To every story... its own time (to mature).
There is always a moment, between the sound of a moka and the aroma that fills the room, when ideas take shape. A moment when time slows down, hands move almost on their own, and everything finds its rhythm.
In front of a coffee – preferably “strong” – the best stories are born, the real ones, made of waiting, silences, and precise gestures. Because coffee, before being drunk, must be roasted. And roasting is an act of trust: it takes heat, pressure, time... you need to know how to endure (to exist).
Just like at work.
Just like in Organizations.
Just like in each of us.
A well-made coffee requires constant heat, not a live flame.
So it is with identity work: you don’t force it, you accompany it.
A “strong” brand or person is not born from impulse but from a well-measured pressure, the right one to let the aroma rise without burning the essence.
The humanistic coach knows how to wait: respects the maturation times, does not accelerate them.
Under pressure we give our best (?).
“Strong coffee doesn’t mean bitter: it means it has held the fire long enough to be recognized.”
In coaching and in Business design, pressure is not an enemy.
It is the fire that transforms raw material into identity.
When a Company goes through a complex moment it is like a bean in the drum of the roaster: the heat brings out the aroma, the character, the personality.
A good Corporate Coaching serves precisely this purpose: to roast the potential that is already there, to bring out the unique fragrance of a person, a team, a brand, or an idea.
Gestures that speak.
The moka has no display, algorithms, or apps (at least... not mine, fortunately!).
It works with gestures: hands that measure, fill, screw, turn on.
And ears that... listen.
It is a lesson in manual skill and awareness... but also in presence (and listening),
The filter as a space of passage.
Between water and coffee there is a filter: it is the place where transformation happens.
That filter is listening, the point where words, stories, and identities become clear. We filter the noise to bring out the essence.
Like the moka’s filter, we neither add nor take away: we allow the passage.
Every identity project is born this way: one gesture after another, a thought that becomes form, an intuition that finds its voice... because in communication – as in coffee – what matters is not only the final result but how you get there.
Before rising, it must boil inside.
In the moka, before the coffee rises, the water heats up and creates pressure. In the identity journey, before the narrative emerges, inner movement is needed.
Awareness is like that boiling water: invisible but necessary to bring out the aroma. Without introspection, there is no authentic expression.
“Espresso but not too much”: slow down to understand.
Coffee is not made in a hurry.
There is a right time for the pressure to rise, for the water to take color, for the aroma to spread.
That time, which we often call a break, is actually a creative act.
In front of a “strong” coffee, every story has a different rhythm: slow, real, necessary.
In design, in strategy, in coaching…
Slowing down is the condition for listening better, reading the signals, giving meaning because only those who truly stop can hear the sound of the coffee rising: that gurgle that announces something good is being born.
The aroma comes before the taste.
When the coffee rises, the first sign is the aroma.
Even in a coaching process (or in identity design), intuition comes before form.
The smell anticipates the substance, the vision precedes the language.
First you feel, then you speak.
It is proof that identity is not just strategy but a sensory experience.
“There are people who run away from the heat and others who stay in it... until they bring out their aroma.”
Maybe you too are living through a “roasting” phase, a moment of heat, pressure, change. “Don’t burn everything to get out quickly”: stay, listen, smell... NOW!
That’s where your identity is defined.
That’s where work – yours or your team’s – stops being routine and becomes a story.
Right in front of a (strong) coffee, I often work with people (Professionals) and Companies to rediscover their original aroma: the one that distinguishes them, unites them, and tells their story... the moment that becomes “ritual” (not habit), the memory that becomes a lesson (not just nostalgia), your vision that becomes action (and not just words).
A strong coffee is one that has “taken the fire well” but hasn’t burned.
It has body but also balance.
So it is with the identities I happen to work on: Businesses, Artisans, People who have taken hits, shocks but right there have developed their aroma, their essence.
“Strong” is someone who has gone through the pressure and made it character.
A “strong” coffee is (also) a lesson in leadership (widespread and shared): listen to the heat, accept the pressure, release character... don’t resist everything but discover when it’s the right time to “come out of the fire.”
