Hello everyone!
I'm not new to the HIVE-System, but usually only using it for Splinterlands-Content - writing about something different was always on my mind, especially the more I read here on other blogs and in the communities. If you have suggestions, please go ahead. Same goes for questions, or if you'd like to know more about something. This post is just a summary, and I'll at least try to keep it somewhat short - I tend to write a little too much.
Also, if I did a mistake in the tags, please don't punch me 😅 If you think I should rather post in a different section, just let me know. If I triggered some auto-votes that I shouldn't, also let me know, and I'll return the HP to the auto-voter or something like that.
About me
I'm 35 years old, grew up in northern Germany in a family of physical therapists that had their own business. Being self-employed is not fun in Germany nor elsewhere. The German word for self-employed is "selbstständig", which comes from "self" and "standing" - but "ständig" also means all the time, so "selbstständig" in that sense is more accurate - it's oneself and all the time. German humor, forgive me. But my parents did a great job and are happily retired now, with us two children standing strong on our own feet. I studied Environmental Sciences with focus on chemistry, and spent an exchange year in Ecuador, the country I live in now. After finishing my thesis, I went back directly - the typical story, I had fallen madly in love with a women.
12 years in Ecuador
While my university title was being registered here in Ecuador at the usualy pace ("Tranquilo!"), I was working as administrator and cook in a restaurant, called "Ananda" back in the days - it now turned into a Waldorf-School which my child is attending, a fact I still consider ironic.
Ecuador has not much of a Bread-Tradition - at least nothing close to what I was used to from Europe. So I started making my own bread. One day, a friend from Belgium came over and convinced me to start selling on the local Farmer's Market, which was only 5 people back then (we're now over 80 vendors). Another ironic twist of fate - the frontyard where we started the market is now my frontyard, I live in the house it belonged to.
With 3 pans and a house oven, it took me around 3 hours baking time to make 9 loaves of bread. Not very efficient (okay, another joke: How many Germans does it take to change a lightbulb? - Only one, they're very efficient and don't have a sense of humor. Sorry, had to do it). But I had struck gold in a way, and things escalated quickly - one year later, I had a big oven, a kneading machine and built a baking-room to the house I was living in back then.
I also started delivering bread by bike, with a little trailer I had had built for that. Sometimes people refer to that, saying things like "When I met you, you were delivering bread with that trailer on your bike - and now look at you!"
It was a hard road to get where I am, and it costs me a lot - myself and all the time. The hours and dedication were a strain on my marriage, as was my immaturity, so that broke to shambles. I moved out of the house and rented a space for the bakery, and started teaching my first co-worker.
Now, 10 years later (we just had our anniversary), the bakery is still going strong and allowing me and my co-workers a life that can be considered over-average here in Ecuador. For that anniversary, the whole crew got interviewed, and I was asked what I want our legacy to be. It took me quite a lot of thinking and reflecting, but in my speech at the party, I put the following:
"I would love the legacy of Pandala is to be a model for what a business can and should be: one that is deeply rooted in its community, contributing both economically and socially to the well-being of all its stakeholders and fostering growth on multiple levels. It’s about proving that a business can succeed not just financially, but by enriching the lives of everyone it touches and playing a meaningful role in building a stronger, more connected community."
We really do have strong connections within our community, and try to do as much social stuff as possible, supporting different organizations as well as by ourselves, like donating bread. During 2020, we did a lot of shopping for eldery, organized food packages for people in need, as well as meals for the local hospital and other civil servants. Ecuador was a mess in 2020, but our little town made it through alright, and a big part of that was thanks to the many expats that live here. It was one of the most amazing things to see them all come together and pull in the same direction for once.
The Motivation
I have a 6 year old child, which is basically the reason for me getting into stocks and investment, and from there arriving to Splinterlands and HIVE. I want her to have the option to study in Germany, and that is not cheap, especially when having to pay out of Ecuador with the standards here, so investing is kind of the only way. I hope to perform good enough on the market.
The little one lives with me now, finally, after 7 years of soap-opera - the stories I could tell... Another day. Let's just say I learned incredibly much about myself and humans and cultures, and I hope that I'm a better human now than I was before that all. I'm a very happy father, and in the position to dedicate a lot of time to my child, which is a huge luxury.
Hobbies and Interests
After a burn-out in early 2024, I got into philosophy and am still hooked on that. I have a very good friend in Serbia (who I'm trying to get on HIVE, too, since he's an amazing writer) which whom I exchange lots of voice messages about that topic, using different philosophical approaches on the Status Quo in the world. In recent months, we mostly discuss values, quite in depth I think - a real philosopher might laugh at us, though, but that's okay, we sometimes do, too 😅
Food - I'm also heavy into cooking and baking, obviously, but even more so with the little one. My child is a "lactosa-huevito-vegetarian, bueno, y pescado, pero un poquito nomás" (their words exactly), I'm vegan for over a decade, and that makes things interesting - but the little one loves everything I cook and are in great health and shape, which is the most important part. We live above a restaurant I used to own and sold to the former dish-washing-girl (seriously - she started out washing dishes, and worked her way up until she finally bought it off me), so the little one can eat whatever she feels like there, and I don't have to.
Also, creating new products is still a hobby of mine. Last year, I developed a line of dips based on lupin beans - super healthy, locally grown and just delicious. I love to experiment on those.
Languages - I love learning, and languages are like THE thing to learn, all the time. I started to learn Polish around 2 years ago, with the explicit restriction to only use Duolingo and not look into grammar. That is very hard.
Communication - Well, this one goes into Philosophy as well. I love to analyze communication and where we fail in it. Mostly, where I fail in it, and how I can improve my part of it in order to reduce miss-communication.
The End
Thank you for reading! It did get longer than expected in the end. Well, I hope it wasn't too boring.
All fotos are my own copyright, except for the first one - but I was allowed to use it as I see fit. The creator of that pic is in the watermark.
Thanks to 
