We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Filipe Oliveira. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Filipe below.
Filipe , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
By keeping my eyes peeled to what surrounds me. I’m constantly searching for new and old audio technologies, studying the defining lines of the Mid-century Modern movement, and which part of this specific design period withstood the test of time. I talk to people, but mostly listen to people. And, of course, I listen to music at all times.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
We merge impeccable mid-century design with world-class sound systems.
What does it mean exactly? That we hand-pick mid-modern original, rare music consoles and then custom-fit them with modern audio components to bring these masterpieces to the 21st century. The tradition and beauty of old-school vinyl
combined with the convenience of streaming music via Bluetooth or Sonos. Looks meet function.
Each console is unique, dates back 50 to 70 years, and undergoes a restoration process of over 100 hours of manual labor. In an industry where the tendency is to have increasingly smaller devices and to consume frequently to keep up with the
latest technologies, we chose to cater to those who want to go in the opposite direction: make educated once-in-a-lifetime purchases, conscientiously opt to reuse materials, pay homage to bygone times. All without compromising on comfort and
standard level. The same way you want your 1969 Mustang to have A/C, heating, and GPS navigation.
The PoBo consoles are inspired by our European origins and travels around the world, being refitted in Boulder. From there they are shipped all across the United States, bringing incredible sound and elegance to various spaces and homes.
PoBo stands for From Portugal to Boulder. We are a family from Portugal who moved to Colorado. We instantly fell in love with the striking Rocky Mountains views, the crisp open air, and the snow-covered landscape. Europeans at heart, we are
passionate about effortless elegance that translates into carefully-designed and impeccably-executed objects.
That’s why PoBo was born. We wanted to create things that evoke our passions, a combination of everything we love about life: our origins, long summer days spent on the beach, hikes in the Flatirons, wonderful cuisine, nights around a
fire pit, and our home decor.
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?
PoBo was co-founded by my wife Joana and I. Between us, we have a set of skills that have proved instrumental in creating and developing our business. I do all the wood restoration, audio components, and electrical installation. While Joana takes care of all the image, website, communication, and brand essence. We work in tandem and have a lot of fun while doing it!
In our view, the key to acquiring and developing any skill is a combination of knowledge and experience. We’re education seekers. Be it formal, or self-taught, all forms of education are valid as long as it brings you closer to your goal of understanding something.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Our number one challenge was the delivery of our unique, one-of-a-kind music consoles to our clients. Each one of them is irreplaceable and so we needed to treat them as such. We solved this issue, by partnering with a Denver-based company, specialized in transporting valuable pieces of art, and our consoles are shipped as such. Each console is shipped in a custom-built wooden crate to guarantee the integrity of its components. This aspect is so important to us that we share the shipping cost with our clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pobolifestyle.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pobolifestyle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PoBolifestyle
Image Credits
All image credits are PoBo Lifestyle.
