Meet Valentina Alvarez

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Valentina Alvarez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Valentina, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Finding purpose has been a constant journey. As a freedom seeker and dreamer, my life has always been a continuous search. Shaping my identity has been a beautiful process, deeply influenced by growing up in a country where the political situation was tense, social inequality was stark, and traditional beliefs dictated what it meant to be “successful.” These circumstances pushed me to search deeply for my own purpose.

From an early age, I was drawn to self-expression, artistic forms, and symbolic languages. My surroundings— a tropical, vibrant, and intense country, filled with colors, raw reality, and an atmosphere of extreme optimism— shaped me into an independent entrepreneur. Yet, that same optimism felt like a dense cloud of gas, blinding us as a military dictatorship quietly took hold—one that we still live under to this day.

Moving to Europe and starting a new life came with a new label: immigrant.

Life suddenly became all about survival, where growth and legal stability were the core pillars of my existence. That defined my first ten years after leaving. But once that survival mode ended and I finally became a citizen, able to move freely without borders, a new purpose emerged.

So, my purpose has reshaped. The one that leads my life at the moment is to find security in adversity, to find peace in my everyday life, to live slowly and with more intention, to be present, and to be content with what I have and have achieved, rather than feeling hopeless about what I don’t have or wish I had.

This is a state of renewal that needs to be checked constantly, especially with all the acceleration and the constant pressure of I need to be, I want to be, I have to be.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My work is currently focused on creating safe, warm, and art-filled spaces. As a visual communicator, I specialized in branding and crafting a clear product identity. However, my professional journey soon led me to explore commercial and conceptual photography, where I discovered the power of providing visibility and confidence to businesses and individuals seeking empowerment.

Later, I pursued a Master’s in Interior Design, which allowed me to expand my creative language to larger spaces. This evolution led me to work in festivals, and for the past five years, I have been part of the Electric Picnic team in Ireland, designing stage sets and immersive experiences that transport audiences into unique narratives.

Beyond my artistic work, I am also an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry. I currently manage five spaces, the most special being Soul Coliving, a project that took nearly two years to build and is finally aligning with its purpose: to be a space for artistic and personal growth. Soul is a home that welcomes creatives and travelers, offering them a place to share their talents and learn from one another.

I have always seen art as a living, ever-evolving experience, and I am driven by the endless possibilities it offers to connect, inspire, and transform.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back, I believe three fundamental aspects have been key in my journey:

The ability to adapt and embrace continuous learning- The worlds of art, design, and hospitality are constantly evolving, so learning to adapt and staying open to new ideas has been key. My advice for those starting out is not to be afraid to explore different disciplines, mix them, and always remain open to making mistakes, this is where great adaptability and new visions emerge. Creativity thrives on diverse experiences, and often, the most unexpected paths lead to the most valuable discoveries.

The vision to create meaningful experiences – I always seek to convey an emotion, tell a story, or sometimes simply connect with something abstract.

Developing this skill involves understanding the impact that space, light, colors, shapes, and emotions have on people. Observation is essential—feeling that the space already exists, sensing it, and from there, experimenting and searching for references that connect with different cultures, aesthetics, and perspectives.

The power of community and collaboration – This has been the most challenging but also one of the most important aspects. In both art and entrepreneurship, the ability to connect with others, build support networks, and work as a team has been essential. My advice is to learn to listen, trust, and share ideas, when you engage in this process, your voice, your idea, expands, adapts, transforms, grows, and takes on new strength. It becomes a process of collective inspiration, a force that is sometimes difficult to generate alone.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

We have opened applications for a 2-3 month residency at Soul, where we aim to create community and offer a space for personal and professional growth.

From March to June 2025, we are hosting a select group of facilitators to connect, reflect, and develop their work surrounded by a supportive community. The residency includes access to our versatile spaces, collaboration opportunities with other facilitators, and a platform to showcase your work to our community through social media and newsletters.

If you are interested in applying or learning more, visit our Residency Application page.

https://retreats.soulcoliving.com/facilitator-residency2025

We look forward to welcoming those who share our vision and passion for creative, collaborative growth.

Image Credits

all these images are mine