The Curious Case of Luis Sal

Born in 1997, brown hair, physically trained, a little dumb angel's face. Profession: video maker slash Youtuber slash influencer slash author of books. That of Luis Sal is the story of a normal boy from Bologna who, ready to fight the boredom of being a member of the generation of "if" and "but", has decided to become the best guru of himself, fulfilling his desire to become a creative, make videos and launch them in the turbulent world of the web.

Impossible not to recognize his works, no special effects, zero white lights but only those of the kitchen spotlights, no stylist but only a white singlet or (why not) shirtless armed with biceps and abdominals like Johnny Bravo but simply feeling himself like Plank. That's Luis's beauty, he's Luis and that's okay for him. His videos are insanely ironic in their simplicity, in their banal everyday life, he is there in front of the lens, he stares at you intensely, he doesn't do nothing and then everything is intelligently fun. There are those who consider it nothing special, who say "I could have done it too", but isn't it the phrase people usually say in front of a contemporary work of art? All this seems very stupid to us, all (or almost all) of us could have done it, but "have you ever done it?", Or rather, "why did not you act?".

Following these questions Luismo was born, the philosophy that the youtuber has been following for years and now has decided to share with the world through Ciao, mi chiamo Luis, his book dedicated to his mom and dad. Thirteen chapters (paginated with new and curious graphics) that explain who Luis is and how through his experiences you can become a braver version of yourself. Using a simple language, made up of short sentences, many commas and colloquial expressions, Luis talks as if he were in front of his audience, in front of a beer, talking about his life, his experiences and his healthy routine. 

"The body is our temple, we have to respect it, guys".

"Few words, more work, if it's easy, you're probably doing something wrong."

A little motivator, the author stands as a friend who speaks to you clearly and directly and tries to convince you to act, because being young in this world is not easy, working is not easy, your high school friend will make more money than you and women will appear whenever when you are engaged. And so Luis explains you with his smart slash clever sympathy how to deal with all this.

Ciao, mi chiamo Luis is available now at Mondadori stores and online.

Work.

I would say that everything is work. Without work I would feel lost. In this chapter I will share my work ethic.

'Shut up and work' are the things that I repeat most often to myself, nothing is easy and the only way to achieve what I want to achieve (personal satisfaction) is through work.

The first works I did as a photographer and videographer, at 13-14 years, I have always faced them with the most seriousness possible. The last thing that I wanted was to disappoint the client, that is the one who paid me. I still live it like this. THE CUSTOMER DESERVES TO RECEIVE THE SERVICES HE PAYS FOR. SIMPLE. Over the years I have done small jobs like babysitting, conversation in English with students, cleaning at a store. Once I got out of high school (2016) I started looking for a "more stable" job, so I prepared a curriculum (empty) and gave it to all the bars, restaurants, stores near my house. I responded to all the online ads and after a month of research they took me to the test. The first day as a waiter I turned a glass of red wine over to a customer, but at the same time I was very diligent and did everything the boss told me to do. After a week, they fired me saying to me "you do not have enough personality". So I went to work in a café 500 meters from there. In this coffee house I was determined to stay to learn the trade of barista (I had thought of opening a bar, maybe I will).

I was so excited because finally I was going to work with an audience, in contact with the population, with people! If the boss asked me to work a few extra hours, I would do it, if he told me to clean the toilet, I would it. All this with enthusiasm and with the mind oriented towards an higher level. 
At the same time I would work as a waiter in a restaurant. Some days, I would work from 6 am to 2 pm at the bar, and from 6 pm to 1 am at the restaurant. After 7 months working at the coffee house, I started doing YouTube videos; the chief of the bar heard about it (I had 100 subscribers) and he proposed me to manage the social media pages of the coffee house chain: I became a Social Media Manager! All my willingness and positivity paid off. At the same time, I asked to a language school in Bologna to manage their social media pages as well and they hired me! My little career was starting to take off, because I wanted it to. I would have never wanted to remain in the same carrer position for too long, I need to see some changes, to evolve. This approach, work-wise, always made me think that I could have become whatever I wanted. I never showed up to a bar or to a restaurant or to a client without really wanting to work. Whenever I feel negative, demotivated, tired, I start thinking that I'm lucky to even have a job, I know it will help me grow, that it's a fun experience and if I'm ever going to hate my job, I will quit. 

No one

forces me 

to work,

so if I have 

a job,

I do it well.

Otherwise

I don't do it.