Bruno’s accent is as British as it can be, but I can hear a subtle French and Portuguese inflection.

He is a man of many passions and has lived in between England, France, Norway, and Portugal, where his parents moved to after fleeing revolutions in Mozambique and South Africa. 

In Norway, during his studies, he fondly recalls getting his skis on after school, where he also felt “a bit like an alien”- as he didn’t know anyone.

And, even for a sun-loving Portuguese migrant, the Scandinavian country had something to offer: a much fairer and transparent perspective on society.

Bruno specifically mentioned an unusual dilemma: “Norway’s heated debate then was on how to pass electrical cables from one side of the country to the other, to make sure it wouldn’t aesthetically damage the fiords.

“To me, this was incredibly positive, in a time where back home [in Portugal] the government was figuring out how to pay the teachers’ salaries the next day.”

Later on, Bruno’s biggest challenge was to find “meaningful work” and a cause he “deeply cared about.”, he told me.

Because of his interest in new businesses and the startup world, he moved to London to find roots in an international playground.

He organised events and was even a mentor at Google startups where “lots of people are trying to crack wicked problems.”. He settled at Monzo, a bank revolutionising the industry, and where he always dreamed to be.

“A shared past still matters. When you are sharing a house, a living room with others, you have little references. The battles you had previously fought, you have to fight them again,” he concluded.

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