Daniele Pinto speaks three languages: Portuguese, Spanish, and English—all of which come in handy during her work as a paralegal for the firm. She is also an excellent cook and baker, a fact to which we can all attest as we’ve been lucky enough to sample her home-baked goods. (Seriously, Daniele, bring some more tres leches cake for the office to share! Please?)
Daniele moved to New York from Salvador, Brazil, when she was fifteen to join her mother, who was living and working here. Her first impressions of New York City in the springtime: lots of rain. “Although I was happy to see my mother, I thought it was a little bit depressing,” she says. She quickly adjusted and soon graduated from Long Island City’s Newcomers High School, which provides immigrant students from all over the world a rigorous academic program but also a supportive environment to help students adapt to their new country.
During college, she began working at a non-profit immigration organization, where she assisted with naturalization and family-based cases. “I enjoyed it because I was able to help people,” she says. She then went on to work at Avirom & Associates, where Liz and Matt also worked, and came to Daryanani Law Group when the two firms merged. She continues to manage family-based and employment-based Green Card cases as well as naturalization cases.
“Do you miss Brazil?” I ask.
“Sometimes yes, sometimes no,” she says. It’s difficult because her family is there, and also the pace of life is more appealing. “It’s not as crazy as here, where you work all the time.”
Maybe she can retire there.
“Maybe,” she says, and laughs. “My husband is from a different part of Brazil. We have to convince him that mine is the best part.”
(Questions taken from and/or inspired by the Proust/Inside the Actors Studio/Bernard Pivot/AnOther Magazine questionnaires).
What is your favorite word?
Kindness.
What is your least favorite word?
Hate.
What turns you on creatively, spiritually, or emotionally?
Creatively: new projects.
Spiritually: the smell of a burning candle, relaxing music.
Emotionally: my children’s achievements.
What turns you off?
Negative people.
What is your favorite curse word?
Merda.
What sound or noise do you love?
Music.
What sound or noise do you hate?
Crying/temper tantrums of a spoiled child.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Activist.
What is your idea of happiness?
Happiness is Homemade.
What is your idea of misery?
To be stuck in traffic.
If not yourself, who would you be?
A more evolved version of myself.
Where would you like to live?
In a very cozy house, surrounded by nature and close to the sea.
Who are your favorite prose authors?
Paulo Coelho, Zíbia Gasparetto.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Definitely my mother.
What would your last meal be?
It really depends on how the day went. Sometimes a glass of red wine with some creamy Toscano Syrah cheese...other times a mug of passion fruit tea with a yummy chocolate chip cookie.
What do you hate the most?
Tickles.
What natural talent would you like to be gifted with?
Singing.
How do you wish to die?
Quickly and painlessly.
What is your present state of mind?
Pensive.
For what fault have you most toleration?
A bad mood.
What are you thinking of right now?
My life.
What makes you laugh?
Funny videos made by my daughter Giulia.
What makes you cry?
Romantic movies.
What do you consider to be the greatest invention?
The airplane.
Where do you feel most at home?
Salvador, Brazil.
What do you most like about the age we live in?
The wireless technology.
Whatʼs the best advice youʼve been given?
Never give up.
What is the biggest risk youʼve ever taken?
Getting married too young.
What is a book or movie that has changed your perspective on life?
A book I read on my way back to the US from Brazil called Alimentação desintoxicante - Para ativar o sistema imunológico (Food Detoxifying - To Activate the Immune System).
What is your earliest childhood memory?
Learning to ride a bike with my grandfather.
If you could wish for one change in the world what would it be?
I would change people's hearts. Nowadays, people live obsessed by money, power, fame...people are getting more selfish, materialist, and irrational every day!