Why the snail on my logo?

When I first started to design my logo, I decided on a tree because trees are outstanding in nature; everyone likes them and they seemed a fitting symbol for a coaching practice. Over time, I started to realize that “The Tree” had nothing to do with me or with my story—suddenly, what crossed my mind, was one of the most beautiful moments I shared with my father Rodolfo.

I was around 12-years-old, my parents were facing work and financial hardships, so it was a very stressful moment for my dad, who held all the financial responsibility of the family on his shoulders.

We were walking to the car in my hometown of Montevideo in “La ciudad vieja” and we were about to get in the car when my father said to me, “Wait Vero!”, and so I did

“What’s wrong Dad?”

“There’s a snail on top of the car!”, he said. “If we drive off now, it will die…”

He picked it up very carefully and placed the snail in a safe place near some bushes and plants.

My father had one of the biggest, most beautiful and generous hearts… That day I could see how caring he was deep inside his heart. How could a person, in that difficult crossroad of life, have paid attention and care to such a small animal? At that moment my dad taught me that life is valuable, all life, and that love and respect for others makes us feel good about ourselves, while we do good for others.

The meaning of the snail in coaching.

Snail Habitat

Snails inhabit places ranging from sunny urban gardens to remote mountainous regions with cold climates; the snails can thrive successfully in many habitats with different temperatures and conditions.

As expats we also need to do that. We need to adapt, we need to be ready for changes and we see our life going by so fast and changing so incredibly speedily that deep inside we need to slow down to be able to find balance.

Also, we carry home with us wherever we go, as does the snail…

Coaching using Transactional Analysis and Embodied Coaching is a very deep kind of coaching, and we need to go slow, same as the snail, to be able to understand ourselves and others and make the change and transformation flourish from the inside out. This process can’t be accelerated, so we go slow, the same as the snail does, to be safe, to be able to build up resilience, adapt, and succeed wherever we need to go in this world.