Don't Open the Window, Open Your Heart
Johnny Lombardi · 2020 — 2022
A street vendor turned into a digital entrepreneur.
- E-commerce
- Social campaign
- Delivery
The problem
For years, Mauricio Sabogal drove past the same traffic light every day. Johnny Lombardi was there. He had spent more than 25 years at that corner, selling fruit and candy to make a living. Over time, a greeting became a close relationship.
Then the pandemic hit, and a simple question came up: how would Johnny live if he couldn’t go out on the street? The first answer was to help him financially, but it soon became clear that this wasn’t sustainable, didn’t give him autonomy and didn’t solve the underlying problem.
What we built
We did what we do best: use technology to solve a real problem. That is how Don't Open the Window, Open Your Heart was born, a social e-commerce built to turn a street vendor into a digital entrepreneur. We worked on four fronts.
An e-commerce from scratch
We designed a simple, functional platform, emotionally connected to Johnny’s story.
Product redesign
We kept the heart of the business, Frunas candy, and built value around it: campaign cups, face-protection puffs, candles, kites and piggy banks filled with Frunas candy. The candy was always the symbol, always paired with products that justified delivery.
A social campaign
People and brands joined with no financial interest, including Jorge Enrique Abello, Silvia Corzo and Yami Safdie. Partners such as PayU made the operation possible. We ran a digital campaign, email marketing, organic content and performance media.
Training and empowerment
We taught Johnny to use technology: create content, tell his story, promote his products, pack orders and take part in logistics. The real goal wasn’t selling; it was giving him independence.
The result
For nearly two years, we turned a street reality into a digital model. All the income went to improving Johnny’s quality of life, and a whole community rallied around a real cause.
We also learned that Johnny needed deeper, more structural and more professional support. ROISense isn’t a foundation or a social intervention organization, so we made a conscious decision to close the project. Not as a failure, but as an act of responsibility.
This case isn’t about ROI. It’s about purpose: technology can change lives, but it has limits, and recognizing them is part of the impact.
Why it’s innovation
Because innovation isn’t always measured in money. Our DNA (diagnose a problem, design a solution that didn’t exist, build it and run it) also works when the goal is human impact rather than financial return.
A complete e-commerce, a product line, a social campaign with celebrities and corporate partners, and a digital training program for one person. All from scratch, all with technology, all with purpose.
