I'm the founder and CEO of METALLA, a performance marketing agency specializing in profitable growth for direct-to-consumer brands. With over a decade of experience, I have helped more than 30 e-commerce brands scale while directly influencing over $100 million in revenue. I specialize in disrupting niche markets, reducing wasted ad spend, and enhancing core business metrics, such as contribution margin and payback period.

Florind Metalla

Co-founder at Meetadbox.com | Analysing over 9500 fast-growing brands every week at Adbox | Performance Advertising Expert | Elevating eCommerce Ad Creatives 🚀

Most people think productivity is about doing more.

For years, I thought the same. I worked in digital projects, built tools, and helped brands grow. My days were filled with deadlines, notifications, and “just one more task.”

But here’s the truth I learned the hard way:

Productivity without balance leads to burnout.

Now, I share a different approach.

✅ Practical frameworks to get more done in less time
✅ Lessons on balance and building habits that actually last
✅ Personal stories on how to design a life that feels good, not just busy

I still love creating digital projects and exploring new ideas. 

But my focus here is simpler: helping professionals live with more clarity, energy, and happiness.

If you’ve ever…

👉 Ended a week exhausted but unsure what you achieved

👉 Felt guilty about resting

👉 Wondered if this pace is sustainable

Then you’ll find something useful here.

Follow along if you want productivity tips that respect your time, and your life outside of work.

Alex Faini

The one type of meeting I never try to optimise away.

One thing I learned last year while building PixFocal:

If you want to get the best out of an idea,

you need to get close to the people using it.

And that means feedback.

Now, here’s the funny part.

You know I’m obsessed with optimising time.

And honestly…

meetings are not my favourite thing.

They mess with your schedule.

They break your focus.

And sometimes you walk away thinking

“Cool… but what did we actually get from this?”

Still, when it comes to feedback, I do the opposite.

I intentionally leave space for meetings with customers.

It became a priority last year.

And it still is.

Because as inefficient as meetings can be,

this is one place where cutting corners doesn’t work.

Those conversations led us to real changes:

Better colour handling for product photography

Improvements around labels and details

New ways to make ghost mannequin images look more natural

And next week, we’re shipping something new.

A new version that allows brands to create high-quality lifestyle photography for their products.

That didn’t come from guessing.

It didn’t come from dashboards.

It came from talking to people.

Yes, some meetings go nowhere.

Yes, sometimes you spend an hour without getting honest feedback.

But if you’re building something new,

this is a bet worth taking.

You know I’m always about optimising processes.

And ironically, this one... messy, imperfect, time-consuming...

might be the most important of them all.

If you want to build something that actually works,

make time to listen.

#fashion #ecommerce

Exploring productivity, happiness & the art of building things online ⚡ Building Pixfocal.com

A long time ago I realised something simple:

The most important thing we have isn’t money.

It’s not cars.

It’s not stuff.

It’s time.

That’s why I’ve always been obsessed with productivity.

With organising my days.

With removing friction.

With making space for the things that actually matter.

And that’s also how I’ve always seen AI.

Not as a replacement for people.

But as a way to save time and protect our focus.

Let machines handle the repetitive parts.

So humans can think, create, and decide better.

That idea is exactly why I started PixFocal.com.

The goal was never “cool AI”.

The goal was simple:

Save time for fashion brands.

Because when you save time, you also save money.

And resources.

And mental energy.

And when you have more time, something interesting happens.

You build better relationships.

You make better decisions.

You create better work.

And honestly, life feels lighter.

The same applies to content.

If you can create high-quality visuals in a fraction of the time and cost,

you don’t just get images faster.

You get freedom.

Freedom to test more ideas.

Freedom to focus on strategy.

Freedom to work on the parts of your brand that actually move the needle.

Productivity isn’t about doing more.

It’s about doing what matters, with less friction.

That’s the mindset behind everything I build.

One lesson I learned the hard way:

Don’t make big decisions on Fridays.

For a long time, I treated Fridays like a deadline.

The last chance to finish things.

The moment to push just a bit more.

That mindset cost me more than it helped me.

Over the past 5 weeks, while developing Pixfocal, I started noticing a pattern.

Every time I rushed to “close” something by Friday…

I ended up with mistakes.

Week one:

I implemented a solution just to be done.

It didn’t work.

Week two:

I let myself be guided by a single customer interview.

Changed part of the UI based on that one opinion.

The following week, multiple other customers proved it was unnecessary.

That’s when it clicked.

Fridays aren’t for big decisions.

They’re not a last opportunity.

They’re the beginning of rest.

And rest is not wasted time.

It’s what gives you perspective.

It’s what prevents rushed thinking.

It’s what makes Monday decisions better.

Now, Fridays are lighter for me.

Review.

Reflect.

Small tasks
.
No big calls.

As they say…

you live and learn.

And sometimes, learning means knowing when not to decide.

Why “better” isn’t always better in product design.

One thing that still surprises me...

 even after building multiple products

is how differently people value “quality” compared to builders.

While working on Pixfocal, we spent a lot of time chasing perfection.

Pixel-level accuracy.

Studio-like results.

Details only other creators would notice.

It felt like the right thing to do.

Then real users showed up.

And what they cared about was very different.

They didn’t want to think.

They didn’t want to wait.

They didn’t want to manage complexity.

What they wanted was:

consistency across many products

fast turnaround

a workflow that just flows

When we simplified things:

( fewer options, faster output, more repeatability)

Usage went up.

Even though, by our original standards, the result wasn’t “better”.

That changed how I think about building things.

People don’t optimise for perfection.

They optimise for their bottlenecks.

And most of the time, the bottleneck isn’t quality.

It’s time.

It’s mental load.

It’s friction.

This applies to products.

To work.

To life, honestly.

The “best” solution isn’t always the most advanced one.

It’s the one that makes it easier to move forward.

Curious if you’ve seen this too.

Have you ever built something you loved…

only to realise users just wanted it simpler?

Back to work after a good couple of days resting.

It feels good to slow down…

and it feels just as good to come back with clarity.

That’s what I was doing during those days away.

Organising my goals.

Planning the year ahead.

Getting things out of my head and onto paper.

For me, the first step to a productive year isn’t motivation.

It’s organisation.

Clear goals.

Simple plans.

Fewer open loops.

When you organise your priorities, everything feels lighter.

Decisions get easier.

Focus comes back.

Rest gives you energy.

Organisation gives that energy direction.

Ready for what’s next.

Exploring productivity, happiness & the art of building things online ⚡

I’ve been thinking a lot about AI and photography lately.

As most of you know, I’ve loved photography for years.

I’ve practiced it.

Studied it.

Felt it.

So when AI image generation first appeared, I won’t lie...

I felt angry.

Even betrayed.

Those images felt empty to me.

No depth.

No intention.

No real feeling.

And then there’s the irony.

I’m building an AI product myself. (PIXFOCAL.COM)

For a few weeks, that contradiction really messed with my head.

How could I love real photography…

and at the same time work on something like PixFocal?

Eventually, something clicked.

AI isn’t here to replace meaning.

It’s here to remove friction.

It works best on repetitive tasks.

On production bottlenecks.

On helping small brands, small teams, and early ideas bridge the gap.

In terms of value, nothing beats the real thing.

A real shoot.

A real moment.

A real photographer behind the camera.

But the more I’ve worked with AI,

the more I’ve realised this doesn’t have to be a fight.

Both can coexist.

Both can be useful.

Both can make each other better.

And maybe that’s the real opportunity,

using AI where it helps,

and protecting the human parts where they matter most.

#fashionphotography #retail

After talking about getting back to work, I wanted to share the other side of the story.

Being disciplined also means being disciplined about resting.

Over the past two weeks, I was fully disconnected.

No work.

No emails.

No Slack messages.

That didn’t happen by accident.

I was able to do it because I organised my days off in advance.

Loose ends closed.

Expectations set.

Nothing hanging over my head.

But the real discipline started once the holidays began.

I know how easy it is to “just check” your email.

Or open Slack out of curiosity.

Two minutes turns into ten.

And suddenly your brain is back at work.

So I made a few rules for myself:

I logged out of work apps.

I turned off notifications completely.

I kept my laptop closed and out of sight.

And I reminded myself that rest only works if you actually disconnect.

At first, it feels uncomfortable.

Like you’re missing something.

Like you should be doing more.

But after a few days, something changes.

Your mind slows down.

Your energy comes back.

You start thinking clearer, without forcing it.

It’s exactly like training.

As athletes, we love the workout.

We chase the effort.

But without recovery, progress stalls.

Work is no different.

Rest isn’t a reward.

It’s part of the system.

If your goal is to start the year strong, don’t just plan how hard you’ll work.

Plan how well you’ll rest.

Because the quality of your work depends heavily on how well you disconnect.

And that, too, takes discipline.

We often confuse being busy with being productive.

If we’re always working, always running, always “on”…

we feel like we must be doing something right.

That’s how society taught us to measure value.

But I’m starting to think the opposite might be true.

Being busy all the time can be a warning sign.

A sign that something isn’t organised.

That priorities are off.

That life is happening somewhere else.

Real productivity creates space.

Space to stop in the middle of the day.

To sit still.

To hold your dog while he naps. (example below)

To go for a walk.

To say yes when a friend shows up unexpectedly.

That flexibility?

That’s value.

Of course, there are seasons when things get busy.

Deadlines.

Projects.

Moments that require intensity.

But those shouldn’t be the default.

The goal isn’t to be busy.

The goal is to build a life where work supports living , not replaces it.

Because at the end of the day,

productivity means nothing

if you forget to actually live.

I once heard that the way your apartment looks
is often a reflection of how your life feels.

I don’t know if that’s always true…

but I do know this:

Cleaning and organising is incredibly therapeutic.

Putting things back in place.

Clearing surfaces.

Creating space.

It quiets the mind a bit.

And somehow, everything feels lighter after.

A good reset for the weekend.

Last year, I hit pause on building. Not because productivity wasn't enough, but because it made room for new ideas and balance.

Productivity, for me, means the freedom to take on new projects without losing sight of everything else that matters.

Over the last 7 months, I started digging. I wanted to find real problems worth solving…

the kind you only spot when you scratch where it itches.

Surprisingly, I found my answer in fashion.

I kept seeing brands and agencies struggle to create clean, consistent product photos. 

Too much time editing. 

Too little control over quality. A constant gap between beautiful imagery and real sales conversions.

So I got to work.

That's how Pixfocal.com took shape.

It's an AI tool designed for ghost mannequin photography, built to make fashion brands' lives easier.

But wait, you may be wondering…

What is ghost mannequin photography?

Well, t’s a simple technique, removing the mannequin so the garment looks like it's floating. But the impact for brands is huge.

- Product-first: No distractions, just the garment's shape and details

- Clear fit: Shows how clothing sits on a body, not just flat on a table

- Consistent look: Uniform style across all products and seasons

- Scalable and cost-efficient: Faster, cheaper, and repeatable for big catalogues

- Timeless and neutral: No issues with models, works for every market and trend

- Easy integration: Simple to drop into sites, ads, or lookbooks

- Premium feel: Signals technical quality and a focus on construction

If you're trying to level up your brand's content, this is a style you shouldn't ignore.

This journey started last October, with a month-long validation project.

Since then, the last two months have brought strong organic growth. Real feedback has been pouring in, and it's shaping every decision I make.

It's clear this is just the beginning.

The results so far, and the conversations with users, are shaping how I'll be spending the next few months.

I'm genuinely excited to share this process as it unfolds.

If you're curious about the future of product imagery in fashion, stay tuned.

There's a lot more to come.

The meeting mistake I made while building Pixfocal.

While talking to fashion brands and marketing agencies last year, I learned a simple but important lesson about meetings.

In theory, batching meetings sounds great.

Pick a day.

Stack them back to back.

Get them done.

In practice?

It’s a recipe for disaster.

Meetings never go exactly as planned.

Some finish early.

Some run long.

And sometimes you get really valuable feedback,

the kind you can’t just cut off because “time’s up.”

That happened to me more than once while gathering feedback for Pixfocal.com.
Great conversations.

Great insights.

And then… the next meeting started clashing.



So I changed my approach.

No meetings back to back.

Always a buffer in between.

Time to think.

Time to take notes.

Time for conversations to breathe.

I also became stricter about when I schedule them.

For me:

Tuesdays and Wednesdays only.

Mondays don’t work.

Everyone is catching up from the week before.

Thursdays and Fridays are tricky too.

People are either rushing to finish things…

or already thinking about next week.

Building Pixfocal taught me that good meetings aren’t just about availability.

They’re about timing, energy, and context.

When you organise meetings around how people actually work,

you get better feedback,

better decisions,

and far less friction.

And that makes building anything, especially a new product, much easier.

Today, my girlfriend and I decided to paint something.

They were bad. (don't tell her)

But that is okay. 

No pressure, just an excuse to do something together. 

In the middle of the week, sometimes this is all you need to recharge.

Less screens.

More moments like this.

By the way, guess which one is mine.

Kicking off the year? 

Here's how I stay balanced and focused, no matter how many projects I'm juggling.

This year, I have big plans. 

- I want to develop Pixfocal.com 

-Set up an AI-powered translation agency

- Prepare for a crossfit competition. 

- I also aim to swim 2K nonstop and get fitter overall.

But I know that taking on so much can quickly lead to overwhelm. 

Whenever I start feeling it, I return to my top strategies for managing productivity and maintaining balance.

Right now, I'm easing back into my rhythm. 

The Pomodoro technique helps me focus, but I also believe in breaking tasks into manageable chunks.

Whenever a task feels overwhelming, I pause and switch to something different. 

This refreshes my mind and helps me avoid getting stuck.

Building endurance, whether for exercise or work, takes time. 

Today, I start with 10-minute focused sessions. 

As I get more comfortable, I'll gradually extend those.

The secret isn't doing everything at once. It's about taking strategic breaks, setting manageable goals, and protecting your energy.

That way, you keep making progress without burning out. Consistency is key.

No alternative text description for this image

At the start of the year, it’s tempting to rush.

Fresh energy.

A clean slate.

New goals.

After the holidays, it feels like you can take on everything at once.

And yes, that energy is real.

It’s a great moment to build momentum.

But that’s also when burnout quietly starts.

Because in the rush to “start strong,”

we often forget the habits that keep us stable.

Today, for example, I did something very simple.

I went for my usual walk.

Stepped away.

Let my mind rest.

Then came back to work.

I try to do this every day.

It keeps my creativity up.

It keeps my head clear.

And it stops the year from becoming a sprint that never ends.

A new year means new opportunities.

More things to build.

More goals to reach.

But none of that works if we forget the basics.

Balance. Rest. Movement.

Time away from the computer.

Start the year with ambition.

But keep it sustainable.

That’s how you actually make it to December feeling proud, not exhausted.

Goal for next week:

Less screen time.

More cooking.

More walks.

More real conversations.

More time away from notifications.

Honestly, this might be the best goal for 2026 too.

Simple things.

Better days.

Why content production breaks small fashion teams first.

One thing I’ve learned after speaking with many small fashion brands:

Content production is often the real full-time job.

On paper, the focus is design.

Patterns, manufacturing, drops.

In practice, a modern fashion brand is a media company that happens to sell clothes.

And this is where small brands struggle the most.

They need to compete with big brands.

They need fresh visuals all the time.

But a single photoshoot can take days... sometimes weeks.

And budgets disappear fast.

So they adapt.

Most small brands don’t create content daily.

They batch it.

One or two intense days per month.

A “content marathon”.

One shoot becomes:

Website banners

PDP images

Social posts

Emails

Everything reused as much as possible.

Even then, content still eats a lot of time.

Planning, shooting, editing, posting.

Easily 6 to 10 hours every week.

And that time comes from somewhere.

Usually from the part they actually love.

Designing.

If you’re a creative person, you know the feeling.

You didn’t start a brand to spend hours fixing images.

You started it to create.

That’s why tools like AI, and projects like Pixfocal, make sense to me.

Not to replace creativity.

But to remove repetitive work.

Content is a must for eCommerce.

There’s no way around it.

But it shouldn’t be the limiting factor.

It should be part of the process, not the thing that slows everything down.

#fashion #productphotography

Apparently purple pancakes are actually real...

Happy Saturday, everyone!

taplio

The Battle

Florind Metalla

Alex Faini

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreAlex Faini's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Florind Metalla

Alex Faini

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Alex Faini's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreAlex Faini's LinkedIn Performance