From Mediasequoia via Painomestari to Metsähaasi – Letting Go of Old Things to Move to the New Frontier of Craftsmanship

Beginnings: A Journey Through Digital Landscapes

The beginning of Mediasequoia can be traced back to 2011 when I published my first digital product: an ebook to help young people organize their work & travel stay in New Zealand. I wrote and published it while I was myself traveling through New Zealand. I registered my first business in Germany and dove into the world of online marketing.

The motivation at that time was partly inspired by Timothy Ferriss' book The 4-Hour Workweek and its dream of passive income and personal freedom, and partly by my own interest in web design and writing, which had long been a hobby. My first product did sell some copies, but it was more of a learning experience and skill-building process than a viable business.

After that, word got around and I was approached by clients looking for web design. One website project led to another. Along the way, I picked up many skills: coding, writing, marketing, design, communication, negotiation, and eventually printing. In 2024, I started Painomestari in Finland as a way to offer my print design skills as a service. It included a self-service online print shop, set up in cooperation with UnitedPrints, building on a business relationship that had started back in 2019 in Germany.

The Turning Point: Realizations and Redirections

After more than ten years of chasing business ideas mostly in the online marketing world — inspired by the urge to create something scalable and the pursuit of money itself — the lack of real success made me pause and reflect. My business projects were not failures, but they were not true successes either. Still, I am thankful for them. They brought me and my family to where we are now, and the lessons and skills I gained are countless.

But there was a missing ingredient. Despite building those businesses "by the book," after reading dozens of business books, attending both physical and online classes, and following all the so-called proven strategies, I never arrived at the financial success I was supposedly aiming for.

Four Key Conclusions

First conclusion: Just because something worked for someone else, and they wrote a book about it, doesn’t mean it will work for you. We tend to attribute success to the wrong causes. Their formula isn’t yours.

Second conclusion: I need to follow my own heart and stop listening to other people's success stories. The answers I need are within me, not in any book.

Third conclusion: It is time to be 100% me. Not 60% me and 40% other people's ideas and beliefs. That also means letting go of the attachment to money, which is more illusion than real. It helps us transact, but it doesn’t carry value on its own. It cannot be the goal.
And if I'm being honest: I don’t care about money. I would still be doing the same things I’m doing now even if I had infinite financial resources. Sure, I might do them faster, but the path would be the same.

Fourth conclusion: Marketers lie. All the time. I always tried to speak the truth, even when I did marketing. That was probably one reason I was not such a great marketer. It is time to stop "doing marketing." It is time to speak the truth, to show the work, and to attract the right people through resonance — not pushy tactics. Let’s work with higher vibration and frequency, and step out of the scarcity mindset for good.

Stepping Into Metsähaasi: A New Path of Integrity

Metsähaasi is the way forward.

It is about crafting things with love and care.
It is the restoration of old tools to pay respect and honor past craftsmanship.
It is the pursuit of mastery in leatherwork, to learn a traditional craft inside out.
It is tinkering with modern AI systems and fabrication methods, empowering the modern craftsman to create what was once reserved for large-scale industry and high-tech labs.

It is the frontier.

The revival of craftsmanship. The reclaiming of sovereignty and personal freedom through ancient craft and modern tools.

This is where I plant my flag. Not in the field of digital marketing, but in the forest clearing of intentional making. Welcome to Metsähaasi.

A Final Note to Myself or Whoever Needs to Hear It

The answers are within you. Do not look to other people's expectations, judgments, opinions, or success stories. This is your life-path, and the answers you are looking for are already inside you.

Navigate the world-lines by listening to your heart. Protect yourself from the negative influences of others.

For us, this meant moving to Finland under the northern sky, where the winter air is crystal clear and the stars show the way.

Do what you need to do to see, feel, and hear your own voice clearly.