A test of resilience

Cabeceiras de Basto. 1974. The year of the revolution — of the carnations, and of a son who was born with the will to defy the odds. If it is possible to be born already with focus and rigour, then that is precisely what happened.

Armindo Gonçalves was born and raised in a house with no heating, where people and animals shared the same space and the cold slipped through the gaps between them. He was the 7th of 8 siblings. One more born to help with the farming, the calves and the household. School, four kilometres away, was only for learning to read, to write, and to write fast — because when he got home, there was land to tend.

That was what was written, expected, the foreseeable path. But Armindo Gonçalves decided to rewrite his own story.

Discipline and rigour

He walked the 4 km regardless of rain, frost, snow or scorching sun. He did it willingly. He did it because he knew, deep down, that there was more. That it couldn't just be that. That things had to be different.

While studying, he worked. He finished school with one foot in the classroom and one in construction. His father told him plainly: "don't expect me to help you". He left home at 17, without any financial support. Little did his father know that no help would ever be needed.

He drew inspiration — and still does — from his mother, and above all from his great-grandmothers. They were remembered for their generosity — women who gave. It goes without saying, therefore, that we are in the presence of a feminist.

"Why do you have to start so low?", he asked himself every day. It was all part of a bigger plan, he now knows.

He eventually joined the Portuguese Army. And once again, while waiting for the response, he worked. He always worked. He rose to officer. More evidence, if any were needed, of discipline and rigour. He commanded men. The best men, the ratings said.

And it was there that he understood, long before ever setting foot in a garden: I am a people person.

The courage not to stand down

He left the army and moved to Sintra, where he started out as a gardener. Once he had mastered the trade, the rest was still missing. But not for long. He quickly decided to pursue business training. Now, at just 24, he had all the ingredients to start his first company.

He challenged his younger brother, Augusto Gonçalves, to build Ideal Jardins together. His partner, whom he has kept by his side to this day — 28 years later — is "an extraordinary right-hand man".

They organised themselves. They invested time and thought. They surrounded themselves with people who could keep up intellectually. And that is where everything begins.

Client by client, the portfolio took shape. He built Planta Livre in 2006 because he needed plants. One thing feeds another, and if there were any doubts that we were in the presence of a visionary, they were put to rest.

It was 2008 when those lungs, now 37 years old, had to fill with air to face the crisis — the subprime collapse. Enormous financial losses, client defaults, a drastic and dramatic drop in demand. Even so, without standing down and without a single default, what had been forecast as a 50% cut in revenue turned out to be only 25%.

Twenty-eight years and a record of persistence and resilience — both the company's and its founder's.

“We will resist, even in the middle of the storm.”

Well said, well done. With his heart in the right place, he was always going to get there. And he did. Always led by the heart, always for the people. The engine that drives Mr. Armindo is people. Their wellbeing. Their happiness. Always the other. Always.

Family, friends, legacy

And we must talk about family. When we talk about Mr. Armindo, we must talk about family. He has worked alongside his wife for 28 years. Their children joined later, by their own choice. They inspire each other — and for anyone looking in from the outside, it is not only beautiful but provokes a certain wholesome envy.

Mr. Armindo is synonymous with altruism. I say so, and I would stake my life on it, as would every single person who has ever walked through the doors of Planta Livre. Clients, colleagues, partners and friends — though for Mr. Armindo, he would simply say friends. Because that is how he sees us.

He is a happy man who "has fun working". Does it make sense to live any other way?