So Much for Semi-Retirement: What’s Happened Since Our 20th Anniversary

Olá, friend!

Grab a cafézinho. Actually, make it a double. This one’s a catch-up.

Last time we talked here, Shades In Place was blowing out 20 candles, and I was getting sentimental about tape measures and a $7,000 mistake.

Since then? A lot happened. Some of it wonderful. Some of it heavy. All of it real.

So here’s the update the way I like to do it: your questions, my honest answers.

“Weren’t you supposed to be semi-retired by now?”

That was the plan. Written down. Underlined. Practically framed.

When Ana and I traded Boston snow for Tampa sunshine in 2023, “semi-retired” was the whole pitch. Slower mornings. Fewer ladders. Maybe learn to fish.

Here’s how that went:

Since then, I published a book, became a partner in a third company, kept two podcasts running in two languages, got named an “Installation Icon” by an industry magazine, got invited to speak at a national expo, and finally finished rebuilding a house the hurricanes filled with water.

Meanwhile, Shades In Place kept dressing windows from New England all the way down the Gulf Coast.

Semi-retirement, for me, turned out like a “light” feijoada. Lovely idea. Doesn’t exist.

“Did the house ever get finished?”

Finally. And I mean fi-nal-ly.

Not long after we bought our home in Tampa, the hurricanes rolled through and left three feet of water inside. Welcome to Florida, Roger. Here’s your housewarming gift.

Two years of permits, contractors, waiting, and more waiting. And now, at last, we have our certificate of occupancy.

There’s a saying in Brazil: casa de ferreiro, espeto de pau. The blacksmith’s house has wooden skewers.

For two years, that was me—the guy who helps finish everybody else’s home, with his own still waiting on a piece of paper.

If you’re one of our Tampa Bay neighbors still in the middle of a rebuild, I see you. I know the “your contractor will be there Tuesday” Tuesdays that never arrive. Hang in there.

Pro Tip for Rebuilding: In rooms that see moisture, like bathrooms, laundry rooms, and anything facing the lanai, choose materials that can take Florida humidity.

Faux wood blinds, composite shutters, aluminum, and moisture-resistant fabrics will hold up.

Real wood in a steamy bathroom is like wearing suede shoes to the beach, beautiful for about five minutes.

Window treatments are the last thing that goes into a rebuilt home and the first thing everyone notices. They’re the bow on the gift. Call me when you’re ready for yours.

“Wait, you wrote a book?”

I did. Nobody Told Me That came out on September 9.

It’s about lessons learned the hard way in life and in business, the kind nobody bothers to warn you about until you’ve already tripped over them.

In the first month, it sold around 30 copies. Before you start organizing the bestseller parade, relax. Put the confetti down.

But here’s the part that got me: one copy went to Canada, one to the UK, and one flew all the way home to Brazil.

Thirty books. Four countries. Three continents. Not bad for a guy who once delivered pizzas and learned English one awkward conversation at a time.

A book launch works a lot like a small business. You do the work right, then you count on word of mouth to carry it.

So if you read it, an Amazon review is worth more to me than an ice-cold caipirinha on an August afternoon. And you know how I feel about caipirihas.

👉 Get your copy of Nobody Told Me That here or on Amazon.

“Is it true you’re an ‘Installation Icon’ now?”

Apparently so. Nobody is more surprised than me.

Window Fashion VISION named me a 2026 Window Coverings 300 Honoree in the Installation Icons category. It’s the first year of the program, and the feature runs in their November issue.

Icon. Me. The same guy who once measured an entire new-construction job naked and forgot the trim was coming.

I guess if you make your mistakes early enough and fix them honestly enough, people eventually forget the mistake and remember the fix.

And on November 3, I’ll be presenting at Sun Shading Expo North America 2026, sharing what two decades on ladders have taught me with other professionals in our industry.

Why should you care? Because when I’m not on your ladder, I’m teaching other installers how to get on theirs the right way.

The guy measuring your windows is the same guy the industry calls when it wants to learn how it’s done. No pressure, Roger.

“What’s BlindsOnline.com, and are you selling online now?”

In 2025, I became a partner at BlindsOnline.com.

Here’s how I think about it: some people want the full-service experience, we measure, we install, we clean up, and you never touch a drill.

Other people are proud DIYers who like ordering at midnight in their pajamas and hanging it themselves on Saturday morning.

Two different doors into the same house. Both deserve to be done right.

So if you’re in New England, Tampa Bay, Orlando, Florida’s west coast, or our Gulf Coast service area and want it handled from start to finish, that’s Shades In Place.

If you’re a do-it-yourself type, or you’re somewhere we don’t install, BlindsOnline.com has you covered.

Same standards. Different doors.

“We heard about your mom. How are you doing?”

In August, I flew to São Paulo for my mom’s 80th birthday. Eighty years. We celebrated her.

Three weeks after I got back to Tampa, I was on a plane again. Mamis passed in September, on the eve of my birthday.

I’ve already written about those weeks on my personal blog, and I won’t repeat them here. If you’d like to read them:

• Painfully Comforting
• They Mourned a Woman They Never Met

I’ll share just one thing I didn’t say there: my mom was a seamstress. She spent her life taking plain fabric and turning it into something that made a home feel cared for.

Twenty years later, her son does a version of the same thing, one window at a time.

I never planned that. I’m grateful for it.

To every client, friend, and neighbor who sent a message, a hug, or a prayer: obrigado. It meant more than you know.

“So… slowing down now?”

Not the way I planned. But maybe in a better way.

Sitting in that hospital room taught me that the milestones don’t follow you to the end. The people do.

So I’m not slowing down the work, I’m slowing down the moments. Being more present on the job, at the dinner table, and on the phone with the people I love.

The schedule is still full. I’m just making sure I’m actually in it.

And as for you, the clients who’ve trusted us for 20 years and the new neighbors who keep finding us, thank you. You call, we show up. That part never changes.

Your windows will never go naked on my watch. Semi-retired or not.

Até logo,

Roger Magalhães
Founder, Shades In Place — Semi-Retired (Allegedly), Recovering Snow Shoveller, Forever Measuring Twice