I am… Paolo Capelli and I bring out the personality of a business with fabulous filmography and photography.  I met Giacomo Cannata at a photography workshop just over a year ago and we’ve been working together ever since.

I’ve been… travelling the world and striving to learn something new every day.  I’m originally from a very small, pretty town in Northern Italy, on the banks of Lake Iseo.  I had a guaranteed job for life there.  My family has its own successful, intermediary cosmetics and perfumery business.  I worked with the family for more than a decade.  I was good at it.  But I ran away to fulfil my dreams and push myself out of my comfort zone. 

I’d always wanted to travel, not to get a cursory glance at a place but to spend some quality time immersing myself into its culture and people.  I did that in Spain, Brazil and Ireland before settling in London ten years ago.  I’m proficient in Spanish and Portuguese, which are my two favourite languages, and English, the most useful language in the world.   

I didn’t think taking pictures could ever be more than a hobby but I fell in love with it, embraced a growth mindset, perfected my craft and then founded Business Soul.  I called it that because I believe to be successful, an organisation must show its soul – great photography and filmography enables that.  It’s the most immediate way of communicating your goals and helping others understand why you do what you do. 

I love… Working with Women Ahead and Moving Ahead.  They embody three things that are very important to me – visual storytelling, mentoring and wellbeing. 

They understand the power of story and how to express it visually. You get a very strong sense of their personality because it shines through in all their films.  People buy you and your personality – not your product. 

The great thing about Women Ahead and Moving Ahead is their product is also fantastic. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had some great mentors during my career – both formal and informal arrangements.  I spent six years with a big business that employed some 20,000 people. My experience with my family’s business gave me a great grounding but this was on a completely different scale.  Without the guidance, experience and perspectives of others, how are you supposed to learn everything you need to?  Without it, there’s no growth and people don’t improve. My mentors really helped me.  I progressed within that big business to have three roles in six years.  But the benefits were wider than that, mentoring got me thinking about my life goals and that eventually led me to where I am today. 

I’m a true believer in workplace wellbeing, I’m very conscious about my health and practice meditation daily.  

I bring… a different point of view because of my background, education and experiences. I’m not young at all but I still feel it because I’ve got a hunger to learn.  Since I started doing photography and filmography I feel blessed because I’m learning something new every day.  I don’t feel well when I’m not learning so I don’t think that journey is over for me yet.  I have a passion for writing and music.  At the moment that’s very much a hobby but I harbour thoughts about sitting down and writing a musical – that’s a chapter yet to be written though and a story for another time! 

Contact me at: paolo@business-soul.co.uk or 07530 160 440.