Our Spirit
A company before it has investors, clients, profits or even a perfect product or service, it has always a story.
Who’s Damia? Where did it come from? Why are we doing this?
“In a world where people have a lot of choices, the story may be the deciding factor.” Nick Morgan
It all started from a dream that at the time seemed like crazy, Cláudio had just opened and started his own company within another area after years of working as a Developer and then as a business unit manager, but he always had felt until then that his vision of how recruitment could work was far from finished!
Inspired by the book Start with Why by Simon Sinek and by The Golden Circle theory, which provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. Starting with the WHY.
Cláudio wanted to create a unique workspace, based on people, based on trust, that was truly different and not just another company saying it was different in the market.
Like many other great ideas, Damia was born before anyone knew it was born, back in 2016 once Cláudio decided to quit his day-to-day job running the operations of another recruitment company and on that exact same day he had lunch with Hélio, and asked him:
What would you do differently on the Portuguese tech recruitment market?
That question defined the creation of Damia, we understood then that was nothing like we needed on the market, and that an IT Recruitment company focused on quality was unheard of, a company that doesn’t send shortlists?
That aims to close with just one candidate? That focus and caters to startups and companies looking to make digital transformations, and above all, that would make feel their own people happy to work there.
We didn’t know anyone that was doing that. Either we dismissed it as a crazy idea and would continue to complain about someone not doing it, or WE will do it.
In September 2017, Damia Group Portugal officially opened with Cláudio Menezes and Hélio Costa commanding the boat.
To understand and go deeper into Damia’s story, you first need to understand Portuguese culture.
Portuguese people truly enjoy their meals as well as their company. Our meals last between two and three hours sometimes, while weekday lunches last around an hour (people need to work, after all), dinners, and weekend meals are usually a longer affair.
With this knowledge, now you need to know that our two Damia Partners, have a deep love for Mexican food, so before we had an office, they had a lot of meetings at restaurants and one of their favorites was a little Mexican restaurant. Preparing the pitches and making goals for the future usually ended with a shot of tequila. The best way to celebrate.
“Tequila is our spirit animal”
From the start, the Damia culture was born around tequila. Till now, at every company gathering, from 3 people to 40 people reunions, Claudio asks for a round of Tequila Shots.
That’s our WHY for tequila, that’s our WHY for Damia, be an H2H (Human 2 Human) company, where honesty and transparency are kings.
Five years ago, there were 2 people in a small office, today we are more than 40 people. All working together with a goal, change people’s lives for the better and always aim to create the company that we wish to work for.
We proud of sharing our great success and….hair loss!
