The Life of a Migrant

Big dreams. Bad decisions. Hard work. A better life. Before he was a businessman, husband and father, Claudiu-Gabriel Dinu was a restless boy growing up in Ploiesti, Romania, always searching for the next opportunity. At seven, he organised other children into a Christmas-carolling workforce. By ten, neighbours trusted him to repair their computers. He sold sweets, watermelons and mobile phones, worked at Coca-Cola, reached the national athletics team and even built a village nightclub in a shed — until one of his painted lightbulbs exploded. At eighteen, Claudiu left Romania for Spain believing another country would reward ambition simply for arriving. Instead came hunger, bad decisions, fast money and lessons that would change the direction of his life. He eventually walked away from the wrong road, opened a legitimate shop, returned to Romania, built a car business and began using success to look after the family who had always supported him. Then he met the woman who changed everything — after accidentally introducing himself using her name. Based on a true story.