Brazilian creates group to encourage collaborative economy and exchange of knowledge without using money

What would a world be like where money was not the currency of exchange, but personal skills? This reality seems to be very far from our daily lives, but the Brazilian journalist Livia Deodato believed in this idea and today a group created by her on Facebook, called “Escambo de Talentos”🇧🇷 It has more than 20,000 followers and continues to grow.

The network’s idea is to encourage talent, generating the exchange of experiences and services without the use of money, in which each one offers what he knows how to do in exchange for what he would like to learn or some type of service he needs.

O awesome.club loves news of this type and spoke with Livia to find out the details of this initiative and now she will tell you everything in this post. And be sure to check out the inspirational bonus at the end!

The group of “exchangers” met in São Paulo to talk about prosperity

The group emerged from a need and without high expectations. Livia had spent the summer of 2016 to 2017 in Bahia and needed to get her nails done, something she had never managed on her own, but she came back with no money from the trip for that.

So, in January 2017, he had the idea of ​​offering a service related to text production and communication, in exchange for a manicure. Livia thought about making a post on her Facebook profile, but in the end she decided to create a group called “Escambo de Talentos” and invited her closest friends to participate, those she knew would like the idea.

They invited other friends and the network grew and, in just under 3 months, there were already 6 thousand people, until Livia went to the program Encontro com Fátima Bernardes, in March 2017, and that number jumped to 9 thousand in less of 5 minutes. “My 5 minutes of fame led to almost 3,000 people applying to join the group at the same time. Today, we are almost 20,000”, explains Livia.

Livia says that she has participated in many exchanges. She has already taught English in exchange for yoga classes, offered text editing and content production in exchange for knitting classes and graffiti on the wall in the village where she lived — her first exchange, which took place about 3 years ago.

His most recent barter is shamanic therapy and coaching, to discover how their talents connect, in exchange for text formatting and presentation of new work.

The exchange of talents led to the formation of a volleyball group, which started to play every week

Many exchanges marked the history of the group. One of them, according to Livia, was that of a girl who said that she had taken care of her father with Alzheimer’s disease for many years and that she knew how difficult the situation was. That’s why she made herself available — and without asking for anything in return — to support anyone who was going through the same problem.

In another touching exchange, a woman posted her cell phone offering to listen to anyone going through difficult times and having suicidal thoughts. She proposed to give new reasons for the person to continue living, also without asking for anything for that. “There was a lot of stuff like that, that intangible side of life and a lot of wonderful things that I think are within the concrete world”, says Livia.

Cristina Yurie Okamotto has already participated in other exchanges and in this one she offered coaching to Livia in exchange for writing texts

It also happens that the person, at first, thinks they have nothing to offer — a kind of barrier — but Livia argues that everyone has many talents. “I think this question is wonderful, people are used to linking talent to money, but there are several other talents that we have that are not remunerated”, she says.

For her, if you know how to ride a bike, for example, you already have a talent; knowing how to cook any dish is a talent; liking children and being able to spend a few hours helping to take care of them are also. “There is an infinity of talents that we don’t realize and can put into play and gain a lot in return”, she adds.

In March 2017, still at the beginning of the group, exchangers decided to meet at Praça da Coruja, in São Paulo

Despite the guidelines posted on the group’s Facebook page, to prevent people from running away from the proposal, Livia makes a point of following up on everything, mediating. According to her, many people still attach value to their work and want to use it as a bargaining chip, and that is not the idea. “It takes a lot of sweat and good mediation, every day I take a look, as it is very easy to escape the proposal; it’s a paradigm shift and it’s important to do this exercise,” she explains.

Another point that Livia highlights and reinforces is the commitment of those who decide to participate in the barter, because many people start out excited and disappear halfway through.

Livia is still figuring out what the group’s next steps will be, but hopes to find other exchange places. For her, barter provides the return of the essence of the human being, trust in the other, rescues solidarity, partnership and love. “THEPeople are good, yes, and barter provides that and, as there is no money involved, other qualities come to the fore”, he argues.

Gabriela Sousa proposed teaching English in exchange for piano lessons with Ana Maria Oliveira Ramos a little over a year ago.

What did you think of this group? Would you like to be part of this exchange network? What are your talents? Leave your ideas in the comments!