“Puhumatta paras” is a Finnish proverb that my late grandfather used. The English translation is, “Best not to talk.”

My grandfather, a successful entrepreneur in Finland, had a passion for collection unique gadgets on his travels, and he had this saying high on his list when it came to deciding what was best to bring back home to the family.

He sadly passed away in his early 70s. As I was going through my granddad’s belongings, I came across an old, tall, sturdy kitchen appliance, something very different from what I was accustomed to in Europe. It had the word ‘VitaMix’ on it and I knew instinctively that it was a food blender. Amazingly, the engine still worked some ten years after it had been purchased. I was intrigued and took it home.

I was not particularly satisfied with the performance of my existing blender, and even though I decided to keep my grandfather’s VitaMix only as an antique at that time, it was nice to know that there was a high-end alternative on the market.

Time passed and my job required that I travel from country to country, exhibition to exhibition. At one particular trade show, a large crowd had gathered to watch a presentation of a product that I knew I had seen before, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on where.

Just like my grandfather, the principle of the presentation was “Best not to talk,” but to show, providing my first clue. The second clue was the sound of the switch turning the engine on. Then the final clue, the roar of the engine! After the presentation, like many who watched, I stayed behind to purchase my first brand new VitaMix.

I could’t help but smile, knowing how proud my grandfather would be with my choice of items to bring back to Finland from my travels.