The Unassuming Dream-Maker

Feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed, the new Geneva Xplorers were off, keen to get our feet wet and thirsty for a taste of this new world full of new and fresh insights. With our NY Xplorer Coco taking the lead, we ventured out into the hustle and bustle of central Madrid and headed for the suburbs where our first visit was waiting. A short taxi ride bought us into a quiet, leafy suburb and to the security entrance of a modest private estate. Through the gates, we passed down the streets of identical townhouses with small, neatly groomed gardens. Arriving punctually, Señor Juan-Luis Picazo opened his door and warmly greeted us, inviting us into his home, from where he also conducts his business as General Manager of a new, emerging telecommunications venture onto the Spanish market. Spacious and bright, the living area opened out onto a garden framed by a pool bordering the far wall. Small white flowers crawl along the walls of the garden and he leads us outside to sit down comfortably around a big table in reach of the sun and a cool breeze.
Señor Picazo, when you first meet him, is very warm and inviting, emanating a kind and gentle presence, and regardless of topic of conversation, a business call that he excuses himself to take, or brief interlude with the cleaning woman, this persona never shifts. He is married with 3 children, one of which lives with him at home since his wife recently passed away. Dressed neatly in crisp white shirt and suit pants, he wears only a wedding band and a watch concealed by the cuff of his shirt. Conversing over a coffee, through a fond memory of his children, touching on a reference to his wife that causes him to blush briefly, or candidly regarding his vision for his current business venture, he touched on many things from the bounty of opportunities on offer to today’s generation through to recalling moments with colleagues and peers in earlier working life. He shared with us what he would have done had he been among the generation allowed to follow their dreams, “If I had a choice, I would have been an Architect or a Doctor.” But it was soon clear to us that with or without a choice Señor Picazo had become all three in one way or another: The Architect, The Doctor and The Entrepreneur. This has come to fruition through his affinity for mixing creativity and technology, his natural ability to create a team of people and lead them to build something and watch it grow. This he would have applied in another life perhaps to building a solid structure as an architect, the challenge of research and the role of caretaker in discovering new ways to cure people as a doctor, and has indeed applied to helping small businesses develop their idea and launch into a new market, as the real life entrepreneur (Click play to watch).



As a family man, he plays the role of the father to perfection, but is still mastering the humble lesson to be a student too and finds the lessons that his children teach him never cease to amaze. (Click play to watch).



As the entrepreneur, he’s a dream-maker. He’s got the sixth sense to spot a great idea and the determination to bring it to fruition. While his legacy is not in being a world re-known architect or in making medical advances, he’s certainly revolutionizing the way technology affects us. In the end, he’s turned his dreams into his lifetime job.

Bottom Line: The real dreamer is not concerned with ‘what could’ve been’ because he always finds a way to live out his dream in the reality he lives in.