From Ruiselede to Miami and back

It did not begin as a success. The first venture, in real estate, did not work. The second, a startup making 3D scans of houses so buyers could walk through them remotely, was ahead of its time and failed as well.

Then came cosmetics. The first generation ran on licensed, organic formulas that were not Mazi's own, with products filled by hand at home. The formulas underperformed, the branding was not on point, and much of the stock was written off. Orlando was no longer affordable; a small apartment in Miami was, and the second generation took shape there: still licensed formulas, but a complete rebrand, stock produced, and more than fifty stores signed to sell it.

Then Covid arrived. The stores pulled back one after another, and the company sat on stock it could not move. An online push was tried, but the knowledge was not there yet and it could not generate money fast enough. What followed was the most adaptive decision of his working life: using the production contacts he already had, he launched On The Go, a hand-sanitising brand, first under its own name and then as private label for businesses. Private label worked, and it became the rescue.

It was enough to survive, but not enough to stay in Miami. A move to Washington DC followed, where living was cheaper. There his mother fell seriously ill, and at the same moment the first major order in the company's history landed: 200,000 tubes. That story is told separately in Thirty square metres.