The Unmistakable Creative Podcast Carlos Adell: From Drug Dealer to Industrial Engineer to Finding True Success Through Strategic Environment Design
Nov 4, 2025
Carlos Adell, a former industrial engineer turned entrepreneur, shares his remarkable journey from a small Spanish town to drug dealing and near-death experiences. He discusses how he juggled multiple identities and the powerful lesson that who you surround yourself with shapes your life. After quitting his corporate job post-heart scare, he moved to Australia to reinvent himself, applying lessons from his past to design a fulfilling life. Adell emphasizes the importance of deliberate environment design and genuine happiness as his evolving definition of success.
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Raised By Scarcity, Shaped By Surroundings
- Carlos grew up in a small Spanish town with limited options and watched parents work hard for little reward.
- That scarcity pushed him to seek faster routes to money and status by copying the people around him.
Reinventing Identity In A New City
- Carlos changed identities when he moved to high school in a different city and became the
You Become Who You Surround Yourself With
- Carlos realized you become like the people you surround yourself with and later reversed that consciously.
- He uses deliberate proximity to successful people to redesign his environment and outcomes.
