Gio Cerro gave up his former dream job as an employee for Tesla to pursue his passion for human connection and poetry.
A former Tesla employee is now a self-appointed ‘on-demand poet.’
Gio Cerro says he has a gift for creating poems on the spot about any topic, according to CBS News.
Cerro recognized his talent as a child when he wrote a poem for his grandfather, moving the man to tears. “I remember he cried in that moment,” he said.
“I think it imprinted on me that you could move people with words.”
Cerro landed his dream job as a Tesla employee, but accepted that this full-time job did not elicit the same emotion as his writing.
"I realized as the couple of months went on, I didn't really like what I was doing anymore — there was no passion," he told CBS News.
"I began to realize that writing needed to be the thing that I did."
To lean into this passion, Cerro started Gio’s Typo’s — a small business that he runs with a typewriter.
This has allowed him to spend his time doing what he loves — writing poetry and connecting with others as a poet for hire. At the events Cerro is hired for, the guests pay what they can for his work.
Cerro opts for a typewriter to engage his audience in his process more deeply. “There’s no delete button,” he says.
“You see my train of thought. I think that's the cool part of it is that you watch me create this poem. But then you also watch me like, mess up a little bit or not mess up or write something I didn't like and go back and then restart.”
The former Tesla employee discussed with CBS how his empathy is showcased proudly through his written work saying, “You know, when they cry, I cry, it's really hard because I'm trying to think, like, how does this person feel like, what are they going through?”
Cerro aims to connect with people on an emotional level, not only brightening their day but letting them know they aren’t alone.
“So I have a joke that I say that like, we're all walking around with our emotional trash bag, and so when someone comes and brings me something like that, I like to go in my trash bag and I start searching for all the experiences that I had that maybe I can relate to.”
Cerro said, "a lot of times, I think we hold back our feelings. So what I do is I try to bring those emotions right to the forefront. I want to give people those feelings, whatever it is that they want from me, I want to give it back.”
