The idea for "Skill Swap" (in Portuguese, "Escambo de Talentos") came to me as if by magic. As did the choice of name. But what I realized, rather recently, is that it’s actually the result of a lifetime of experience.
I’ve always been a nonconformist by excellence. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a penchant for questioning rules, laws, established orders, how the system itself is organized. The status quo. Who’s responsible for "the way things are" after all?
Yet whenever I aired these grievances, they usually fell on deaf ears. I distinctly remember myself as a teenager, in the living room of the house I shared with my parents and sister, giving a long-winded speech on the deep flaws of the Brazilian university admissions model and how impossible it was to assess the breadth of my high school knowledge in a single-day exam. In the not too distant future, I vowed, I’d put an end to this nonsense and replace it with a fairer selection process for public universities nationwide—one that would even improve the admission prospects of low-income candidates. Why couldn’t we be assessed, say, by our high school GPAs, as happens in the United States?
My mom and dad, sitting in silence on the living room couch, a somewhat bored expression on their faces, retorted, “Great. You do that. But first take the exam, graduate, and then make all the changes you want.” That conversation did nothing to dispel my anger, but I promised myself that I’d do something to right the wrongs I saw.
I chose journalism as the first tool to lay the groundwork for the changes I’d like to see in the world. For over a decade, I worked for some of the country’s major media outlets in Brazil.
I asked all kinds of questions to all kinds of people. Celebrities and unknowns, Indians and Hindus, rock stars and telenovela leads, politicians and police officers. Women who were executives, homemakers or bar owners. Lots of interesting folks. Lots of disinterested folks. And some of them gave me just what I needed to hear and feel—in my body, soul and spirit. So many of these interviews moved me to tears. To this day, something an interviewee said will start echoing in my mind and, click!, another piece snaps perfectly into place in this sprawling jigsaw puzzle called Life. Or rather, Life Mission.
Whenever I revisit the conversations I had with these remarkable people who crossed my path, I can’t help but feel that they’re the ones who made me into this person, who’s achieved what I’ve achieved, who’s able to create what I create. These things I owe especially to guests everyone pegged as “difficult” — and thanks to whom I was able to hone my patience, tolerance, empathy, and emotional intelligence. Mind you, I’ve only come to these realizations now, four years after I burned out in the last nine-to-five job I’d ever hold.
The year was 2015 and something deep inside kept nagging at me. I couldn’t quite put a finger on it, much less name it. Figuring it was just some fleeting sadness or anguish, I steamrolled over those feelings for the sake of tight deadlines and unmet goals, ignoring every single warning sign my body and mind had been blaring at me.
When I did inevitably break down, it came in the form of a snap decision to quit my job — which I announced right in the middle of a team meeting and without the slightest idea of what to do next. The relief was immediate. I could bear no longer to sell—for pennies on the dollar, I might add my most precious asset: time.
What I felt was an urgent need for change. But what kind? Everything was a haze. I needed some time to myself to sort it all out, with the help of my husband (then boyfriend), parents, and closest friends.
I went back to my therapist, to my shrink, to my homeopath, to complementary and holistic therapies, especially reiki and meditation. I picked somewhere to volunteer and to start making my life meaningful again. I knew I was sitting at the eye of a hurricane, all of my puzzle pieces scattered about, turned upside down, some lost. I was addled by anxiety attacks and panic disorder—there were days where I struggled to take two steps outside of the house.
At the cost of several sleepless nights and groggy days, I started getting back on my feet. I found that I could salvage a few pieces from the old puzzle, even though the big picture had changed. If I’d lost a few pieces along the way, no problem! New ones were coming.
My horizons widened in every direction: I found that even though strong medication could provide short-term relief, what supported me in the long term was homeopathy, traditional treatments, and complementary therapies. I discovered that fast-paced breathing is a telltale sign of anxiety and that the best way out is to take long deep breaths with pauses. I learned that when we manage to disentangle from a vibration of scarcity, the vibration of abundance comes knocking on our door and there’s nothing to fear. I realized that journalism is just one part of the vast universe of communications, and that there was a broader range of opportunities than I had ever imagined. Finally, this entire process showed me that I have many more skills than I’d given myself credit for.
In January 2017, on a hot summer morning, a year and a half after my burnout, "Skill Swap" was born as a Facebook group. Just like that, as if out of nothing. Nothing, but also everything. The idea evolved into a venue where mutual trust, altruism, selflessness, unity, and heartfelt assistance were a daily occurrence.
The idea came to me ‘ready-made’: people would swap skills, no money involved. I offer something I know how to do, and in turn request something else that I need done and don’t know how (and perhaps would like to learn). If anyone’s interested, they comment on the post and that’s it! We have a swap.
I started out by inviting close friends that I knew would love the idea. They invited close friends of their own who also did. And so the network grew exponentially. In a little over three months, we had over 6,000 members from all over the country and
I found myself telling Fátima Bernardes (a Brazilian famous talk show host) about the group on her talk show. My 15 minutes of fame led to almost 3,000 simultaneous signups. Today, there are more than 23,000 of us.
The swaps that happen there fill our hearts with hope and our eyes with tears.
Some people listed “volleyball” as a skill, connected with others who shared that interest and soon enough, a team was born with weekly meetings. We’ve had people offering guitar lessons in exchange for getting their nails done, percussion lessons in exchange for craft brewing, piano lessons in exchange for English lessons. There have even been some international swaps, where people with common interests met up in Paris for a cultural and, of course, social—immersion.
There were people who offered much and asked nothing in return. Like a fellow swapper (that’s what we call ourselves) who said she was willing to share her experience on the challenges of caring for a father with Alzheimer’s, or another who posted her phone number in case anyone was feeling hopeless, desperate, or suicidal.
The potential of "Skill Swap" lies in mutual contact to sharing by listening and talking about everything that’s most genuine and essential inside of us.
It’s a win-win game, where we make conscious choices according to our interests and put ourselves in touch with everything we might’ve left behind because we lacked the money or the time. We make room for our skills to blossom, and, the more we do, the more skills we discover inside ourselves.
I remember that, in the group’s very early days, a number of our friends felt intimidated by some seemingly fully-blossomed multi-skilled peers. They’d say, “Guys, I found out I don’t have any skills!” And soon a flock of encouraging swappers would swoop in: “Can’t you ride a bike? Bake a cake? Drive? Manage a home budget spreadsheet? Couldn’t you teach someone who doesn’t?” Bingo! The lesson we all learned was that our skills extend far beyond what we do in our jobs or what we learned in schools, universities, and non-degree courses.
The exchanges have inestimable value. Several partnerships that started out at "Skill Swap" ended up as new businesses. Other evolved into great friendships, as if two childhood mates had reunited.
I feel that not even the most sophisticated Facebook algorithm could’ve had as overwhelming an effect as we made possible through our network of people willing to look at the world from a fresh perspective—one of mutual trust, active listening, and doing good to others and to oneself. Collective action brings about unexpected and surprising results. When everyone’s on the same wavelength, forging a new reality is more than just possible—it’s quite real. If you’re already a member, you know well what I’m talking about. If not, you’re more than welcome to join.
Livia Deodato, 37, is the mother of Benicio, 2. After founding "Skill Swap" ("Escambo de Talentos"), she discovered that in addition to being a journalist and content creator, she possesses a variety of other gifts. Today she also administers reiki therapy and practices meditation and Access Bars.