They Told Me to Write a Book

I didn’t start writing to become an author. I started writing to sell window shades.

That’s the honest truth.

I needed to promote my business, and someone suggested starting a blog. So I sat down and did it. In broken English, a language that wasn’t my first, in a country that wasn’t my native land.

I even paid someone to fix my grammar and typos. I wanted to sound professional, but I didn’t want to lose my roots—the “accent” on the page, the way I put thoughts together that isn’t quite textbook English.

I thought that roughness and honesty might actually be my edge.

Turns out, they were.

When the Unexpected Happened

I had no idea what I was doing, but somehow, it worked. Something completely unexpected happened: people wrote back.

Not just short “nice post” responses, but real, thoughtful messages. People started sharing their own stories, their struggles, and their own versions of the exact moments I was describing.

They told me to keep going. They told me what my words meant to them.

And then, something even bigger followed.

At industry events, people would stop me in the hallways:

“Roger, you don’t know me. But I follow you. I love what you’re doing.”

I’m not going to pretend that it didn’t shake me every single time—because it did.

Who was I to be inspiring anyone? I was just the kid from Brazil who learned to hang window shades by spending three and a half hours on a vertical blind that should have taken thirty minutes.

To be honest, I almost didn’t survive the business more times than I care to count.

And yet here were real, working professionals telling me my words mattered to them.

My Part of the Deal

I’ve thought a lot about why those interactions hit me so hard.

I think it’s because I’ve always looked for inspiration in self-made people—people who started with nothing and built something real. People who didn’t have a roadmap, but kept moving forward anyway.

Growing up, I didn’t have many of those voices speaking directly to me. I had to find them, piece them together, and read between the lines.

So when strangers started stopping me at conventions, when people I’d never met said my writing made them feel seen… something clicked.

Maybe this is my part of the deal.

Not just to build a business. Not just to live a good life. But to be, for someone else, what I was always looking for myself.

That’s why I wrote Nobody Told Me That.

Not because I have all the answers, but because I lived through enough hard questions to know that most of us are navigating the exact same maze—just in different buildings.

The book launches September 9th. A collection of real, honest, sometimes uncomfortable, and occasionally funny stories about the things nobody prepares you for in business and in life.

If you’ve ever figured something out the hard way…

If you’ve ever felt like an outsider who somehow made it work…

If you’ve ever been told to keep going by someone who barely knew you…

This book was written for you.

👉 Pre-order your copy and find all distribution channels here

Warmly,

P.S. — I wrote this book in English. My second language. In a country that still surprises me every day. With grammar someone else had to fix it. And somehow… you’re still reading. That alone tells me everything I need to know.

Want More Stories Like This One?

If this piece on navigating business, resilience, and finding your own path hit home, you’ll love the book. Tune into No Strings Attached for honest stories, practical insights, and the unfiltered lessons that shape how we work and live.