know what is it, because in the beginning I had no idea and I felt probably they missed this point. The switch of what is the goal? The goal is not the finance. The finance is a tool to reach the goal or a result for your own sustainability, to be able to continue to experience the life quality that you want, and also sharing these ideas of life quality with other people. I'm pointing on daily life, because this is what is important to be in touch with the sense of what you're doing, with your call. What kind of contribution? These are good questions.

Michael 14:15

I love what you were saying because basically, it's about following the passion, not the money. The money will come by following the passion, and also there's the idea of there being a bigger picture. There is something, at least from my perspective, which goes beyond this three-dimensional space that we experience ourself in, which is in support of what we love to do, but we have to trust that is there.

Marco 14:51

Yes, and this is where I was trying to put in the word faith, not in a religious way, just to be building up something which is going on by not knowing what is going to happen, but connecting to what is your wish, your deep wish and your call let's say. So maybe first of all, you have to just do something to understand when you're young, but also when you are a little older, what is your call, what you want to do, what are your wishes in terms of where are you competent? What are your interests when you get together with friends, what are you talking about? What is exciting you in a discussion. II was always trying to keep there, keep on doing something where I know that, years by years, my competence would grow and I could offer more to other people in terms of, for example, in recording art. I've been doing so many experiments, I've been meeting so many people, I've been in touch with so many cultures, so many musical styles. So this in the years, by staying, because I was interested in, was building up a certain level of competence that today I can share. I can share it locally and now, with the latest news of our project, we will share it also globally if possible.

Michael 16:18

This may seem like a very basic question for you, but how do people start to figure out what their competence is? And the reason for asking this question is I think there are many people that are in roles where they've developed competencies because the role has required them to do that, and when you do that thing enough times, you become pretty good at doing those things, but they're not necessarily things which are natural to the personality. And what I'm interested in is more bringing out people's talents, their natural gifts that they're born into the world with. How do people actually go about exploring that?

Marco 17:04

There are many ways. I could talk about me and say okay, when I was feeling this kind of things that we can call music, which is very wide and where you can make a lot of activities around, which is also very difficult somehow for the business side, well, I cannot explain, I was always keeping and staying in touch with it because I felt like there is a side of it which is the never-ending exploration of musical possibility which, for my personal way of being, was always the drive, probably because I am an explorer in terms of archetype. For me, and I guess for most of the people that I meet, even this location where we are daily dealing with creativity used just for fun, like art that doesn't care really, just art for art expressing oneself or for healing process. Again, not with this goal. We never put the goal. The process of creativity, it brings anyway to healing. For me, for what I observed, it's very simple. For me, for what I observed, it's very simple. Healing because of rebalancing of a sort of input-output system that every living creature, including us humans, we need to keep in touch with.

Creativity as Natural Human Expression

Marco 18:38

For example, you eat a lot and on the other side, you have no way to process food. This makes dysfunctionality, this makes disease. This is the source of big diseases in society. So no balance in terms of food, for example, between what comes into our system and what goes out. Well, we are in the time of information technology. So let's make a parallel between food and information. When we have too much information and then not having like an outlet to express, the system goes into difficulties. But it could be in any other field Also, seeing things, we are exposed to so many information daily through our senses. This type of life that some of the people, even friends that I know we are having, it doesn't really allow to this output and creates different type of nevrosis or illness. There is a moment where you feel like, ok, now I just would like to make my life quality a bit better, and most of them they are coming with the request of being able to find a space for freedom, pleasure and creativity.

Michael 19:59

That's a beautiful idea, the idea of music being a mechanism for healing. And maybe we could even enlarge that concept to creativity. I mean music being one expression of creativity, because creativity by definition requires us to have an output, as you were calling it. I mean, for me, creativity is about digging inside ourself and being able to externalize some kind of an inner message which has importance to us. So we can equally do that with music or painting or any other form of creative expression. Writing would be another example.

Marco 20:44

Well, yes, in the last period there's a lot of hype around creativity everywhere where I look and I would just bring it back to a very basic point. Being human and being creative is the same story. I feel really that there is too much hype around creativity. We are creative by essence. When I observe that people, they are asking, "oh well, I'm missing some creative moment, first of all I'm saying, okay, but then it's probably because you are missing part of yourself. You are forgetting to give space and time to part of your natural way of being. As far as you born as human, you are creative, and I observed many times that creativity was really something that was trained in front of problem solving

Michael 21:41

I think that's an interesting point that everyone inherently is creative. That is our nature as a human being and yet some people seem to have a greater access to that creativity and I think there's a risk that we tend to idolize the famous examples of creativity, the famous painters, the famous singers, the famous dancers, etc. And we consider ourselves to be not creative in comparison. But what you're saying, I think, is absolutely true, is that inherently as a human being, we are creative. And bringing this back to the topic of the podcast, overall Career Reset, setting up an own business, is inherently a creative act.

Marco 22:34

Yes, I agree. I don't see any difference in the essence of I want to create a song with musical instruments. I want to create a song with musical instruments having the approach of finding a solution for something that has to be done, which I would call business. The idea in the essence is always that there is a need and there is no solution, and there comes the creativity exactly,

Michael 23:02

And I think the point that you're making there is overlooked in a lot of the people that I work with, and that is that a common form of creative expression in the business world is ideas. Generating novel ideas by itself is a key form of creativity, but we tend not to see it in the same light as painting a picture or writing.

Marco 23:29

mike, well, I agree with what you're saying in part. Ideas is a strange topic. I think ideas are in the universe. Sometimes, when we are connected, when they are ready to be manifested and they find somebody ready to do the crafting which is involving creativity, then these ideas are becoming reality. They are having a channel to be conveyed and to be manifested and to be in the reality of the things we are living. What is being a music producer? It's a way to translate ideas into sound.

Michael 24:15

Yeah, that's an interesting concept, the idea that the idea is something that we perhaps channel through us.

Marco 24:26

I would say, yeah, it's interesting to look at it in that way, you know. Otherwise it would be too egocentric. I can give you an example, cinque, the path that I did to create a location, which is quite a big business. At the moment, when people are coming and they are feeling, wow, how this guy could put it together and what are the ingredients? How we manifest something? And to be honest, I cannot say all of them on the fly, but few of them, the fears they are playing a very big role. Staying, being resilient, finding out what is your call. It's some work that everyone has to do. It's even a form of responsibility.

Marco 25:14

Imagine, mike, you are a mathematician but you don't know it, so you're spending your life working in a place where you produce shoes. Just an example. And you can make hundreds of such examples and I see them, real. When I talk to people, they are not satisfied because somehow somewhere they miss this point to check out. And me, luckily, I was touched by music things. It was like, wow, I want to explore, I want to go on, I want to see, I want to stay in touch. I wanted to create an environment where I could enjoy, and not only alone, with other people.

Michael 25:55

How do you think people can connect to that sense of purpose in them? What do they need to do to connect to what's purposeful, particularly for those people who are coming out of the corporate world or perhaps are still there, but considering something more independent where there's more freedom? How do they start to connect back to something more authentic?

Marco 26:24

Good question. For sure, looking for people through medias or books, or even being in touch with somebody who is living this in reality. Getting in touch, sharing, sharing time with, talking with, people which they spend their life in a different way. I have a very close example, my brother. My brother is five years younger than I am.

Marco 26:49

He was an employee the whole life. We are coming from the same family, same education, but I was never one day an employee in my life and he was. Now, he changed. Just quit a few months ago. He was working for 20 years in Maserati. He was very happy and then suddenly he felt the call. His call was not anymore there. So something was missing. And so he said, okay, I need to reset. So we are really in touch with him, particularly because he's my brother. But I'm in touch with people like this daily.

Authentic Growth & Alternative Education

Marco 27:23

And now, when I talk about this daily being in touch with people, I just would like to say something. These people, I'm in touch daily here in this environment, if it's in the bistro to talk about food, if it's for teaching how to use DJ tools or making sessions on how to create a song or how to play an instrument or how to set up a live at the end of writing an album process, whatever is it, we have also young people. And this is a topic that I would like not to forget. So let's talk about education, because the education is another big question mark. If people are educated to function, serve a system, it could be okay. It could be also not okay at all, because this being in touch with your call, with what is the essence of what you can contribute in society, then it's difficult because you are oriented to contribute to other people interest.

Marco 28:28

ther a point. This I also observed. And so I would say that somehow, me, as a father of three girls which are now over 20, and they're already integrating into society, they're working, they do their own apprenticeship some of them, they are busy in different fields, but the three of them, they are busy in their daily life in doing something that they really like.

Marco 28:51

And, the story behind this, the three of them, plus a lot of other young adults that I know, they've been in a school with no subjects and no teachers, where they've been spending between 14, 15 years of their life being in touch with another type of responsibility, which we call social responsibility, or responsibility of being aware of what you are here for, what's going on with you. And I think also this is a big subject how the education system is really supporting this point that we would like to deliver to people which are now maybe our age and they are in difficulties.

Michael 29:39

Absolutely

Marco 29:41

My experience brought me, really as a parent, to see this choice that 20 years ago was also not easy to take, in front of other people telling me mark, are you crazy, you're coming from university, you're coming from this, you. My three daughters, they had to go to other type of school and they are ready to be in touch with what they really want to do. So all the difficulties that they had into entering the normal school, it was just creativity in action. They've been creative and they've been finding solutions how to attend exams, because in 15 years they never did, not one exam. But with an open mind not filled up with notion, but with openness to being able to process new things, was giving them tools to be adapted to the society too.

Michael 30:41

Well, you're touching on a favorite topic of mine here, which is you mentioned the notions. For me, it's about beliefs. What sort of conditioning have we been through that makes us believe something about ourself or the world which is not true. And I think this gets into a controversial area, but I think traditional education is making us take on certain beliefs which can confine our thinking about ourself and who we really are. I'm just curious, what is the education system your daughters went through?

Marco 31:18

It's not even an education system. It's called a free school, school for children. And it's now a 40 years old project which is going on here, very close to this village in Switzerland and in a few other places in the world. And where the kids are spending their days into a very rich environment, but they are not constrained to do something. So the rich environment is a place where you find everything. Any type of input, from books to things to do, different kinds of laboratories and also different ages. So, it starts from when you are three until you are ready to go. But there is no structure. Besides going to have something around midday for lunch, they can stay outside. They explore and they grow by exploring the nature around and also the nature of other people, other human beings around them. And I guess they have only a few responsibilities, a few rules to take care of. So not to disturb the others. And, of course, adults are taking responsibility for all the environment there and also all the activities but they are not proposing activities.

Marco 32:30

They are the kids going to say I would like to play this game, I would like to learn mathematics, I would like to explore geography, I would like to play music, I would like to play football or learn a sport, whatever. So these kids are learning to read and to write when they're ready. And they learn it because they see older kids doing something interesting, so like keeping a book in the hand. They say, wow, why are they spending so many hours with these things in their hand? I think it's interesting. And then they copy.

Michael 33:04

Well, this is child-led education. It's interesting you mentioned the topic because I'm actually working on another podcast related to the Montessori school system. And I think both of these systems help the child to keep that connection to their authentic self, to keep the connection to the essence, so that it's easier for them to find that path forward later on in life because they're connected to who they truly are. And I think that's a lot of the journey for people which are coming from a more traditional space, like the corporate space, is to reconnect to that essence, that authentic self.

Marco 33:46

Yes, I would say yes,

Michael 33:48

Some people, perhaps like yourself, have kept that connection, but I think for a lot of us, including myself, it's more about reconnecting because we've lost it.

Marco 33:58

But that's possible. The good news at the end of the day, or at the end of such a conversation, to have something to give to our listener is that everything is reversible. That's the good news. Really. My life experience plus the life experience of a lot of other people, everything is reversible. So there is no excuse to say I don't want to do it.

Marco 34:26

If you really want to change, you can change. I'm in touch with something having a very strong power for changing, which is music. This is known from everybody. So, perhaps I can be lucky that it is like that, that I'm in touch with this, but everyone can be in touch with something that is also supporting a bit this moment of work into reversing conditionment. I would say it's all about being conditioned. Doesn't matter why or from who. At the end it can be the school, it can be parents, it can be the environment, it can be something through generation.

Marco 35:14

So, without spending too much attention to the why and to who and, I would say, let's decide to change and this is already the first step, to say I want to change. Then the way to do it, it can be different, it doesn't really matter. If you go and you meditate, if you go, you make music, if you go for a walk, if you go to a therapist, if you go, whatever, I would say, in my opinion it doesn't really matter, but the decision that you take to accept, that in the habits that you have, which are really another point, very dangerous sometimes when they are not good habits that are conditioning your life, suddenly, when you can observe this and say, ok, now I see, my habits are not anymore adapted to the wish that I have. And when I say wish, I would say let's have a look to the authentic wishes. What do you want to do really? This decision would for sure help to go farther, to grow, to let evolution of oneself just happen.

Michael 36:33

I think we're going to probably start to wrap up here shortly,

Marco 36:36

Yes,

Michael 36:37

But there is one question I'd like to still address, building on what you've just said. The decision, the decision to make a change. I see a big difference between people who have less financial responsibilities. So a big difference between people who are single, for example, versus people that have a family, and you're somebody who has a family, or has at least raised a family, three girls.

Marco 37:12

Still have, yes. I'm married and I give importance to my couple. So it's not only the business or the music or creativity, it's also the family, the daughters and my wife, the life that I want.

Michael 37:25

This is maybe a big question to ask you, but I'm just wondering what advice might you have for the listeners in terms of raising a family, having the financial responsibility for that and going back to our earlier discussion, keeping in that creative flow, keeping close to ourselves.

Marco 37:47

We would need a series of podcasts. Well, no, I would say that one has to keep the faith. It's possible. This is what I can say. I'm not there saying, well, I had these skills, I had this possibility. No, not at all. I don't believe in this saying, because I was lucky. No. If I was able to do it, anyone is able to do it. And that's a bit what I believe. I don't think I'm a special person.

Michael 38:19

It's a very modest comment.

Marco 38:21

Yes, but it's true. I'm coming from a very poor family, so I had not financial tools. Of course, this was allowing creativity to be the tools, and I was never aware about that, you know, that this was something called creativity. I think when you feel like you want to do something, then you find out how to do it. So, if you want to change something now, you just have to start somewhere. Just do it.

Michael 38:50

And I think that's a beautiful way to perhaps end this podcast. And this is one of the things I think I take from our discussion, is that you're somebody who has followed your passion. The other components of life have followed that passion, but it's about following what you love to do.

Connecting to Our Evolutionary Force

Marco 39:08

Yes, but also to express in the lifetime the way you are really to be authentic. This is also a big engine of the whole story. I would say that the drive is not even passion. The drive is just being able to be in the direction of ease, where the evolution is naturally bringing us. Connecting to this, this is probably more relevant than the passion and the music. Of course, it's important, but there is something bigger that we can connect to, and this also creates a good support for faith. 'Wow, there is something that for sure, is bigger than us. So why I should be the one to spend my days in fears that I cannot pay this, I cannot pay that? ' You can always remember if Marco was able to do it, and is able to do it in the present time, I'm able to do it as well. That's very important in terms of everything, self-confidence and having a drive to go on. Say, 'okay, I want to change this because it's not adapted anymore'. I tell you it's possible. Everything is reversible, even from a scientific point of view.

Michael 40:26

Well, I think what you've just said is so important because I can hear a number of the listeners saying, 'oh yeah, but if I follow my path, I'm not going to make money at that. I'm not going to make money at stamp collecting' or whatever the interest is. But I think your point addresses that, that there is something beyond what we can see, something beyond what's visible which, when we get into that flow of energy, it will take care of the other components, it will take care of the financial income. But just allow yourself to connect with what you love to do.

Marco 41:06

Yes, and it's not easy. I didn't say it's easy. I said it's possible, which is different. So if you have an habit for 40 years and you don't know why, but you just have this and then one day you realize it's not adapted anymore to the way of living that you would like to have. So if you are aware of your wishes, you say 'this is what I'm doing now? I feel it doesn't work anymore'.

Marco 41:35

But if you have been like for many years into that, you cannot change in one day after the other. You need some work and, of course, today you can find different ways to buy the help of people they already did the path. And they are keen in sharing some tools of how you can do this that are fitting with your own way of doing things. Then you just start with the decision 'I want to do it'. And then it takes time. It's not one day after the other. And to do this process into stress modality with fears, it doesn't really go into the right direction. It needs calm, it needs to be something which is created in the perspective of being solid one day. So it's a step by step and I went through all that too.

Marco 42:27

There were moments of big difficulty being in Switzerland, a very expensive place, being Italian in Switzerland too, this cultural clash, and many things, but nevertheless I'm here and this location exists. All the projects are existing, are running, people are coming here to enjoy themselves, let's say. Like probably you, you are also one of these people that sometimes being around in the location in Cinque was experiencing, 'okay, now here I can be whoever I am, I can be authentic and I'm accepted the way I am'. This is also another thing that such a location can offer, but it's just a little thing compared to the value of the decision that one individual should take and say I want to change it. But it takes time.

Michael 43:22

Well, so what you're saying is that it's not about being reckless in life. It's not about suddenly deciding to change and then leaving everything behind that you've been working on for the last years, but it's taking a more measured approach, what I would call a more strategic approach, building the bridge between where people are today and where they would love love to get to.

Marco 43:46

Yes, and ask for help, being humble enough to ask for help, to ask for advices. This, for me, was very helpful. Without help of other people, without advices of other people, without support and this bridging attitude, I would be not where I am. And this is again another decision to take, to say, okay, now I realize something doesn't work anymore. And life is very helpful because it's bringing you sometimes a situation where you really can see it doesn't work anymore the way I'm doing. But sometimes, until you are not ready to change, life is not bringing you the big example to say Marco or Mike, now stop it, it's enough. And this decision now I will change Most of the time in my case was bringing to ask help.

Marco 44:44

It makes sense because the world is not running because of one individual. It's running because we are all together, because we are connected, because we can use this form of far more creative intelligence, which is the intelligence not of artificial intelligence, is the community intelligence that is happening through this connection and in the reality, in the practical side, it's just being able to be humble enough and say, 'well, I'm not really in touch with tools that I need now to do the change, so I'm starting to look for reaching out, who can connect with me in that particular things'. And because I want to be more authentic, I want to be more in touch with myself and there is no rule, for you can be this type of person or this type of activity, for another individual, something different, it doesn't really matter. But the way of deciding this, and the first moment of being conscious is just how can I realize. 'I'm aware, that I have no tools to go on'. So saying 'I need somehow to cut my old habits and build up new path' And to build up new path needs time.

Marco 46:07

If you dedicate, with a certain discipline, daily activity to whatever it is that is helping you to build up a new behavioral, fine, whatever it is. For my experience it was exactly this in the daily life, installing something that in the beginning it's a bit difficult because it's leaving what was kind of sure for you but not adapted anymore to your new wishes. It doesn't work anymore. But then you have to be patient, working on it daily and, if possible, with a pleasurable activity, whatever it is that you want to do and you like to spend time with. Otherwise, it's going to be something that most probably you will never start to do.

Michael 46:58

What would be one or two examples of those behaviors that you mentioned?

Marco 47:04

Well, I can read you a sentence from this book which is here now on the table, from Rick Rubin.

Michael 47:10

Ah, Rick Rubin.

Concluding Thoughts: Creating Your Crucible

Marco 47:12

I would say that this could be a good ending and inspirational sentence. 'The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable. ' It is a sentence from Robert Henry. This wonderful state, I would say something that we should all relate to, it's important. It doesn't have to be left as the last thing to do and there is no excuse. In a very friendly way, I would say to all the listeners, remember, if somebody like me was able to do this, you are all able to do that, no excuse. If you just put another excuse into starting, it is because you are not ready. So, peace of mind, it will come if it's important.

Michael 48:06

Well, I love what you were just saying. I think of the image of a, it's almost like a crucible. And when you put something inside a crucible, there's an alchemy that takes place. Something transformational happens in that crucible, And it's about perhaps creating our own crucible in our own daily lives that then allows that natural essence energy within us to flow.

Marco 48:33

Yes, it's a good picture. Yes

Michael 48:36

Marco, where can people find out more about you and your work?

Marco 48:41

Well, you just connect to cinque, to the location and to me personally. There are many ways. I'm always open to get in touch with people and also then to go on for any type of relationship that are sustainable. And usually I do my best to keep this type of relationship active and in the flow in case I like them. Maybe you will have some information about website emails.

Michael 49:11

Yes, we'll provide the information with the podcast.

Marco 49:15

Just get in touch for these particular things we were talking about. I'm always open to spend a few words.

Michael 49:22

Perfect. Any particular projects activities you'd like to highlight.

Marco 49:27

At the moment. Yeah, we are working on this project called Sloop, which is more than a project. It's more like a lifestyle attitude. It's more related to recording art. As you see, here we are in a location which is a recording studio that we also call a music laboratory, where I see one-to-one people daily and we do approach this wonderful state of creating something with sound, and sloop is going to be the platform where, by being online, everyone in the planet could access this type of mood that we have here.

Michael 50:06

You describe it at the entrance of the cafe as the musical equivalent of Lego.

Marco 50:10

Exactly. This is because of the wish to approach anyone, so to meet everyone's musical needs, exactly, to bring to people this possibility to enjoy creativity in a field where I'm quite competent, where I can offer some bridging compass guidance and so on. So, you are able to approach musicality and creativity in a very spontaneous way and in a flow. The access to such a laboratory is again related to your own awareness. So what we do ask, keeping a very playful attitude, is to make a journey into your sonic memories, so the memories of songs that were very relevant for you throughout all your life.

Marco 51:05

So it's a big journey to explore yourself. And so we start with five songs to see who you are, cutting everything down to this number, and then, of course, this game is expanding to places and times that we have no ideas, but is a way, first of all from the side of the user, to get in touch with itself. And this is allowing us to develop quickly a language in the recording studio to talk clearly about the elements which are taking place in a composition. What is a drum? What is a bass? What is a brass section? What is a string section? What is a vocal? How you can use a compass to navigate this huge amount of information related to recording art that today is growing exponentially. So it's a game which is allowing you, in a playful way, to approach yourself.

Michael 52:00

Wonderful, an interesting example to leave people with of using creativity to connect them back to themselves and who they are.

Marco 52:09

Yes, exactly.

Michael 52:11

Marco, thank you so much for your time today, your generous comments, a very rich discussion.

Marco 52:16

Thank you, Mike, for asking me to attend this and participate. It was a pleasure.

Michael 52:22

Yeah, thank you.

Marco 52:32

Cheers Bye.