Maris Vene, founder of Asoleia
About

Maris Vene.

I’ve always been the person who wants to take all the scattered pieces and make sense of them.

Give me an idea, a deadline, a lot of information and a slightly messy “we need to somehow make this happen”, and my brain immediately starts putting things together. What needs to happen first? What are we missing? Who do we need to talk to? What is waiting on what? How do we turn all of this into something that actually gets done?

It took me a while to realise that this is probably the thread that has followed me through most of my working life.

My background is in Tourism & Event Management, where planning, people, deadlines and moving pieces naturally come with the territory. Later, I completed Google’s Project Management Certificate, started my own business and began working hands-on with small companies.

And somewhere along the way, I noticed something.

The work I enjoyed most wasn’t simply completing a task someone gave me. It was being handed the whole messy situation and being trusted to help figure it out.

I like asking questions. I like researching something I don’t know yet. I like spotting the thing nobody has thought about. I like creating order where there wasn’t any before. And, probably most of all, I like the moment when something that started as “we should really do this” becomes real.

A purple Post-it note with the word Soleil written on it, and a small hand-drawn heart
And yes, this is the actual Post-it I found.
The name

The story behind Asoleia.

Before Asoleia had a name, I was collecting words and ideas I liked. One of them was Soleil, French for sun. I wrote it on a little Post-it with a heart and then completely forgot about it.

Months later, I found the note behind a cupboard while cleaning. I was still thinking about what to call my business, and somehow that little forgotten note came back at exactly the right time.

Soleil eventually became Asoleia. And the A made it personal in another way too: all four of my children’s names begin with A.

Have something you want to make happen? Tell me about your project →