I thought about whether or not to write this post more than ten times, and as you can see, I decided to do it. I was going to write it because he deserves it, because a Maminat soul is watching us from afar, and because I know it would make him incredibly happy. You all know perfectly well that our style isn't to write to sell, and that we do things differently because I truly believe the world can change and that true changes start with oneself. Behind a business project, there are people who, as such, have feelings, family, some days we are happy and others we are overcome with the greatest sadness... Showing who I am makes me more human, showing how I am makes the Maminat team see me as a little more authentic, and it makes companies more human, at least from my point of view.
Today I feel dizzy and sad. My grandfather passed away, and when I talk about Maminat, I always talk about him. It was sudden; we weren't expecting it. I just unfriended him on Facebook, and I prefer to keep his WhatsApp messages from last Thursday.
The most repeated story in the family
Juan, my grandfather, dedicated himself to saving lives. He was a doctor: a rheumatologist and pediatrician, and he loved to start businesses. In the 70s, he decided he would set up gyms with saunas and shops inside them. Something he had observed in the United States, and he brought the idea to Alicante. However, at that time, people weren't betting on this type of business, but you can't tell me he wasn't ahead of his time!
Furthermore, he was a man who took care of himself, and for that, he went to the hairdresser quite frequently. Having his sideburns, beard, and hair neat was important to him. Inside the hair salon in Alcoy (Alicante), he met Carmen, one of the employees. She, knowing my grandfather's entrepreneurial enthusiasm, proposed a business to him that she controlled perfectly. She told him, "Don Juan, I prepare very good creams. I learned to make them in France. I think we could start a business with what I do." My grandfather's eyes lit up, and he decided to bet on the concoctions with oils and plants that Carmen prepared. He always told me, "the pots, the flowers, and it was all very slow..." That's how my grandfather, after a year and a half of working side by side with Carmen, decided to abandon that project. Let's say he was like the investor for that woman, and he focused more on short-term profit than on creating a stable and consolidated business.
However, he continued to have a good relationship with her, and a year later, several friends met in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento de Alcoy, and among them was Carmen. She got out of an impressive car of the time and immediately said to my grandfather: "Oh, Don Juan. You don't know what you missed. Sometimes things go slowly, but that doesn't mean they don't work..." And that's how Carmen Vidal became the founder of Germaine de Capuccini, one of the top cosmetic multinationals that exist, and a life teacher for my grandfather and for all of us.
You can imagine that talking about cosmetics in my family has been quite common, as if everyone had a "thorn in their side" about it. When I started formulating, my grandfather would tell me, "Let's see if you'll be a Carmen. Don't give up, and don't worry, it's slow, but you'll get there." And that's the phrase that sticks in my memory. Now, in the memory of your recollection.
And I'll tell you something I bring into my daily life: entrepreneurship is extremely tough, and in a country like ours, it's not easy. We have success and failure very polarized, and society demands rapid, accelerated growth from us. Everything scares us. Or rather, I'm very scared. That's why, remembering my grandfather's story with Germaine de Capuccini, what he learned from that process keeps me on track because the most important thing in a business is to create something sustainable. Don't you think? If an investor reads this, they'll disagree with me, but look, I have the example at home.
Three weaknessesAnd my grandfather always had three weaknesses: cigarettes, Tita, and football. This is not a play on words; it's the pure truth. My grandfather would light one cigarette after another, and until his last months of life, he smoked like a chimney. He quit for his health and for Tita, although the cause of his death has nothing to do with it. Tita is my grandmother, his wife, and his great weakness. I've always said I've never seen a couple more united than my grandparents. They've traveled the world together, enjoyed life as only they knew how... a true example. But Tita started losing her memory, some of her memories... and now she doesn't know who Juan is. My grandmother's Alzheimer's had him depressed and saddened, and his hope was always that he wouldn't pass away before Tita so as not to leave her alone. But it didn't happen that way. You left before her, and I know that's one of the sorrows you take to your grave. The third weakness is football. How annoying you always were with the matches!
And now...Now I thank you. Thank you because throughout your life there are many families who are grateful to you for saving their lives. You are the living example of "the shoemaker's children go barefoot," and you never went to the doctor. Thank you for making me the proudest granddaughter in the world, because I know that from up there you are smiling when you know I have written this to tell a part of you and I will always follow your advice.
A man of few but exact and fair words, grumpy, affectionate to the core, one of those who suffer in silence, and a great domino player. Yesterday your game ended.
Dear Juan: We will all take care of Tita P.S.: "Always in the final scores, we fight like jackals." Your eldest granddaughter who loves you and is going to say goodbye, Natalia Olmo