In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Diego Orlandini, a writer, social entrepreneur, and chief book giver at AimfulBooks.com. Diego shares a pivotal life story about turning down a six‑figure economics job after graduating summa cum laude to follow his gut and pursue his own path, emphasizing the value of chasing dreams even when it delays success. He explains the practical challenges of producing a collaborative book with over 150 world‑renowned street artists, highlighting organization and perseverance as essential. Diego outlines his general business philosophy—the 3 Ps: people, product, and process—arguing that a clean, lean process combined with great people and a solid product leads to easier success. Reflecting on his younger self, he advises against trying to master every aspect of a business alone, recommending trust in capable partners to save time. On happiness, he stresses congruence between one’s actions and core values. He mentions a formative book, “Christ Standing,” which revealed the human side of a legendary figure and reinforced the universality of the human condition. His favorite quote, “I only write when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, inspiration strikes every morning, 9 o’clock sharp,” underscores the importance of showing up daily. Finally, he directs listeners to his Instagram (d.orlandini) and AimfulBooks.com for more information.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner and today I have Diego Orlandini with me. He's a writer, social entrepreneur, and chief book giver at AimfulBooks.com. So welcome to the show, Diego.
Thank you for having me.
Of course, man, thanks for joining us and we will dive in, man, to the first one. The first question I have for you is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
That's a difficult question, you know, because there's so many stories in our lives and sometimes it's very difficult to find an underlying valuable message that could be applied to others, so it is universal. But the one that comes to mind right now is the The pursuit for one's dreams. When I graduated from college with an economics degree, summa cum laude, I had a 6-figure job offer lined up for me. And I decided not to take it because I knew that working for a company, you know, was not going to be— it was not my my destiny, was not my path. So it took me a lot longer to get where I am, but I feel a lot more fulfilled. And I believe that the valuable message is to follow your gut feeling, even if it's hard. Yes.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that is within your expertise or industry?
So I do books. I produce books with a lot of artists. It's very simple, I believe. Making a book can be very difficult and a tedious process. So the most valuable Piece of information is organization and perseverance. I had to convince over 150 of the best street artists in the world to join me in this project. So I laid out the mission very clearly, very concise, and the process. And I continued and I persisted and I asked one by one to join me. So I think that that's the most valuable piece of information, to be persistent and organized.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
I was just talking to some people that are working with me now about I think I heard it from somebody on a TV show or something like the 3 Ps, you know, like the people, product, and process. I believe in having a clean process, lean process as well, of doing business. It's very important to have a good product as well. Very, very important is to have good people with you. So if you manage to get good people and a good process, and on top of that you have a good product, you are set. Yeah. Success should be easier.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Linking it back with this, uh, uh, I like to do things on my own and learn before I can guide, obviously. So I had a tendency to do things by myself, from accounting to product development, marketing, every little aspect of running a business. I had to be involved and I had to master it in some kind of sense. If I could give my, my younger self a piece of advice is that I actually don't need to do that. I would be better off by finding and trusting the right people. That of course takes practice and it doesn't hurt to actually know what they're doing. It's probably best, you know, but it's a matter of saving time I would tell myself to don't have to do it all yourself.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
I was talking to my brother about this the other day. I think it's to be congruent with your values. A lot of people think one way and act another way. They want— they say they want one thing, but in reality they want another thing, and so forth. So when you become— when you're congruent with your values and your beliefs, you achieve a fulfilling life because you are actually living out, playing out the values that are in your heart and in your mind.
And what is the best book— I'm excited for your answer on this one— what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from it?
What's the best book that I've read and the number one thing that I learned from it? Tons of books. There was one particular book that I read when I was very, very young. I grew up in Peru, so I read in Spanish. I don't know if the name in English is correct, but it translates to Christ Standing. I'm not religious, I'm very spiritual, but I'm not Christian or Catholic or any of that. Actually, I am, but I don't follow. But the book was written by an Argentinian author, and he was the fictitious a tale of what might have been the life of Jesus growing up. And it was just fantastic to see the human element of these fairy tale stories that we are told, right? You know, like the challenges and the difficulties of even one of the greatest figures in history. Are still very relatable and very human. So the human condition in a way is universal, and that is not only inspiring but also comforting, you know, because it means that what I'm going through, even Jesus has been going through or had gone through, right?
Yeah.
So, so we all go through the same stuff.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
Oh, I always say this one, and I always forget the writer who coined it. She says, "I only write when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, inspiration strikes every morning, 9 o'clock sharp." I love that. You know, so you wake up and you show up. You wake up and you show up. You do the work. You know, like, even if it doesn't feel right at the moment, even if you are not blessed by the angels or whatever you believe in, you know, like, you show up and you do the work, and when you show up, you will create greatness.
Yes, man. Thank you so much for coming on, man. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find you online?
Yeah, thank you for inviting me. It's my pleasure. And they can find me on Instagram, d.orlandini. Also aimfulbooks.com and Aimful Books on Instagram as well. And all over, you know, just a quick Google search with my name will give a lot of results in which they can find me.
Perfect, brother. Thank you again. We'll talk with you soon.
Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
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