Changing the game before “the Game Changers”
The secret journey of a utopian family.
I didn’t know it back then, but life would be radically different. It would be a difference for the better.
“I want to heal myself,” my husband said.
Initially, Stefano and I just wanted to build something that gave us and our families a good lifestyle. We invested in a piece of land in Thailand and started building on it—fashioning it the way we would like our holiday destination to be.
I still remember that humid morning in Koh Samui. Stefano came back after his workout and confessed that he hadn’t felt well in months.
It was a tough period for all of us. He was trying to keep up with his demanding job and position as CEO of the accounting company he founded (now sold) and maintain his physique well enough as a professional runner and triathlete. As many other families do, we took time out to go to Thailand for a short weekend break.
As hoped for the self-healing happened. He felt much better after spending a few days with the kids, working out and eating only plant-based meals. He even managed to work a lot, because he felt great and more productive than ever. In those few days, we also found a great piece of land and decided to invest. From the day of his epiphany, our side hustle evolved—the land became Kapuhala Samui.
Fast forward four years, Kapuhala Samui is finally open. The rocky hill has transformed into a beautiful premise that offers training and recuperating in top-notch facilities, which include a gym, 25-meter pool, co-working space and farm-to-table restaurant. All the things that modern people, like us, would like to have during our holidays.While we were working hard on building Kapuhala Samui, we acquired a gym in our neighbourhood in Hong Kong—Kapuhala Training Space in Discovery Bay. Kapuhala Space is not just a gym, but also a social spot for the community to mingle at. Today it offers 50 classes per week and regularly hosts social and charitable activities during the weekends. Like Kapuhala Samui, Kapuhala Space is also plant-based; we sell olive oil, raw chocolates and locally grown organic vegetables on our famous “Veggie Wednesdays”.
In the midst of the excitement of our burgeoning projects, my runner-accountant husband never stopped running his company. We also started up Kapuhala Sicily, the sister resort of Kapuhala Koh Samui. In 2017, Stefano started training for a triathlon and broke the marathon world record of the Ironman World Championship, all on a vegan-keto diet.
Many people asked me, what is his and, more broadly, our family goals in doing all of this? We want Kapuhala to be a life-enhancing experience, the way it was for us. Kapuhala is not just a resort, a gym or a fine gourmet restaurant; it’s a hot spot for global change, for cultural activities. We aim to host many gatherings with forwarding thinkers, business leaders, athletes, aspiring athletes and spiritual gurus to foster and exchange their great ideas. Making fledgeling ideas into reality the way we did with our little self-healing holiday.We didn’t mean to be the #Game Changers, we were just scratching our itch. We want to make the world a better place to live. What’s your itch? What are you doing to make this world more hospitable?