With over 25 years of experience in leadership, collaboration, strategic creativity and design, he brings together creative thinking with improvisational theater, so that 'lateral thinking' is accessible to all audiences fostering more creative collaboration and stronger personal confidence in individual and collective decision making.
In Portugal he studied improvisational theater with Gustavo Miranda, at Act - Escola de Actores, with "Os Improváveis" (precursors of the Long Form Improv in Portugal) and 'classic' theater with Claudio Hochman and Bruno Schiappa (with whom he studied the "Method" of Lee Strasberg / Actor's Studio). Internationally he studied at the legendary Second City (Chicago) and with Susan Messing, Anders Fors, Victoria Bang, Maria Peters, among others. He started in Clown, working with the legendary Brazilian clown Silvia Leblon, the "Spirulina" and with the Italian clown Matteo Farelli. He is co-founder of the improvisation collectives Batata Quente Impro and Teatro Elástico, among other personal projects and has been a guest performer for Os Improváveis and JokeBox Impro. He has always brought these practices to the teams he leads in more conventional and corporate contexts.
With an academic background in design, he brings together skills (and experience) in leadership and team management, corporate training, strategic design and improvisation performance, being frequently invited to speak on topics related to collaboration and creativity, as a way to facilitate and free lateral thinking in organizations, allowing them to become more accessible to a wider (more formal) audience.
In the past, João has designed and transformed many projects and teams. His diverse professional life has given him a broad and solid background in innovation, design, media and communication: from more traditional consultancies and creative agencies to other communication projects, together with a rich and diverse experience in the publishing industry. He is father of four children who are the most demanding clients of his creativity.
