THE STORY
Inspired by a passion for travel and adventure, and in search of something different, a guy, later known as the “button guy,” left behind the conventional life of a real estate agent in Los Angeles, CA, for a one-way ticket to Mexico City. He landed there alone, with a small backpack, $300, and no plan other than: 1) Survive. 2) Write whatever happens. 3) Create something.
Unsurprisingly, not long into his arrival he found himself on his last dollars and on the verge of sleeping on the streets. In an impulsive act of stubbornness and survival, he made a $2 investment in what happened to be accessible: string and some buttons, bought from a local street vendor. Back at his hostel, he threw his newly acquired stuff on the floor and forced himself to make something out of them. The result was strange: these long strings with their ends weaved through buttons.
"What you going to do with that?" a traveler at the hostel asked in bewilderment.
"Sell them," said the button guy innocently.
"To whom?" insisted the traveler.
"People."
"What people?"
"People on the street."
The traveler laughed. "I would never give you money for that!"
Trying to sell the string and buttons wasn’t easy in the beginning, but the button guy kept going out, hitting the streets, experimenting with how to best approach people, and taking notes. Necessity, persistence, and creativity came together, and the button guy eventually broke through. He crossed all of Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina, taking pictures of everyone he met in the streets who supported him and financed his travels in exchange for a simple string and a button. Next, he took on the USA. This time he started with $1 in San Diego and ended up in New York, using only one big Creativum button, about the size of his head, which he kept. He didn’t sell any buttons this time. Instead he sold his dream to make it across, while taking pictures of everyone who supported and financed his travels. By the end, he photographed close to 10,000 people.
During this three-year experience, deeply inspired by all the kind souls he was meeting, but also by the poverty he was witnessing, he founded Creativum. Creativum is a socially responsible business that aims to change lives, communities, and more through the sale of its products and services. Creativum is the button guy's attempt at paying back the debt of an amazing travel experience.